Slinger Speedway Honors 2008 Champions
Bennett, Reynolds, Holtz, Schulz, Goetzke, Stippich, Schraufnagel

(Slinger, WI) January 10, 2009 - Slinger Speedway completed its 61st year of racing during the 2008 season and the annual awards festivities capped off another successful campaign for the Worlds Fastest Quarter Mile Oval.  The Awards Ceremony took place Saturday evening January 10th 2009 at The Chandelier Ballroom in Hartford with 450 guests attending the event.   Dinner was catered by Leroy Meats of Horicon and preceded the awards ceremony while DJ Express provided entertainment after all the cash and hardware was handed out.  

Heading the list of award recipients was Late Model Champion and now five time Slinger Speedway Late Model Champion, Lowell Bennett.  Bennett has tied Al Schill with five Slinger Speedway Championships.  Al Schill won five in a row from 1984 through 1988. Conrad Morgan still tops the list with six Late Model Championships; Morgan’s last title was in 1999.

Other champions receiving accolades were: Limited Late Model – Jon Reynolds Jr, Midwest Sportsman – Jeff Holtz, Midwest Modified – Steven Schulz, Figure 8 – Scott Goetzke, Thunderstock – Al Stippich, and Slinger Bee – Ken Schraufnagel.  The Late Model Rookie of the Year Award went to Jeff Way; Limited Late Model Rookie of the Year was Trevor Dassow, Suburban Motors HD Rookie of the Year was Justin Okruhlica, and the Slinger Bee Rookie of the year was Brandon Tackes. 

Lowell Bennett led the Late Model division leading 13 top fives and 16 top tens, picking up 3 feature wins along the way. He won: The Miller Lite 120, The Reunion Night 60, The Enders Construction Design 2 Construct 75, U.S. Army 75, Keith’s Marina 85, Transport Services 65.  Bennett also set fast time on 1 occasion and picked up the Pepsi Challenge Championship.  Bennett drove the PMF Landscaping, Luedtke & Associates, Principal Funds, Toyota Camry to his fifth championship.  The Late Model runner up is the defending champion David Prunty followed by Mike Strupp, Nick Schumacher, and Dale Prunty, rounded out the top five.  

Jeff Way took home the 2008 Rookie of the Year honors by finishing in the top ten 3 times and had 1 semi feature win in his first full year of running a late model on the high banks of the World’s Fastest 1/4 Mile Oval. Jeff drove the #68 Metro Milwaukee Auto Auction, www.hallbikes.com, Motor Sport Auto Sales, Monte Carlo.  

Driving the Lucas Oil, Generac Power Systems, Penalty Box Chevy number 45, Steven Schulz won the championship in the Suburban Motors Harley Davidson Modified Division.  Steven simply won all with eight Suburban Motors HD MOD Features and set fast time all seven nights the MODs qualified.  Steven was the class of the field.  Ron Schmitt took runner up honors in the modified division with Matt Pate, Joey Bentfield, and Bill Tandetzke rounding out the top five.

Jeff Holtz claimed the 2008 Midwest Sportsman Championship leading the division in top 5’s with 15!  He also collected 3 feature wins and one fast time on his way to the title. Jeff drove the Lannon Auto Sales, Greater Milwaukee Auto Auction Chevy.  Mike Graczkowski, finished second in the Midwest Sportsman Division and the rest of the top five are Dave Thomas, Kenny Joosten, and Mike Borchardt.   

Jon Reynolds Jr. successfully defended his 2007 Limited Late Model title but it wasn’t quite as easy in 2008!   With seventeen top tens, eleven top fives and two feature wins he was about even with runner up Steve Apel.  The difference in 2008 was the ten fast times Jon collected throughout the season making the difference for him to secure back-to-back championships. Jon drove his fathers Ellison Technologies, Rock Valley Industrial, Lefthander Impala.   Rounding out the top five was Steve Apel, Rob Braun, Chris Blawat, and Chris Ratajczyk.

The 2008 Figure 8 Champion is Scott Goetzke.  He was another of our 2007 Champions that successfully defend his title. During the 2008 season He racked up 5 feature wins along with 15 top fives, while finishing 2nd 7 times!  Runner up was Shane “The Shark” Becker, with Justin Poenitsch, in third, Rick Bruskiewicz in fourth, and “BATMAN” Jason Sharpe in fifth.

The 2008 Thunderstock Championship honors went to Al Stippich. Stippich has a division leading 16 top fives and also took home 7 feature wins.  He won a hard fought points battle, with runner up Aaron Cain driving the Keith’s Marina, Goeman’s Rapid Mart, and Coachwork Auto Body Chevy.  Jim Bentzler finished third while Bernie Leonard, and Ryan Farrell rounded out the top five.

Ken Schraufnagel took home the top honors in the Slinger Bee division with a division leading six wins and sixteen top five finishes.  Eric Long took second while Brandon Tackes, Mike Lang, and Derrik Hoerig rounded out the top five.  

On behalf of track owner-promoter Wayne Erickson, and the entire staff Slinger Speedway would like to thank everyone that has been a part of the success the track enjoyed in 2008 - especially the many fans, teams, and sponsors.  We are all looking forward to success in 2009!