DENNIS PRUNTY TIGHTENS TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE WITH PEPSI CHALLENGE ROUND THREE WIN, STEVE APEL OVERALL PEPSI CHAMPION!

By Dan Margetta
Slinger, Wis., Aug 23— Dennis Prunty scored a clean sweep Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway and his victory in the 60-lap Pepsi Challenge Round Three super late model feature enabled him to take the lead in the overall track championship points battle by a single point over Steve Apel.

“They sure tried, “Dennis Prunty stated afterwards referring to his brother Dale Prunty and Steve Apel who finished second and third respectively, “But I had the pace since the beginning of that race because I knew the faster it was over, the faster I could be. To get a clean sweep you have to work hard for that and we did it again.” “It’s still going to come down to that last week or if one of us has a problem, “Prunty continued alluding to the track championship duel between himself and Apel that has them a single point apart with two weeks remaining, “It’s been good racing so we’ll just have to see how it goes.”

“We weren’t racing for the win but we were racing for the Pepsi championship,” Apel said after his third place finish awarded him the overall Pepsi Challenge Series title, “and we put on good show.” “I’m pretty sure it’s going to come down to the last night,” Apel continued describing the track championship battle with Prunty, “That’s the way it’s going to happen and hopefully we can run side by side in the 100 lapper in two weeks, so if anyone wants to see a show, come back in two weeks.”

Dale Prunty and Danny Church led the field to the green flag and Prunty shot into the lead from the inside lane. The inside line was the preferred lane early on and while Dale Prunty led, Steve Apel, John DeAngelis, and Dennis Prunty all advanced forward into the top five. A lap seven tangle between Duke Long and Grant Griesbach resulted in Griesbach spinning exiting turn four created the first caution period of the race with Dale Prunty leading over Apel, DeAngelis, Dennis Prunty, and Church. Dale Prunty chose the outside lane for the restart while Apel lined up alongside and as the field went to green, a mid-pack jam up created an accordion effect through the field which sent James Swan’s car riding along the turn three wall where it slowly rolled over and eventually slid to the bottom of the track, creating a red flag situation. Swan emerged from his overturned car uninjured and retired from the event. When the race returned to green flag conditions, Dale Prunty and brother Dennis Prunty used the high side while Apel and DeAngelis worked the low groove as the four raced tightly together for the lead. The Prunty brothers eventually prevailed from the outside as first Dale then Dennis cleared Apel to take the top two spots. Dennis Prunty then quickly dove to the inside and began to challenge Dale Prunty for the lead, completing the pass on lap 16. Once out front, Dennis Prunty began to ease away a bit while Apel, Dale Prunty, and DeAngelis disputed second place in close quarters. A minor incident between Dave McCardle and Duke Long in turn two drew another caution flag on lap 34 and as the field lined up for the restart, Dennis Prunty unexpectedly chose the inside, leaving Dale Prunty the high line. The Prunty brothers raced door to door for the lead when racing resumed with Apel and DeAngelis remaining entrenched in their tracks. Mike Egan and Brad Keith moved up to join the front four creating a six car fight at the front of the field. Dennis Prunty emerged with sole possession of the lead from the inside as DeAngelis also advanced on the inside to challenge Dale Prunty for second with Apel, Egan, and Dan Church, who worked his way around Keith, right behind. As Dennis Prunty began to pull away, Dale Prunty, DeAngelis, and Apel staged a spirited battle for second that Dale Prunty eventually won just before the caution flag waved again on lap 45 for an incident between Gregg Pawelski and Chris Blawat in turn four. Dennis Prunty again chose the inside for the restart while Dale Prunty went to the outside and as the green appeared, Dennis Prunty raced to the lead while Dale Prunty fended off DeAngelis for second. Dale Prunty grabbed the second spot for himself a few laps later and tried to track down Dennis Prunty for the lead in the waning laps while Apel and DeAngelis slugged it out for third. Dennis Prunty outran Dale Prunty in the final laps and captured the victory while Steve Apel edged John DeAngelis for third. Mike Egan finished fifth ahead of Dan Church and Gary LaMonte in sixth and seventh respectively. Brad Keith, Rob Braun, and Lowell Bennett rounded out the top ten finishers.

Rob Braun won the 30-lap super late model semi-feature over Chris Blawat and Gregg Pawelski. Dave McCardle was fourth and Conrad Morgan was fifth. Super late model heat race victories were recorded by Tom Hromadka, Duke Long, and Dennis Prunty. Dennis Prunty also set fast time at 11.313 seconds.

Eric Lingford took the lead early and held off challenges from Brian Holtz and Ryan Gutknecht to win the 35-lap Midwest Sportsman feature.

Mike Borchardt paced the opening two circuits until he broke loose off turn four allowing Eric Lingford to charge past as Ryan Gutknecht and Brian Holtz also swept by Borchardt as he gathered up his car. Lingford, Gutknecht, and Holtz contested the top spot in close formation during the event’s middle stages as they broke away from the pack. Behind the top three, Bobby Gutknecht and Jay Shambeau fought over the fourth position. The only caution flag of the race appeared on lap 29 when Greg Beebe had something break on his car which shot it hard into the turn two wall. Lingford chose the inside lane for the restart and Ryan Gutknecht elected to start from the outside groove and the two of them resumed their battle with Holtz as racing resumed. The hard racing up front allowed Lingford to maintain his lead while Holtz was able to wrestle second away from Gutknecht. Holtz then tried to track down Lingford for the top spot but he could not mount a series challenge as Lingford took the checkered flag for the victory. Holtz settled for second while Ryan Gutknecht finished third. Bobby Gutknecht and Jay Shambeau crossed the finish line in fourth and fifth respectively.

Greg Beebe and Eric Lingford each won a Midwest Sportsman heat race and Brian Holtz toured the speedway in 12.815 seconds to become the division’s fastest qualifier.

Andy Welter drove to the victory in the 30-lap Area Sportsman main event after taking command of the race in the waning laps.

Adam Bleskan raced to the lead on the start while Paul Wagner, Andy Welter, Nick Egan, and Joe Shelby all raced in a tight pack behind him. Bleskan stretched his lead by lap ten as Welter eventually worked the outside to break free from the pack in second leaving Egan, Wagner, and Shelby to settle third place. Welter gradually began to chip away at Bleskan’s lead and he closed to Bleskan’s rear bumper as they approached lapped traffic. Welter again took to the high lane while Bleskan stayed low and as they caught a lapped car, Welter was able to spring into the lead from the outside as Bleskan had to lift slightly as they passed the lapped traffic. Once out front, Welter could not be caught and he drove to the victory while Bleskan finished a strong second. Nick Egan finished third ahead of Paul Wagner and Joe Shebly who rounded out the top five.

Scott Hoeft and Joe Shelby were the winners of the Area Sportsman heat races and Andy Welter was the fastest qualifier at 12.978 seconds.

EJ Waldron won the 25-lap Slinger Bee feature after taking the lead when Tom Berens, Heather Stark, and Nick Schmidt all tangled while battling for the lead with six laps to go. Issac Daniel finished second and Matt Rose took the checkered flag in third. Jared Deming and Jakob Hassler rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth respectively.

Brandon DeLacy won the Slinger Bee semi-feature over Zach Braun and Paul Reagles. Travis Scheid finished fourth and Misty Benn was fifth. Slinger Bee heat races were won by Brandon DeLacy, Dale Kiley-Schaefer, and Nick Schmidt and Brandon Tackes set a new track record in qualifying with a lap of 14.521 seconds.

Shane Becker returned to victory lane by capturing the win in the ten lap Figure 8 race to end the evening.