By Dan Margetta
Slinger, Wis., July 27—Lowell Bennett held off Dennis Prunty and Steve Apel to win the 60-lap super late model feature Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway on Harley-Davidson Night. The victory was Bennett’s third main event win of the season.
By Dan Margetta
Slinger, Wis., July 27—Lowell Bennett held off Dennis Prunty and Steve Apel to win the 60-lap super late model feature Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway on Harley-Davidson Night. The victory was Bennett’s third main event win of the season.
Dave McCardle and Braison Bennett led the field to the green and the action picked up early as Bennett’s car kicked loose off turn two and slapped the outside wall. The car then veered nose first into the retaining wall, stacking up the field behind and collecting nine other cars in the process. The cars of Nick Wagner, Fred Winn, Conrad Morgan, Auston Luedtke, and Braison Bennett were done for the night while Steve Apel, Ryan DeStefano, and Mike Egan all left the speedway for repairs. Dennis Prunty’s car sustained some damage but he remained on the track as the clean-up process began. This time, McCardle and Lowell Bennett led the field as the race was restarted and Bennett quickly raced out to the lead. With Lowell Bennett out front, Dennis Prunty worked his way into second place by lap four and began to try to track down Bennett for the lead. Bennett and Prunty began to pull away from the field while McCardle, Dale Prunty, and Rob Braun raced for position behind them as Steve Apel began to work his way forward from the rear of the field. By lap 15, Apel had raced into the fourth position and five laps later, he charged into third while up front Bennett and Prunty enjoyed nearly a straightaway advantage. Bennett led Prunty by two car lengths at the halfway mark as Apel continued to close on the lead duo with Rob Braun and John DeAngelis now occupying fourth and fifth respectively. Prunty looked to the inside of Bennett for the lead on lap 43 and the leaders raced side by side as they approached lapped traffic. The side by side racing allowed Apel to close the gap to make it a three car race for the lead with the laps winding down. With five laps to go, Prunty once again looked for the lead on the inside lane but was forced to defend his position as Apel was applying the pressure from third. The battle between Apel and Prunty allowed Lowell Bennett to scoot away in the closing laps to capture the victory while Prunty held off Apel for second. Rob Braun and John DeAngelis completed the top five finishers.
Ryan Farrell won the super late model semi-feature over Tommy Hromadka and Chris Blawat while super late model heat race victories went to Curt Tillman, Mike Egan, and Lowell Bennett. Steve Apel was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 11.432 seconds.
Dan Church Jr. edged Mike Meyerhofer in an exciting and close finish to win the 40-lap late model feature.
The race was shaping up to be a battle between rivals, Church and Alex Prunty when while battling for the lead with just eight laps to go, Prunty’s car came to a rest in flames. That left Meyerhofer next in line to challenge Church for the lead and that he did, quickly moving alongside as racing resumed. Church and Meyerhofer ran door to door for the final six laps and at the checkered flag, Church was able to edge Meyerhofer by a fender to capture his fourth main event victory of the season. Steven Schulz finished with a strong third place result while Grant Griesbach turned in his best performance of the season in fourth. Tim Lange also completed a good run with a fifth place result.
Late Model heat race wins were recorded by Duke Long and Mike Meyerhofer while Dan Church set fast time with a lap of 12.587 seconds.
Steven Sauer raced to his first feature victory of the season in the Area Sportsman main event.
Sauer took the lead from Joe Shelby on lap eight as Nick Egan began to battle with Shelby for second. With 12 laps in the books, Sauer continued to lead over Egan and Shelby while Brad Hetzel and Kyle Chwala worked their way into the top five. Randy Breunig and Bill Prietzel also began to race forward and by lap 20, found themselves in third and fourth respectively behind Sauer and Egan and just ahead of Chwala. Breunig grabbed the second spot on lap 24 as Sauer continued to show the way. Sauer could not be caught in the final laps and he drove to the victory over Breunig while Egan held off Chwala for third. Prietzel completed the top five finishers, taking the checkered flag in fifth.
Area Sportsman heat races were won by Ken Schraufnagel and Kyle Chwala while Bill Prietzel was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 13.145 seconds.
Jacob Schraufnagel was the winner of the 25-lap Slinger Bee main event as he held of Brandon Tackes for the victory.
Nick Schmidt led the early laps until he lost a rear wheel on lap 14 to produce a caution flag and by lap 20, Schraufnagel was out front over Tackes, Isaac Daniels and Heather Stark. Schraufnagel held on to score the victory with Tackes finishing second. Daniels crossed the stripe in third place while Stark and Rick Schaefer finished fourth and fifth respectively.
Steve Zoromski won the Slinger Bees semi-feature over Tristan Dorzok and Kyle Sikora while Slinger Bee heat races were won by Nicole Mueller, Marty Tackes, and Heather Stark while Brandon Tackes set fast time with a lap of 14.192 seconds.
Colton Ermer was the winner of the Spectator Eliminator races and Rick Bruskiewicz won the Figure 8 race over Ron Schmitt and Willie Van Camp.
