Slinger, Wis., July 9—Jeff Holtz may have led every lap of the caution-free 60-lap Midwest Truck Series main event Sunday night at the Slinger Speedway during the Prelude to the Nationals, but it was anything but easy as he first turned back challenges from Danielle Behn and then held off a closing James Swan and Brad Mueller for the victory.
“I always say it doesn’t hurt to start up front,” Holtz stated from victory lane after starting outside the front row, “The truck was good and I tried pacing myself through the middle of the race. I think I paced myself a little too slow and they caught me. I thought if there was a caution late and I used up my stuff I would be mad at myself so I had to try to keep everything under it and keep the truck straight as possible. I knew those guys were coming and when the 28 (Behn) was behind me she gave me a shot once and I said I better get out of here, then I saw James (Swan) coming and I was getting nervous when I saw him coming.”
“We were really good and I just let another one slip away,” Swan said following his runner-up finish,” I picked the wrong lane at the Milwaukee Mile and I hit the frontstretch wall twice tonight and I haven’t hit the frontstretch wall in 30 years of racing here. I don’t know how that happened but it was a ton of fun. We just got stuck in traffic at the beginning there.”
“I had a good truck early and it started to get a little bit free getting into turn three,” Mueller said after finishing third, “That’s when James (Swan) took advantage of that and got me. I thought I’m just going to let him go and see if he’s got anything for Jeff (Holtz) because I didn’t. I thought early I would have but then it started to go away but it is what it is.”
Danielle Behn held on to finish fourth just ahead of Scott Ascher in fifth. Bryce Miller finished sixth followed by Chester Ace and Aaron Moyer in seventh and eighth respectively. James Lynch and Brandon Reichenberger completed the top ten finishers.
Paul Schaefer Jr. won the 16-lap Midwest Truck Series semi-feature over Jason Stark and Derek Doerr as they along with fourth place finisher Tyler Noble transferred into the main event. Tom Steinbach finished fifth. Midwest Truck Series heat races were won by Nick Quinnell, Jeff Holtz and James Lynch. Aaron Moyer was the fastest qualifier with a lap time of 12.273 seconds.
Adam Peschek purchased an old Al Schill Sr. car over the winter and rebuilt it into a 602 Outlaw machine. Peschek debuted the car Sunday night complete with a wrap resembling Schill’s super late model and promptly won the 35-lap feature. Dennis Prunty chased Peschek to the checkered flag and finished second while Rob Braun finished third. Tanner Berge drove to a fourth place finish ahead of Randy Sargent in fifth.
Mason Hellenbrand and Dennis Prunty were the winners of the 602 Outlaw heat races while Adam Peschek set fast time after circling the speedway in 12.172 seconds. A special moment occurred during Opening Ceremonies as Al Schill Sr. was on hand to drive his former ride for the National Anthem parade lap.
Brandon Tackes made it two in a row during Sportsman competition as he won the 35-lap feature over Tom Elsinger Sr. and Jake Schraufnagel. Paul Wagner finished fourth and Carl Benn was fifth. Sportsman heat races were won by Simon Seyfert and Dale Lecus Jr. while Paul Wagner was the fastest qualifier with a lap time of 12.648 seconds.
Ricky Gebhard won the 25-lap Slinger Bees feature over Tom Elsinger Jr. and Al Strobel while Scott Emrich Sr. and Misty Benn completed the top five. Steve Dickson won the Slinger Bees semi-feature over Travis Kreuser and Jason Clope. Cody Booth was fourth and Anthony Dorzok was fifth. Slinger Bees heat races were won by Travis Kreuser, Jacob Balk, and Kendall Becker while Misty Benn topped qualifying with a lap time of 15.207 seconds.
Joshua Zacharias won the 20-lap Slinger Sixers feature as the Sixers division ran a combined event with the High School Racing Association competitors. Landin Frye finished second and was the top HSRA driver while Brandon Gumm and Mark Fogel Jr. finished third and fourth respectively. Joshua Zacharias and Landin Frye were the winners of the Slinger Sixer heart races and Zacharias was also the fastest qualifier with a lap of 15.792 seconds.
