DENNIS PRUNTY TAKES TOP HONORS IN POMP’S TIRE FAN APPRECIATION 65

“I tell you what, me and Jamie Wallace, this year we’ve had a few incidents, but we ran clean and we ran fun, ” Prunty told the crowd from victory lane after wrestling with Wallace for the lead following two restarts, “That’s what I like to do.”

[img_assist|nid=121|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=146]The field was led to the green flag by Wallace and David Prunty with David inching ahead to lead the opening laps while Dennis Prunty, Brad Dahmer, and Al Schill lined up in third through fifth respectively. Wallace’s car turned well on the inside line and he was able to duck to the inside of David Prunty to take the lead on lap six, with Dennis Prunty following suit a few laps later to claim second. Prunty tailed Wallace for a few laps before making the move for the lead on lap 21. With Dennis Prunty leading Wallace out front, close quarters racing in the pack behind them jumbled positions nearly every lap before things began to sort out by lap 25 with Schill occupying third ahead of David Prunty and Dahmer. The inside line was the hot set up early on with anyone advancing positions having to quickly slice back down in line across the nose of the car passed which led to numerous instances of minor contact throughout the field.

[img_assist|nid=120|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=146]Frustrations from that situation led to the first caution flag waving on lap 29 when Steve Apel and Dave Feiler tangled in turn two, severely damaging Apel’s machine. Dennis Prunty chose the inside for the restart but it was Wallace who had his car wound up on the=2 0high line and he charged to the lead as racing resumed. Prunty battled alongside for several laps before Wallace worked the outside long enough to be able to clear Prunty to take command of the race while behind them, Collin Bamke moved up to battle with Schill, David Prunty, and Lowell Bennett for third. The caution flag waved for the second time on lap 46 when David Prunty slid backwards in turn three and nudged the retaining wall. This time, Wallace lined up on the inside and Dennis Prunty took to the outside lane for the restart and as the green flag flew, Prunty used the momentum from the outside to pull off the same move Wallace executed fifteen laps earlier to take the lead. Bamke also utilized the outside line to challenge Wallace for second as Prunty began to scoot away. The door to door battle for second between Bamke and Wallace allowed Prunty to extend his lead by lap 50. Bamke eventually was able to work his way around Wallace for second and began to try to track down Prunty for the lead, but with the laps winding down, he was unable to close. Prunty drove under the checkered flag to score his second feature win of the season while Bamke finished a strong second. Wallace crossed the stripe in third place while Al Schill and Lowell Bennett were fourth and fifth respectively. Mike Egan finished in sixth place just ahead of Brad Dahmer and Jeff Holtz in seventh and eighth while Jon Reynolds Jr. and Dave Feiler rounded out the top ten.

[img_assist|nid=122|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=146]Nathan Matz won the 25-lap super late model semi-feature and he along with second place finisher Jerry Eckhardt transferred to the main event. Larry Epright finished third while Ron Ragan and Aaron Katzenberg were fourth and fifth. Al Schill was the winner of the super late model fast dash and Collin Bamke was the fastest qualifier at 11.537 seconds.

Corey Funk held off a hard charging Chris Blawat to score his first career feature win in the 35-lap late model main event.

Funk raced to the lead at the drop of the green flag while Rob Braun and Dave McCardle raced with Chris Blawat and Trevor Dassow for positions behind him. Funk remained glued to the inside line as the drivers behind him swapped positions with Braun holding onto second over Blawat and McCardle while Ryan DeStefano moved up to battle Dassow for fifth by lap ten. With Funk still leading, Blawat was able to work under Braun to take over second while McCardle, DeStefano, Steven Schulz, and Dassow all used the inside lane to advance forward, taking advantage of Braun’s situation on the outside.

[img_assist|nid=123|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=146]Blawat ran dow n Funk and spent the last half of the race right on Funk’s bumper, making numerous challenges for the lead while DeStefano closed in third. Despite repeated attempts by Blawat to get by, Funk remained on the bottom lane and maintained the lead as DeStefano moved in to make it a three car battle for the win. Funk would not be denied in the final laps and he held off all challenges to score his first career feature win. Blawat finished in his tire tracks in second while DeStefano, Schulz, and Dassow rounded out the top five. Earlier, Funk was also the winner of the late model fast dash and Chris Blawat set fast time for the division with a lap of 12.398 seconds.

Mike Borchardt Jr. charged to his fifth win of the season in the 35-lap Midwest Sportsman feature and in a twist of events, promptly delivered a rose to Miss Slinger in victory lane.

[img_assist|nid=124|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=146]Mark Kissinger paced the opening laps Dave Thomas, Austin Luedtke, Gregg Pawelski, and Borchardt battled for second. Thomas took over the runner-up spot on lap two and the move paid off two laps later when the leader Kissinger suddenly left the speedway with mechanical problems, handing the top spot to Thomas. Borchardt raced his way into second place on the next circuit as Jay Shambeau, Brian Holtz, and Tom Elsinger moved into third through fifth place respectively. Borchardt searched for a way around Thomas for a few laps before completing the pass for the lead on lap nine. Once out front, Borchardt extended his lead over Thomas as Shambeau and Holtz followed in third and fourth while Pawelski worked his way back into fifth. Borchardt appeared to be on a mission in the late stages of the event as he drove to the decisive win over Thomas while Shambeau held off Holtz for third. Pawelski rounded out the top five in fifth. Earlier, Borchardt also was the winner of the Midwest Sportsman fast dash while Pawelski was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 12.852 seconds.

[img_assist|nid=125|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=146]Brad Dahmer made his debut in the Sport Mod division a success by driving to the win in the 25-lap feature over Ron Schmitt and Bill Tandetzke.
Schmitt led the beginning laps as Dahmer fell in line in second ahead of Justin Okruhlica and Bill Tandetzke with Bill Prietzel occupying fifth. Schmitt paced the first five laps before Dahmer charged by for the lead on lap six, leaving Schmitt to battle with Okruhlica for second. After a three lap tussle for second, Okruhlica was able to take the position while Dahmer began to stretch his lead. As the race progressed, Dahmer’s lead20grew as Okruhlica was the only driver who was able to keep him in sight while Schmitt held off Tandetzke and Prietzel for third. With two laps to go, Okruhlica looped his car in turn two and before he could recover, Schmitt, Tandetzke, and Prietzel all raced by as Dahmer enjoyed a comfortable lead. Dahmer cruised to the win over Schmitt and Tandetzke while Prietzel and Okruhlica completed the top five. Okruhlica earlier won the Sport Mod fast dash while Dahmer was the fastest qualifier after turning in a lap at 12.424 seconds.

After many strong runs this season, Stephanie Losiniecki finally put it all together to score her first career Thunderstock feature win in the 18-lap main event.

[img_assist|nid=126|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=146]Losiniecki charged to the lead as the green flag flew from the outside lane as Rick Schaefer and Dan Wood raced into second and third while front row starter Ken Schraufnagel looped his car on the frontstretch on lap two as the race remained under green. The caution flag waved on lap five when Schaefer had something break on the front of his car, causing it to slam hard into the turn four wall with Losiniecki leading over Wood, Eric Lingford, Aaron Cain, and Ryan Farrell. Losiniecki and Wood battled for the lead as racing resumed with Losiniecki prevailing by lap te n just before the caution flag waved again when Bernie Leonard and Andy Welter spun on the front straight. Losiniecki took to the inside for the restart and was able to hold off the outside charges from Wood as racing resumed. Ryan Farrell was the driver on the move in the late stages as worked his way into second place by lap 16 and closed to Losiniecki’s bumper on the final circuit. Losiniecki would not be denied however and she charged to the win, leaving Farrell to settle for second. Aaron Cain finished a strong third while Dan Wood and Eric Lingford rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth respectively. Earlier, Wood was the winner of the Thunderstock fast dash and Cain was the fastest qualifier at 14.037 seconds.

[img_assist|nid=128|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=146]John DeAngelis recovered from an early setback in traffic and charged through the field to take the win in the 16-lap Slinger Bee feature. DeAngelis worked his way forward into second place by lap eight and took over top spot when then leader Carl Benn became swept up in an incident with a slower car. DeAngelis maintained the lead as racing resumed and then had to hold back the challenges of Alex Prunty before taking the checkered flag to score the victory. Prunty finished in second place ahead of Nick Ostberg, Erik Long, and fast qualifier, Joe Lang. Tom Elsinger Jr. was the winner of the Speedway Guest Car race and John O’Mara drov e his Mazda to the win in the Spectator Eliminator events. Willie Van Camp edged Rick Bruskewicz to win the exciting Figure 8 race and Kyle Ulig closed the evening by winning the demolition derby.