By Dan Margetta
Slinger, Wis., Aug. 10—A week after having his car completely off the ground in an accident, Dale Prunty returned to the Slinger Super Speedway and won his first super late model feature of the season, holding off his brother Dennis Prunty in the process.
By Dan Margetta
Slinger, Wis., Aug. 10—A week after having his car completely off the ground in an accident, Dale Prunty returned to the Slinger Super Speedway and won his first super late model feature of the season, holding off his brother Dennis Prunty in the process.
Chris Blawat and Dale Prunty traded the lead in the opening laps before Prunty prevailed from the outside lane while John DeAngelis, Travis Dassow, and Steve Apel battled behind the lead duo. Brad Mueller and Rob Braun moved up to join the battle for third as DeAngelis became caught in the high groove and dropped back. Mueller and Apel worked their way around Blawat for second and third respectively while Dennis Prunty advanced to challenge Braun for the fifth spot. Dennis Prunty took over fifth place just before the first caution flag flew on lap 27 when Rob Braun spun around while racing for position with Brad Keith. During the caution period, Keith tapped the roof of his car, taking the blame for the incident and Braun was given his spot back as Dale Prunty led Mueller, Apel, and Blawat for the restart. Prunty chose the outside lane as racing resumed and after a few door to door laps with Mueller, was able to pull ahead off the second turn to maintain his lead. Apel remained glued to Mueller’s rear bumper as the top three raced nose to tail while Dennis Prunty used the inside groove to take over fourth from Blawat. Mueller looked momentarily to the outside for the lead which opened up the inner lane for Apel to challenge for second but after his charge fell short, a slight tag to the rear bumper cover from Dennis Prunty was enough to move Apel out of the groove and allow Dennis Prunty to advance into third place. While the action for third place was occurring, Mueller was stalking Dale Prunty for the lead just before the second caution flag waved on lap 38 for an incident involving John DeAngelis in turn one. This time it appeared Mueller got the jump on Dale Prunty as the race restarted as they again raced door to door with Mueller gaining a slight advantage from the inside. Dale Prunty was tough however on the high side and with each lap, he gradually began to edge ahead until he was able to clear Mueller for the lead off turn four. Contact between the lead cars off the corner slowed Mueller’s momentum slightly, knocking him to the inside which allowed Dennis Prunty to charge from fourth into second using the upper groove as Apel, in the lower groove was blocked by Mueller’s sideways car. The Prunty brothers then pulled away to decide the race amongst themselves with Dennis making numerous attempts to pass on the inside. Dale Prunty was able to turn back the challenges however from the outside and he drove to his first super late model feature victory of the season with Dennis Prunty finishing a close second. Brad Mueller finished third while Steve Apel and Rob Braun rounded out the top five finishers. Conrad Morgan crossed the finish line in sixth place followed by Mike Egan and Lowell Bennett while Braison Bennett and Brad Keith completed the top ten.
Jeff Holtz won the 30-lap super late model semi-feature over Tom Hromadka and Nick Wagner as all three moved up to the super late model feature. Pat McIntee finished fourth and also transferred to the main event. Super late model heat races were won by Tom Hromadka, Braison Bennett, and Dennis Prunty. Brad Mueller was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 11.403 seconds.
Alex Prunty worked lapped traffic to his advantage and held off Dan Church for his third late model feature victory of the season in the 40-lap main event.
Mike Held forged ahead to lead the opening laps as Alex Prunty quickly slid into the second spot with Jack Stern, Ricky Heinan, and Dan Church close behind. A minor tangle between Jerry Mueller and Andy Evraets in turn three on the third lap bunched up the field causing Tyler Schley to hit the wall hard as the caution flag waved. Prunty was ready on the restart and he was able to charge ahead of Held for the lead as racing resumed, leaving Held to fend off Church and Stern for second. Church and Stern both made their way around Held for second and third respectively before the second caution flag waved on lap 10 for a spin by Corey Funk in turn four. Prunty maintained the lead over Church on the restart as two laps after the green flag appeared, the field slowed again when Grant Griesbach was tagged in the back while trying to edge inside of Ricky Heinan for the fifth spot, causing Griesbach to loop around and collect Steve Scheel and Andy Evraets. Al Stippich was also judged to be part of the incident and he restarted from the back as Prunty and Church lined up to duel for the lead once again. This time Church was able to gain the lead as the race got underway once again but Prunty remained in his tire tracks as it was evident the two would settle the outcome. Prunty took to the outside in the final laps and he and Church raced side by side for several circuits with Church able to keep the lead from the inside. On lap 33, the leaders approached lapped traffic and with a lapped car directly in front of Church in the inside lane, it was all Prunty needed to take the lead from the outside. Prunty then drove to his third feature victory of the season, leaving Church to finish a strong second. Wayne Freimund took the checkered flag in third place while Ricky Heinan and Jack Stern rounded out the top five.
Steven Scheel and Jack Stern each recorded late model heat race victories and Dan Church was the fastest qualifier at 12.524 seconds.
Kenny Joosten drove to a dominating victory in the 35-lap Midwest Sportsman feature. Joosten led the event flag to flag and was well out front of second place Jack Stern at the finish. Jay Shambeau was third followed by Ryan Gutknecht and Scott Shambeau.
Joosten also edged Chris Storey to win the Midwest Sportsman heat race while Jay Shambeau was the fastest qualifier in the division with a lap of 12.948 seconds.
Dale Kiley-Schaefer won the 25-lap Slinger Bee feature over Nick Schmidt and Jacob Schraufnagel. Carl Benn and Matt Rose finished fourth and fifth respectively. Heather Stark was the winner of the Slinger Bee semi-feature over Nicole Mueller and Kevin Bush. Slinger Bee heat race victories were claimed by Ryan Lovald, Todd Buckley, and Dale Kiley-Schaefer. Brandon Tackes was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 14.729 seconds.
A.J. Gurrola drove his Audi to the win in the Spectator Eliminator races while Rick Bruskiewicz raced to the win in the Figure 8 race over Joe Mueller and Scott Goetzke.
