Dale Prunty Shades Brother Dennis in Photo Finish to Win Leroy Meats/Kwik Trip 60

[img_assist|nid=141|title=SLINGER 124|desc=Al Graf Photo|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=146]By Dan Margetta
Slinger, Wis., Aug. 30—Dale Prunty edged his brother Dennis in a photo finish to win the Leroy Meats/Kwik Trip 60 Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway for his second super late model feature win of the season.

“That’s the way we dream of it and I’m glad we came out ahead,” Dale Prunty stated after the narrow victory. “I know Dennis (Prunty) is trying for the points, but I race everybody like anybody, “Dale Prunty continued, “Brother or not, we kicked his tail.”

“The first thing I8 0m going to do when I get home is move my transponder forward because I’m sure I had him by at least a half an inch,” Dennis Prunty said, describing his second place to the crowd, “Dale (Prunty) had me and I couldn’t touch him. I got inside of him and I put the car in there where it didn’t belong and at least we came through without wrecking.”

[img_assist|nid=138|title=SLINGER 121|desc=Al Graf Photo|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=146]Mike Egan and Scott Schoeni took the green flag from the front row and the two swapped the lead in the opening laps while Jon Reynolds, Brad Mueller, and Dale Prunty lined up behind them. Dale Prunty used the inside lane to advance to third by lap 15 while Egan eased his way ahead of Schoeni for the lead. Dennis Prunty also had his car turning well on the inside and he also moved forward, grabbing the fourth spot from Mueller on lap 20 as the lead cars worked lapped traffic. The caution flag waved two laps later when Cardell Potter slid against the turn two wall. Egan maintained the lead as racing resumed while Dale Prunty raced into second place with Schoeni caught on the outside as both Mueller and Dennis Prunty also charged past him. Dale Prunty tracked down Egan for the top spot, taking over the position on lap 26. The handling on Egan’s car began to fade and both Dennis Prunty and Mueller worked their way by into second and third place respectively by lap 35 . Dennis Prunty began to erase Dale Prunty’s lead as they maneuvered their way through lapped traffic with the laps winding down. With five laps to go, Dennis was planted on Dale’s rear bumper and a few laps later, turned under Dale exiting turn four as the two crossed the finish line under the white flag side by side. Neither driver gained an advantage through turns one and two as they headed into the third turn for the final time door to door. As they exited turn four with Dale Prunty on the outside and Dennis Prunty on the inside approaching slower cars on the inner lane appeared to break Dennis Prunty’s momentum slightly. Dennis Prunty placed his car between a lapped car and Dale Prunty as the brothers took the checkered flag nearly even, three wide with the lapped machine. The electronic scoring revealed Dale Prunty was the winner over Dennis Prunty while Brad Mueller finished third in one of his best performances of the season. Mike Egan turned in a strong run with a solid fourth place finish while Steve Apel also ran a good race in finishing fifth. Matt Kocourek crossed the finish line in sixth place ahead of Brad Dahmer and Michael Bilderback in seventh and eighth respectively. Jon Reynolds Jr. and Lowell Bennett rounded out the top ten finishers.


[img_assist|nid=141|title=SLINGER 124|desc=Al Graf Photo|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=146]By Dan Margetta
Slinger, Wis., Aug. 30—Dale Prunty edged his brother Dennis in a photo finish to win the Leroy Meats/Kwik Trip 60 Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway for his second super late model feature win of the season.

“That’s the way we dream of it and I’m glad we came out ahead,” Dale Prunty stated after the narrow victory. “I know Dennis (Prunty) is trying for the points, but I race everybody like anybody, “Dale Prunty continued, “Brother or not, we kicked his tail.”

“The first thing I8 0m going to do when I get home is move my transponder forward because I’m sure I had him by at least a half an inch,” Dennis Prunty said, describing his second place to the crowd, “Dale (Prunty) had me and I couldn’t touch him. I got inside of him and I put the car in there where it didn’t belong and at least we came through without wrecking.”

[img_assist|nid=138|title=SLINGER 121|desc=Al Graf Photo|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=146]Mike Egan and Scott Schoeni took the green flag from the front row and the two swapped the lead in the opening laps while Jon Reynolds, Brad Mueller, and Dale Prunty lined up behind them. Dale Prunty used the inside lane to advance to third by lap 15 while Egan eased his way ahead of Schoeni for the lead. Dennis Prunty also had his car turning well on the inside and he also moved forward, grabbing the fourth spot from Mueller on lap 20 as the lead cars worked lapped traffic. The caution flag waved two laps later when Cardell Potter slid against the turn two wall. Egan maintained the lead as racing resumed while Dale Prunty raced into second place with Schoeni caught on the outside as both Mueller and Dennis Prunty also charged past him. Dale Prunty tracked down Egan for the top spot, taking over the position on lap 26. The handling on Egan’s car began to fade and both Dennis Prunty and Mueller worked their way by into second and third place respectively by lap 35 . Dennis Prunty began to erase Dale Prunty’s lead as they maneuvered their way through lapped traffic with the laps winding down. With five laps to go, Dennis was planted on Dale’s rear bumper and a few laps later, turned under Dale exiting turn four as the two crossed the finish line under the white flag side by side. Neither driver gained an advantage through turns one and two as they headed into the third turn for the final time door to door. As they exited turn four with Dale Prunty on the outside and Dennis Prunty on the inside approaching slower cars on the inner lane appeared to break Dennis Prunty’s momentum slightly. Dennis Prunty placed his car between a lapped car and Dale Prunty as the brothers took the checkered flag nearly even, three wide with the lapped machine. The electronic scoring revealed Dale Prunty was the winner over Dennis Prunty while Brad Mueller finished third in one of his best performances of the season. Mike Egan turned in a strong run with a solid fourth place finish while Steve Apel also ran a good race in finishing fifth. Matt Kocourek crossed the finish line in sixth place ahead of Brad Dahmer and Michael Bilderback in seventh and eighth respectively. Jon Reynolds Jr. and Lowell Bennett rounded out the top ten finishers.

Dennis Prunty was the winner of the super late model fast=2 0dash and Lowell Bennett blistered the speedway in 11.313 seconds to nail down fast time in the division.

Chris Blawat extended his points lead by charging to a convincing win in the 35-lap late model feature, taking the checkered flag ahead of Trevor Dassow and James Swan.

[img_assist|nid=139|title=SLINGER 121|desc=Al Graf Photo|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=146]Dave McCardle and Jake Vanoskey led the field to the green flag with McCardle leading the opening laps from the outside. Vanoskey battled back on the inside on lap five and the hard racing between the two, sent McCardle skating up the track in turn three on lap five with Vanoskey taking the lead and Chris Blawat, James Swan, and Ryan DeStefano all getting by as well. Vanoskey’s car was a handful the next lap and the field shuffled behind him as he tried to regain control as Blawat raced around him into the lead. Vanoskey left the speedway a lap later showering sparks from under the front of the car as Blawat held a sizeable lead over Swan and Trevor Dassow. As Blawat led comfortably, Swan and Dassow raced door to door for second with Dassow eventually gaining the spot by lap 15 while behind them, Rob Braun worked his way by DeStefano and into fourth place. Once Dassow took over second place, he gradually began to cut into Blawat’s lead while Swan found himself in a tussle for third with Braun, DeStefano and McCardle. The cars involved in the third place battle raced nose to tail and on lap 25 became gridlocked producing an accordion-like effect in which Braun came out on the short end, spinning to the infield off turn four as the race remained green. While Dassow was able to make up some distance for the lead, there was no catching Blawat as he drove to the victory with Dassow having to settle for second. Swan finished in third place while DeStefano and McCardle rounded out the top five.

[img_assist|nid=140|title=SLINGER 121|desc=Al Graf Photo|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=146]Earlier, Trevor Dassow dominated the preliminary events, taking the win in the late model fast dash and setting fast time by circling the speedway in 12.301 seconds.

Jeff Holtz captured top honors in the 30-lap Midwest Sportsman feature event, racing to the win ahead of his brother Brian Holtz and Gregg Pawelski.

Travis Dassow and Jeff Holtz started on the front row and raced side by side for the lead as the green flag waved to start the event. Holtz and Dassow traded the lead lap after lap in the early going before Dassow edged his way into sole possession of the top spot by lap five=2 0with Jeff Holtz holding down second ahead of Brian Holtz and Gregg Pawelski. Dassow continued to pace the event over Jeff and Brian Holtz during the middle stages while Austin Luedtke and Jimmie Evans moved up to join the top five. Dassow’s lead literally went up in smoke on lap 22 as he was forced to leave the speedway with wisps of smoke showing from underneath the car, handing the lead over to Jeff Holtz. Once out front, Jeff Holtz never looked back as he drove to the victory over Brian Holtz and Gregg Pawelski. Austin Luedtke and Jimmie Evans completed the top five finishers.

Austin Luedtke also was the winner of the Midwest Sportsman fast dash while Dave Thomas was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 12.669 seconds.
Eric Lingford used the high groove to charge to the lead of the Thunderstock feature on lap seven of the 18-lap event and held off a closing Aaron Cain for the victory. Stephanie Losiniecki finished a strong and respectable third while Jim Bentzler and Andy Welter completed the top five finishers. Welter also was victorious in the Thunderstock fast dash and Aaron Cain took top honors in qualifying after turning in a lap at 13.510 seconds.

Brad Dahmer won the 15-lap Sport Mod feature over Justin Okruhlica and Ron Schmitt. Eddie Bentfield was fourth. In other Sport Mod action, Schmitt drove to the win in the Sport Mod fast dash while Dahmer was the fastest qualifier at 12.327 seconds.

Carl Benn captured the win in the 16-lap Slinger Bee main event, crossing the finish line ahead of Joe Lang and Brandon Tackes. Katie DeStefano and Nick Ostberg finished in fourth and fifth place respectively. Joe Lang set a new track record in qualifying for the Slinger Bee division as he toured the speedway in 15.492 seconds. Thomas Pejierski and Jim Linfield each took wins in the Westbury Bank Speedway Guest Car events while Kurt Manthey was the Spectator Eliminator winner and Willie Van Camp won the Figure 8 race.

Despite spinning on the backstretch on the opening lap, Bill Michaels from WTMJ radio 620AM charged to the win in the Celebrity race, passing the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Dave Kallmann for the win. Kallmann finished in second place while WBWI 92.5 FM’s Fuzz Martin and WTMJ Channel 4 sportscaster Lance Allan were third and fourth respectively.