Slinger, Wis., July 11—Ty Majeski took advantage of a late caution flag with four laps to go and bested a dominant Luke Fenhaus to win his third Cobblestone Hotels Slinger Nationals presented by Lynch Buick GMC of West Bend Tuesday night at the Slinger Speedway.
Fenhaus appeared to be on cruise control to win his second Nationals title as he enjoyed a healthy lead until the yellow flag appeared on lap 196 when Levon Van Der Geest’s car came to a stop on the speedway in a shower of sparks and allowed Majeski to close up from second for the final restart.
After Fenhaus chose the inside lane for the four lap shootout, Majeski took to the high side and timed the start perfectly drawing even with Fenhaus as they entered turn one. With a sold-out crowd looking on, Majeski was able to edge ahead of Fenhaus entering turn three and complete the pass for the lead as the pair exited turn four. Once out front Majeski was able to drive away from Fenhaus and capture his third Nationals crown and the $20,000 top prize.
“Sometimes these races go your way and sometimes they don’t,
Majeski told the packed house from victory lane, “Obviously I had a good timed yellow there. Luke (Fenhaus) was probably a little bit better than us as his car was a little more versatile. He could maneuver a little bit better through lapped traffic and make more time.”
“But all it takes is a yellow and a good restart and thankfully we came out on top tonight, “ Majeski continued, “Usually we struggle here on the outside lane but we kind of came with a different set up this year to try and fix that. Hats off to Luke, we raced really really hard last year and this year was a lot cleaner on both of our parts. It was a great race and with a packed house the atmosphere was electric tonight.”
“I don’t know, I thought I did everything perfect with lapped cars and I thought I did perfect with just keeping the pace that I did,” a disappointed Luke Fenhaus said after having to settle for second despite leading 122 of the 200 laps and collecting a lion’s share of the record $20,211 collected in lap leader bonus money, “We had a nice gap and just didn’t need a caution. I really wanted to win this race and we had a great car.”
California driver Derek Thorn fared the best of the traveling racers with a strong third place finish.
“Considering how far back we were there about lap 150 and with us getting back up there in contention to be fighting for it, I’m happy with tonight,” Thorn stated, “I know it’s not a win but the beer is still cold and it’s awesome racing in front of a packed house like this.”
The 44th Slinger Nationals drew some serious star power and 2020 NASCAR Cup champion Chase Elliott completed his Slinger debut with a sixth place finish while last year’s winner and four time NASCAR Cup winner in 2023, William Byron finished eighth. NASCAR star Erik Jones rebounded from an early incident to finish eleventh while NASCAR Hall of Famer and eight-time Nationals winner Matt Kenseth finished 22nd after exiting with ignition issues about a third of the way through.
Wisconsin’s John DeAngelis finished fourth ahead of Illinois hot shoe Austin Nason in fifth. Five time Slinger track champion Steve Apel finished seventh NASCAR Star William Byron eighth ahead of Wisconsin Kulwicki Development Driver representative Levon Van Der Geest in ninth and three time Slinger champion Brad Mueller in Tenth.
Minnesota’s William Sawalich won the 30-lap Last Chance Qualifying race over John DeAngelis and Erik Jones while Virginia driver Conner Jones finished fourth to capture the final transfer spot into the main event. Rich Loch finished fifth and Derek Kraus was sixth. Alex Prunty topped the 34 car field in qualifying with a lap time of 11.304 seconds.
Jesse Bernhagen got back to his winning ways at Slinger as he won the 40-lap Uptown Motors Pro Late Model feature over Jeff Holtz and Mitchell Delcamp. Tyer Schley and Karter Stark completed the top five finishers.
Super Late Models – Feature 200 Laps
1. 91M-Ty Majeski , Neenah, WI[10], 2. 4F-Luke Fenhaus , Wausau, WI[9], 3. 7T-Derek Thorn , Bakersfield, CA[6], 4. 7D-John Deangelis , Richfield, WI[18], 5. 14N-Austin Nason , Roscoe, IL[3], 6. 9E-Chase Elliott , Dawsonville, GA[8], 7. 51A-Steve Apel , Slinger, WI[7], 8. 24B-William Byron , Charlotte, NC[5], 9. 23V-Levon Van Der Geest , Merrill, WI[1], 10. 89M-Brad Mueller , Random Lake, WI[23], 11. 4J-Erik Jones , Charlotte, NC[19], 12. 51N-Stephen Nasse , Pinellas Park, FL[21], 13. 22R-Gio Ruggiero , Seekonk, MA[2], 14. 97N-Jacob Nottestad , Janesville, WI[14], 15. 9K-Derek Kraus , Stratford, WI[26], 16. 42P-Dennis Prunty , Allenton, WI[22], 17. 2S-William Sawalich , Eden Prairie, MN[17], 18. 55L-Rich Loch , Franklin, WI[25], 19. 17G-Grant Griesbach , Waukesha, WI[13], 20. 11P-Alex Prunty , Kewaskum, WI[12], 21. 5S-Johnny Sauter , Deforest, WI[16], 22. 8K-Matt Kenseth , Cambridge, WI[4], 23. 44J-Connor Jones , Fredericksburg, VA[20], 24. 92M-Conrad Morgan , Waukesha, WI[15], 25. 48K-Brad Keith , West Bend, WI[24], 26. 92B-RJ Braun Jr, Wales, WI[11], 27. 0D-Ryan Destefano , Colgate, WI[27] Qualifying
1. 11P-Alex Prunty, 11.3040; 2. 92B-RJ Braun, 11.3400; 3. 91M-Ty Majeski, 11.3530; 4. 4F-Luke Fenhaus, 11.3610; 5. 9E-Chase Elliott, 11.3630; 6. 51A-Steve Apel, 11.3840; 7. 7T-Derek Thorn, 11.3900; 8. 24B-William Byron, 11.4020; 9. 8K-Matt Kenseth, 11.4021; 10. 14N-Austin Nason, 11.4060; 11. 22R-Gio Ruggiero, 11.4080; 12. 23V-Levon Van Der Geest, 11.4190; 13. 17G-Grant Griesbach, 11.4210; 14. 97N-Jacob Nottestad, 11.4260; 15. 92M-Conrad Morgan, 11.4360; 16. 5S-Johnny Sauter, 11.4390; 17. 42P-Dennis Prunty, 11.4410; 18. 80F-Ryan Farrell, 11.4560; 19. 89M-Brad Mueller, 11.4580; 20. 2S-William Sawalich, 11.4630; 21. 55L-Rich Loch, 11.4640; 22. 7D-John Deangelis, 11.4670; 23. 44J-Connor Jones, 11.4720; 24. 25S-Jeff Storm, 11.4800; 25. 9K-Derek Kraus, 11.4830; 26. 48K-Brad Keith, 11.4930; 27. 15S-Gabe Sommers, 11.4950; 28. 0D-Ryan Destefano, 11.5190; 29. 4J-Erik Jones, 11.5290; 30. 71B-Blake Brown, 11.5330; 31. 40L-Jeremy Lepak, 11.5470; 32. 69H-Michael Hinde, 11.5560; 33. 51N-Stephen Nasse, 11.5820; 34. 90D-Steve Dorer, 11.5980
Pro Late Models – Feature 40 Laps
1. 28B-Jesse Bernhagen , Willard, WI[4], 2. 88H-Jeff Holtz , Franksville, WI[2], 3. 16D-Mitchell Delcamp , Germantown, WI[6], 4. 55S-Tyler Schley , Colgate, WI[1], 5. 92S-Karter Stark , Marshall, WI[11], 6. 01G-Ryan Gutknecht , Oak Creek, WI[9], 7. 10R-Jon Reynolds Jr, Rockford, IL[8], 8. 7H-Mitchell Haver , West Bend, WI[5], 9. 99B-Tom Berens , Slinger, WI[10], 10. 3H-Tyler Hromadka , Colgate, WI[17], 11. 25N-Willie Nelson , Richmond, IL[7], 12. 7P-Joey Pontbriand , Norway, MI[19], 13. 84V-Jacob Vanoskey , Hartford, WI[14], 14. 61E-Jerry Eckhardt , Johnson Creek, WI[18], 15. 31B-Billy Braun , Wales, WI[13], 16. 27B-Jeremy Bentz , Fox Lake, IL[20], 17. 39P-Zach Prunty , Lomira, WI[3], 18. 6H-Jakob Hassler , Colgate, WI[12], 19. 1T-Josh Thiering , South Beloit, IL[16], 20. 6R-Thayran Rezin , Tomah, WI[15]
Qualifying
1. 99B-Tom Berens, 12.1880; 2. 01G-Ryan Gutknecht, 12.1890; 3. 10R-Jon Reynolds, 12.2060; 4. 25N-Willie Nelson, 12.2090; 5. 16D-Mitchell Delcamp, 12.2320; 6. 7H-Mitchell Haver, 12.2400; 7. 28B-Jesse Bernhagen, 12.2490; 8. 39P-Zach Prunty, 12.2520; 9. 88H-Jeff Holtz, 12.2550; 10. 55S-Tyler Schley, 12.2580; 11. 92S-Karter Stark, 12.2750; 12. 6H-Jakob Hassler, 12.2940; 13. 31B-Billy Braun, 12.2990; 14. 84V-Jacob Vanoskey, 12.3700; 15. 6R-Thayran Rezin, 12.4970; 16. 1T-Josh Thiering, 12.5210; 17. 3H-Tyler Hromadka, 12.5230; 18. 61E-Jerry Eckhardt, 12.5280; 19. 7P-Joey Pontbriand, 12.5400; 20. 27B-Jeremy Bentz, 13.0000
