David Prunty Wins Transport Services 60 & Schill Takes Race of Champions! By Dan Margetta

(Slinger, WI); August 26, 2007 - David Prunty raced to his fifth late model feature win of the season in the Transport Services 60 while Al Schill edged Brad Mueller by less than a car length to win the 30-lap late model Race of Champions Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway

.The 60-lap late model feature got off to a rough start when front row starters Steven Schulz and Lowell Bennett came together in turn two at the drop of the green flag, grid-locking the field behind them. The cars of Bennett and Schultz along with the machine of Nick Hammer were too damaged to continue as the rest of the field lined up for a complete restart

Photo Highlights

David Prunty (#1) took a major step in securing the 2007 Slinger Super Speedway track title by claiming the victory in the Transport Services 60. David Prunty (#1) works the low line past Nick Schumacher (#16) for the lead in the Super Late Model main event. Al Schill topped the Race of Champions in the Super Late Model division. Tony Strupp (#12) and Brad Mueller (#89) battled door to door for many laps in the Super Late Model main event. Brad Mueller (#89) carries the American Flag during opening ceremonies after setting fast time in the Super Late Model division. Ty James (#27) came out on top of the Limited Late Model main event. Jon Reynolds Jr. (#10) continued his string of fast qualifying efforts. Steve Schulz (#45) the current Midwest Modified point leader topped the feature contest and gave hints to his speed earlier... ...as Schulz also posted the fastest qualifying lap in the Midwest Modified class. Kenny Joosten the point leader in the Midwest Sportsman division added to his feature win total with another checkered flag Sunday Night. Dave Thomas (#19) the fast qualifier in the Midwest Sportsman division. Paul Konieczny won the Thunderstock feature event. Steve Dickson topped the Slinger Bee feature contest.

Nick Schumacher paced the opening laps as Prunty launched his way into second place by lap five, just ahead of Race McComb, Tony Strupp, and Eric Fransen. While Prunty tried to track down Schumacher for the lead, Strupp and Fransen used the inside to pass by McComb and move into third and fourth place respectively. Prunty also used the inside to snare the lead from Schumacher on lap 11 and a few laps later, Fransen worked his way around Strupp for third. Brad Mueller and Jeremy Lepak began to dice their way towards the front with Mueller racing his way into fourth place on lap 28 and Lepak entering the top five on lap 33. Schumacher was able to keep Prunty in his sights in the middle stages of the event while Fransen raced with Lepak and Mueller for the third through fifth spots respectively.

The cars on the tail-end of the lead lap began to race extremely hard in an effort to avoid going a lap in arrears and their battling forced Prunty to pause momentarily in the final ten laps, allowing Schumacher to close to his rear bumper. Prunty’s rear bumper was as far as Schumacher could get however and the defending track champion raced under the checkered flag to score his fifth feature win of the season and increase his point lead in this year’s battle for the championship. Schumacher settled for a second place finish while Fransen, Lepak, and Mueller rounded out the top five.

The 30-lap late model Race of Champions consisted of feature and fast dash winners from the season to date and the race provided plenty of fireworks as Schill edged Mueller in a thrilling finish.

Mueller battled Tony Strupp at the onset and led the beginning circuits before Strupp worked the inside to take the top spot on lap five. Two laps later, Prunty also used the low lane to grab second from Mueller while Strupp continued to lead. On lap eight, Prunty made a bid to the inside of Strupp while running down the backstretch but Strupp shut the door in turn three to maintain the point. As the leaders entered the first turn, Prunty made another charge at the top spot but came up short as his car swung loose exiting turn two and he slid sideways into the infield grass, allowing Mueller to advance to second place while Schill, Mike Strupp and Jeremy Lepak battled for third. Mueller caught up to Strupp’s tire tracks by lap 23 and he also edged to Strupp’s inside down the backstretch on lap 24. As Strupp and Mueller entered the third turn, the aggressive battle for the lead resulted in Strupp spinning around with Mueller able to continue but also receiving damage in the incident.

Mueller lined up in the inside lane as the leader for the restart for the five lap shootout for the win with Schill alongside in second while Mike Strupp and Jeremy Lepak flanked the leaders in the next row. As the green appeared, Mueller and Schill battled hard for the lead with Mueller’s car showering sparks from beneath it while Lepak and Mike Strupp made it a solid four-car race for the win. All four drivers ran nose-to-tail and side-by-side all the way to the checkered flag with Schill edging Mueller by less than a car length for the win while Strupp nipped Lepak for third. Nick Schumacher finished in fifth place.

Mike Strupp was the winner of the 30-lap late model semi-feature over Florian Wisinski and Dale Prunty. Eddie May and Collin Bamke rounded out the top five. Nick Schumacher won the late model fast dash and Brad Mueller was the fastest qualifier after lapping the speedway in 11.445 seconds.

Tyler James held off all challenges to win an exciting 30-lap limited late model feature.

James led the early going over Scott Ascher as the field quickly fell under the yellow flag when Bill Shavlik spun on lap two, following single car spins by David McCardle and Aaron Wilke on the opening lap. While James maintained the point on the restart, Rob Braun and Jon Reynolds Jr. advanced their way into the top five, moving into second and third place respectively by lap 20. Braun made numerous challenges for the lead on the outside, moving alongside James entering the turns but unable to clear him upon the exits while Reynolds closed in from third place. A spin by Chris Ratajczyk on lap 25 set up a dash to the finish with James leading over Braun, Reynolds, Ascher, and Dan Jung. James was up to the task as racing resumed and he held onto his lead with Braun racing directly beside him. James was able to turn back the challenges and he charged to the win with Braun finishing a close second and Reynolds right behind them in third place. Jung edged Ascher for the fourth spot at the stripe.

Steve Apel was victorious in the limited late model fast dash and Jon Reynolds Jr. set fast time at 12.272 seconds.

Kenny Joosten charged to a convincing win in the 30-lap Midwest Sportsman feature.

Scott Shambeau and Jimmie Evans led the field to the green flag and Shambeau jumped into the early lead as Bobby Giers and Joosten began to work the high lane to charge through the field. Giers raced into second place on lap eight and Joosten followed to snag third place by the tenth lap with Shambeau continuing to lead. Joosten had his car working in the top lane and he moved around Giers for second place and then raced by Shambeau for the lead on lap 16. As Joosten began to pull away from Shambeau, Jake Vanoskey charged around Giers for third place while Dave Thomas and Pat McIntee raced for the final spots in the top five. Vanoskey’s run to the front took a turn for the worse on lap 24 when he spun around, moving Giers back to third place as the race remained green. Joosten was untouched as he drove under the checkered flag for the win while Shambeau finished in second place. Thomas used the closing laps to advance his way to third place at the stripe while Giers and McIntee rounded out the top five.

Bobby Giers won the Midwest Sportsman fast dash and Dave Thomas circled the track in 12.759 seconds to become the night’s fastest qualifier.

Steven Schulz raced his way to a dominating win in the Midwest Modified 25-lap feature event.

John Kruschel led the first eight laps before Schulz took the top spot while Jason Feyereisen, Steve Huelsbeck, Joe Houpt, and Wes Biswell all charged forward at the front of the field. The caution flag appeared on lap 15 when Houpt looped around after racing with Biswell for the fifth spot. As racing resumed, Schulz led while Huelsbeck moved into second place with Biswell close behind in third. Behind the top three, Feyereisen battled with Ron Schmitt over the fourth position. With five laps to go, the tussle for second between Huelsbeck and Biswell ended with Huelsback going around on the backstretch and both drivers were placed at the rear of the field for the restart. Schulz chose the inside lane for the restart and Feyereisen occupied the high side in second with Schmitt and Kruschel in third and fourth respectively. As Schulz raced to the lead on the restart, the outside lane proved to be detrimental to Feyereisen and he faded back while Schmitt and Kruschel charged into second and third respectively. At the stripe, Schulz took the checkered flag first to score the win while Schmitt finished in second. Kruschel finished in third place while Feyereisen and Russ Moberly rounded out the top five.

Earlier in the evening, Steve Huelsbeck won the Midwest Modified fast dash and Steven Schulz set fast time at 12.361 seconds.

Paul Konieczny took the lead on lap six and then held off a charge by Al Stippich to win the 18-lap Thunderstock main event. Stippich finished a strong second while Ryan Gutknecht, Seth Lootans, and Nathan Matz rounded out the top five finishers. Earlier, Lootans was the fastest qualifier at 13.827 seconds.

Steve Dickson raced to the win in the Slinger Bees main event, taking the victory over Brandon Wolf and Jesse Knutson. Stephanie Losiniecki and Roman Blank finished fourth and fifth respectively. Losiniecki paced qualifying after touring the track in 16.563 seconds.

Larry Rhinehardt was the winner of the Speedway Guest Cars race and Robert Coffey won the Spectator Eliminator event. Shane Becker closed the night by taking top honors in the Figure 8 race.

 

For Complete results from the RACESTAT computer CLICK HERE