Slinger, Wis., May 19—After experiencing several frustrating races in the past, Gabe Sommers finally broke through Sunday afternoon and captured his first Elite Eight Super Late Model Series feature victory in the Keith’s Marina Race Against Cancer 75.
“Usually we have a pretty good car here but it just doesn’t qualify well,” Sommers stated from the victory deck, “our race trim is pretty good and after about ten laps it comes in real nice. We just kind of build on it and that’s what we did here today.”
Sommers stalked early race leader Jesse Bernhagen for several laps before easing to the inside lane to power by for the lead on lap 48 and once out front, began to pull away from the field. Bernhagen began to experience power steering issues and was quickly caught by Dennis Prunty and Max Kahler in the waning laps. Prunty, who started deep in the field, was able to charge into second but had nothing for Sommers who charged to the victory. Prunty finished a strong second while Maxx Kahler made a late race pass to finish third ahead of Bernhagen in fourth. Alex Prunty finished fifth.
“I used everything I had trying to get around the 17 (Kahler) on the outside so I don’t think a caution would’ve helped, “ Prunty said afterwards, “But we made an engine change this week and I think it paid off.”
“That’s a second and third to start the season,” Kahler told the crowd following his third place finish, “Hopefully the next time we are here we can go two the other way and get a win. The car was really good but we just didn’t have enough to hold on there after we followed Sommers to the front.”
Jeremy Lepak took the checkered flag in sixth place ahead of Brad Keith in seventh and Brad Mueller in eighth. Nick Egan and Willie Nelson completed the top ten finishers in ninth and tenth respectively.
Brad Mueller won the 20-lap Elite Eight super late model semi-feature over Nick Egan, Jeremy Lepak, and Ryan Gutknecht as those four drivers transferred into the main event. Tom Jasinski finished fifth. Alex Prunty won the fast dash over Grant Griesbach while Brad Keith was the fastest qualifier after turning in a lap in 11.433 seconds.
Brady Held kept the first-time winner theme going by scoring his first Sportsman feature victory in the 35-lap main event. Brian Holtz finished second while Jake Schraufnagel crossed the finish line in third. Brandon Tackes and Carl Benn rounded out the top five. Sportsman heat races were won by Ryan Manthei and Alex Lopacinski while Jake Schraufnagel set fast time at 12.736 seconds.
Ricky Gebhard won the 25-lap Slinger Bees feature over Travis Kreuser and Matthew Elsinger. Jason Clope finished fourth and Kendall Becker was fifth. Morgan Zerwinski and Ricky Gebhard were the winners of the Slinger Bees heat races Jason Clope was t he fastest qualifier after circling the speedway in 15.250 seconds.
Ayrton Brockhouse was the winner of the 25-lap Legends feature, taking the checkered flag ahead of Dillon Schwanbeck. Lincoln Cain was third followed by Cade Jaeger and Jon Kemp in fourth and fifth respectively. Legends heat race victories were scored by Todd Tolton and Cade Jaeger while Ayrton Brockhouse was the fastest qualifier with a qualifying time of 13.398 seconds.
Axel Oldenhoff won the 15-lap Bandolero feature over Oliver Weinkauf and Bentley Thompson. Mason Obermeyer finished fourth and Carter Stein finished fifth. Paegen Elllingson won the first Bandolero heat race and Oliver Weinkauf was the winner of the second Bandolero heat. Markus Obermeyer was the fastest qualifier for the Bandoleros after turning in a lap at 14.673 seconds.
Super Late Models – Feature 75 Laps 1. 15S-Gabe Sommers, Plover, WI [5], 2. 42P-Dennis Prunty, Allenton, WI [9], 3. 17K-Max Kahler, Caledonia, IL [7], 4. 28B-Jesse Bernhagen, Markesan, WI [3], 5. 11P-Alex Prunty, Kewaskum, WI [6], 6. 40L-Jeremy Lepak, Merrill, WI [17], 7. 48K-Brad Keith, Allenton, WI [11], 8. 89M-Brad Mueller, Random Lake, WI [15], 9. 89E-Nick Egan, Lomira, WI [16], 10. 25N-Willie Nelson, Richmond, IL [13], 11. 23V-Levon Van Der Geest, Merrill, WI [2], 12. 44J-Jerry Mueller, Richfield, WI [1], 13. 92M-Conrad Morgan, Waukesha, WI [12], 14. 51A-Steve Apel, Slinger, WI [10], 15. 17G-Grant Griesbach, Waukesha, WI [8], 16. 92B-RJ Braun, Wales, WI [4], 17. 55L-Rich Loch, Franklin, WI [14], 18. 01G-Ryan Gutknecht, Oak Creek, WI [18]
Qualifying 1. 48K-Brad Keith, 11.4330; 2. 51A-Steve Apel, 11.4370; 3. 42P-Dennis Prunty, 11.4450; 4. 17G-Grant Griesbach, 11.4730; 5. 17K-Max Kahler, 11.4800; 6. 11P-Alex Prunty, 11.4870; 7. 15S-Gabe Sommers, 11.4980; 8. 92B-RJ Braun, 11.5030; 9. 28B-Jesse Bernhagen, 11.5040; 10. 23V-Levon Van Der Geest, 11.5220; 11. 44J-Jerry Mueller, 11.5460; 12. 92M-Conrad Morgan, 11.5720; 13. 25N-Willie Nelson, 11.5721; 14. 55L-Rich Loch, 11.5990; 15. 89M-Brad Mueller, 11.6000; 16. 01G-Ryan Gutknecht, 11.6900; 17. 40L-Jeremy Lepak, 11.6910; 18. 46J-Thomas Jasinski, 11.7220; 19. 89E-Nick Egan, 11.7250; 20. 84V-Jacob Vanoskey, 11.9410; 21. 27B-Jeremy Bentz, 12.2500
Sportsman – Feature 35 Laps 1. 04H-Brady Held, Iron Ridge, WI [7], 2. 88H-Brian Holtz, Muskego, WI [9], 3. 29S-Jake Schraufnagel, Horicon, WI [10], 4. 24B-Brandon Tackes, West Bend, WI [5], 5. 01B-Carl Benn, Lisbon, WI [2], 6. 33E-Tom Elsinger Jr, Germantowm, WI [15], 7. 8K-Dale Kiley-Schaefer, Allenton, WI [4], 8. 66S-Al Stippich, Hartford, WI [11], 9. 23B-Nick Bruley, Johnson Creek, WI [8], 10. 89L-Alex Lopacinski, West Bend, WI [6], 11. 16M-Ryan Manthei, Green Bay, WI [13], 12. 2B-Aaron Butterbrodt, Hubertus, WI [12], 13. 47F-John Featherston Sr, Roscoe, IL [14], 14. 17H-Mike Hansen, Eagle, WI [1], 15. 21B-Brett Butler, West Bend, WI [3]
Slinger Bees – Feature 25 Laps 1. 10G-Ricky Gebhard Jr, Oconomowoc, WI [6], 2. 20K-Travis Kreuser, West Bend, WI [8], 3. 33E-Matthew Elsinger, West Bend, WI [10], 4. 3C-Jason Clope, Racine, WI [11], 5. 20X-Kendall Becker, Hartford, WI [12], 6. 35Z-Morgan Zerwinski, West Bend, WI [13], 7. 14S-Albert Strobel, Iron Ridge, WI [5], 8. 23S-Brian Stanczyk, West Bend, WI [3], 9. 32C-Rachel Czarapata, Menomonee Falls, WI [15], 10. 08W-Matthew Wandrey, Germantown, WI [2], 11. 25L-Nathan Lemberger, Hartford, WI [1], 12. 64B-Cooper Bodendorfer, Muskego, WI [7], 13. 15N-Tracy Neu, Watertown, WI [4], 14. 57F-John Featherston Jr, Roscoe, IL [14], 15. 96P-Preston Peters, Fond Du Lac, WI [16], 16. 52L-Dylan Lemberger, Menomonee Falls, WI [9], 17. [DNS]11M-Brandon Mennicke, River Falls, WI [17]
Legends – Feature 25 Laps 1. 12B-Ayrton Brockhouse, Shakopee, MN [10], 2. 27S-Dillon Schwanbeck, Poynette, WI [8], 3. 5C-Lincoln Cain, Slinger, WI [9], 4. 64J-Cade Jaeger, Kewaskum, WI [7], 5. 4K-Jon Kemp, Delhi, NY [6], 6. 11S-Jacob Stark, Palmyra, WI [5], 7. 76W-Mark Wellman, Slinger, WI [1], 8. 67P-Spencer Polacek, New Berlin, WI [2], 9. 97B-Jake Baker, Saint Paul, MN [4], 10. 115G-Aaron Genske, Jefferson, WI [11], 11. 11B-Camron Benson, Bloomington, MN [12], 12. 53G-Paul Grechowiak, Muskego, WI [13], 13. 04T-Todd Tolton, Alma Ontario Canada, WI [3], 14. 21E-Tyler Edmundson, Johnson Creek, WI [14], 15. 13B-Ayden Brockhouse, Shakopee, MN [15]
Bandoleros – Feature 15 Laps 1. 29O-Axel Oldenhoff, Lake Mills, WI [7], 2. 76W-Oliver Weinkauf, Merrill, WI [5], 3. 22T-Bentley Thompson, West Salem, WI [1], 4. 93O-Mason Obermeyer, Union Grove, WI [8], 5. 11S-Carter Stein, Germantown, WI [3], 6. 10B-Emily Billings, Waterloo, WI [2], 7. 7J-Harley Johnson, Ixonia, WI [6], 8. 4B-Wesley Baumeister, Beloit, WI [12], 9. 24M-Blake Michael, Evansville, WI [13], 10. 707G-Hunter Graham, West Bend, WI [14], 11. 000J-Lincoln Johnson, Ixonia, WI [9], 12. 27E-Paegan Ellingson, Watertown, WI [11], 13. 44O-Markus Obermeyer, Union Grove, WI [10], 14. 62O-Ace Oldenhoff, Lake Mills, WI [
