Slinger, Wis., Aug 25— Brad Mueller took the lead early in the 77-lap Alan Kulwicki Memorial Elite Eight Super Late Model Series feature Sunday night at the Slinger Speedway and then held off Alex Prunty and Levon Van Der Geest to score the victory.
“The car was really good and I was saving it for the first half before we had that yellow come out, “ Mueller explained from victory lane, “And then I had to get after it a little bit after that and at the end there I pretty much gave everything I could to stay ahead of Alex (Prunty).”
“We call this race redemption, “ Mueller continued, “Because we didn’t actually cross the start-finish line first at the Nationals and then last race we had a tire go down but this car has just been on kill since the Nationals.”
“We had a really good car it’s just that Steve (Apel) made us burn everything up that we had,” Alex Prunty stated after his second place finish referring to an earlier battle for position with Steve Apel, “Once we got by him, I thought we could run down Brad (Mueller) but we were just dead even. This should make us the point leader so overall it was a great night.”
“We made a lot of progress on our set-up today,” Levon Van Der Geest said after rebounding from an early race incident to finish third, “We have to thank Toby Nuttleman for that because he gave us some really good ideas and we had a really fast car here again. We’ve struggled with consistency earlier this year but we finally got it today.”
Jesse Bernhagen finished in the fourth position while Steve Apel took the checkered flag close behind in fifth. Nick Egan finished sixth followed by Jerry Mueller in seventh and Willie Nelson in eighth. Conrad Morgan was ninth and Brad Keith finished tenth. Former track champion Luke Fenhaus returned to Slinger but got swept up as an innocent bystander in an early multi-car incident in turn three which relegated him to a 16th place finish. Season Championship Point Leader Dennis Prunty was also caught up in the same incident and finished 14th and now trails Alex Prunty in the standings with one Super Late Model race remaining in the season. Steve Apel won the Super Late Model fast dash and Luke Fenhaus was the fastest qualifier with a lap time of 11.250 seconds.
Nick Bruley won the 35-lap Sporstman feature over Jake Schraufnagel and Tom Elsinger Jr. Carl Benn and Alex Lopacinski completed the top five finishers in fourth and fifth respectively. Sporstman heat races were won by Al Stippich and Alex Lopacinski while Tom Elsinger Jr. was the fastest qualifier after turning in a qualifying lap in 12.762 seconds.
Ricky Gebhard was the winner of the 25-lap Slinger Bees feature as he took the checkered flag ahead of Rachel Czarapata and Kendall Becker. Anthony Dorzok was fourth and Todd Snow finished fifth. Slinger Bees heat races were won by Nathan Leberger and Rachel Czarapata while fast time honors went to Todd Snow with a qualifying lap time of 15.225 seconds.
Ayrton Brockhouse held off his father Tim Brockhouse to win the 25-lap Legends main event. Dillon Schwanbeck was third followed by Lincoln Cain in fourth and Jayden Johnson in fifth. Brockhouse also claimed the 2024 Slinger Speedway Legends Track Championship with the victory. Legends heat races were won by Hunter Cardinal and Ayrton Brockhouse while Tim Brockhouse set fast time at 13.363 seconds.
Lincoln Johnson was the winner of the 15-lap Bandolero feature as he crossed the finish line ahead of Paegan Ellingson and Emily Billings. Axel Oldenhoff finished fourth and Bentley Thompson was fifth. Thompson’s fifth place finish was enough to claim the 2024 Slinger Speedway Bandolero track championship. Bandolero heat race wins were recorded by Gage Kubicz, Harley Johnson, and Oliver Weinkauf while Ace Oldenhoff set fast time with a lap time of 14.612 seconds.
During the intermission Kevin Barker, Dale Norenberg, Shane “The Shark” Becker, Dick Melius, Bob Fish, and Jeff Holtz were inducted into the Slinger Speedway Wall of Fame as the 2024 class.
2024 Wall of Fame Inductees: Kevin Barker, Dale Norenberg, Shane Becker, Dick Melius, Bob Fish, Jeff Holtz.
Super Late Models – Feature 77 Laps 1. 89M-Brad Mueller, Random Lake, WI [4], 2. 11P-Alex Prunty, Kewaskum, WI [7], 3. 23V-Levon Van Der Geest, Merrill, WI [8], 4. 28B-Jesse Bernhagen, Markesan, WI [10], 5. 51A-Steve Apel, Slinger, WI [6], 6. 13E-Nick Egan, Lomira, WI [3], 7. 49M-Jerry Mueller, Richfield, WI [15], 8. 25N-Willie Nelson, Richmond, IL [1], 9. 92M-Conrad Morgan, Waukesha, WI [12], 10. 48K-Brad Keith, Allenton, WI [11], 11. 46J-Thomas Jasinski, Pewaukee, WI [16], 12. 55L-Rich Loch, Franklin, WI [14], 13. 92B-RJ Braun, Wales, WI [5], 14. 42P-Dennis Prunty, Allenton, WI [13], 15. 17B-Billy Braun, Wales, WI [2], 16. 4F-Luke Fenhaus, Wausau, WI [9]
Sportsman – Feature 35 Laps 1. 23B-Nick Bruley, Johnson Creek, WI [7], 2. 29S-Jake Schraufnagel, Horicon, WI [9], 3. 33E-Tom Elsinger Jr, Germantown, WI [8], 4. 01B-Carl Benn, Lisbon, WI [1], 5. 89L-Alex Lopacinski, West Bend, WI [4], 6. 88H-Brian Holtz, Muskego, WI [6], 7. 66S-Al Stippich, Hartford, WI [3], 8. 45B-Chris Beine, Slinger, WI [5], 9. 32S-Ryan Sielaff, North Prairie, WI [2], 10. 52G-Chuck Gilbertson Jr, Kaukauna, WI [11], 11. 86F-Josh Fehrmann, Kewaskum, WI [10], 12. 62SBrian Schweitzer, Beaver Dam, WI [12]
Slinger Bees – Feature 25 Laps 1. 10G-Ricky Gebhard Jr, Oconomowoc, WI [2], 2. 32C-Rachel Czarapata, Menomonee Falls, WI [4], 3. 20X-Kendall Becker, Hartford, WI [5], 4. 69D-Anthony Dorzok, Appleton, WI [7], 5. 44S-Todd Snow, Belvidere, IL [9], 6. 3C-Jason Clope, Racine, WI [3], 7. 35Z-Morgan Zerwinski, West Bend, WI [1], 8. 20K-Travis Kreuser, West Bend, WI [11], 9. 33EMatthew Elsinger, West Bend, WI [13], 10. 23S-Brian Stanczyk, West Bend, WI [8], 11. 52L-Dylan Lemberger, Menomonee Falls, WI [12], 12. 64B-Cooper Bodendorfer, Muskego, WI [6], 13. 25L-Nathan Lemberger, Hartford, WI [10]
Legends – Feature 25 Laps 1. 12B-Ayrton Brockhouse, Shakopee, MN [9], 2. 57B-Tim Brockhouse, Shakopee, MN [8], 3. 27S-Dillon Schwanbeck, Poynette, WI [7], 4. 5C-Lincoln Cain, Slinger, WI [5], 5. 8J-Jayden Johnson, Ixonia, WI [6], 6. 87C-Robby Carter, Lakeville, MN [1], 7. 38W-Cameron White, Lakeland, FL [4], 8. 80H-Art Hahn, Hartford, WI [11], 9. 87K-Alexander Kniewel, Rhinelander, WI [14], 10. 45C-Hunter Cardinal, Richfield, WI [12], 11. 13B-Ayden Brockhouse, Shakopee, MN [2], 12. 21E-Tyler Edmundson, Johnson Creek, WI [10], 13. 76W-Mark Wellman, Slinger, WI [13], 14. 115G-Aaron Genske, Jefferson, WI [3]
Bandoleros – Feature 15 Laps 1. 000J-Lincoln Johnson, Ixonia, WI [7], 2. 27E-Paegan Ellingson, Watertown, WI [1], 3. 10B-Emily Billings, Waterloo, WI [5], 4. 29O-Axel Oldenhoff, Lake Mills, WI [3], 5. 22T-Bentley Thompson, West Salem, WI [11], 6. 62O-Ace Oldenhoff, Lake Mills, WI [10], 7. 44O-Markus Obermeyer, Union Grove, WI [6], 8. 9M-TJ Moon, Taylorsville, NC [9], 9. 38W-Gerald White III, Lakeland, FL [13], 10. 126K-Gage Kubicz, Whitewater, WI [14], 11. 5F-Christopher Flynn, Farmington, MN [18], 12. 41L-Mandi Lee, Salisbury, NC [17], 13. 75C-Logen Carter, Lakeville, MN [15], 14. 707GHunter Graham, West Bend, WI [16], 15. 93O-Mason Obermeyer, Union Grove, WI [2], 16. 7J-Harley Johnson, Ixonia, WI [4], 17. 76W-Oliver Weinkauf, Merrill, WI [8], 18. 11S-Carter Stein, Germantown, WI [12], 19. 13R-Jarrett Reynolds, Loves Park, IL [19]
