Slinger, WI-May 15—Lowell Bennett dominated the N/Connect Al Schill Jr. Memorial 60-lap late model feature Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway, leading start to finish to chalk up his second victory of the season. “This new car and the crew we put together is an awesome combination,” stated the veteran driver from Neenah from victory lane. “This is going to be a fun season.”

Bennett started the main event from the outside of row one and quickly jumped out front at the drop of the green flag ahead of Dave Teske, Conrad Morgan, and Nick Schumacher. Travis Dassow, Rich Loch, Dave Feiler, Austin Konetski, and Brad Mueller raced for position behind the front four. Bennett and Teske began to ease ahead of the field by lap eight, but their advantage was erased when the race was slowed under caution on lap nine as contact between Loch and Dassow triggered a multi-car incident in turn two. The incident severely damaged the cars of Donavan Morgan, point leader David Prunty, Ken Wills, and Dennis Prunty as all four drivers were forced to retire from the event.

As racing resumed, Bennett led Teske, Conrad Morgan, Schumacher, Feiler, and Mueller and once again was able to pull away from the field. By lap 20, Bennett enjoyed a comfortable lead while Schumacher and Feiler were able to pass Teske to take over second and third respectively. Mueller also made his way around Teske to move into fourth a few laps later. Mueller then was able to catch Feiler by the halfway mark and after battling for several laps, grabbed third place.

John Mueller appeared to be the fastest car on the speedway by lap 45 and he launched his way through the field to pass Feiler for the fourth position. With Bennett still solidly in command of the race, the attention turned to the skirmish for second between Mueller and Schumacher while John Mueller quickly closed in. After many laps of hard racing between them, Mueller and Schumacher touched entering turn one on lap 49 which sent Schumacher skating up the racetrack. Schumacher was able to maintain control but behind him, John Mueller spun to produce the race’s final caution flag.
           
Bennett was up to the challenge and once again drove away from everyone on the restart while Mueller and Schumacher renewed their battle. Bennett easily drove the final ten laps to score the win while Schumacher held off Mueller for second. Feiler finished fourth and Teske took the checkered flag in fifth. Andrew Morrissey crossed the finish line in sixth place followed by Fred Winn, and Conrad Morgan. Loch and Austin Konetski were able to rebound from the early race incident to round out the top ten.

Mike Egan held off Scott Schoeni to win the 30-lap late model semi-feature. Mark Bitzan was third followed by Jerry Eckhardt and Robert Maynor. Conrad Morgan found victory lane following the fast dash and Rich Loch led a very fast round of qualifying by turning a lap in 11.337 seconds.
          
Gary LaMonte took home top honors in the 30-lap Midwest Sportsman Series feature to score his first feature win of the season.
    
Jeff Steenbergen led Jay Schambeau and Kenny Joosten at the start while a large pack of cars scrambled for position in their mirrors. The hard racing in that pack produced some wild moments early on and the race was slowed under the yellow flag on lap two when Brad Keith ran out of room entering turn one and hit the wall. Steenbergen led on the restart over Schambeau and Joosten, but Joosten motored his way into second by lap five while Collin Bamke and LaMonte began to charge forward. Bamke worked his way around Schambeau for third on lap ten and LaMonte followed his lead a few laps later to drop Schambeau to fifth. Joosten, Bamke, and LaMonte tracked Steenbergen down at the halfway point as the leaders ran nose to tail. Joosten wrestled his way by Steenbergen on lap 16 with a move that forced Steenbergen to the high side. That opened the door for Bamke and LaMonte to also advance forward while Steenbergen recovered to fall into fourth place. The leaders encountered lapped traffic on lap 20 which shuffled the standings again as the combination of the traffic and hard racing up front sent Joosten to the high side, allowing LaMonte and Bamke to get by and into first and second. LaMonte then held off Bamke to claim the win while Joosten was forced to settle for third place at the finish. Steenbergen crossed the finish line in fourth place while James Swan was fifth.

In earlier Midwest Sportsman Series action, Bamke won the fast dash and Dave Thomas was the fastest qualifier at 12.417 seconds.   
        
David McCardle drove to his first career feature victory in an exciting 25-lap Midwest Modified main event.

McCardle started on the pole and ran the opening laps alongside fellow front row starter Russ Moberly while Steve Huelesbeck, Wes Biswell, and Jason Feyereisen followed in their tire tracks. The field began to string out on lap four as McCardle jumped into the lead while those behind him fell in line after Biswell experienced mechanical problems and exited the race. With McCardle comfortably out front, the battle for second place between Huelesbeck and Feyereisen heated up as they ran door to door in the middle stages. Huelesbeck worked the inside line and Feyereisen held the high side while Dale Prunty and Steve Schulz closed in right behind them. Huelesbeck muscled his way into second place on lap 15 and the move dropped Feyereisen back to fifth as Prunty and Schulz raced by on the inside. In the waning laps, McCardle’s lead began to shrink and at the white flag he found himself alongside a lapped car with the rest of the top five cars glued to his bumper. The tangle of cars racing for the win produced some fireworks on the final lap as contact between them resulted in Prunty spinning in turn three while McCardle held on for the win. Huelesbeck finished second and Feyereisen was third. Schulz and Ron Schmitt rounded out the top five.           
Wes Biswell was the winner of the fast dash and Schulz set fast time with a blistering lap of 12.081 seconds.

Aaron Cain took top honors in the 12-lap Thunderstocks feature over Mark Kissinger and Ryan DeStefano. Chris Beine was fourth followed by Les Weidenhoeft. David Krinn held off Jamie Vetter to win the first Slinger Bees race while Travis Buchholz, Bob Losiniecki, and Matt Schatz rounded out the top five. Joseph Bentfield won the second Slinger Bees event over Shawn Friedeck and Derek Hoerig. Steven Paukner was fourth and Josh Benner was fifth. Shane Becker edged Donald Van Camp in near photo finish to win the Figure 8 event.

Event: N/Connect Al Schill Jr. Memorial                    Date: May 15, 2005

Late Model Division: 1. Lowell Bennett (Neenah) 133; 2. Dave Feiler (Sun Prairie) 124; 3. Brad Mueller (Random Lake) 115; 4. David Prunty (Brownsville) 110; 5. Nick Schumacher (Germantown) 96; 6. Dennis Prunty (Lomira) 90; 7. Austin Konetski (South Beloit, IL) 87; 8. Rich Loch (Franklin) 83; 9. Dave Teske (Sussex) 82; 10. John Mueller (Hubertus) 80; 11. Fred Winn (Sussex) 71; 12. Travis Dassow (West Bend) 68; 13. Randy Schuler (Mequon) 66; 14. Scott Schoeni (Slinger) 65; 15. Donavan Morgan (Oconomowoc) 60; 16. Conrad Morgan (Waukesha) 60; 17. Ken Wills (Milwaukee) 58; 18. Mark Bitzan (Menomonee Falls) 54; 19.Chad Barker (Hubertous) 54; 20. Mike Egan (Slinger) 48.

Midwest Modified Division:  1. David McCardle (Menomonee Falls) 235; 2. Ron Schmitt (Jackson) 205; 3. Steven Schulz (Menomonee Falls) 194; 4. Steve Huelsbeck (Milwaukee) 148; 5. Jason Feyereisen (Randon Lake) 144; 6. Joe Houpt (Mequon) 134; 7. Wes Biswell (Sussex) 124; 8. Russ Moberly (West Bend) 121; 9. Dale Prunty (Allenton) 103; 10. Russ Grade (Hartland) 91.

Midwest Sportsman Division: 1. Gary LaMonte (West Allis) 153; 2. James Swan (Lake Geneva) 131; 3. Collin Bamke (Slinger) 130; 4. Dave Thomas (Franklin) 90 5. Jay Schambeau (Hubertus) 86; 6. Brad Keith (West Bend) 84; 7. Scott Ascher (Sussex) 80; 8. Pat McIntee (West Bend) 73; 9. Mike Graczkowski (Jackson) 72; 10. Scott Schambeau (Slinger) 69.

Figure 8:  1. Shane Becker (Iron Ridge) 100; 2. Donald Van Camp Jr. (Seymour) 80; 3. Gregory Emmer () 70; 4. Scott Goetzke (Iron Ridge) 65