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Prunty Scores Win Number 7 and Takes
Season Championship!
By Dan Margetta |
(Slinger,
WI); September 9, 2007 -
David Prunty charged to his seventh late model feature win of the
season in the Behling Racing Equipment 75 presented by Old Wisconsin
Sausage Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway, securing his
second straight track championship.
“My crew really has it figured out,” Prunty stated from Victory
Lane. “We were really, really tight with this set of tires and after
the dash, they were able to loosen it right up and it was perfect.”
Tommy Pecaro set the pace at the start as Jeremy Lepak launched into
second ahead of Randy Schuler, John Mueller, and Prunty. As Pecaro
and Lepak moved away from the field, Prunty went to work on Mueller,
taking the fourth position on lap 15. Five laps later, Prunty used
the outside to charge around Schuler for third as Pecaro and Lepak
continued to run in first and second respectively. As the leaders
approached lapped traffic, Pecaro’s lead was erased as Lepak and
Prunty joined him with the top three running nose to tail. Dale
Prunty and Race McComb piled into the turn three wall on lap 38 to
produce the caution flag.
Pecaro chose the inside lane for the restart while Lepak lined up
outside of him as the green flag waved on the restart. Pecaro
maintained the lead but as the field exited turn two, Lepak broke
loose and lost spots as he caught the car, allowing Prunty to race
into second followed by Nick Schumacher and Al Schill. Pecaro held
onto the top spot until lap 41 when Prunty launched into the lead.
Pecaro began to slip a bit and fell to fourth place as Schumacher
and Schill both made their way around him and into second and third.
A spin by Fred Winn drew the yellow flag on lap 46 with Prunty
leading Schumacher and Schill.
As racing resumed, Prunty eased ahead of the field while Schumacher
and Schill staged a thrilling battle for second. Schumacher and
Schill ran door to door and swapped the position lap after lap until
the 65th circuit when side-to-side contact between the two on the
backstretch sent both cars careening into the infield as the caution
flag waved.
Prunty lined up in the inside groove for the restart as Lepak took
to the outside followed by Lowell Bennett, Nick Hammer, and Randy
Schuler. Prunty was able to pull out to a slight advantage as racing
resumed, while Lepak appeared to continue to battle a slight
handling condition, causing him to lose ground off the corners.
Prunty was never headed during the final ten laps and he drove to
his seventh feature win of the season, claiming his second
consecutive track championship. Lepak finished second ahead of
Bennett and Hammer while Matt Kocourek charged forward late to
finish fifth. Mike Egan took the checkered flag in sixth while Brad
Mueller and Randy Schuler were seventh and eighth respectively. Fred
Winn and Conrad Morgan rounded out the top ten. Following the event,
Hammer’s car failed post-race technical inspection and he was
disqualified.
Mike Strupp won the 30-lap late model semi-feature over Dale Prunty
and Chris Carlson while Joe DeStefano Jr. and Jerry Eckhardt were
fourth and fifth respectively. Fred Winn held off David Prunty to
win the fast dash and Nick Schumacher was the fastest qualifier at
11.446 seconds.
Jon Reynolds Jr. drove to another win in the 30-lap limited late
model feature, wrapping up the track championship in the process.
Mike McCabe and Chris Ratajczyk battled for the lead in the early
going with McCabe leading the opening laps before Ratajczyk took
over the point on lap six. With Ratajczyk out front, Jerry Eckhardt,
Reynolds, and Tyler James all advanced forward and into the top
five. Eckhardt used the outside lane to charge into second place
just before the caution flag waved for a spin by Dean Milliken in
turn two. Eckhardt hung tough on the outside and ran wheel to wheel
with Ratajczyk for the lead as racing resumed while Reynolds
followed in their tire tracks in third. The side-by-side battle for
the lead lasted until lap 19 when Reynolds was able to edge to the
inside of Eckhardt for second place. Reynolds then went to work on
Ratajczyk, taking command of the race on lap 21. A spin by Corey
Funk brought out the caution flag on lap 25, setting up a five-lap
sprint to the checkered flag. Reynolds could not be headed on the
restart and he raced to the win, wrapping up the limited late model
track championship. Ratajczkyk crossed the finish line in second
while Rob Braun made a late race charge to finish a strong third.
Eckhardt and James rounded out the top five.
Funk took top honors in the limited late model fast dash and
Reynolds blistered the speedway in 12.151 seconds to set fast time.
Jay Shambeau took the checkered flag first to win the 30-lap Midwest
Sportsman feature over Dave Thomas and Pat McIntee.
Scott Shambeau and Andy Haver led the field to the green flag and
contact between the front cars resulted in a melee at the start as
the field jammed up on the frontstretch. All cars except Haver’s
were able to continue as the field lined up for a complete restart.
Scott Shambeau paced the first three laps before Jay Shambeau took
over the top spot while Dave Thomas, Pat McIntee, and Jeff Holtz
worked their way through the field. Thomas raced into second place
by lap ten while Holtz and McIntee battled for third as Mike
Borchardt held down the fifth spot with Kenny Joosten also moving
forward. The race remained caution free over the last twenty laps as
Shambeau was able to edge ahead while Thomas and McIntee battled for
second, just ahead of Holtz while Joosten moved into the top five.
Shambeau charged to the win while Thomas finished a strong second,
just ahead of McIntee and Holtz. Joosten’s fifth place finish
wrapped up his first Midwest Sportsman track championship.
James Swan took top honors in the Midwest Sportsman fast dash and
McIntee paced qualifying at 12.618 seconds.
Steve Schulz charged to the win in the 25-lap Midwest Modified main
event, putting the cap on his first track championship.
John Kruschel raced to the lead at the start as Steve Huelsbeck held
off Matt Clossey, Chuck Eberhardt, and Wes Biswell for second. A
multi-car incident involving Russ Moberly, Bill Tandetzke, Joe Houpt,
and Joey Bentfield on lap three slowed the raced under the yellow
flag. Kruschel maintained the top spot on the restart while
Huelsbeck and Biswell raced hard for second place while Schulz
sliced his way into the top five by lap seven. The tough battle
between Huelsbeck and Biswell came to a point a lap later when
Biswell looped around in turn four as the race remained under green
with Kruschel leading Huelsbeck, Schulz, Clossey, and Eberhardt.
With five laps to go, Schulz was in second place and closing fast on
Kruschel for the lead while Huelsbeck held off Clossey and Eberhardt
for third. With two laps to go, Schulz was right on Kruschel’s
bumper as Clossey exited the event with mechanical problems. On the
final lap, Schulz charged around Kruschel, taking the lead and the
win, leaving Kruschel to finish second. Huelsbeck crossed the stripe
in third followed by Eberhardt and Ron Schmitt. Schulz’s win helped
wrap up the track championship in the Midwest Modified division.
Wes Biswell won the Midwest Modified fast dash and Schulz was the
fastest qualifier at 12.356 seconds.
Aaron Cain took the lead with two laps to go and went on to take the
win in the 16-lap Thunderstocks feature. Bill Johnson led a majority
of the event before having to settle for second place at the finish.
Paul Konieczny finished third and Seth Lootans took the checkered
flag in fourth place, wrapping up the track championship. Al
Stippich finished in the fifth position. Cain was also the fastest
qualifier at 12.700 seconds.
Zach Durham won the 16-lap Slinger Bees feature over Ken
Schraufnagel and Tanya Manke. Jesse Knutson finished in fourth place
and Jason Hennes was fifth. Stephanie Losiniecki was the fastest
qualifier at 16.345 seconds. John Mengari won the Speedway Guest Car
race and Bob Coffey Sr. held off his son Bob Coffey Jr. to win a
thrilling Spectator Elimination race. Willie Van Camp closed out the
night with a win in the Figure 8 race while Scott Goetzke captured
the Figure 8 track championship.
For Complete
results from the RACESTAT computer
CLICK HERE
Pepsi Challenge Championship Race
Heat Races are back at Slinger - Afternoon Racing
(Slinger, WI) Sunday Night September 9th:
- This Sunday Afternoon September 16th it’s the Pepsi Challenge
Championship Late Model Race. Late Models will be joined by: Limited
Late Models, Midwest Sportsman, Thunderstock, Slinger Bee’s, one on
one spectators, The West Bend Savings Bank Speedway Guest Cars, and
those wild and crazy Figure 8’s. Qualifying at Noon, and Racing at
2:00.
Heat races will be back at Slinger Speedway September 16th. Track
owner Wayne Erickson said, “We’re going to have heat races and give
some of the guys that don’t normally get a checkered flag (win) a
better chance. It will be a different treat for the fans as well.”
Slinger Speedway has not had heat races for years. The elimination
of heat races and adding more laps to the feature races has helped
Slinger Speedway consistently get the show in within a three-hour
window.
PepsiAmericas operates in a strong and exciting industry where our
products are a part of everyday life. We make, sell and deliver a
broad portfolio of Pepsi-Cola core brands, Cadbury beverages and
other national and regional brands in 19 U.S. locations. In total,
the company serves a population of more than 122 million people.
PepsiAmericas, with 3.7 Billion in revenue, is the 2nd largest Pepsi
Cola Anchor Bottler with operations in 9 Country’s around the Globe.
Pepsi is the Official Soft Drink of Slinger Speedway.
www.pepsiamericas.com
Slinger Speedway is booking 2008 Hospitality outings and
Sponsorships. For more information, contact the speedway’s PR and
Marketing at: 262-370-0440, slingerspeedway1@aol.com, or visit our
web site at: www.slingersuperspeedway.com.
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Jon Reynolds Jr. (#10) captured earned the feature win this
evening in Limited Late Models, and put the exclaimation point
on his 2007 season championship winning efforts.
Steve Schulz used the feature win to top off his first career
championship winning effort in the Midwest Modified division.
