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Morgan Ends Long Dry
Spell, While Prunty Edges Loch in Race of Champions! |
September
7, 2003; Slinger, WI - Long-time
Slinger veteran, Conrad Morgan ended a lengthy dry-spell Sunday night at the Slinger Super
Speedway, as he wheeled his new car to the victory in the Eden Meat Market and Catering
60-lap late model feature presented by Behling Racing Equipment. Dennis Prunty edged Rich
Loch to win the late model Race of Champions in a thrilling finish.
Morgan brought a new car to the speedway Sunday night, sporting an unfamiliar
black paint job, and proceeded to lead the 60-lap late model main from start to finish, en
route to a convincing victory, his first at the high-banked ¼ mile oval in two years.
With Morgan comfortably out front and skillfully working his way through lapped traffic,
Bennett and Schill staged a duel for second in the closing laps with Bennett prevailing at
the finish, leaving Schill to settle for third place, while Donavan Morgan and David
Prunty rounded out the top five.
The event ran relatively trouble-free with the lone caution flag flying on lap four as a
result of Brad Dahmer’s crash into the turn three wall. The race was not trouble-free
for current point leader Brad Mueller, who was forced to retire his smoking car to the
pits on lap 34 after having an oil line come loose. Mueller was credited with a 19th place
finish on the night, but now holds a 129 point lead in the standings over Schill, whose
third place finish solidified his second place rank in the division points standings.
The late model Race of Champions consisted of those drivers who had won a feature or dash
during the season and the 30-lap event provided the most excitement of the night, capped
off by a thrilling finish.
David Prunty and Rich Loch battled for the lead in the early laps, while Eric Fransen,
Dave Teske, and Dennis Prunty raced hard for positions behind them. Contact between the
leaders on lap ten allowed the field to bunch up, with David Prunty and Loch racing
side-by-side for the top spot. Loch edged into the lead on lap 14, with both David and
Dennis Prunty nipping at his heels just before the one and only caution of the event
occurred when Mike Egan slid into the turn two wall on lap 15.
Loch led on the restart but David Prunty pressured him for the lead on the inside groove,
while Dennis Prunty remained glued to his brother’s rear bumper as the three drivers
raced hard for the lead. Dennis was able to snag second place on lap 25 after slightly
tapping his brother while exiting turn two and quickly moved in on Loch for the lead as
the laps wound down. Dennis was able to edge to the inside of Loch over the final laps and
the two fought door-to-door with Dennis using the lower groove to prevail in a close
finish at the checkered flag. David Prunty was third followed by Eric Fransen and Brad
Mueller.
Chad Barker held off Dan Jung to win the 30-lap late model semi-feature and Jerry
Schneider won the late model consi over Robert Maynor. Al Schill was victorious in the
dash and Brad Mueller was the fastest qualifier at 11.329 seconds.
Dale Prunty continued his domination in the Eldorado Trailer Sales Midwest Modified
division this season as he cruised to his seventh feature win of the year in the 30-lap
main event.
Wes Biswell and Steve Schultz led the field to the green flag with Schultz edging ahead to
take the lead at the completion of the first lap. Schultz and Biswell ran nose-to-tail,
while Prunty went to work, pressuring Larry Reighbrandt and Ken Wills to crack the top
five. Dennis Prunty spun in turn four on lap two to produce a caution flag as the cars of
Jeff Holtz and Jason Feyereisen ducked into the pits to fix minor damage that resulted
from their efforts to dodge the stalled car of Prunty. Schultz led Biswell and Dale Prunty
on the restart and Prunty wasted no time in working his way by Biswell for second.
Once around Biswell, Prunty quickly tracked down Schultz and took over the lead near
the race’s halfway mark with an inside pass off turn four. The last half of the race
ran caution-free as Prunty checked out on the field and drove to the victory over Schultz
and Wills, who was able to get around Biswell for third. Reighbrandt finished fifth.
Prunty was not through winning on the night as he also charged to victory in the 18-lap
Eldorado Trailer Sales Midwest Modified Race of Champions. Prunty started on the outside
of the front row and raced to the lead on lap four, passing Ken Wills for the top spot.
Prunty drove to victory from there, taking the checkered flag ahead of Wills, Jeff Holtz,
Larry Reighbrandt, and Wes Biswell.
Biswell won the fast dash and Prunty also set fast time with a quick lap of 12.194
seconds.
Kenny Joosten won the 40-lap Midwest Sportsman feature that made up the third and final
Slinger portion of the eight-race Midwest Sportsman Championship Series.
Joosten started on the pole and took the lead at the drop of the green flag over Colin
Bamke and Dave Thomas. Nick Schumacher moved into the top five and raced with Brandon
Norris and Josh Bauer for position. Joosten maintained his lead through the first caution
period on lap 19 when Todd Gehring and Jason Taghikhani tangled on the backstretch.
Joosten led on the restart as Bamke and Schumacher raced for second place just ahead of
Norris and Bauer. Bamke spun out on lap 24 to produce another caution, leaving Joosten to
battle with Schumacher, Norris, Bauer, and Dave Thomas for the lead. While Joosten was
busy holding off Schumacher, Norris and Bauer were eliminated in a grinding crash in turn
two on lap 31 which also damaged the cars of James Swan and Jeremy Miller. Joosten
continued to hold off Schumacher over the final laps to score the win while Thomas
finished third ahead of Miller and Bobby Hacker. Keith’s Marina and the
Schultz’s White Tail Inn provided additional funds to the Midwest Sportsman purse.
Brad Keith outdistanced Jay Shambeau and Jimmy Evans to win the Midwest Sportsman Series
semi-feature while Thomas took the victory in the dash. Bauer was the fastest qualifier at
12.650 seconds.
Joe DeStefano Jr. and Shawn Gavin each won Slinger Bees events and the Team Cruiser race
was won by Tanya Krueger and Dave Berndt. Carl Trapp was the apparent winner of the
Spectator Elimination races in his 1972 Chevy Nova but was later disqualified followed a
post-race inspection. Tom Gettelman, representing Heavy Equipment Specialists, won the
Port-A-John Speedway Guest Car event and Scott Goetzke won the Figure 8 race.
Behling Racing Equipment provided additional funds to the evening’s purse.
For Complete
results from the RACESTAT computer CLICK HERE
Season Championships and a Demo Derby at
Slinger!
Slinger, WI (Spl.) – This Sunday night, Moore Wallace Post
Printing presents the 2003 Season Championships at the Slinger Super Speedway. The night
will include the crowning of the track champions in all divisions along with a demolition
derby, which will pay $400.00 to win. Participants are still being sought for the
demolition derby. Interested drivers should call the speedway’s main office at
262-644-5921 for more information.
In addition to Sunday’s on-track activities, the speedway will provide free mini race
cars to children as they enter the gate, while supplies last. Members of the Coca Cola
Kids Club will also be eligible to win one of three prizes in the 2003 Kids Club Grand
Prize drawing during intermission. In 2003, children 11 and under are free at the Slinger
Super Speedway.
The Slinger Super Speedway regular season schedule commences during Sunday’s
festivities, although participants are still wanted for the speedway’s annual Enduro
Special, which takes place on Sunday afternoon, September 21st. |
