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Prunty
Wins Al Schill Jr. Memorial at Slinger!
By Weyer / Margetta |
May 5,
2002; Slinger, WI - David Prunty kicked off the 2002 season at the Slinger
Super Speedway Sunday night by scoring the victory in the Al’s Auto Salvage/Champion
Chicken/Pro Power Al Schill Jr. Memorial 77-lap late model feature.
David Prunty crossed the finish line just ahead of Dennis Prunty and
the brothers dominated the caution-filled event, as they were the only two drivers to lead
the race. Dennis took the green flag from the pole position and launched into the early
lead ahead of Todd Thelen, Mike Pascavis, and David.
The yellow flag flew early as on lap six Brad Mueller’s car twitched
in turn two and became entangled with Al Schill’s Ford. The contact sent Schill
sliding across the track and into the backstretch wall forcing him to make a heartbreaking
exit from the event.
The race barely got underway when two laps later Conrad Morgan lost control in turn two
and collected Cindy Peterson who, with nowhere to go, crashed into Morgan’s spinning
car to produce another caution with Dennis still leading over Thelen and David.
Dennis stretched his lead when the green flag reappeared as David worked
to get around Thelen for second while Lowell Bennett and Donavan Morgan fought their way
into the top five. David dispatched Thelen for second place on lap 12 and followed Dennis
until lap 21 when he pulled alongside in a bid for the lead.
The brothers ran side-by-side for a number of laps before David was able
to pull ahead and take command of the event while Bennett raced his way into third.
Bennett’s luck ran out on lap 31 when the defending track champion slowed and retired
from the race with mechanical problems.
The Prunty brothers extended their advantage on the field to nearly a half lap when Jamie
Wallace and Dan Mills got together slightly while entering turn one on lap 34 which forced
John Zimmerman to take evasive action toward the outside lane of the speedway.
Zimmerman’s car hit the first turn wall and overturned before landing on its wheels
as the incident swept up seven more cars to cause the race to come to a halt under the red
flag. No one was injured in the mishap but several cars retired to the pits with damage.
The race resumed with David still leading Dennis as Thelen, D. Morgan, and Pascavis
battled for third. David led at the halfway mark and claimed the $100 Mac Tools Bonus and
shortly thereafter the race was slowed again when Pascavis and Morgan tangled in turn four
on lap 39.
The field finally began to settle down once racing resumed as the cars
became strung out with David leading Dennis, Thelen, Mueller, and Florian Wisinski.
Mueller had his car hooked up well in the late stages of the race but it appeared he would
run out of laps before he could challenge the Prunty brothers.
Mueller’s charge toward the front took on new life when Larry Los stalled on lap 74
to produce another caution and set up a three-lap dash to the finish. The Prunty brothers
proved to be too strong for Mueller over the final three laps as David led Dennis across
the finish line to take the victory. Mueller followed in their tire tracks for third place
while Wisinski and Thelen capped off strong runs to finish fourth and fifth respectively.
Following the event, Dennis Prunty was disqualified when his car failed to meet the
minimum weight requirement during post-race technical inspection.
In other late model action, Chad Barker passed Fred Winn with five laps to go and held on
to win the 30-lap semi-feature. Scott Schoeni, Dave Teske, and Austin Konetski rounded out
the top five. Lance Bjorklund edged Joe Gross to score the victory in the 15-lap
consolation race and Jamie Wallace won the dash. Mueller was the fastest qualifier with a
lap of 11.622 seconds.
Steve Lurvey raced into the lead on lap seven and captured the victory in the 30-lap
Midwest modified feature.
Ron Schmitt and Russ Grade led the field to the green flag and Schmitt edged ahead to lead
the opening lap. Lurvey began the race from the inside of the second row and began to
close in on Schmitt and Grade when the caution flag appeared as Larry Reihbrandt and Dale
Prunty slid into the third turn wall.
On the restart, Lurvey was on top of his game and quickly moved around
Grade and Schmitt to take command of the event. Lurvey continued to hold down the top spot
while Schmitt battled with Ed Grober and Wes Biswell as both drivers made their way
through traffic to challenge for second. A late caution bunched up the field when fluid on
the track caused cars to scatter in the first turn but Lurvey would not be denied and
raced to the win ahead of Schmitt and Biswell. Grober finished fourth and Andy Evraets
took the checkered flag in fifth place.
In other Midwest modified action, Lurvey also won the dash and Dale Prunty was the fastest
qualifier with a time of 12.446 seconds.
Paul Wagner edged Roger Schmid to win the 18-lap Slinger Stinger feature.
Nathan Fick led the opening laps while Jimmy Evans raced with Wagner, Schmid, and Dave
Obermeyer for the second through fifth positions. Obermeyer faded and Evans produced a red
flag on lap ten when he hit the fourth turn wall, broke an axle, and lost a wheel. Fick
led on the restart as Schmid, Wagner, and Pat McIntee began to close in and challenge for
the lead. Schmid took the lead on lap 15 but lost it to Wagner two laps later. Wagner was
able to hold off Schmid for the win with McIntee finishing third. Jay Shambeau and Fick
rounded out the top five.
The Slinger Stinger dash was won by Jason Feyereisen in a photo finish over Joe DeStefano.
Mark and Ken Fogel won the Team Cruiser race and Jasper Drengler captured the win in the
Slinger Bees debut event. Tom Elsinger won the Spectator Elimination races in his Corvette
and Shane Becker was the winner of the Figure 8 event.
For Complete results from the
RACESTAT computer CLICK HERE |
