By Dan Margetta
Slinger, Wis., June 14— Dennis Prunty drove to his second super late model feature victory of the season Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway as he bested Steve Apel and Brad Mueller to win the 60-lap main event.
By Dan Margetta
Slinger, Wis., June 14— Dennis Prunty drove to his second super late model feature victory of the season Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway as he bested Steve Apel and Brad Mueller to win the 60-lap main event.
“This is the car Ross Kenseth is going to drive in the Slinger Nationals,” Prunty told the crowd after winning in his familiar #42 ride instead of the #22 car he drove to his other victory this season, “I didn’t want to give him a car we didn’t know would be good or not, so someone should call him tomorrow and tell him it’s pretty good.”
“I got through traffic pretty good and I got to Dennis (Prunty),” Apel said after starting from the sixth row, “then at the end I was just hanging on, but fast time and second place is nothing to hang your head over, it was a good night.”
“I was good early,” third place Brad Mueller stated, “At the end, Dennis (Prunty) and Steve (Apel) started getting away. I was really tight down in (turns) one and two and loose in three and four, it is what it is and at least we are on the podium.”
Chris Blawat and Kelsey Dassow occupied the front row at the drop of the green flag and Blawat immediately drove to the lead from the inside lane. Dennis Prunty, who started third after John DeAngelis experienced mechanical issues before the green flag, also used the inside lane to charge by Dassow for second and then at the completion of lap one, he took to the high side to challenge Blawat for the lead, completing the pass a lap later. Rob Braun, Brad Mueller, and Steve Apel also used the inside lane to advance into the top five. The only caution flag of the event appeared on lap four after an incident between Kelsey Dassow and Dan Church in turn four as Prunty led over Blawat, Braun, Mueller, and Apel. Prunty chose the outside lane for the restart and Blawat chose the inside while behind them, Braun and Apel followed Prunty up top while Mueller took to the inside behind Blawat. As racing resumed, Prunty maintained his lead from the outside while Braun and Apel eventually prevailed as well on the outside as they both swept around Blawat and into second and third respectively. Mueller also switched to the high side to make his way around Blawat as Dave McCardle moved up to challenge for the fifth spot. By lap 16 with Prunty still out front, Apel and Mueller were able to edge to the inside of Braun to take over second and third place while McCardle also used the inside to grab fourth ten laps later. Apel and Mueller began to try to track down Prunty for the lead as the front runners began to encounter lapped traffic during the race’s middle stages. Apel closed to Prunty’s bumper while in the traffic but despite several looks to the inside, was not able to make a serious challenge for the lead. In the final laps, Prunty threaded his way through the traffic and drove to his second feature victory of the season. Apel finished second and maintained his division point lead while Mueller took the checkered flag in third. Dave McCardle completed the best race of his season with a strong fourth place run while Dale Prunty drove from deep in the field to finish fifth. Mike Egan and Dan Church finished sixth and seventh respectively while Brad Keith, Josh Wallace, and Chris Blawat rounded out the top ten.
James Swan won the 30-lap super late model semi feature over Braison Bennett and Lowell Bennett. Rich Loch finished in the fourth, the final transfer position, while Nick Wagner was fifth. Lowell Bennett, Brad Keith, and Brad Mueller all won super late model heat races and Steve Apel was the fastest qualifier at 11.411 seconds.
Alex Prunty survived a late race restart to capture the victory in the 40-lap late model feature to score his 30th win at the Slinger Speedway.
Jack Stern and Jordan DeVoy paced the field the green flag and DeVoy quickly raced out into the early lead. Alex Prunty began to work his way forward from his sixth starting position as he took over the second spot by lap five ahead of Stern, Ricky Heinan, and Kyle Chwala. The action at the front of the field was tight as Dan Jung and Mike Held also advanced to join the lead pack with the top seven cars racing in close quarters. A spin by Corey Funk off turn two while racing amongst the leaders on lap eight produced the first caution flag with DeVoy leading over Prunty, Stern, and Heinan. During the incident Brittiny Helmers made contact with the pit entrance wall in turn two and retired from the event. DeVoy chose the inside groove for the restart and Prunty immediately took to the high side with the choice paying off as he charged into the lead as racing resumed. DeVoy held tough in second while Heinan and Chwala used the inside lane to take over third and fourth with Stern falling back in line in fifth. The race remained steady for a few laps before the caution waved again on lap 14 for a spin by R.J. Braun in turn two. As the leader, Prunty remained committed to the high side and he chose the upper groove, leaving DeVoy the inside while third running Chwala followed in Prunty’s tracks on the top side. Prunty was able to keep the lead as the green flag waved and Chwala used the high lane to pass DeVoy for second. Prunty and Chwala opened up a significant distance on the rest of the field while DeVoy fended off challenges from Dan Jung and Mike Held for third. The comfortable gap enjoyed by Prunty and Chwala was erased on lap 37 when a spin down the backstretch by Braun resulted in the third caution of the event. Prunty and Chwala looked to settle it out on the restart for the final three lap shootout and Prunty quickly charged to the lead. Chwala fell into line directly behind Prunty and made a final challenge on the last lap which fell just short as Prunty took the checkered flag for the victory. Chwala finished second while Jordan DeVoy, Mike Held, and Dan Jung rounded out the top five.
Joe Bongiorno scored his first career Slinger Speedway victory in the first late model heat race while Tyler Schley was victorious in the second event. Alex Prunty and Kyle Chwala both turned in the exact fastest qualifying time at 12.292 seconds with Prunty being awarded the fast qualifier honors because he set the time first.
Brian Holtz executed a late race pass on Kenny Joosten to win the 35-lap Midwest Sportsman feature. Joosten settled for second place at the finish despite leading for most of the event. On the final lap, Eric Lingford and Ryan Gutknecht tangled on the backstretch while racing for third and as their cars slid to the infield Bobby Gutknecht and Jimmie Evans raced by to finish in third and fourth respectively. Jay Shambeau finished fifth.
Kenny Joosten and Scott Dunning each recorded Midwest Sportsmen heat race victories and Brian Holtz was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 12.858 seconds.
Tom Berens took the lead from Heather Stark in lapped traffic on lap 15 of the Slinger Bee feature as he went on to score the victory. Stark battled hard throughout the race and crossed the finish line in second while Nick Schmidt edged Dave Schmidt for third. Isaac Daniel finished fifth.
Tristan Dorzok, Heather Stark, and Dave Schmidt all were winners of Slinger Bees heat races while Isaac Daniel was the fastest qualifier after touring the speedway in 14.745 seconds.
Lyle Messinger was the winner of the Spectator Eliminator races with his Mercedes and Ryan Lovald closed the evening with a victory in the Figure 8 event.