Bennett Wins Feature as Prunty Claims Overal Pepsi Challenge Title!!!
By Dan Margetta

 

Slinger, Wis., Sept. 16—Lowell Bennett used the outside groove following an early restart to take the lead and never look back en route to the victory in the 40-lap Pepsi Challenge Series finale late model feature Sunday afternoon at the Slinger Super Speedway.

“My hat’s off to this crew,” Bennett stated afterwards. “We destroyed our other car three weeks ago and this is actually our Kaukauna car and in the last three weeks we ran second, third, and first. What an awesome race car and awesome race crew I’ve got.”

Dennis Prunty and Florian Wisinski brought the field to the green flag and Prunty quickly jumped into the early lead. Bennett followed in third place with Nick Schumacher, Matt Kocourek, and David Prunty close behind. Wisinski became caught on the outside and fell back by lap 15 as Bennett, Schumacher, Kocourek, and David Prunty all were able to pass by. Dennis Prunty extended his lead over Bennett while David Prunty used the inside to work his way into fourth place as Nick Hammer closed in on the top five. A spin by Wisinski on lap 24 produced the first caution flag, just as Bennett eased his way around Dennis Prunty for the lead.

Bennett chose the outside lane on the restart and used it to charge back to the front as racing resumed, leaving Dennis Prunty to battle with David Prunty and Nick Schumacher On lap 26, Hammer became caught up high and he smacked the frontstretch wall, riding it all the way through the corner before coming to rest in turn two with the caution flag waving again. Bennett again used the outside lane to keep his lead while Schumacher also worked the high line to pass David Prunty and pull alongside Dennis Prunty in a battle for second. As Bennett pulled away out front, Schumacher and Dennis Prunty staged a tremendous battle for second with Schumacher’s car working good on the outside lane and Prunty’s car being fast on the inside despite kicking loose on the exits of the turns. The loose condition on Prunty’s car contributed slightly to Schumacher’s car sliding wide in turn four on lap 34, as David Prunty dove to the inside to grab third place. The Prunty brothers then battle for the second slot with Dennis Prunty taking the position by lap 36. Bennett maintained his lead all the way to the checkered flag to score the win over Dennis Prunty and David Prunty. David Prunty’s third place finish was enough to earn him the overall Pepsi Challenge Series title over Schumacher who finished fourth. Tommy Pecaro finished a strong fifth while Mike Egan and Brad Mueller were sixth and seventh respectively. Conrad Morgan, Matt Kocourek, and Dale Prunty rounded out the top ten finishers.

Slinger Speedway officials decided to run heat races in a throwback type format and Dennis Prunty held off Florian Wisinski to win the first 16-lap late model heat. Scott Schoeni finished third followed by Tommy Pecaro and Lowell Bennett. Conrad Morgan was the winner of the second late model heat race over Pete Wiedmeyer and Brad Keith. Dale Prunty and Jerry Eckhardt rounded out the top five. Matt Kocourek was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 11.449 seconds.

Scott Ascher led flag to flag to score the win in an invigorating limited late model feature.

Ascher immediately charged into the lead at the drop of the green flag while Dan Jung and Rob Braun battled for second just ahead of Steve Apel and David McCardle. Ascher extended his lead as Jung and Braun continued to race for second place with Jung winning the battle just before lap ten. Ascher was never headed throughout the event and he comfortably drove to the feature win as Jung held off Braun for second. Apel finished in fourth place with McCardle crossing the finish line in fifth.

In earlier limited late model action, Scott Ascher claimed top honors in the first eight lap limited late model heat race over Rob Braun and Dan Jung. David McCardle and Steve Apel rounded out the top five. In the second limited late model heat, Mike Schimtz scored the win over Jerry Eckhardt and Becca Kasten. Trevor Dassow made his Slinger Super Speedway debut and finished fourth, just ahead of Jeff Graff. Jim Dragich was the fastest qualifier at 12.397 seconds.

Newly crowned track champion Kenny Joosten charged to the win in the 25-lap Midwest Sportsman main event.

Mike Borchardt paced the opening laps over Tom Elsinger, Pat McIntee, and Jay Shambeau as Joosten advanced to fifth place at the completion of the first lap. By lap three, Joosten had worked his way into third place and two laps later, he charged into second with Borchardt continuing to lead. On lap seven, Joosten charged by Borchardt to take command of the race while McIntee and Graczkowski also worked their way forward behind him. As Joosten continued to lead, McIntee raced into second place on lap 14 as Dave Thomas  launched his way into the top five. Two laps later as Thomas was slicing his way forward, he looped his car in turn two and the race remained under the green with Joosten maintaining his lead. Joosten led all the way to the checkered flag, scoring the win while McIntee finished a strong second. Graczkowski crossed the finish line in third place while Borchardt and Tom Elsinger completed the top five finishers.

Mike Borchardt won the first Midwest Sportsman heat race over Tom Elsinger and Mike Graczkowski. Pat McIntee finished fourth and Jay Shambeau was fifth. Jimmie Evans took top honors in the second Midwest Sportsman heat over Dan Church and Andy Haver. David Marshall and Wayne Markkola. Dave Thomas was the fastest qualifier at 12.712 seconds.

Steve Huelsbeck survived an early incident to come back for the victory in the 20-lap Midwest Modified feature.

Huelsbeck and Ron Schmitt led the field to the green flag but both cars tangled together in the first turn, resulting in a complete restart of the event. For the second restart, Huelsbeck charged into the lead over Joey Bentfield and Wes Biswell. Biswell took sole possession of second place on the next lap and began to try to track down Huelsbeck for the lead. The race boiled down to Huelsbeck and Biswell as both enjoyed a sizeable lead over the third place car of Bentfield. Ron Schmitt charged from the back of the pack to move into third place in the final laps. On the last lap, Biswell closed to Huelsbeck’s rear bumper but could not make a challenge as Huelsbeck charged under the checkered flag for the win. Biswell settled for second place followed by Schmitt and Bentfield. Bill Tandetzke finished in fifth place.

Matt Pate held off Tandetzke to win the first eight-lap Midwest Modified heat race as Tim Bell and Eddie Bentfield were third and fourth respectively. Steve Huelsbeck was the winner of the second Midwest Modified heat over Ron Schmitt and Wes Biswell. Joey Bentfield finished in fourth place. Ron Schmitt was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 12.477 seconds.

Aaron Cain took the lead on lap 11 and went on to take the victory in the 18-lap Thunderstock feature over Ryan Gutknecht and Seth Lootans. Troy Martingilio finished fourth and Joel Steffen took the checkered flag in fifth place. Seth Lootans paced qualifying after touring the speedway in 13.630 seconds.

Zach Durham raced to his second consecutive win in the Slinger Bees feature, holding off a hard charging Tanya Manke and C.J. Corallini at the line. Brandon Schwai and Scott Watry rounded out the top five. The event was slowed under the red flag on lap two after a multi-car incident resulted in Michael St. Martin’s car rolling over in turn two. St. Martin was not seriously injured in the incident.

Steve Oswald won the first Speedway Guest Car race and Bill Ostovich was the winner of the second Speedway Guest Car event. Robert Coffey Jr. was the winner of the Spectator Eliminator races and Shane Becker took top honors in the Figure 8 race.

Event: Pepsi Challenge                                                                     Date: Sept. 16, 2007