Bennett takes the win in the Miller
Lite 120 presented by Emily's Restaurant
By Dan Margetta
(Slinger, WI) May 4, 2008 – Lowell Bennett swept
by Al Schill to take the lead just past the halfway mark and
went on to win the Miller Lite 120 Spring Opener presented by
Emily’s Restaurant Sunday afternoon at the Slinger Super
Speedway.
“I was just on cruise control there at the end”,
Bennett stated after pulling away for the convincing win. “This
is a great way to start out the year.”
Nick Schumacher and Tommy Pecaro led the field to the green
flag with Schumacher setting the pace during the opening laps
as Pecaro, Schill, Brad Dahmer, and Bennett raced behind him.
The action started early as on lap four, Dan Jung looped his
machine into the infield exiting turn two and as the field scattered
to avoid the incident, cars became stacked up entering turn three.
The cars of Mike Meyerhofer and Fred Winn couldn't escape the
gridlock and both spun while behind them Dennis Prunty and Pete
Wiedmeyer made hard contact with the turn three concrete as Prunty
rode the wall to bring out the caution flag.
Schumacher continued to hold off Schill for the top spot as
racing resumed while further back, the field again took to side-by-side
racing as Eric Fransen, Brad Dahmer, Brad Mueller, Jeremy Lepak,
and David Prunty all looked to move up. The close racing resulted
in contact within the pack, sending Dahmer’s car sideways
and has he fought for control, his front-end slightly clipped
Prunty’s machine and send it spinning into the infield to
draw another caution flag on lap 14. Prunty was able to continue
and both he and Dahmer restarted the race at the rear of the
field as Schumacher continued to lead over Schill, Pecaro, Mike
Strupp, and Fransen.
Schill used the outside on the restart to get a run on Schumacher
and worked his way into the lead on lap 16 while Bennett and
Mueller advanced into the top five. Schill was able to ease
away from the field while Bennett continued his march forward,
taking over second place from Schumacher by lap 45 while Mueller
and Fransen closed from fourth and fifth. Bennett pulled to
Schill’s bumper and made a brief challenge before the caution
flag waved for the scheduled break at the halfway mark with Schill
leading Bennett, Mueller, Fransen, and Schumacher.
Schill maintained the lead on the restart but was under heavy
pressure from Bennett who was working the outside groove in an
effort to take command of the event. Bennett’s work paid
off on lap 63 as he swept around Schill on the outside for the
lead while Fransen remained within striking distance in third.
Behind the top three Mueller found himself in a battle with Jeremy
Lepak and David Prunty, who sliced his way through the field
to run down the top five. By the 100-lap mark, Schill began to
fade in the inside groove as Fransen, Lepak, and Prunty all worked
their way around, shuffling the veteran to fifth. Prunty continued
his strong run by charging into third place by lap 110, leaving
Lepak to race with Mueller over the fourth spot. There was no
catching Bennett in the closing laps as he cruised to the win
ahead of Fransen and Prunty while Lepak and Mueller rounded out
the top five finishers.
“It feels good to have a run like this,” Fransen
told the crowd following his second place result. “Yesterday
we weren't sure what kind of car we had, but today we had a pretty
good one.”
“I really just needed one more caution,” Prunty
claimed after his impressive third place run. “I was just
waiting for the right time. The early spin messed up the tires
a little bit, but I'm happy with this car.”
Dennis Prunty took top honors in the 30-lap late model semi-feature
to transfer into the main event along with second place finisher
Jamie Wallace. Mike Egan, Scott Schoeni, and Collin Bamke rounded
out the top five finishers. Brad Mueller was the fastest qualifier
at 11.484 seconds.
Jon Reynolds Jr. began the season right where he left off
last year, as he edged Chris Ratajczyk to win the 35-lap limited
late model main event.
Brad Keith raced to the early lead at the drop of the green
flag ahead of Steve Apel, Reynolds, and Dave McCardle. With Keith
maintaining the top spot, Reynolds raced into second place by
lap ten and began to track down Keith for the lead. Reynolds
pulled alongside Keith numerous times and the two raced side-by-side
with Keith able to hold onto the lead in lapped traffic. On lap
18, Reynolds was able to edge ahead just before the caution flag
waved for an incident involving Jack Rabey in turn three. On
the restart, Reynolds sprinted ahead to a sizeable advantage
while Keith found himself in battle for second with Chris Ratajczyk,
Steve Apel, and Scott Ascher. Apel was able to grab second place
by lap 20, bringing Ratajczyk with him into third place as Keith
and Ascher raced for the fourth spot. Ratajczyk was able to work
his way by Apel for second place as Reynolds enjoyed a commanding
lead. On lap 29, Rob Braun clipped the backstretch wall and spun
entering turn three. When his car slid down the banking, it was
solidly collected by the car of Jerry Eckhardt and the caution
flag flew again. Reynolds and Ratajczyk lined up for the double-file
restart with just six laps to go and Reynolds was able to hold
onto the lead before the field was slowed again under yellow
on lap 32 following a spin by Trevor Dassow. Reynolds was up
to the task over the final three laps and he took the checkered
flag ahead of Ratajczyk for the victory. Steve Apel finished
third ahead of Scott Ascher and Brad Keith. Earlier in the afternoon,
Jimmy Dragich was the fastest qualifier in the limited late model
division after turning a lap of 12.376 seconds.
Defending Midwest Sportsman track champion Kenny Joosten dominated
the 35-lap Midwest Sportsman feature to score a commanding win
over Jeff Holtz and James Swan. Joosten led every lap of the
caution-free event and handily took victory in dominating fashion.
Holtz chased Joosten throughout the entire distance and finally
settled for second place at the finish while Swan improved from
his sixth starting spot to finish third. Dave Thomas and Mike
Graczkowski completed the top five finishers. Graczkowski also
set fast time for the division, touring the speedway in 12.681
seconds.
Steven Schulz passed Steve Huelsbeck on the outside on lap
five of the Midwest Modified 25-lap feature and checked out on
the field to score the victory. Huelsbeck crossed the finish
line in second place while Wes Biswell followed behind in third
place. Matt Pate and Ron Schmitt completed the top five finishers
as the race ran caution-free. In addition to scoring the feature
win, Schulz also was the fastest qualifier in the division with
a lap of 12.322 seconds.
Aaron Cain held off a late charge by Al Stippich to win the
20-lap Thunderstock feature.
Joel Steffen and Bernie Leonard swapped the lead in the early
going before Cain charged by and into the lead on lap seven.
The first caution flag of the event waved a lap later for fluid
on the track and on the restart, Stippich quickly moved from
the fifth position into second, using the outside line. Jim Bentzler
also advanced forward, following Stippich into third leaving
Joel Steffen to battle Troy Martingilio over the fourth position.
Stippich closed in on Cain, driving to Cain’s rear bumper
as the caution flag flew again on lap 16 when Jack Stern’s
car momentarily caught fire. Cain held off Stippich’s charges
over the final four laps and crossed the finish line for the
win with Stippich a close second. Bentzler finished third ahead
of Martingilio and Steffen. Stippich also set fast time for the
division at 13.735 seconds.
Matt Westphal executed a last lap pass on Matt Klenz to win
the 20-lap Slinger Bees feature. Eddie Klug finished third while
Tom Berens and Ken Schraufnagel rounded out the top five. Jason
Hennes was the fastest qualifier at 16.587 seconds.
Shane Becker closed out the afternoon with a win in the Figure
8 event.
Slinger Speedway is located just off Hwy 41 and Highway 144
at 280 Cedar Creek Road in Slinger, WI. For more information
on upcoming events call the track office at 262-644-5921 or visit
our web site at www.slingersuperspeedway.com.
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