PRUNTY CAPTURES 3RD WIN OF THE SEASON IN EWALD FORD OF HARTFORD MISS SLINGER 60!

[img_assist|nid=216|title=|desc=Grant Wiser from Ewald’s Ford of Hartford in Victory Lane with Dennis and Gwen Prunty|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=154]By Dan Margetta
Slinger, Wis., June 6—Dennis Prunty captured his third super late model feature victory of the season Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway by holding off Lowell Bennett to take top honors in the Ewald Ford of Hartford Miss Slinger 60-lap main event.

“First off, I don’t want too much credit,” Prunty said afterwards, “I started in the second row and Lowell Bennett did come from the back and he was charging hard.” “I guess it’s going to be a show all season long,” Prunty continued, referring to the developing rivalry with Bennett as the two drivers have finished in the top two positions in three out of the last four weeks.

[img_assist|nid=217|title=|desc=42 Dennis Prunty passing 89 Mike Egan for the lead in Super Late Model Action|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=154]Mike Egan and Randy Schuler brought the field to the green flag with Egan jumping out to the early lead as Schuler settled in line behind him and just in front of Prunty, Steve Apel, and Conrad Morgan. Prunty was able to use the upper groove to take over second from Schuler by lap ten as Morgan was also on the move, capturing fourth place from Apel. As Egan maintained the lead, Prunty began to try the outside in a bid to take the top spot as Morgan continued his march forward, slipping by Schuler for third by lap 20. Egan was able to hold off Prunty’s outside challenges and as the lead duo raced side by side, Morgan closed in to make it a three car battle for the lead. With Egan holding on to the top spot, Morgan filled the inside gap underneath Prunty, clearing him for the second position by lap 25. As Egan remained glued to the inside line, Morgan was also forced to look to the high side in a bid for the lead with Prunty directly behind him in third. Morgan was able to pull alongside Egan on the outside and again the leaders raced door to door with Egan remaining tough on the inside and Morgan able to inch slightly ahead off the corners on the outside. Just past the halfway mark, Morgan made the outside work, leading at the stripe on lap 35 as both he and Egan raced hard into turn one.

[img_assist|nid=218|title=|desc=Wayne Freimund winner of the Late Model Feature|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=154]As they entered turn one, the leaders made right-front to left-rear contact and Morgan looped around as the field stacked up and the caution flag waved. Both cars were able to continue on and Morgan lined up at the rear of the field for the restart while Egan was scored as the leader over Prunty, Schuler, and Bennett who had battled from deep in the field to hold down the fourth position. As racing resumed, Prunty timed the start perfectly and after a lap of side by side racing with Egan, was able to use the outside lane to move into the lead as Egan’s car appeared to be tight off the turns. Once out front, Prunty began to pull away as Egan tried to fend off the charges of Bennett who moved around Schuler for third. Prunty continued to stretch his lead as Egan’s defensive maneuvers held Bennett at bay while Schuler, Scott Schoeni, and Steve Apel battled over the fourth position. Bennett eventually worked his way around Egan for second by lap 45 and set out to cut into Prunty’s sizeable lead as the laps wound down. Bennett was able to close the gap slightly over the final laps, but Prunty proved to be too strong and he took the checkered flag for his third feature victory of the season. Bennett settled for second place ahead of Egan in third and Schuler in fourth. Scott Schoeni crossed the finish line in fifth while Steve Apel and Austin Luedtke were sixth and seventh respectively. Tommy Hromadka, Rick Corso, and Steven Schultz rounded out the top ten finishers.

Wayne Freimund ended a long feature victory drought as he drove to the win in the 30-lap late model main event after battling hard with Steven Schulz and Rob Braun.

Freimund launched to the lead from the outside of the front row at the start over Pat McIntee and Dave McCardle while Steven Schulz and Ryan DeStefano battled over fourth and fifth. With Freimund still out front, McCardle was able to turn under McIntee for second on lap four, opening the door on the inside for Schultz, Rob Braun, and Steve Apel to move by into the third through fifth slots. Five laps later, Schultz ducked to the inside of McCardle for second place with Braun closing in as Freimund remained in the lead. Schultz quickly narrowed the distance between himself and the leader, pulling up to Freimund’s rear bumper by lap 15. Three laps later, Freimund gave up the inside and Schultz took advantage of the situation, ducking to the bottom of the track to take the lead on lap 18. Freimund wouldn’t let Schultz out of his sights and pressured him, trying to retake the lead. On lap 21, Freimund got a good run off turn two as Schultz’s car washed up the speedway slightly enabling Freimund to take the inside line into turn three.

[img_assist|nid=220|title=|desc=Eric Lingford in Victory Lane with Miss Slinger Speedway|link=node|align=right|width=220|height=154]Freimund and Schultz raced door to door for several laps with Freimund on the inside and Schultz on the outside as Braun quickly caught the lead duo. Slight door contact between the leaders on the frontstretch sent Schultz’s car into the marbles on the outside and as he slid wide, Freimund held the lead with Braun, Apel, and Jake Vanoskey all getting by. Braun pressured Freimund heavily for the lead in the closing laps and a final last lap outside try came up just short at the finish as Freimund took the checkered flag for the win. Braun settled for second place while Apel finished third. Vanoskey and Schultz rounded out the top five.

James Swan drove to a dominating win in the Midwest Sportsman 30-lap feature.

Andy Haver and Tom Elsinger led the field to the green flag and Elsinger grabbed the early lead as Haver battled with Brian Holtz and James Swan for second. Holtz and Swan swept around Haver to take second and third respectively as Elsinger continued to show the way. Swan quickly took to the outside and within a few laps was able to drive around both Holtz and Elsinger to charge into the lead by lap 10. Swan began to stretch his lead over Elsinger as Holtz’s car got loose in turn one, enabling Haver and Gregg Pawelski to pass by. With Swan comfortably out front, Haver tracked down Elsinger for second, taking the position on lap 21. Swan’s lead proved to be too much to overcome as he cruised to a dominating win as Elsinger crossed the finish line in second as Elsinger, Holtz, and Pawelski raced under the checkered flag in a tight formation in third through fifth respectively. Afterwards, Haver’s car failed post race technical inspection and was disqualified.

Eric Lingford took home top honors in the 18-lap Thunderstock feature.

Andy Welter led the early laps as Adam Peschek, Al Stippich, Ryan Farrell, and Lingford battled for position behind them. As Welter maintained the lead, Stippich moved into second place as Lingford took to the outside lane to race into third. Stippich and Lingford closed to Welter’s rear bumper and Lingford again used the high groove to shoot by into the lead on lap six. Stippich was able to work his way around Welter for second place by lap 12 and began to try to catch Lingford for the lead. Lingford could not be caught in the closing laps and he drove to the victory over Stippich and Welter. Ryan Farrell finished in fourth place and Jake Larson was fifth. Al Stippich was the winner of the Thunderstock fast dash Lingford set fast time at 13.812 seconds.

Alex Prunty won the 18-lap Slinger Bee feature, holding off Nick Wagner and Joe Lang for the victory. Erik Long and Russ Lorbiecki were fourth and fifth respectively. The Speedway Guest Car event was won by Dan Dewey and Peter Brice won the Spectator Eliminator races. Scott Goetzke drove to victory in the Figure 8 event. Ashley Hoffmann was crowned Miss Slinger Speedway for the second consecutive year.