Slinger, Wis., May 28—Brad Mueller outdueled Luke Fenhaus on a late restart and used the outside groove to drive to the victory in the EH Wolf Memorial Day Weekend 75-lap Elite Eight Super Late Model Series feature Sunday night at the Slinger Speedway.
“You know, last year down at Summerfest, one of my good buddies came up to me and said ‘Mueller, what’s wrong with you? – you suck, “Mueller told the crowd from victory lane, “He’s the reason I won tonight because he put the fire back in me to get back behind the wheel again.”
“Earlier today in practice we wrecked the quick-change gears and wrecked the whole rear end, “Mueller continued,” And thanks to Mitch Haver’s gang, Dave Reed Jr. and Dave Reed Sr. they went back to the shop and grabbed another rear end and put it in the car. Everyone loves their pit crew but I’m telling you, my guys don’t give up.”
“My spotter told me I had to watch Luke (Fenhaus) on those restarts because he likes to jump them restarts but I told him you forgot who also likes to jump them restarts too.”
“The goal this weekend was to finish one and it felt good leading laps and getting back to Slinger in front of this home crowd,” Luke Fenhaus stated after his runner-up finish, “It’s good to come out here and have a good run to get back on an upward slope and feel good about it.”
“I felt like I nailed the first two restarts good and then my third one I just kept going early and figured I’d go late and Brad (Mueller) just kind of pulled ahead of me and got a good jump,” Fenhaus continued, “He ended up alongside of me and I just got schooled by the old man.”
Ryan DeStefano raced among the leaders the entire race and drove to a strong third place result while Jacob Nottestad also battled for the lead early and finished fourth. Last week’s winner Steve Apel advanced from his ninth place starting spot to finish fifth ahead of Alex Prunty and R.J. Braun in sixth and seventh respectively. Dennis Prunty took the checkered flag in eighth while Grant Griesbach and Rich Loch rounded out the top ten finishers.
Steve Apel was the winner of the Elite Eight Super Late Model Fast Dash over Levon Van Der Geest and 74-year old Conrad Morgan added to his Hall of Fame Career by setting fast time with a qualifying lap of 11.391 seconds.
Jesse Bernhagen and Tom Berens raced to a thrilling finish in the 40-lap Pro Late Model feature before Bernhagen used the outside groove to edge Berens for the win in a photo finish. Tyler Schley was glued to the leaders bumpers the final two laps and finished a close third while Tyler Hromadka and Scott Shambeau completed the top five finishers. Mitchell Delcamp took the checkered flag in sixth and Billy Braun finished seventh. Jerry Eckhardt, Brad Hetzel, and Jeremy Bentz finished eighth through tenth respectively.
Pro Late Model heat races were won by Ryan Gutknecht and Scott Shambeau while Tom Berens was the fastest qualifier after posting a lap time of 12.067 seconds.
Rick Schaefer drove to a convincing win in the 25-lap Super Beez feature over Carl Benn and Paul Reagles. Brian Hillringhouse and Todd Buckley finished fourth and fifth respectively. Marty Tackes was sixth followed by Bob Peters and Brandon Tackes in seventh and eighth. Al Strobel and Tracy Neu rounded out the top ten. Super Beez heat races were won by Bob Peters and Rick Schaefer and Paul Reagles was the fastest qualifier after posting a lap time of 13.770 seconds.
Dylan Lemberger was the winner of the 25-lap Slinger Bees feature over Misty Benn and Tom Elsinger Jr. Travis Kreuser finished fourth and Jason Clope was fifth. Brian Stanczyk crossed the finish line in sixth followed by Kendall Becker and Matthew Wandrey in seventh and eighth. Scott Emrich Sr. finished ninth and Paul Reagles finished tenth. Slinger Bees heat races were won by Misty Benn and Scott Emrich Sr. while Paul Reagles set fast time with a lap time of 15.105 seconds.
The Upper Midwest Vintage Racing Series made a stop at the Slinger Speedway and Bill Martin won the 15-lap feature over Kenny Baum and Tim Lind. Tracey Prissell finished fourth and Justin Jessop finished fifth. Bill Martin and Kenny Baum were the winners of the Upper Midwest Vintage Racing Series heat races.
Nick Ostberg capped off the evening by winning the Figure 8 feature over Bill Shavlik and Scott Goetzke. Rick Bruskiewicz finished fourth ahead of Jim Ward and Chad Snuggs.
Super Late Models – Feature 75 Laps 1. 89M-Brad Mueller , Random Lake, WI[3], 2. 4F-Luke Fenhaus , Wausau, WI[1], 3. 0D-Ryan Destefano , Colgate, WI[7], 4. 97N-Jacob Nottestad , Janesville, WI[5], 5. 51A-Steve Apel , Slinger, WI[9], 6. 11P-Alex Prunty , Kewaskum, WI[12], 7. 92B-RJ Braun , Hartford, WI[6], 8. 42P-Dennis Prunty , Allenton, WI[13], 9. 17G-Grant Griesbach , Waukesha, WI[10], 10. 55L-Rich Loch , Franklin, WI[16], 11. 48K-Brad Keith , West Bend, WI[15], 12. 44M-Justin Mondeik , Gleason, WI[14], 13. 92M-Conrad Morgan , Waukesha, WI[8], 14. 38W-Nick Wagner , Hartford, WI[2], 15. 23V-Levon Van Der Geest , Merrill, WI[4], 16. 49M-Jerry Mueller , Richfield, WI[17], 17. 89E-Mike Egan , West Bend, WI[11], 18. 7S-James Swanson , Pembine, WI[18]
Pro Late Models – Feature 40 Laps 28B-Jesse Bernhagen , Willard, WI[8], 99B-Tom Berens , Slinger, WI[7], 55S-Tyler Schley , Colgate, WI[4], 3H-Tyler Hromadka , Colgate, WI[1], [DQ]21S-Scott Shambeau , Milwaukee, WI[11]48U-Matthew Urban , Richfield, WI[3], 16D-Mitchell Delcamp , Germantown, WI[9], 31B-Billy Braun , Wales, WI[2], 61E-Jerry Eckhardt , Johnson Creek, WI[10], 68H-Brad Hetzel , West Bend, WI[13], 27B-Jeremy Bentz , Fox Lake, IL[12], 7H-Mitchell Haver , West Bend, WI[14], 39P-Zach Prunty , Lomira, WI[5], 01G-Ryan Gutknecht , Oak Creek, WI[6
Super Beez – Feature 25 Laps 1. 11S-Rick Schaefer , West Bend, WI[5], 2. 01B-Carl Benn , Lisbon, WI[2], 3. 25R-Paul Reagles , Colgate, WI[8], 4. 84H-Brian Hillringhouse , Oak Creek, WI[7], 5. 8B-Todd Buckley , West Bend, WI[1], 6. 24M-Marty Tackes , West Bend, WI[3], 7. 54P-Bob Peters , Janesville, WI[10], 8. 24B-Brandon Tackes , West Bend, WI[11], 9. 14S-Albert Strobel , Iron Ridge, WI[6], 10. [DNS]15N-Tracy Neu , Watertown, WI[9], 11. [DNS]04H-Brady Held , Iron Ridge, WI[4
Figure 8’s – Feature 10 Laps 1. 1O-Nick Ostberg , West Bend, WI[6], 2. 0S-Bill Shavlik , West Bend, WI[5], 3. 4G-Scott Goetzke , Kewaskum, WI[4], 4. 17B-Rick Bruskiewicz , Mayville, WI[3], 5. 80W-Jim Ward , West Bend, WI[2], 6. 96S-Chad Snuggs , Dalton, WI[1]
Upper Midwest Vintage Racing Series – Feature 15 Laps 1. 24M-Bill Martin , La Crosse, WI[2], 2. 14B-Kenny Baum , Appleton, WI[7], 3. 43L-Tim Lind , Waupun, WI[8], 4. 18PTracey Prissell , Tomah, WI[5], 5. 97J-Justin Jessop , Black River Falls, WI[6], 6. 55F-Roger Frank , Baraboo, WI[1], 7. 91P-Roger Peterson , Black River Falls, WI[3], 8. 99V-Johnny Vassh , Sturtevant, WI[4]
Slinger Bees – Feature 25 Laps 1. 52L-Dylan Lemberger , Menomonee Falls, WI[1], 2. 19B-Misty Benn , Lisbon, WI[2], 3. 33E-Tom Elsinger Jr, Germantown, WI[8], 4. 20K-Travis Kreuser , West Bend, WI[12], 5. 3C-Jason Clope , Racine, WI[6], 6. 23S-Brian Stanczyk , West Bend, WI[10], 7. 20X-Kendall Becker , Hartford, WI[14], 8. 08W-Matthew Wandrey , Germantown, WI[11], 9. 21E-Scott Emrich Sr, Milwaukee, WI[4], 10. [DQ]25R-Paul Reagles , Colgate, WI[13], 11. [DQ]10G-Ricky Gebhard Jr, Oconomowoc, WI[9], 12. [DQ]14S-Albert Strobel , Iron Ridge, WI[7], 13. [DQ]11M-Brandon Mennicke , Slinger, WI[5], 14. [DQ]101V-Brandon Vines , Saint Paul, MN[3]
