Lightning Strikes Twice, Bennett Wins Second Of 2009 At Slinger Super Speedway

By John Wiedemann May 24, 2009
Slinger, WI – Lightning struck before the thunder as Lowell Bennett won the E.H.. Wolf & Sons Memorial Day Special feature at prior to the huge fireworks show on Sunday night. The victory was Bennett’s second during the early 2009 season at Slinger Super Speedway. Bennett took command a third of the way through the eighty lap feature and held off a hard charging Eric Fransen on his way to victory lane.

[img_assist|nid=14|title=|desc=Al Graf Photos – lepak had fast time in super lates.|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=146]“I had to work for that one, those boys were pretty quick behind me”, commented a happy Bennett in victory lane. “What an awesome show for the fans here. It just feels awesome.”

Jon Reynolds led the Super Late Model field to the green but was quickly overtaken by Tommy Hromadka for the top spot. More trouble would find Reynolds as he spun after getting together with Rich Loch, bringing out the first caution and sending them both to the back of the pack. David Prunty moved into the top spot on the restart with Dale Prunty and Bennett following closely behind. Bennett made his charge to the front, moving into the second on lap thirteen and then grabbing the lead with an inside drive past David Prunty on the twenty seventh lap.

[img_assist|nid=15|title=|desc=lates fast time wascorey funk.|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=146]The field ran under green for the next thirty laps with Bennett and Prunty leading Fransen and Jeremy Lepak through traffic and away from the rest of the field. Fransen raced underneath David Prunty to take over second just after the halfway point with the top four putting a half lap between themselves and fifth place. With twenty laps remaining in the feature, the caution flag flew again when Hromadka spun off the second turn. On the resulting restart, Lepak assumed the third spot driving by David Prunty on the outside. Four laps remained in the race when the final caution was displayed. Race McComb spun on the front straight and the racecars of Hromadka, Dale Prunty, Reynolds and last week’s winner Jamie Wallace all were involved in the melee. Fransen slipped through turn two on the restart and was forced to chase Bennett the final four laps to the checkers.

[img_assist|nid=21|title=|desc=mod #6 ron schmitt|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=146]The victory was the second for Bennett in the last three races at Slinger but this time there was a little added pressure. “This last week has been just awesome for Bennett motorsports, a week ago my little girl won in the junior dragster, and Saturday my boy won with his junior dragster. He said Dad, it’s your turn. We did that, and a big thanks to my crew, they did one fabulous job tonight.”

Second place finisher Fransen complemented the winner, “He’s hard to beat, he was awfully fast down the straightaway. I’m very happy to finish second and have the car mostly in one piece. If that last caution hadn’t come out, we would have had a better chance to get by Lowell. But he was fast, he always is.”

[img_assist|nid=22|title=|desc=thunderstock fast time was #5 arron cain.|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=146]Mike Strupp seemingly came out of nowhere to finish third, taking full advantage of the last two cautions to improve his finsh. “We got taken to the back at the start of the race and we had to run on the outside,” explained Strupp. “The car was really good on the outside and that’s where we passed most of the cars.”

Chris Blawat used the outside groove to his advantage and jumped to the lead at the drop of the green in the Late Model feature. Just one caution slowed the contest when front runners Dave McCardle and Rob Braun got together sending Braun spinning throught the first turn and McCardle into the wall. Braun was able to continue but point leader McCardle was done for the evening. Blawat resumed the lead on the restart and ran at the point for the remainder of the race. Scott Ascher mounted a challenge with five laps remaining but would have to settle for second at the finish. Brad Keith, Trevor Dassow and Steve Apel rounded out the top five.

[img_assist|nid=24|title=|desc=mod #94 winner of the mod feature steve schultz.|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=146]The closest finish of the night award went to the Thunder Stocks. Rick Schafter led the final half of the feature race, but at the finish line he found himself in the middle of a sandwich. Troy Martingilio took the outside lane out of turn four and Jerry Kulas Jr grabbed the inside leaving Schafter in the middle as the three raced to the checkers. The crossed the finish line mostly side by side with Martingilio taking the win and Schafter nipping Kulas for second.

Bobby Giers worked hard for five laps to wrestle the lead away from Mike Borchardt Jr in the Midwest Sportsman feature event. After taking the top spot on lap nine, Giers would not be denied and led the rest of the race to take the checkers. The race was slowed twice for cautions and Ken Joosten was caught up in both of them. Joosten was able to rebound and receive some consolation later, taking the win in the Mountain Outfitters Trike Race.

Bill Tandetzke led most of the Sport Mod feature until he got caught up with a lapped car, the result leaving him spun out of the race. Steven Schultz had been working his way through the pack and just priot to Tandetzke’s spin had taken over second. Once he inheritied the lead, Schultz was not going to give it up and took the win. Tim Bell and Eddie Bentfield finished second and third..

[img_assist|nid=27|title=|desc=sportsmen feature wreck in turn three.|link=none|align=right|width=220|height=146]The Slinger Bees feature race included a first time winner and everyone finishing on the lead lap. John DeAngelis stormed through the pack from his sixth place start and took over the lead on the fourth lap of the race. Erik Long also made a charge from the back of the pack, but it was first time winner DeAngelis taking the checkers. Long crossed the line in second followed by Brandon Tackes and Katie DeStefano.

Dan Conner won the Westbury Bank Speedway Guest Car race and Scott Goetzke prevailed in the Figure 8 event.