Dan Olson / Speed Graphics Photos
By Brian Schmitt
Slinger, Wis., May 25– Defending track champion Steve Apel picked up his first feature win of the year in the E.H. Wolf and Sons Memorial Day Weekend 75-lap super late model feature Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway.
Dan Olson / Speed Graphics Photos
By Brian Schmitt
Slinger, Wis., May 25– Defending track champion Steve Apel picked up his first feature win of the year in the E.H. Wolf and Sons Memorial Day Weekend 75-lap super late model feature Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway.
Apel raced to the victory after holding off Dennis Prunty on a lap 67 restart. Al Schill and Austin Luedtke led the field to the line to start the 75 lap feature and Luedtke jumped to the lead by lap two. John DeAngelis swept past Schill on lap 24 and Brad Mueller followed along to move into third. Luedtke pulled out a full straightaway lead before the first caution flag of the event flew on lap 30 for a 3 car incident coming out of turn four involving Chris Blawat, Jeff Holtz and Rich Loch. On the restart De Angelis took the lead from the outside starting position as Steve Apel moved from fifth to third. Two laps later Luedtke moved back around DeAngelis for the lead with Apel following along to second. Another caution flag waved on lap 37 for a sping by Schill in turn one. Luedtke chose the outside lane on the restart, but that plan eventually failed as Apel rocketed out to the lead from the inside with 7th starting Dennis Prunty following along to second past Luedtke. One more caution flag appeared when Lowell Bennett lost oil pressure and came to a stop on the infield near turn one. That final restart on lap 67 saw Apel jump to the lead with Prunty fading with a right front tire issue. Prunty’s misfortunes allowed Luedtke to get one last shot at Apel but it was to no avail as Apel hung on for the win. Luedke was forced to settle for second while John DeAngelis came home third. Mike Eagen and Brad Mueller rounded out the top five finishers.
The 30-lap.super late model semi feature was won by Jeff Holtz, who along with Dale Prunty Chris Blawat and Nick Wagner advanced to the feature in a caution free event. Super late model heat race winners were Randy Schuler, Lowell Bennett, and Tim Lampmann. Steve Apel was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 11.415 seconds.
Alex Prunty drove to the victory in the 40-lap late model main event for his first feature win of the season.
Steve Schultz and Ricky Heinan set the pace for the 40 lap feature and Schultz grabbed the lead on lap five after a side by side battle. Schultz set the pace for another five laps before retiring to the pits with an ignition issue on lap ten. That allowed Heinan to build a half a lap lead before Brittney Helmers brought out the first caution on lap 16. On the restart Justin Poenitsch lost his hood in an incident with several other cars allowing for another restart. Heinan got the jump on that restart with Alex Prunty moving to second. On lap 20 Heinan and Prunty got together in turn one causing both to spin and bring out another caution. Heinan retired from the event and admitted fault for the incident allowing Prunty to get his spot back as the leader for the restart. Following another caution on lap 22 for a turn one incident involving Kevin Knuese, Prunty and Stephen Scheel battled side by side for the lead. Prunty eventually pulled away and raced off to win the feature event with Scheel coming in second and Wayne Freumund finishing third.
Ryan Zielski and Ricky Heinan each won a late model heat race while Danny Church set fast time at 12.654 seconds.
Kyle Chwala nailed down his second Area Sportsman feature victory of the season in the 30-lap main event.
Visiting Minnesota driver Michael Gilomen led the early laps as Chwala advanced from his sixth starting spot into second by lap five. Chwala took the lead from Gilomen on lap nine. A caution on lap 24 for a small fire in the pits set up a 6 lap dash to the finish but Chwala was never challenged on the restart en-route to the feature win. Mark Deporter came from his seventh starting spot to finish second with Gilomen, Joe Shelby, and John Daley rounding out the top five finishers.
Gilomen and Chwala each scored Area Sporstman heat race victories while Chwala was the fastest qualifier after turning in a lap of 13.352 seconds.
Nick Schmidt won the 25-lap Slinger Bees feature event, taking the checkered flag ahead of Jacob Schraufnagel.
T,J, Graczkowski led the Slinger Bee field to the green and Schmidt went to the lead on lap three before a caution came out for a three car incident in the first turn. Schmidt led from the restart and never looked back to pick up the feature win while Schraufnagel hung on for second ahead of Heather Stark in third.
Slinger Bee semi-feature was won by Kevin Bush while Slinger Bee heat race wins were recorded by Nicole Mueller, Marty Tackes, and Jacob Schraufnagel. Brandon Tackes was the fastest qualifier after circling the speedway in 14.960 seconds.
Rick Bruskiewicz was the winner of the ten lap Figure 8 race while Ed Christ drove his Ford Mustang to the win in the Spectator Eliminator events. Chris then took on Al Roberts and his classic Chevy pick-up truck in a special $100 challenge, which Roberts won handily.
