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Lake
Geneva Raceway presents
Round and Around by Fay Hendricks |
Upcoming Events at Lake Geneva
Raceway:
Next week: Friday, Sept. 9, Tour of Destruction. Saturday, Sept. 10, Regular Program with
Super Late Models, Super Stocks Legends, and Bandoleros |
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| Round
and Around: By Fay Hendricks |
| The following is a column
written by Fay Hendricks for The Checkered Flag Racing News. This race publication began
in 1968 and ceased operations as of July 13, 2005. The wife of 7-time sportsman and mini
stock champion Jim Hendricks, Fay has been writing since 1981. As a way to allow readers
to continue following the travels of Fay Hendricks around several venues, Lake Geneva
Raceway owner-promoter Kevin Dawson has decided to offer the columns here. We hope you
enjoy the reading. |
September 3, 2005 -
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This year’s Labor Day weekend is a rare one, with no rain in sight for the first time
in years. This helped pad the seats at our short tracks, since the recent gas gouging has
hurt us all. But we, at least, are still in our homes, unlike all those who were hit by
hurricane Katrina. Our hearts are with them and their loved ones as the season’s
point championships are coming to the end around our area.
Slinger Speedway’s championships will be finalized next Sunday. This week’s
fireworks show was an added bonus to a very full program for the holiday crowd. The
big-dollar contest for the Midwest Sportsman field, dubbed The Legend, posted the
winner’s share at $3,000. This brought many first-time competitors to Slinger’s
high banks. At the same time, there was a points contest for the Mid-American Stock Cars
in another state. Many of these drivers are in that group as well, but point leader Bill
Prietzel arrived as a spectator and Ronnie Weyer wasn‘t worried about his top ten
status while racing at Slinger.
With over 30 entries, Weyer topped the four who transferred from the semi, but ended up on
his roof to bring out the first red flag of the evening. Weyer is one of those who wear a
head and neck restraint system, and he walked away unhurt. This happened just as Jeff
Tisler had taken the lead from Keith Sterkowitz, but it was cancelled when scoring went
back to the previous lap. Another caution came just after Dave Thomas took over, and if
the contest were five laps shorter, he could have been the winner. But Kenny Joosten was
on a mission, coming from mid-field to win the 60-lap race. He also owns the car driven by
point leader James Swan, who joined him on the frontstretch spinning team donuts before
nosing the two mounts in a vehicular head-butt of sorts. Joosten told the crowd, “We
got shoved to the back. The car is just awesome,” adding , “It’s a great
season overall.”
The holiday weekend gave others the idea to try Slinger’s high banks for the first
time, with 155 racers and 14 spectators joining the activities in eight fields. The late
model field began with repeat champion Brad Mueller fastest of over 45 entries, and ended
with “bridesmaid” David Prunty snaring another feature win. Prunty had already
conceded his chance at another track title before taking his fifth feature of the year,
telling the audience, “It’s hard to believe we were just about to cut the car
apart with a torch. Maybe we’ll save it now”. The 100-lap contest was slowed
three times, the last when Austin Konetski’s brakes failed, his car rode up the wall
and overturned. He, too, climbed from his car unhurt, and the full house applauded.
The modified field began with 16 entries, reduced as the night went on. Dale Prunty’s
car suddenly slowed in warmup laps, resulting in contact that ended Russ Moberly’s
night before the feature. A repeat of this came before the opening lap was complete, and
two more cautions were needed before the 25 circuits were complete. Steven Schultz stayed
ahead of all the mayhem to the end, padding his point total to rival defending champion
Prunty for the title this year. This Prunty brother had told your scribe that he plans to
leave this division for perhaps a late model, but still has to finish this year’s
shows.
The Thunder Stock race was going well for Les Wiedenhoeft, leading the field until his
mount spun to the wall and a wheel left him stranded. The driver was the third to receive
the audience’s applause after emerging from his mount unhurt. The ensuing four
circuits ended with another win for Rick Schaefer in the track‘s new division. The
Slinger Bees had a pair of contests for beginners, nearly 40 strong. Practice does pay
off, as the same names seem to end up at the front each week. This night it was Ryan
Zielske and Scott Bundy surviving the errant little mounts to the end.
The Figure 8 finale began with a whopping ten entries, reduced by half when the leader was
hit before midway in the contest. One car was able to rejoin the field for the rest of the
way, as Scott Goetzke notched another win for the year. It was after 11:00 when the final
flag was displayed, yet swarms of fans walked to the pits to visit with their favorite
drivers. One can almost feel the finality of autumn in the air. |
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