By Dan Margetta
Slinger, Wis., Aug. 17—Conrad Morgan led flag to flag to capture his third feature victory of the season in the 60-lap super late model main event Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway.
By Dan Margetta
Slinger, Wis., Aug. 17—Conrad Morgan led flag to flag to capture his third feature victory of the season in the 60-lap super late model main event Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway.
“We’re not done yet!” the 66-year old Hall of Famer told the crowd from victory lane after holding off defending track champion Steve Apel for the win.
Tim Lampman and Morgan led the field to the green flag and Morgan quickly established himself as the leader from the outside groove, bringing Apel along with him and into second. A touch to the left corner of Apel’s car from the right front fender of Lampman’s machine caused Apel’s car to twitch, momentarily bottling up the field as Lampman moved into second while Morgan extended his lead. Apel immediately regained control and held onto third ahead of Lowell Bennett, John DeAngelis, and Rob Braun. As Morgan continued to lead, Apel regrouped and passed Lampman for second a few laps later, opening up the inside lane for Bennett, Braun, and Dennis Prunty to all move around Lampman for position. The top five ran in nose to tail formation as Apel and the others tried to close the distance between themselves and Morgan who continued to lead. With the laps clicking off and Morgan working lapped traffic, Apel was able to gradually erase the deficit and began to close in. Bennett maintained third place while the best battle on the speedway was occurring over fourth place between Braun and Prunty. The two battled intensely off turn four and then carried the fight into turn one where both cars washed high on the racetrack, allowing Dale Prunty to charge by them. In the final laps, while Apel was able to close on Morgan, he could not make a significant challenge for the lead as Morgan drove to his third feature victory of the season. Apel finished a strong second while Lowell Bennett was third followed by Dale Prunty and Braison Bennett in fourth and fifth respectively.
Ryan DeStefano, Dale Prunty, and Steve Apel all scored super late model heat race victories and Dennis Prunty was the fastest qualifier after turning in a lap at 11.421 seconds.
Dan Church battled Alex Prunty to the checkered flag to win the 40-lap late model feature.
Steve Schulz paced the opening laps as the inside lane was the preferred groove early on as both Church and Prunty used it to advance into second and third respectively as Ricky Heinan and Mike Held rounded out the top five positions. Church and Prunty tracked down Schulz for the lead as they began a side by side tussle for second directly behind Schulz in the lead. Church and Prunty caught Schulz down the backstretch and entering turn three, momentarily split Schulz for the top spot and as they exited turn four, Prunty prevailed with the lead. Church slotted into second place while Heinan was able to get around Schulz for third. The only caution flag of the event waved on lap 37 when Schulz and Jack Stern tangled off turn two to set up a three lap sprint to the finish. Prunty chose the inside for the restart and was able to edge out front as racing resumed. However, Church was able to keep his momentum up off the corners on the outside and was able to move alongside Prunty with two laps to go. A strong run off turn two, enabled Church to take the lead as the white flag was displayed and he led the final lap to take the victory leaving Prunty with a close second place result. Ricky Heinan completed a very strong race with a third place finish while Wayne Freimund and Al Stippich rounded out the top five.
Tim Lange and Wayne Freimund each recorded a late model heat race win and Dan Church was the fastest qualifier at 12.534 seconds.
Kyle Chwala edged Nick Egan at the finish line to win the Area Sportsman 30 lap feature in a very close finish.
Egan sprang to the lead at the drop of the green flag over Rich Wagner, Andy Welter, and Joe Shelby. Kyle Chwala maintained fifth place as he looked to advance forward. With Egan out front, Wagner’s car suddenly slowed off turn two, allowing Shelby, Welter, and Chwala to go by as the race remained under green. Chwala first made his way by Welter on the inside for third and then took to the outside to pass Shelby for second. Chwala then began to track down Egan for the lead, drawing to his bumper as the white flag waved. Chwala made his move on the high side entering turn one and using a strong run off turn two, eased alongside Egan as they raced for the checkered flag. Chwala’s run off turn four was enough to make the difference, as he edged Egan at the line by less than a car length to take the victory. Egan finished second while Welter was able to hold off Shelby for third, leaving Shelby to finish fourth. Paul Wagner was fifth.
The Area Sportsman heat race was won by Kyle Chwala and he also set fast time at 13.249 seconds.
Brandon Tackes took the top spot on lap six and went on to win the 25-lap Slinger Bee feature over Carl Benn and Jacob Schraufnagel. Dale Kiley-Schaefer and Paul Reagles rounded out the top five. Nicole Mueller won the Slinger Bee semi-feature over Jared Deming and Triston Dorzok. Earlier Dorzok scored his first ever Slinger Bee win in the opening heat race while Jacob Schraufnagel and T.J. Graczkowski were the winners of the other Slinger Bee heat races. Carl Benn was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 14.753 seconds.
Trevor Dassow drove his Mazda Miata to the win in the Spectator Eliminator races and Ron Schmitt closed the evening with a victory in the Figure 8 race.
