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2006 Results
(11/05/06)All American 400; Music City Motorplex; Nashville, TN; In Friday’s 2nd practice session, Josh was 12th fastest out of 77 cars. That’s very impressive considering it was his first time on this track! The team put old tires back on the car for the rest of the practice session while Josh made laps to get a feel for the track. In Saturday’s qualifying session, Josh made the field with a 23rd place time. This allowed the team the opportunity to relax a little and watch the last-chance races. Sunday’s race showed Josh in his typical race form….picking his way to the front! He was as high as 5th place before fresher tires on the other cars pushed him back to a 9th place finish. In addition, his aggressive racing and skilled maneuvers resulted in Josh and his sponsor, Cardinal Fabricating, being mentioned several times on the internet broadcast of the race. First time at Nashville + 77 competitive racers = 9th place – a very successful trip!
(10/06/06) - La Crosse Oktoberfest - Josh qualified 8th in the final touring series race ever. With the invert, he started on the pole and led the first 12 laps! An extremely loose car resulted in him falling back in the pack. During a lap 74 caution, Josh came into the pits where 4 pounds of air was taken out. This made the car driveable again and Josh started picking his way through the field before a flat right front on lap 108 forced him to pit again. Back on the track Josh started flying, despite being 4 laps down. Near the end of the race, he even passed the 5th place car! The final result was a 14th place finish.
(10/01/06) Lake Geneva Fall Classic- After just missing qualifying for the feature on time on Saturday, Josh had to finish in the top 4 in Sunday's last-chance race. At first things didn't look good as Josh started 7th and the pack stayed very bunched up. However, he showed a great deal of patience and when an opening came he was ready. He finished 4th, just ahead of Mike Egan (another Slinger driver). Starting 2nd last (23rd) in the feature, Josh was methodically working his way to the front. He was up to 15th before the engine blew on lap 49.
(09/10/06) Slinger - Another rainout ends the season at Slinger. A driver vote determined that an extra points week would not be added to the season.
(09/03/06) Slinger Port-A-John 100 - Quick as usual in qualifying, Josh was 3rd fastest with an 11.430. During the dash he battled a tight car and ended up 6th. Going to the opposite extreme, Josh fought a very loose car during the feature and finished 17th. While the past 2 weeks have been disappointing, Josh has been able to maintain 4th place in the championship points and 1st place in the rookie standings!
(08/27/06) Double Duty! Wisconsin Challenge Series at Milwaukee Mile: Out of 68 cars that attempted to qualify, Josh was 16th fastest. During the feature, he worked his way up to 6th, before the battery went dead, causing the car to miss. A 14th place finish was the result. The crew then quickly packed up and headed for Slinger, where they had to change the car's setup. Josh had another quick run, qualifying 2nd (11.471). Starting on the inside of the last row in the Fast Dash, Josh used the laps to feel the car out as he didn't run any practice laps. In the feature, Josh fell back early but then worked his way back through the field. Commenting that the car was "tight in the middle", he still pulled out a 6th place finish. A short time later, he returned to the track for the Race of Champions. By then the car was extremely tight. After falling to the back of the 12-car pack, Josh decided to pull off the track and end the night.
(08/20/06) Slinger Sno-Way Snow & Ice Control Equipment 60 - For the first time in a long time, Josh did not qualify for the Fast Dash. He did, however, easily make the feature, qualifying 8th with an 11.490. Starting in the 2nd row outside, the night quickly took a bad turn as Josh got into Gary Lamonte in turns 1 & 2 on the 2nd lap. The ensuing chaos left several cars with damage. Starting at the back of the field on the restart, Josh carefully worked his way up to a 5th place finish in the crash-riddled feature. Following the race, Josh apologized to each of the drivers whose nights were altered by that early caution.
(08/13/06) Slinger Pepsi Challenge Round 3 - As has become routine, Josh had a great qualifying run, coming in 3rd (11.419). After contact with John Mueller in the Fast Dash, Josh backed off and rode to a 6th place finish. In the 100 lap feature, Josh battled a tight car to a solid 5th place finish. Exhaustion from the long road trip led to the team packing up and leaving the track early.
(08/13/06) Road trip update: We left Slinger last Tuesday anxious to race the touring cars at both Nashville and Greenville, SC. Unfortunately, the hauler had some injector problems on the way down and the wait for the part prevented us from making Nashville. Not to be deterred, we left Indianapolis (where we had spent the previous 29 hours), and pushed on toward Greenville. Setups on Josh and George's cars were done in the hotel parking lot on Friday and we were ready to race! Unfortunately, rain resulted in Nascar postponing the race until September. We left the track around 1:00 and figured at least we could get home and catch a few hours of sleep before we had to get ready for Slinger. That wasn't to be either. Tragic accidents caused traffic delays in North Carolina/Tennessee (1 1/2 hours) and Indianapolis (3 1/2 hours). Hopefully Slinger tonight will have a better result. Tonight's race is the final round (#3) of the Pepsi Challenge. Dennis Prunty leads the Challenge, followed by David Prunty and Josh tied for 2nd just two points behind.
(08/06/06) Slinger Great Lakes Underground Equipment 65 -Another great qualifying effort by Josh! He was 2nd fastest, thus started the Fast Dash on the inside of the 3rd row. After a tight race, Josh finished 4th. Due to last week's victory, he then started the feature in 10th. On lap 10, contact with Travis Dassow sent him to the back of the field. However, Josh showed his talent by picking off the cars one-by-one in an exciting race to watch! When it was all over, he had driven himself to a 6th place finish.
(08/01/06) August is going to be a busy month for the GTR Motorsports team! In addition to the regular Sunday schedule at Slinger, both Josh and George will race Nascar Elite races at Nashville, Greenville (SC), and Erie (CO). On top of that, Josh plans to run the ASA Late Model and WI Challenge Series races at Milwaukee Mile. The fun will begin next Sunday at Slinger with the UEMSI-GLUE 65. Then on Monday, Josh will be a guest on the Racing Roundup radio show broadcasting from Monreal's El Matador on 92nd and Greenfield. Tuesday will find part of the team loading up for Nashville and Greenville. Josh will fly home Sunday and join the rest of the team members at Slinger for round 3 of the Pepsi Challenge.
(07/30/06) Slinger-PPC Night-Wayne Erickson's 30th Anniversary - Josh qualified 5th, starting the dash on the outside front row. He led the field to victory, which ended up being just a precursor to the night!! Starting the feature on the outside 3rd row, Josh battled side-by-side with Nick Schumacher for several laps before completing the pass. After a caution that continued Conrad Morgan's unlucky season, Josh passed Tommy Pecaro, Chad Barker, and Dennis Prunty to gain the lead on lap 40. While there were some tense moments, he was able to hold the lead through lap 70 for his FIRST LATE MODEL FEATURE WIN!!! Lowell Bennett made a strong charge for the win, but Josh was able to hold the veteran off. In Josh's victory lane interview, he congratulated Wayne Erickson on his anniversary, thanked race sponsor PPC and also expressed his regret that Brad Mueller was not there. Brad has been an integral part in Josh's racing career, and his presence is missed at the track.
(07/23/06) Slinger-Ritter/Parker Store 75 - Once again Josh qualified well! He was 5th fastest (11.453), and started on the outside pole of the Fast Dash. After an exciting side-by-side battle with Dennis Prunty, Josh finished where he started...2nd. During the feature, Josh was running well, but was held up by a line of slower cars in front of him. On lap 37, Lowell Bennett's motor blew, spilling liquid on the track. Josh went high to avoid it; unfortunately so did the car under him. The resulting hit against the turn 4 wall broke "pretty much everything" on the right front according to Luedtke. Josh's night was over, leaving him with a 19th place finish.
(07/18/06) Slinger Nationals - An excellent turnout finds 52 late models vying for 18 starting positions based on time. Josh lights it up, qualifying 2nd with an 11.395, just .002 seconds slower than veteran Lowell Bennett's fast time! This gives Josh the honor of doing a parade lap with the American flag prior to the racing events of the evening. The feature finds a lot of banging, leaving Josh to head for the pits during a caution to get the front right cleaned up a bit. Special thanks go to Al & Gwen Schill as they allowed us to use their tools and trailer to get the car track-ready in a hurry! Despite the front and back of the car being damaged, Josh works his way up to an 8th place finish. Josh was interviewed on Monday for a pre-Nationals article in the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel so they could present the perspective of a younger driver. In addition, he was a call-in guest on the "Racing Roundup" radio show on Monday night.
(07/16/06) Slinger-e85 Night - The qualifying keeps getting better as Josh runs 2nd fast with an 11.456. His 4th Fast Dash of his rookie season finds him finishing in 6th. The feature went better as Josh fights his way to another 3rd place finish! Most importantly, the car leaves the track in good shape for Tuesday's Nationals!
(07/14/06) Raceway Park; Shakopee, MN - NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division - Midwest Series—The team traveled to Minnesota with both the #01 (Josh Bauer) and the #10 (George Prentice) cars. Stating that it was "the best handling car I've had in this series", Josh qualified a strong 6th, just .06 slower than the pole sitter. After an 8 car invert, Josh started 2nd row inside and expectations were high! Unfortunately, the outside line had trouble and collected Josh in the melee. With a flat tire and broken right rocker arm, Josh was done for the day. George did a great job avoiding the many wrecks before hitting the backstretch wall on lap 78. The next race for the touring series will be Wednesday, August 12th in Nashville, a combination race with the Southeast Series.
(07/09/06) Slinger-Pepsi Challenge Round 2 - This is a special race day, as Josh will be donating his winnings to the American Heart Society as part of the Donny "Falcoon" Wolf Memorial Ride. Wolf, a close friend of John Luedtke's, passed away in 2003 at the age of 37 as the result of a heart attack. The ride this year is being organized by Luedtke and Johnny Hammen. Josh wanted to do his part so he offered to donate his winnings from Slinger the day after the ride! This generosity along with his impressive performance on the track so far this year earned Josh the "Driver of the Week" distinction at Slinger! Articles about his donation appeared in The Daily News (West Bend), The Sounder (Random Lake), and Midwest Racing News. In addition, Josh was a call-in guest on "The Todd & Eddie Show" this morning. Qualifying went well with an 11.510 earning him 3rd place and a 3rd appearance in the Fast Dash, where he finished 6th. The "3's" theme carried through the night as Josh finished 3rd overall resulting in a $684 donation to the American Heart Society. Shawn Roethle (#53 late model), Troy Weich (#49 Sportsman), and Dean Olla (#02 Sportsman) all stepped up and donated their winnings as well! In addition, John Pellman (former late model #94) and Nelson Racing (#72 late model) gave monetary donations. The past two weeks, the fans were also asked to participate by "filling the helmet" in Josh's pit after the race. At the end of the night, we were able to give $1,147 to the American Heart Society! Thanks to everyone who participated!
(07/02/06) Slinger-Keith's Marina 85 - This past week was a very busy one at the shop! Not only was the Slinger race a big one this weekend, but it was also Sponsor Appreciation Night for the team! VIP Suite 2 was going to be filled with representatives from our great sponsors, including Cardinal Fabricating, Akzo Nobel, Poblocki Sign, B&B Racing Engines, C/W's Place, Fox Welding Supply, Hott Tee's Screenprinting, Johnny's Lounge, Pick's Pub, and Wilkes Plumbing! In addition, the Akzo Nobel sponsored NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division Series #01 car was going to be on display at the track. Finally, George Prentice planned to run the #10 touring car at the track as well. Josh kept his supporters on the edge of their seat right from the start, finishing qualifying on the bubble in 18th (11.577). Fellow rookie competitor Gary Lamonte arrives at the track without his car due to a bad wreck last week. He's offered the #10 car, but ends up unable to run it. An early bump in the feature leaves the right side of Josh's hood kinked. Despite not being able to see the wall, Josh adds to the excitement of the night by passing Al Schill on lap 70 for 3rd place. Another strong performance is topped off by the best fireworks in the area!
(06/25/06) Slinger-Berres Brothers 70 - Slower in qualifying - 17th (11.501), but a better finish this week - 8th. Josh continues to lead the rookie-of-the-year standings and that first win is sure to come soon!
(06/18/06) A tornado in Hartford takes the power out at the track resulting in the night's cancellation.
(06/11/06) Slinger-Enders Construction/Design to Construct 75 - Another good qualifying run for the rookie at 11.400 (6th place). That puts Josh in the Fast Dash again, but he leaves the track early, resulting in a 6th place finish. The night doesn't get better as Josh starts 5th in the feature, but falls to a 17th place finish. Fellow rookie-of-the-year competitor Collin Bamke wins the race - CONGRATULATIONS to Collin!
(06/04/06) Slinger-Pepsi Challenge Round 1 - Josh qualified 6th (11.478), making his first Fast Dash of the year and going on to win it! His strong night continued as he led 14 laps of the feature before being passed by veterans Al Schill and Lowell Bennett, finishing 3rd.
(06/03/06) Colorado National Speedway, Erie, CO - NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division - Midwest Series - After just 21 laps, Josh's car had motor trouble. He was left with an 32nd place finish (18th of the Midwest drivers). Due to a large number of racers qualifying in this combination Midwest/Southwest race, George was unable to make the field.
(05/28/06) Slinger-E.H. Wolf & Sons 80 - Qualifying 11th (11.621), Josh ran as high as 5th before finishing in 12th.
(05/21/06) Slinger-Bob Fish Alan Kulwicki Memorial - Josh qualifies 21st (11.576), resulting in the need to finish in the top two in the semi-feature in order to run the feature. In a fun race to watch, Josh flys to victory! Starting at the back of the feature, he finishes a respectable 7th. His awesome driving tonight earns him the "Old Wisconsin Hot Dog of the Race Award"!
(05/14/06) Another rain out at Slinger - Happy Mother's Day!
(05/07/06) Slinger-Eden Meat Market 65 - Josh qualified 8th (11.490) and ran the opening laps of the feature in 2nd place. He eventually passed Dave Teske for the lead and was being chased by Brad Mueller. A caution with 7 laps to go left Josh and Brad side-by-side on the restart. With 3 laps to go, Brad was able to complete the pass, leaving Josh to a well-run 2nd place finish! The Slinger Super Speedway press release called it a "well driven race for the rookie".
(04/30/06) Slinger Rain Out
(04/23/06) Slinger Season Opener-Miller Lite Twin 75's - Josh qualified 10th with a lap time of 11.456, then finishes 21st in each of the races after running as high as 3rd. |
