Bennett Back In Victory Lane After AT&T The Real Yellow Pages, wp.com 60!

[img_assist|nid=240|title=|desc=Lowell Bennett #2 winner of the Super Late Model Feature with his son Braison, winner of the Slinger Bee Feature.|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=154]By Dan Margetta
Slinger, Wis., June 27—Lowell Bennett led the final 33 laps en route to his second consecutive super late model feature victory Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway, holding off Conrad Morgan to win the Yellowpages .com 60.

“This has been one heck of a run here,” Bennett stated from victory lane referring to his win last week coupled with a prior victory on Thursday at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna as well as his son’s first Slinger Bees feature triumph earlier in the evening, “Right now I’m just a pumped, proud, Daddy.”

The field was led to the green flag by Conrad Morgan and Josh Wallace as the race quickly went under the yellow flag on lap one as Fred Winn slid through the infield grass towards turn one. On the restart, Morgan and Wallace began a tough side by side battle for the lead with Morgan leading the first two laps before Wallace was able to edge ahead slightly on the outside. As the leaders remained side by side, Bennett began to challenge Rich Loch and Steve Apel for third. The paint-swapping battle up front between Morgan and Wallace began to intensify as Morgan inched ahead slightly on lap 12 just before the caution flag waved again on lap 13 as Dennis Prunty’s car rolled to a stop in turn three as the result of a flat tire. Prunty headed to the pits during the caution period and returned for the restart, however track officials ruled him a lap down as Morgan and Wallace lined up for the restart with Morgan occupying the inside lane, leaving Wallace in the upper groove. As racing resumed, the fight for the lead picked up once again with Wallace gaining the slight edge on the high side while Bennett took sole possession of third place from Loch who raced just ahead of Apel and David Prunty.

[img_assist|nid=238|title=|desc=The Mountain Outfitters Trike Race Winners. Overall winner was team Pawelski far right.|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=154]As Bennett began to track down the lead duo, all eyes were on the action up front as once again Morgan was able to slip to the inside of Wallace and after several laps of heated side by side racing, moved ahead into the lead on lap 24 with Bennett now right behind them in third. Bennett was able to make the move around Wallace for second place on lap 25 just prior to the field slowing under caution on lap 26 when Cardell Potter tagged the wall at the end of the frontstretch. Morgan chose the inside for the restart with Bennett lined up outside followed by Wallace, Loch, and Apel. Bennett’s car was wound up on the outside and he remained alongside Morgan as racing resumed and when Morgan was unable to clear him off turn two, Bennett had all the momentum he needed as he charged into turn three from the outside to take the lead on lap 27. The caution lights flashed on again two laps later when Austin Luedtke spun in turn one and was collected slightly by Randy Schuler Bennett leading Morgan and Wallace as Loch headed to the pits with power steering issues. Bennett was on his marks on the restart and Morgan was unable to unseat him from the top spot as the race got underway again. Bennett ran the last half of the race relatively unchallenged for the lead as Apel worked his way around Wallace for third place by lap 35. Morgan tried to make a late run at the lead, but came up a few car lengths short as Bennett raced to his second consecutive super late model feature victory, leaving Morgan to settle for second.

[img_assist|nid=241|title=|desc=Fred Winn won the Super Late Model Semi Feature|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=154]“We’ve had a lot of opportunities this summer and we haven’t been able to capitalize on them and I was hoping tonight was going to be the night,” Morgan said afterwards, “I think there at the end of the race, I was gaining on Lowell (Bennett), but who knows, he might have been cruising too.”

Apel took the checkered flag with a solid third place effort followed by Wallace and David Prunty in fourth and fifth place respectively. Tommy Hromadka finished in sixth place ahead of Brad Dahmer and Fred Winn while Scott Schoeni and Randy Schuler rounded out the top ten.

Fred Winn took top honors in the 15-lap super late model semi-feature, holding off Brad Keith and Scott Schoeni for the win. Robert Maynor and Vincent Merry completed the top five finishers. Josh Wallace was the winner of the super late model fast dash and Lowell Bennett added fast qualifier honors to his list of accomplishments on the night after circling the speedway in 11.492 seconds.

John DeAngelis and Pat McIntee led the field to the green flag and DeAngelis led the opening lap before Dassow wasted no time in moving to the front from his third starting spot, briefly taking the top spot on lap 2 just as the caution flag waved when Ryan DeStefano looped around in turn four. DeAngelis was the leader of the last completed green flag lap before the caution and he took the inside lane as the race leader with Dassow lining up alongside in the high line. Dassow was focused on the restart and he was able to keep up momentum on the outside which proved to be enough to grab the lead as racing resumed on lap three. With Dassow out front, DeAngelis battled hard to keep second as Wayne Freimund, Pat McIntee, and Chris Blawat all closed in. Dassow began to pull away from the field as DeAngelis was able to turn back challenges for second as Freimund moved ahead of Blawat and McIntee in third place by lap 15. A lap later, Freimund’s car skated up the track in turn two, nearly collecting McIntee as Blawat charged by into third followed by McIntee and Brad Dahmer as Freimund gathered up his car and the race remained green. Dassow built up a comfortable lead by lap 25 and was well in front of the field when Blawat caught and passed DeAngelis for second place while Dahmer and McIntee raced for third. Behind them, Freimund and Rob Braun banged doors down the backstretch on lap 32 resulting in Braun spinning in turn three where he was solidly collected in the door by Dave McCardle as Steven Schultz’s car was also swept up in the incident as the race was momentarily stopped to remove McCardle’s heavily damaged machine. Dassow’s car was hooked up on the inside and he maintained the lead as racing resumed, charging by Blawat on the inside while exiting turn two for the top spot. There was no catching Dassow over the final three laps and he raced under the checkered flag to score the victory while Blawat crossed the stripe in second. DeAngelis completed his strongest race of the season by edging Dahmer for third at the finish line with McIntee right behind them in fifth.

Jeff Holtz held off a fast closing James Swan to capture the win in the 30-lap Midwest Sportsman main event.

Andy Haver and Jack Stern led the field to the green flag and Haver quickly jumped out to the early lead as Stern’s car got loose in turn four on the opening lap, allowing Holtz to duck by on the inside for second. Haver continued to pace the opening laps over Holtz as Jimmie Evans and Scott Shambeau battled Stern for third with Swan closing in fast on the top five after starting deep in the field. Swan entered the top five on lap ten as Haver maintained a slight lead over Holtz, who wore out Haver’s rear bumper while pressuring him for the lead. The sustained pressure from behind proved to be too much for Haver and his bobble on the exit of turn two opened the door for Holtz to charge by on the inside for the lead on lap 11. As Holtz began to stretch out his advantage, Swan picked off positions, racing by Shambeau and Evans to move to third place by the halfway point. Swan raced his way around Haver for second shortly thereafter and quickly began to close the distance between himself and Holtz, who continued to lead. Swan narrowed the gap to about three car lengths on the final lap, but could not mount a serious charge for the lead as Holtz drove to the victory, his first in the division this season. Swan finished a close second while Haver, Shambeau, and Evans rounded out the top five.

Earlier in the evening, Holtz also won the Midwest Sportsman fast dash while Swan set fast time with a lap of 12.808 seconds.

Al Stippich won the 18-lap Thunderstock feature after a wild finish cost Ryan Farrell his chance at the victory.

Jake Larson led the opening laps as John Daley, Rick Schaefer, Eric Lingford, Ryan Farrell, and Al Stippich all raced in a tight pack for positions behind the leader. With Larson out front, Daley tried to challenge on the inside with Farrell right behind him as Lingford and Stippich worked the high side in a two by two formation. Lingford’s car swung wide entering turn one and as he went up the track to catch the car, both Farrell and Stippich darted to the inside as they charged three wide into the third turn behind Larson and Daley who battled for the lead. Miraculously, Lingford, Farrell, and Stippich survived their three-wide battle through turn four with Farrell grabbing third place ahead of Lingford and Stippich as Larson continued to lead over Daley. Farrell was able to edge to the inside of Daley for second place just prior to the caution waving for a spin by Nathan Fick in turn four. Larson chose the outside line for the restart and after several side by side laps, Farrell was able to prevail for the lead on the inside, leaving Larson to race with Stippich and Daley for third. With two laps to go, Stippich made in an impressive move in turn three as he charged around Daley on the outside and then dove to the inside of Larson to pick up two spots in the corner and move into second place behind Farrell. The move paid off a lap later when Farrell experienced a mechanical issue heading into turn one while leading on the final lap, losing a tire before sailing into the pits and handing the lead over to Stippich. Stippich won the feature followed by Jake Larson as Ken Scraufnagel nipped Daley at the line for third with Lingford finishing fifth.

Ryan Farrell took top honors in the Thunderstock fast dash and Al Stippich topped qualifying after touring the speedway in 13.624 seconds.

Braison Bennett used the inside groove to take the lead in the closing laps and went on to score his first feature victory in the Slinger Bees 16-lap main event. Nick Wagner finished in second place followed by Mark Johler, Alex Prunty, and Erik Long in third through fifth place respectively. Karl Gebhard won the Slinger Bees semi-feature over Zach Clarke and Ryan Lovald. Jeff Wolfe finished fourth and Jeremy Esser was fifth. Erik Long was the Slinger Bees fastest qualifier with a lap of 15.661 seconds.

Brian Smail won the Speedway Guest Car event and C.J. Corallini topped the Spectator Eliminator races in his Chevy Cobalt. Jack Sutherland topped a field of six school busses to win the School Bus Figure 8 race while the regular Figure 8 event was won by Shane Becker.