PRUNTY OVERCOMES EARLY MECHANICAL WOES TO WIN AT SLINGER
Zach Prunty overcame engine issues to win the 50-lap Uptown Motor Cars feature at the Slinger Speedway Sunday night. After replacing ignition and fueling parts, he surged from deep in the field to defeat Tom Berens and Mike Held. Other feature winners included Brady Held and Dan Thomson.
Slinger, Wis., July 26—After chasing an engine misfire all throughout practice and qualifying, Zach Prunty started deep in the field and made his crew’s hard work pay off by driving to the front to score the victory in the 50-lap Uptown Motor Cars feature Sunday night at the Slinger Speedway.
“What a long day from the moment we unloaded, the car didn’t want to run,” Prunty stated from victory lane, “We literally changed every single part of the ignition system and every part in the fueling system. (Brother) Alex ran home and stole the ignition box out of his super late model and grabbed carburetors from (Uncle) Dennis, fuel pumps and everything but we never gave up. Luckily, we got it right just in time for the feature.”
Prunty took the lead from the outside lane following a restart for the only caution flag of the event and once out front was never headed. Fast qualifier Tom Berens tried to close in late but had to settle for second at the finish, just ahead of Mike Held in third. Jon Reynolds Jr. ran a solid race to finish fourth and Ryan Gutknecht finished fifth. Tyler Hromadka took the checkered flag in the sixth position while early race leader Ryan Weyer finished seventh. Jacob Vanoskey was eighth followed by Mitch DelCamp in ninth and Jerry Eckhardt in tenth.
Ryan Gutknecht won the late model fast dash over Ryan Weyer and Tyler Hromadka won the heat race over Jacob Vanoskey. Tom Berens was the evening’s fastest qualifier after posting a lap time of 11.972 seconds.
Brady Held was the winner of the 35-lap Bobcat Plus Sportsman main event, taking the checkered flag ahead of Tom Elsinger Jr. and Greg Beebe. Brandon Tackes and Clay Curts rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth respectively. Dale Lecus Sr. finished sixth followed by Jay Kalbus in seventh and Bill Prietzel in eighth. Tom Elsinger Jr. won the sportsman heat over Greg Beebe while Brady Held was the fastest qualifier with a qualifying time of 12.919 seconds.
Dan Thomson scored his first Slinger Speedway feature victory by taking top honors in the Raceway Bar and Grill 602 Craters 30-lap feature. Thomson had to hold off Jon DeAngelis for the win while Danny Church finished third. Mike Lange crossed the finish line in fourth and Mitchell Strobel was fifth. Mike Lange won the 602 Crater heat race and John DeAngelis set fast time after circling the speedway in 12.170 seconds.
Nick Schmidt won the 25-lap Outdoor Dock and Lift Super Beez main event over Merek Pankow and Mitchell Strobel. Al Strobel finished in fourth place followed by Dylan Lemberger in fifth. Merek Pankow was the winner of the Super Beez heat race and also set fast time for the division with a qualifying lap of 13.569 seconds.
Carl Trapp drove his 1972 Chevrolet Nova to the victory in the Spectator Elimination races. Ryan Lovald closed down the evening by winning the school bus Figure 8 race over Russ Lorbiecki and Kendall Becker.
