BENNETT WINS SECOND OF YEAR IN UEMSI REUNION NIGHT 75!!!
By Dan Margetta

(Slinger, WI) June 17—Lowell Bennett captured his second late model feature win of the season Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway, holding off David Prunty to win the UEMSI Reunion Night 75.

“I watched him (Prunty) back there,” Bennett explained later, alluding to Prunty beginning to close the gap to the lead late in the going. “I’ve got my hands full trying to beat him this year, but it was a fun night.”

Bennett jumped into the lead from the outside of the front row at the start while Matt Kocourek and Dale Prunty battled over second. Prunty held tough on the outside and slid in front of Kocourek for second by lap ten while Gary LaMonte and Al Schill raced in fourth and fifth place respectively. The caution flag flew on lap 16 when Nick Hammer looped his car in turn one, allowing Prunty and Kocourek to close on Bennett for the lead. Bennett was up to the task on the restart and once again eased ahead as Prunty again held off Kocourek for second. Behind the top three, Schill used the inside to grab fourth place from LaMonte and Collin Bamke followed suit to take fifth as LaMonte became caught on the high side.

The field settled down in the middle stages with the top five remaining relatively unchanged while David Prunty gradually worked his way forward into the sixth position by lap 40. Mike Strupp suddenly slowed while exiting turn two on lap 44 while running in the top ten and the ensuing traffic jam behind him caught up Josh Bauer, sending his car into the wall on the backstretch to bring out the caution. This time as the green appeared, it was Prunty who made a significant gain on the outside, moving from sixth to third while Bennett continued to lead. By lap 60, David Prunty again used the outside to slip by Dale Prunty for second and began to try to erase Bennett’s lead. While Prunty chased Bennett, Nick Schumacher also found life on the outside and he marched ahead to secure the third spot with five laps to go. Bennett was able to maintain his lead all the way to the checkered flag to pick up his second feature win of the season. David Prunty finished a strong second while Schumacher, Dale Prunty, and Schill rounded out the top five.

Mike Meyerhofer picked up his first Slinger Super Speedway win by taking top honors in the 30-lap late model semi-feature. Florian Wisinski was second ahead of Scott Schoeni, Chris Carlson, and Randy Schuler. Al Schill was the winner of the late model fast dash and Collin Bamke was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 11.540 seconds.

Dan Jung took the lead from Tyler James while working lapped traffic and went on to win the 35-lap limited late model feature.

James paced the field at the start over Andy Wendt and Corey Funk as Jung, Chris Ratajczyk, Ryan DeStefano, and Jerry Eckhardt battled behind them. At the completion of the first lap, contact between Eckhardt and DeStefano triggered a multi-car incident in turn one that also caught up Dan Bowe and Scott Apel as the event quickly fell under the yellow flag. James once again led as racing resumed with Wendt glued to his rear bumper while Funk tried hard to hold back Ratajczyk and Jung. As Wendt  remained stuck to James’ bumper, the action heated up behind them as Funk’s car kicked loose exiting turn four and he spun into the infield as Ratajczyk and Jung raced by. The race stayed under the green flag and Wendt began to pressure James hard for the top spot, using several light taps to try to get position on the inside lane. As the laps wound down, Jung and Ratajczyk took to the high groove and moved alongside James and Wendt in two-by-two formation for the  top four spots. James held his ground on the inside and both he and Jung remained door to door for several laps until the leaders began to approach lapped traffic. With six laps to go, Jung was able to take command of the race as James became picked behind a lapped car. Once out front, Jung streaked ahead to take the win over James and Ratajczyk while Wendt and Jon Reynolds Jr. completed the top five.

Dave McCardle took the victory in the limited late model fast dash and Reynolds Jr. was the fastest qualifier at 12.389 seconds.

Pat McIntee scored the win in the 30-lap Midwest Sportsman feature after prevailing in a tight four car battle for the victory.

Brothers Jay and Scott Shambeau fought over the top spot at the start as the caution flag quickly fell over the field on lap two when Becca Kasten, Shawn Hoefler, and Eric Schuetz tangled in turn three. Scott Shambeau launched into the lead on the restart as Mike Graczkowski, McIntee, and Kenny Joosten moved up to challenge for the top spots. By lap ten, the four-car tandem of Shambeau, Graczkowski, McIntee, and Joosten mixed it up for the lead with Graczkowski and Joosten using the upper groove and Shambeau and McIntee working the low side. Graczkowski slipped a bit off turn four on lap 12 and as he caught the car, Joosten slowed momentarily and he pinballed back two spots as Bobby Giers and Jay Shambeau worked their way by. In the late stages, the top five cars were all in contention for the win as Scott Shambeau barely led over McIntee and Graczkowski while Jay Shambeau and Joosten remained close behind. A quick spin by Shawn Hoefler in turn four on lap 27 set up a three lap dash for the win with Scott Shambeau lining up to the inside of McIntee as racing resumed. McIntee worked the top side perfectly and with two laps to go, used the outside groove to clear Shambeau for the lead exiting turn two. McIntee was then able to hold off any challenges as he scored the win over Scott Shambeau while Graczkowski, Joosten and Jay Shambeau rounded out the top five finishers.

Earlier in the evening, Graczkowski raced to victory in the Midwest Sportsman fast dash and Joosten paced qualifying at 12.775 seconds.

Bill Tandetzke survived a wild 25-lap Midwest Modified feature event to capture his first career Slinger Speedway main event.

Joey Bentfield, Ron Schmitt, Chuck Eberhardt, and Steve Huelsbeck all raced hard for the lead at the start as neither the inside lane or the outside groove proved to be advantageous. On lap three, Schmitt glanced off the frontstretch wall and as he slowed entering turn one, his car was drilled from behind by Eddie Bentfield while simultaneously Eberhardt and Huelsbeck collected each other on the backstretch causing the caution flag to fly early. Joey Bentfield led back to the green flag, but second place Wes Biswell and third running Steve Schulz rapidly raced around to take over the top two spots. Biswell and Schulz battled intensely for the lead as Tandetzke was able to race his way into third place. The tough battle for the lead continued following a quick caution on lap eight for a tangle involving Joel Osterman and Russ Moberly with Schulz keeping the heat on Biswell for the lead. The hard racing up front boiled over on lap 11 as Schulz and Biswell bounced off each other one too many times and both drivers spun to the infield while Tandetzke raced by to take the top spot. Tandetzke was never headed during the final laps and he charged to the win while Joel Houpt crossed the finish line in second place. Joey Bentfield finished in third place while Biswell recovered to finish fourth. Matt Pate took the checkered flag in fifth place.

In earlier events, Chuck Eberhardt took top honors in the Midwest Modified fast dash and Biswell was the fastest qualifier after touring the speedway in 12.517 seconds.

Al Stippich claimed a hard fought victory in the 18-lap Thunderstock feature event over Paul Konieczny and Dave Edwards.

Troy Martingilio led the first four laps before Seth Lootans rocketed his way through the pack to take the lead, bringing Konieczny and Stippich along with him and into second and third respectively. Three laps later, Lootans became trapped by a lapped machine exiting the speedway that forced him to slow as Konieczny drove by to take the lead. Konieczny and Stippich swapped the lead numerous times in the closing laps as they raced side by side around the track. At the stripe, Stippich was able to edge ahead to take the win over Konieczny while Dave Edwards advanced from his twelfth place starting spot to finish third while Lootans and Aaron Cain were fourth and fifth respectively. Lootans also set fast time at 13.883 seconds.

Jared Apel motored around Brandon Wolf on lap six and raced to the win in the 16-lap Slinger Bees event. Zach Durham finished in third place while Jason Hennes and Shawn Gavin rounded out the top five. C.J. Corallini was the fastest qualifier after turning in a lap of 16.349 seconds.

Paul Witte was the winner of the Speedway Guest Car event and Brian Burkhardt took the win in the rollover contest. Carl Trapp drove his Chevy Nova to victory in the Spectator Eliminator races and Scott Goetzke closed the night by capturing the victory in the Figure 8 race.

 

Event: UEMSI Reunion 75                                                   Date: June 17, 2007