ALEX PRUNTY SEALS SECOND TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP WITH LATE MODE FEATURE WIN AT SLINGER!

By Dan Margetta
Slinger, Wis., Sept. 13-Alex Prunty stormed to the lead in the waning stages of the 40-lap late model feature Sunday afternoon at the Slinger Super Speedway and drove off to a convincing win to seal the deal on his second track championship.

“I can’t thank my family enough for getting me to the point where I am,” Prunty told the crowd from victory lane, “(Uncles) Dennis, David, Dale, my Dad, and my Grandparents for letting me keep the car in the garage, it turned out to be one heck of a year.”

Jack Stern and Steven Schulz swapped the lead in the opening laps before Schulz was able to prevail from the outside on lap three. Behind the top two, Eddie May, Brian Holtz, and Mike Meyerhofer filled in the top five as Al Stippich, Alex Prunty, Mike Held, and Jordan DeVoy all worked their way forward from deep in the field. May was able to move into second which dropped Stern into a battle with Holtz just ahead of another struggle between Meyerhofer and Stippich which ended with Stippich spinning off turn two to draw the first caution flag on lap 14. Meyerhofer took responsibility for the contact and Stippich was awarded his spot back for the restart with Schulz leading over May, Holtz, and Stern. Schulz took the inside line at the lane cone and with Holtz moving to the outside, a cat and mouse game began between them which resulted in an aborted restart attempt. On the second try, more contact between the front row starters sent Holtz’s car near the retaining wall just past the start-finish line and as he swung out of turn two on the next lap, his car broke loose and clipped May’s machine sending it hard backwards into the turn three wall. The incident also severely damaged the car of championship contender Mike Held and he retired from the event. Schulz took the inside lane again as this time Stippich took to the high line and once again another aborted start bunched up the field damaging Joe Bongiorno’s car enough to send it to the pits. This time as racing resumed Schultz and Stippich raced side by side for the lead ahead of Stern and Prunty for a few laps before Schulz prevailed from the inside. A tap to Schulz’s rear corner a few laps later opened up the door for Stippich to edge inside and take the lead with Schulz staying directly in his tracks. Stippich continued to pace the race as Schulz bobbled slightly in turn three which allowed Prunty to sneak by and into second. Prunty tracked down Stippich and immediately took to the outside to drive into the lead on lap 29. Once out front, Prunty could not be caught and he drove away to the victory while Schulz prevailed in a spirited battle for second with Stippich. Jordan DeVoy finished fourth and Jack Stern rounded out the top five in fifth. Prunty’s victory also enabled him to clinch the 2015 Slinger Speedway late model track championship.

Matt Rowe and Jordan DeVoy were the winners of the late model heat races and Alex Prunty was the fastest qualifier after touring the speedway in 12.168 seconds.

The American Ethanol Midwest Truck Series made a stop at the Slinger high banks and Chester Ace out-dueled Tommy Pecaro to claim the victory in the 40-lap main event.

Rick Corso led the opening laps before Derek Kraus was able to ease by on the inside a few laps after racing resumed from a lap four caution flag for a spin by Michael Raskovic. Chester Ace began to advance forward along with Tommy Pecaro, Nick Egan, and Kevin Knuese as Kraus continued to set the pace. Egan’s race came to an end on lap 16 when he hit the wall exiting turn four to bring out another caution with Kraus leading over Ace, Corso, and Pecaro. Kraus maintained his lead following the restart despite numerous looks to the inside by Ace while Pecaro, Knuese, and Corso were close behind. With just inside ten laps to go, Ace finally was able to edge the front of his truck far enough inside of the door of Kraus’ truck and he worked his way around and into the lead. Kraus tried to battle back but soon lost second to Pecaro as Ace set the pace. Ace drove to the victory over Pecaro and Kraus while Knuese and Corso rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth respectively.

Michael Raskovic and Derek Kraus each recorded Truck Series heat victories while Tommy Pecaro paced qualifying with a lap of 11.869 seconds.

Ryan Gutknecht took the lead on lap 19 and won the 35-lap Midwest Sportsman feature over Bryan Holtz and Eric Lingford. Jay Shambeau and Andy Haver completed the top five finishers. Holtz’s second place result helped him claim the 2015 Slinger Speedway Midwest Sportsman track championship.

Scott Shambeau and Andy Haver were the Midwest Sportsman heat race winners and Brian Holtz was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 12.780 seconds.

Jacob Schraufnagel drove to his third straight Area Sportsman feature victory in the 30-lap main event, ending the season on quite a run since taking over the former Kyle Chwala machine. Mike Winters returned to Slinger and finished a strong second while Andy Welter, Nick Egan, and Paul Wagner rounded out the top five. Nick Egan earned the 2015 Slinger Speedway Area Sportsman track championship.

Scott Hoeft and Joe Shelby were the winners of the Area Sportsman heat races and Nick Egan set fast time once again with a lap of 12.911 seconds.

E.J. Waldron drove to the victory in the 25-lap Slinger Bee feature over Nick Schmidt and Tom Berens. Steve Zoromski and Jared Deming finished fourth and fifth respectively. With his third place finish Tom Berens clinched the 2015 Slinger Speedway Slinger Bee track championship.

Paul Reagles, Nick Schmidt, and Heather Stark all won Slinger Bee heat races and Tom Berens was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 14.515 seconds.

Brian Baldyga won the American Super Cup 20-lap feature over Ken Jones. Chris Deren finished third ahead of Derek Doerr and Joel Schulz. Derek Doerr and Kaitlyn Judy were the winners of the American Super Cup heat races and Ken Jones set fast time at 15.140 seconds.

Rick Bruskiewicz won the Figure 8 race while Scott Goetzke claimed his eighth Slinger Figure 8 track championship.