By Dan Margetta
Slinger, Wis., June 15—Defending track champion Steve Apel netted his second feature victory of the season in the PMF Landscape Supply 60 Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway.
By Dan Margetta
Slinger, Wis., June 15—Defending track champion Steve Apel netted his second feature victory of the season in the PMF Landscape Supply 60 Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway.
Apel took the lead from Mike Egan before the halfway mark and maintained his cushion out front throughout the event, even as Dennis Prunty appeared to close in on the lead.
“I saw him (Prunty) in the mirror and once out front I was just trying to pace myself and save the tires for the end of the race,” Apel stated in victory lane, “the car was on a rail tonight.”
Dale Prunty and Mike Egan battled door to door for the early lead in the 60-lap main event, while Rob Braun and Fred Winn did likewise for the third spot ahead of Ryan DeStefano, Tim Lampmann, and Apel. The race quickly fell under the caution flag on lap three when side contact down the front straightaway between Braun and Winn’s cars sent Winn sliding through the infield entering turn one. Prunty and Egan renewed their lead battle as racing resumed while Travis Dassow and Apel used the outside groove to bypass DeStefano and Lampman and move into third and fourth place respectively. Egan took sole possession of the top spot a few laps later when Prunty’s car kicked loose off turn two, while Apel took advantage of the situation to charge into Egan fell back into a second place battle with Dale Prunty. The jockeying up front allowed second from the outside. Egan’s car washed wide in between turns one and two a few circuits later, opening the door for Apel to storm into the lead as Travis Dassow, Austin Luedtke, and Dennis Prunty to close in on the lead pack as Apel began to stretch his lead. While Apel continued to show the way, Dennis Prunty was the driver on the move as over the next several laps, he dispatched Luedtke, Egan, and Dassow to advance into second place. Apel was up to the task however, as each time it appeared Dennis Prunty would close, Apel was able to maintain his lead of just over a second. Apel could not be caught without the aid of a caution flag as the race remained under the green flag the rest of the way with the defending track champion picking up his second super late model feature win of the season. Dennis Prunty settled for second place ahead of his brother Dale Prunty in third. Travis Dassow and Lowell Bennett rounded out the top five finishers. Conrad Morgan staged a spirited battle with Austin Luedtke to finish sixth while Luedtke was seventh ahead of Ryan DeStefano, Tim Lampman, and Mike Egan who rounded out the top ten finishers.
The super late model semi-feature was won by Braison Bennett over Chris Blawat and Dan Jung. Tommy Hromadka was fourth and Jerry Eckhardt finished fifth. Super late model heat races were won by Dan Jung, Conrad Morgan, and Fred Winn. Travis Dassow set fast time for the super late models with a lap of 11.423 seconds.
Dan Church won the action packed and wild 40-lap late model feature over Gregg Pawelski and Wayne Freimund.
Tyler Schley and Jack Stern swapped the lead in the early laps with Pawelski, Church, Ricky Heinan, and Freimund racing for position directly behind them. Alex Prunty and Mike Held also joined the lead group as the inside lane began to advance with Stern leading and Schley caught on the high side as Pawelski, Church, Prunty, and Freimund all moved forward in the lower groove. As Schley tried to fill a momentary gap in front of Freimund, contact between the cars sent Schley’s car looping around where it was struck by Heinan, producing the first caution flag on lap 11. Stern chose the inside lane for the restart and Pawelski made the outside work for him, battling side by side with Stern for the lead before his determination paid off on lap 13 with an outside pass for the lead. Church settled into third place while behind him, Alex Prunty came out on the winning end of a three car battle over fourth with Ryan Miles and Mike Held. Church and Prunty then used the inside line to move by Stern and into second and third respectively while Pawelski continued to lead. A spin by Duke Long in turn two produced another caution flag on lap 20 and Pawelski chose the inside lane for the restart, leaving the high side for Church. Contact on the backstretch between the leaders, temporarily log jammed the field and resulted in Church moving to the inside and Pawelski being sent up top as their lead battle continued. Church was hooked up on the inside and after several laps of racing side by side with Pawelski, he was able to ease into the lead just before the caution flew again on lap 26 when Miles and Stern tangled in turn three. Church and Pawelski renewed their battle for the lead as racing resumed with Alex Prunty now entrenched in third place directly behind them. A final caution flag waved on lap 33 when Grant Griesbach’s car got loose in turn two and collected Tyler Schley’s machine in the process and during the slowdown, Prunty left the track when his car began leaking fluid. Church continued to fend off Pawelski over the final seven laps and he drove to the victory with Pawelski finishing a close second. Wayne Freimund took the checkered flag in third place while Mike Held and Shawn Scheel rounded out the top five.
Shawn Scheel and Wayne Freimund each were winners of a late model heat race while Alex Prunty was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 11.556 seconds.
Mark DePorter edged Kyle Chwala in a photo finish to win the 30-lap Area Sportsman feature.
DePorter used the outside groove to move alongside Chwala for the lead as the white flag waved signaling the final lap. Chwala and DePorter remained glued together through turns one and two and down the backstretch before DePorter was able to inch ahead off turn four and win the dash to the checkered flag for the victory. Kody Hubred finished right behind the lead duo in third place while Ken Schraufnagel and Nick Egan were fourth and fifth respectively.
Rich Wagner won the opening Area Sportsman heat race over Andy Welter and Mark DePorter edged Kyle Chwala once again to win the second heat race. Kyle Chwala was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 13.309 seconds.
Jacob Schraufnagel held off a hard charging Nick Schmidt to win the 25-lap Slinger Bees feature. Heather Stark crossed the finish line with a strong third place result while Brandon Tackes was fourth and Paul Reagles finished fifth. Isaac Daniel won the Slinger Bee semi-feature over Nicole Mueller and Zach Braun. Slinger Bee heat race wins were recorded by Isaac Daniel, Carl Benn, and Jacob Schraufnagel. Brandon Tackes was the Slinger Bees fastest qualifier with a lap of 14.937 seconds.
Luke Fenhaus was the winner of the Bandolero feature, taking the checkered flag ahead of Derek Kraus and Gabe Sommers. Parker Retzlaff and Alishya Krueger finished in fourth and fifth respectively. Luke Fenhaus also won the Bandolero heat race and was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 15.779 seconds.
The Spectator Eliminator races were won by a mystery driver in a red Mustang, calling himself “Jeff Gordon”, who then ultimately lost in the Spectator Challenge against Al Roberts pick-up truck.
Ron Schmidt was the winner of the Figure 8 race over Rick Bruskiewicz and Joe Mueller.
