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Bennett Picks Up Win #3 At Slinger
By Dan Margetta
(Slinger, WI) July 16—Persistence in a tricky upper groove paid off for
Lowell Bennett Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway as he edged David
Prunty to win the 75-lap late model feature on E85 Night presented by
Wisconsin Crown Growers and Goeman’s Rapid Mart BP in Hartford.
“It’s such a pleasure to be able to race against guys like David Prunty
and Al Schill,” Bennett stated from victory lane after surviving a nearly
fifteen lap side-by-side battle with Prunty for the win. “There is nowhere
else in the United States that we can have racing like this.”
Mike Strupp led the field to the green and paced the event in the opening laps
before Mike Egan used the top groove to take the lead on lap three. The inside
lane began to march forward as Fred Winn, John Mueller, Bennett, and Prunty
all advanced ahead while Strupp became caught on the outside. A spin by Brian
Claas in turn one on lap eight produced the first caution flag and following a
brief restart, the yellow appeared again on lap ten when traffic situations in
the middle of the pack caused Dan Jung to briefly get out of shape which sent
Rich Loch through the infield.
Egan maintained his lead as racing resumed, but Prunty had his car hooked up
on the inside and he moved into second place by lap 20 while Bennett and
Dennis Prunty went to work on Winn for third. David Prunty looked to the high
side two laps later and used the outside to race around Egan for the top spot
as Bennett took sole possession of third place. Following the top three, Josh
Bauer and Al Schill started to rumble forward and both entered the top five by
lap 31.
While Prunty began to extend his lead, Bennett caught Egan and grabbed second
place on lap 36 as Schill, Bauer, and Dennis Prunty tussled over third place.
The lead David Prunty enjoyed on the rest of the field was suddenly erased on
lap 40 when mechanical issues on Mike Strupp’s machine drew the third
caution flag of the race.
Prunty chose the inside line for the restart and Bennett timed the waving of
the green flag perfectly, pulling even with Prunty heading into turn one as
racing resumed. Bennett was able maintain the door-to-door battle with Prunty,
using the outside groove to keep his car’s momentum up in the turns while
not allowing Prunty’s car to run free off the corners. Bennett gradually
eased ahead little by little each lap before finally clearing Prunty for the
top spot on lap 55. While Bennett and Prunty diced for the lead, Schill
worked his way up to third while Bauer and Dennis Prunty ran fourth and fifth
respectively.
Bennett was able to keep Prunty at bay over the closing laps and he charged to
his third feature win of the season. David Prunty finished a strong second
while Schill, Bauer, and Dennis Prunty rounded out the top five. Mike Egan
finished in sixth place while Illinois visitor Brian Johnson Jr. turned in a
very respectable performance to finish seventh ahead of John Mueller, Fred
Winn, and Nick Schumacher.
Tommy Pecaro captured the win in the 30-lap late model semi-feature over Wayne
Freimund and Tommy Hromadka. Travis Dassow drove Chris Ratajczyk’s late
model to a fourth place finish and Robert Maynor was fifth. Dennis
Prunty won the late model fast dash and David Prunty was the fastest qualifier
at 11.435 seconds.
Rob Braun took the lead just past the halfway mark and drove to the win in the
30-lap Midwest Sportsman Series feature.
Jan Kantner and Dean Olla led the field to the green and Olla used the outside
to take the early lead, bringing Mike Borchardt, Brad Keith, and Braun along
with him. Olla continued to show the way as the leaders encountered lapped
traffic just past lap ten as Keith and Braun took advantage of the lapped cars
by dropping Borchardt to fourth after pinning him in traffic. Keith and Braun
then tracked down Olla for the lead. Three laps later, Olla kicked sideways
after a slight tap from behind and Braun took advantage of the situation,
using the inside to advance from third place to the lead. Keith also used the
inside to snag second place as Olla became trapped on the outside, losing
another position to Jeff Holtz. Nathan Fick’s stalled car produced the
caution flag on lap 18 and Braun chose the inside lane for the restart,
leaving Keith to contend with the outside. Keith used a strong restart to draw
even with Braun as the green flag flew and the two ran side-by-side for six
laps as they disputed the lead. As Braun and Keith battled, Holtz stuck the
nose of his car to the inside of Keith and used the bottom side to take over
second place on lap 26. Holtz quickly closed on Braun and as the white flag
flew, made a hard charge to the inside entering turn one. Holtz couldn’t
keep the handle on his car however, and he looped his machine, collecting
Borchardt in the process as Keith powered by for second. Braun led the way to
the checkered flag and took the win over Keith while Ryan Zielski capped off a
strong race with a third place finish. Jan Kantner and Jay Shambeau rounded
out the top five.
Earlier in the evening, Keith took top honors in the Midwest Sportsman Series
fast dash while Dave Thomas paced qualifying with a lap of 12.848
seconds.
Ken Wills guest-drove Joe Houpt’s car to an intense and exciting win in the
20-lap Midwest Modified feature, edging Jason Feyereisen at the checkered
flag.
Wills quickly took command of the event from pole-sitter Joey Bentfield while
Dale Prunty, Feyereisen, Steve Huelsbeck, and Wes Biswell all were knotted up
behind the leaders in a tightly bunched pack. As Wills continued to hold the
top spot, the racing behind him heated up as Feyereisen fought his way to
second place by lap seven just ahead of Prunty and Huelsbeck while Biswell and
Ron Schmitt were close behind. Feyereisen looked to the high groove in a bid
for the lead at the halfway point, but Wills remained tough down low and the
two raced door to door while Huelsbeck, Prunty, Biswell, and Schmitt raced in
double-file formation behind them. The top six cars ran two-by-two for the
final ten laps as neither lane could muster up enough of an advantage to
complete the pass. At the stripe, Wills used a strong run off turn four to
edge Feyereisen for the win while Huelsbeck nipped Prunty for third place.
Biswell finished in fifth.
Wills also was victorious in the Midwest Modified fast dash and Biswell set
the mark in qualifying after touring the speedway in 12.510 seconds.
Kyle Quella held off Dan Vixmer for the win in the 25-lap Wisconsin Sport
Truck feature.
Dusty Jaloszynski used a brilliant three-wide maneuver to take command
of the race in the opening laps while Quella, Scott Baker, and Vixmer weaved
their way forward from deep in the field. Baker was able to track down
Jaloszynski for the lead on lap six as Vixmer and Quella moved into second and
third place respectively a few laps later. Baker began to encounter lapped
traffic by lap 11 and that set up an exciting battle for the top spot. Vixmer
tried the outside on Baker as they crossed the stripe while Quella dove down
low, taking the lead with the three-wide pass. Once out front, Quella was able
to keep Vixmer at bay and he drove to the win. Baker took the checkered flag
behind Vixmer to finish third while Shane Otto and Jaloszynski rounded out the
top five. Earlier in the evening, Otto set fast time after turning in a lap of
13.716 seconds.
Justin Okruhlika led from flag to flag to capture the win in the 15-lap
Thunderstock main event that featured numerous instances of three and four
abreast racing. Al Stippich pulled off many of the three-wide moves and
charged to a second place finish while Jim Bentzler held off Rick Schaefer and
Joe DeStefano Jr. for third. Frank Verhunce and Travis Buchholz each
took home wins in the Slinger Bees events and Dan Prunty was the winner of the
Port-A-John Speedway Guest Car race. John Bussey came to Slinger from Indiana
to win the Spectator Elimination event in his BMW and Shane Becker closed the
night with a victory in the Figure 8 event.
Event: E85 Night Presented by WI Corn Growers
Date: July 16, 2006
Late Model Feature 75-laps
1. Lowell Bennett (Neenah) 15.
Randy Schuler (Mequon)
2. David Prunty (Brownsville) 16. Brian Claas
(Oregon)
3. Al Schill
(Franklin)
17. Wayne Freimund (Elkhorn)
4. Josh Bauer (Random Lake) 18.
Tommy Pecaro (Janesville)
5. Dennis Prunty (Lomira)
19. Mike Strupp (Theresa)
6. Mike Egan
(Slinger)
20. Eric Fransen (West Bend)
7. Brian Johnson Jr. (Rockton, IL)
8. John Mueller (Hubertus)
9. Fred Winn (Sussex)
10. Nick Schumacher (Hartford)
11. Ken Wills (Slinger)
12. Andrew Morrissey (DeForest)
13. Rich Loch (Muskego)
14. Dan Jung (Hubertus)
Late Model Semi Feature- 30 lap
1. Tommy Pecaro (Janesville) 4. Travis Dassow (West
Bend)
2. Wayne Freimund (Elkhorn) 5. Robert Maynor
(Colgate)
3. Tommy Hromadka (Brookfield)
Late Model Fast Dash- Dennis Prunty (Lomira)
Late Model Fast Time- David Prunty (Brownsville) 11.435 seconds
Midwest Modified Feature 20 laps
1. Ken Wills
(Slinger)
4. Dale Prunty (Allenton)
2. Jason Feyereisen (Random Lake) 5. West Biswell (Sussex)
3. Steve Huelsbeck (Milwaukee)
Midwest Modified Fast Dash- Ken Wills (Slinger)
Midwest Modified Fast Time- Wes Biswell (Sussex) 12.510 seconds
Midwest Sportsman Feature 30 laps
1. Rob Braun (Wales) 4.
Jan Kantner (Greenfield)
2. Brad Keith (West Bend) 5. Jay Shambeau
(Hubertus)
3. Ryan Zielski (Oconomowoc)
Midwest Sportsman Fast Dash- Brad Keith (West Bend)
Midwest Sportsman Fast Time- Dave Thomas (Franklin, WI) 12.848
seconds
Wisconsin Sport Truck Feature laps
1. Kyle Quella (Appleton) 4. Shane Otto (Freemdom)
2. Dan Vixmer (St. Peter) 5. Dusty Jaloszynski (Fond du
Lac)
3. Scott Baker (Appleton)
Wisconsin Sport Truck Fast Time- Shane Otto (Freedom, WI) 13.716
seconds
Thunderstocks Feature 12 laps
1. Justin Okruhlica (Hartford) 4. Rick Schaefer (Slinger)
2. Al Stippich (Kewaskum) 5. Joe DeStefano
Jr. (Colgate)
3. Jim Bentzler (Hartford)
Slinger Bees Heat #1 8-laps
1. Frank Verhunce (Mayville) 4. Bob Losniecki (Richfield)
2. Josh Wenninger (Lomira) 5. Tanya Manke (Hartland)
3. Shawn Gavin (Jackson)
Slinger Bees Heat #2 8-laps
1. Travis Buchholz (Hartland) 4. Mike Haeuser (Milwaukee)
2. Joe Hennes (Slinger) 5. Nick Walder
(Hartford)
3. Steven Gilmeister (Cedarburg)
Port-A-John Guest Cars Winner- Dan Prunty (Lomira)
Spectator Elimination Winner- John Bussey (Crown Point, IN)
Figure 8 Winner-Shane Becker (Iron Ridge)
Point Standings
Late Model Point Standings
1. David Prunty Brownsville 606; 2. Al Schill Franklin 544; 3. Lowell Bennett
Neenah 522; 4. Josh Bauer Random Lake 462; 5. Dennis Prunty Lomira 443; 6.
Nick Schumacher Harford 399; 7. John Mueller Hubertus 350; 8. Fred Winn Sussex
336; 9. Mike Egan Slinger 308, 10. Ken Wills Slinger 302; 11Collin Bamke
Slinger 279; 12. Travis Dassow West Bend 270; 13. Randy Schuler Mequon 247;
14. Scott Schoeni Slinger 242; 15. Jeremy Lepak Wausau 240; 16.
Dave Teske Richfield 234; 17. Rich Loch Muskego 233; 18. Tommy Hromadka
Brookfield 220 19. Tommy Pecaro Janesville 213; 20. Gary LaMonte West Allis
203
Midwest Sportsman Point Standings
1. Mike Graczkowski Jackson 534; 2. Brad Keith West Bend 496; 3. Jeff Holtz
Muskego 441: 4. Jay Shambeau Hubertus 412; 5. Rob Braun Wales 393; 6.
Pat McIntee West Bend 369; 7. Mike Borchardt Greenfield 354; 8.
Scott Shambeau Milwaukee 348; 9. Ryan Zielski Slinger 348, 10. Dean Olla
Milwaukee 343;
Midwest Modified Point Standings
1. Steve Huelsbeck Milwaukee 941; 2. Jason Feyereisen Random Lake 818;
3. Dale Prunty Allenton 803; 4. Ron Schmitt Jackson 785; 5. Wes Biswell
Sussex 653; 6. Joe Houpt Mequon 575; 7. Eddie Bentfield Gerkes Corners 445; 8.
Joey Bentfield Gerkes Corners 422; 9. John Kruschel Sussex 357; 10. Matt Pate
Menomonee Falls 327
Figure 8 Point Standings
1. Donald VanCamp Jr Seymour 725; 2. Willie VanCamp Appleton 685; 3. Jeff
Wohlabe Appleton 650; 4. Scott Goetzke Iron Ridge 580; 5. Shane Becker
Hartford 515
Limited Late Model
1. Andy Wendt Watertown 241; 2. Scott Nottestad Stoughton 233; 3. Nick
Schumacher Hartford 218; 4. Jerry Eckhardt Johnson Creek 215; 5. Jeff
Steenbergen Waupun 197; 6. Chris Ratajiczyk West Bend 177; 7. Kris Kelly
Norway MI 174; 8. Nick Wendt Watertown 173; 9. Ryan DeStefano Cogate 135; 10.
Dave Serchuk Hartford 120
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