Slinger, Wis., Aug 27—Alex Prunty held off Steve Apel to win the 5th Annual Carl Wegner Memorial Elite Eight Super Late Model Series 75-lap feature Sunday night at the Slinger Speedway. Prunty took the lead following a lap 64 caution when leader Braden Berge, second place Brad Mueller, and third place Luke Fenhaus all crashed together exiting turn two.
Brad Keith and Brad Mueller traded the lead at the start before Braden Berge established himself as the leader by working the outside groove. Mueller settled into second with Jacob Nottestad settling into third ahead of Alex Prunty in fourth. Further back, Luke Fenhaus and Steve Apel began to work their way forward toward the top five. Mueller made a few checks to the inside in a bid for the lead but each time, Berge proved to be too strong in the top groove as behind them, Prunty muscled his way around Nottestad for third. Like a rubber band, the top four would stretch out before snapping back together as Fenhaus ran them down and soon was on Nottestad’s tail in fifth. As Mueller continued to look to find a way around Berge on the inside, Fenhaus was the driver on the move as he first worked his way by Nottestad in fourth and then was able to dispatch Prunty for third. With eleven laps to go, Mueller made his strongest bid on Berge for the lead using the inside as Fenhaus closed on both of them. As Berge moved low to defend the move by Mueller, the cars touched exiting turn two which sent both cars hard right into the backstretch wall. Fenhaus had nowhere to go and plowed into the side of Berge’s car before tagging Mueller’s machine as well. The incident brought out the red flag with Alex Prunty leading Jacob Nottestad and Steve Apel as the first cars to make it through the melee. Once racing resumed, Prunty charged into the lead as Apel maneuvered his way by Nottestad for second. Apel remained glued to Prunty’s rear bumper for the closing laps and the two raced aggressively clean to the finish with Prunty taking the victory over Apel. Nottestad finished a close third while R.J. Braun and Brad Keith completed the top five finishers. Grant Griesbach finished in sixth place and Dennis Prunty was seventh. Rich Loch took the checkered flag in eighth while Conrad Morgan and Jerry Mueller finished in ninth and tenth respectively. Alex Prunty was the winner of the fast dash and Steve Apel was the fastest qualifier after turning in a qualifying lap in 11.346 seconds.
Jake Schraufnagel won the 35-lap Sportsman feature over Alex Lopacinski and Brady Held. Carl Benn finished fourth and Brett Butler was fifth. Bobby Giers finished sixth followed by Dean Olla and Brandon Tackes in seventh and eighth respectively. Brian Holtz and Josh Fehrmann completed the top ten finishers. Sportsman heat races were won by Tom Elsinger Sr. and Dean Olla while Jacob Schraufnagel was the fastest qualifier with a lap time of 12.610 seconds.
Brandon Mennicke won the 25-lap Slinger Bees feature over Ricky Gebhard and Scott Emrich Sr. Brian Stanczyk finished fourth while Tom Elsinger Jr. was fifth. Bill Ostovich Jr. finished in sixth place and Kendall Becker finished seventh ahead of Matthew Wandrey in eighth. Nick Lemberger was ninth and Timothy Kreuser was tenth. Todd Snow and Misty Benn were the winners of the Slinger Bees heat races and Kendall Becker was the fastest qualifier after turning in a qualifying time of 15.200 seconds.
Ayrton Brockhouse won the 25-lap Great North Legends feature over Dillon Schwanbeck. Lincoln Cain was third ahead of Ayden Brockhouse and Jessie Mahoney in fourth and fifth. Jon Kemp finished sixth followed by Jacob Stark and Spencer Polacek in seventh and eighth. Ben Massman was ninth and Jordan Sarr was tenth. With the victory Ayrton Brockhouse was crowned the 2023 Slinger Great North Legends Track Champion. Great North Legends heat races were won by Spencer Polacek and Dillon Schwanbeck. Schwanbeck was also the fastest qualifier with a lap time of 13.298 seconds.
Mason Obermeyer scored his first career Bandolero feature victory in the 15-lap main event over Lincoln Johnson and Harley Johnson. Jayden Johnson finished fourth and Bentley Thompson was fifth. Markus Obermeyer finished sixth while Axel Oldenhoff and Carter Stein finished seventh and eighth respectively. Emily Billings and Wesley Baumeister completed the top ten finishers in ninth and tenth respectively. Carter Stein and Jayden Johnson were the Bandolero heat race winners while Penn Sauter was the fastest qualifier with a time of 14.253 seconds. Sauter was involved in a hard wreck in his heat race and with the help of fellow crews and volunteers including super late model driver Lowell Bennett, his car was able to complete a lap in the feature which secured Sauter the 2023 Slinger Bandolero Track Championship.
Super Late Models – Feature 75 Laps 1. 11P-Alex Prunty , Kewaskum, WI[6], 2. 51A-Steve Apel , Slinger, WI[10], 3. 97N-Jacob Nottestad , Janesville, WI[8], 4. 92B-RJ Braun Jr, Wales, WI[5], 5. 48K-Brad Keith , West Bend, WI[1], 6. 17G-Grant Griesbach , Waukesha, WI[7], 7. 42P-Dennis Prunty , Allenton, WI[11], 8. 55L-Rich Loch , Franklin, WI[12], 9. 92M-Conrad Morgan , Waukesha, WI[15], 10. 49M-Jerry Mueller , Richfield, WI[13], 11. 28B-Braden Berge , Elkhorn, WI[4], 12. 89M-Brad Mueller , Random Lake, WI[2], 13. 4F-Luke Fenhaus , Wausau, WI[9], 14. 7S-James Swanson , Pembine, WI[16], 15. 2B-Lowell Bennett , Neenah, WI[14], 16. 38W-Nick Wagner , Hartford, WI[3]
Sportsman – Feature 35 Laps 1. 29S-Jake Schraufnagel , Slinger, WI[9], 2. 89L-Alex Lopacinski , West Bend, WI[2], 3. 04H-Brady Held , Iron Ridge, WI[7], 4. 01B-Carl Benn , Lisbon, WI[5], 5. 21B-Brett Butler , West Bend, WI[3], 6. 5G-Bobby Giers Sr, Wonder Lake, IL[12], 7. 02O-Dean Olla , West Bend, WI[4], 8. 24B-Brandon Tackes , West Bend, WI[1], 9. 88H-Brian Holtz , Muskego, WI[8], 10. 86F-Josh Fehrmann , Kewaskum, WI[14], 11. 32R-Randy Ruth , Menomonee Falls, WI[13], 12. 99L-Dale Lecus Jr, Caledonia, WI[15], 13. 32S-Ryan Sielaff , North Prairie, WI[6], 14. 33E-Tom Elsinger Sr, West Bend, WI[11], 15. 53W-Paul Wagner , Iron Ridge, WI[10]
Slinger Bees – Feature 25 Laps 1. 11M-Brandon Mennicke , Slinger, WI[5], 2. 10G-Ricky Gebhard Jr, Oconomowoc, WI[6], 3. 21E-Scott Emrich Sr, Milwaukee, WI[3], 4. 23S-Brian Stanczyk , West Bend, WI[7], 5. 33E-Tom Elsinger Jr, Germantown, WI[11], 6. 009O-Bill Ostovich Jr, West Bend, WI[13], 7. 20X-Kendall Becker , Hartford, WI[10], 8. 08W-Matthew Wandrey , Germantown, WI[15], 9. 52X-Nick Lemberger , Germantown, WI[19], 10. 21K-Timothy Kreuser , West Bend, WI[18], 11. 43M-Allen Maher , Lisbon, WI[1], 12. 44S-Todd Snow , Belvidere, IL[16], 13. 29K-Matt Krinke , Watertown, WI[17], 14. 19B-Misty Benn , Lisbon, WI[4], 15. 18C-Cj Corallini , El Mirage, AZ[20], 16. 3C-Jason Clope , Racine, WI[8], 17. 14S-Albert Strobel , Iron Ridge, WI[14], 18. [DQ]20K-Travis Kreuser , West Bend, WI[9], 19. [DQ]13B-Jacob Balk , South Milwaukee, WI[12], 20. [DQ]48U-Matthew Urban , Richfield, WI[2]
Legends – Feature 25 Laps 1. 12B-Ayrton Brockhouse , Shakopee, MN[8], 2. 27S-Dillon Schwanbeck , Poynette, WI[7], 3. 5C-Lincoln Cain , Slinger, WI[4], 4. 18B-Ayden Brockhouse , Shakopee, MN[6], 5. 11M-Jessie Mahoney , Bloomington, MN[12], 6. 4K-Jon Kemp , Delhi, NY[3], 7. 11S-Jacob Stark , Palmyra, WI[9], 8. 67P-Spencer Polacek , New Berlin, WI[1], 9. 7M-Benjamin Massman , East Troy, WI[5], 10. 88S-Jordan Sarr , Winter Haven, FL[10], 11. 76W-Mark Wellman , Slinger, WI[11], 12. [DNS]31E-Greg Erhardt Sr, Forest Lake, MN[2]
Bandoleros – Feature 15 Laps 1. 93O-Mason Obermeyer , Union Grove, WI[2], 2. 000J-Lincoln Johnson , Ixonia, WI[5], 3. 7J-Harley Johnson , Ixonia, WI[6], 4. 8J-Jayden Johnson , Ixonia, WI[7], 5. 22T-Bentley Thompson , West Salem, WI[9], 6. 44O-Markus Obermeyer , Union Grove, WI[3], 7. 29O-Axel Oldenhoff , Lake Mills, WI[10], 8. 11S-Carter Stein , Germantown, WI[11], 9. 10BEmily Billings , Waterloo, WI[13], 10. 4B-Wesley Baumeister , Beloit, WI[1], 11. 707G-Hunter Graham , West Bend, WI[12], 12. 24M-Blake Michael , Evansville, WI[14], 13. 5S-Penn Sauter , Deforest, WI[8], 14. [DNS]62O-Ace Oldenhoff , Lake Mills, WI[4]
