Prunty Again In Keith's Marina 85 By Dan Margetta

(Slinger, WI); June 29, 2008 - For the second consecutive week, David Prunty was in victory lane after finding himself in the right place at the right time when the leaders tangled late in the Keith’s Marina 85 Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway.

Prunty inherited the top spot on lap 69 after an intense battle for the lead between Mike Strupp and Dennis Prunty ended with Dennis Prunty skidding through the infield grass and when racing resumed, the defending track champion held off a hard charging Collin Bamke for the win.

Photo Highlights

David Prunty (#1) was able to repeat as the feature winnner in Super Late Model action, winning the Keith's Marina 85, after inherting the lead late in the contest. Mike Stupp (#10) motors past Colin Bamke (#27) on his way to the front of the Keith's Marina 85. A late race tangle negated the efforts of Dennis Prunty (#42) and Mike Stuff (#10) in the Super Late Model feature contest. Jeremy Lepak (#40) saw his hopes for a feature win diminish with a spin late in the Super Late Model feature race. Gary LaMonte (#63) topped the Super Late Model semi-feature contest. Though qualifying was rained out, last weeks Super Late Model feature winner David Prunty (#1) was on track for opening ceremonies. Defending Limited Late Model champion Jon Reynolds Jr. (#10) sits in victory lane after winning the feature contest this evening. Dace Thomas (#19) was this weeks winner of the Midwest Sportsman feature contest. Jeff Holtz (#3) won the Midwest Sportsman feature contest last week and participated in opening ceremonies.  This week's qualifying was rained out. Aaron Cain (#5) celebrates his win in the Thunderstox feature contest. Matt Klenz was the victory in the Slinger Bee feature race.

Mike Meyerhofer grabbed the lead at the drop of the green flag over Bamke, Dan Jung, and Dennis Prunty. A spin by Mike Egan in turn one produced the first caution flag on lap 15 and on the restart, Bamke worked the outside lane to snag the lead on lap 17. Dennis Prunty and Jeremy Lepak also worked the high line around Jung to take over the third and fourth spots respectively while Dale Prunty, Strupp, David Prunty, and Lowell Bennett all closed in. Jung looped his machine around in turn one on lap 42 to bring out the second yellow flag of the race with Bamke continuing to lead over Meyerhofer.

As racing resumed, Dennis Prunty went to work on Meyerhofer for second place, taking the position on lap 48 as Dale Prunty, Lepak, and Strupp all jockeyed for position behind them. The aggressive battles among the lead cars resulted in an accordion-like effect rippling through the field which claimed Lepak when his car spun in turn four on lap 57 after contact with Lowell Bennett. Shortly after the restart, Dennis Prunty began to challenge Bamke for the lead using the outside lane while Strupp and David Prunty also began to march forward in the low line. Dennis Prunty swept by Bamke for the lead on lap 59 and a few laps later, Strupp accomplished the same feat, passing Bamke for second place with David Prunty close behind. Strupp began to catch Dennis Prunty while David Prunty worked his way by Bamke and into third by lap 65. By lap 69, Strupp was on Dennis Prunty’s bumper and after making several attempts to pass on the outside, eased to the inside exiting turn two. With neither driver giving an inch down the backstretch, contact between the two sent Prunty sliding through the grass to bring out the caution flag. Both drivers were sent to the pits following some extracurricular activities during the caution period as David Prunty inherited the lead over Bamke, Dale Prunty, and Meyerhofer. Prunty had his car hooked up over the final laps and was able to hold off Bamke for the victory. Dale Prunty finished third while Meyerhofer turned in his best performance of the season with a fourth place finish. Lepak rebounded from his earlier spin to finish fifth.

Gary LaMonte won the 30-lap late model semi-feature that doubled as a qualifying event due to earlier rain showers, sending the top ten finishers to the main event. Mike Egan finished second ahead of Conrad Morgan and Matt Kocourek. Brad Mueller finished fifth while Tommy Pecaro finished sixth ahead of Randy Schuler in seventh. Josh Bauer, Eric Fransen, and Race McComb rounded out the top ten. Josh Bauer won the 15-lap late model consi, holding off Tommy Hromadka for the win. Scott Schoeni, John Pellman, and Kelsey Bauer completed the top five finishers.

Jon Reynolds Jr. took top honors in the 35-lap limited late model main event that despite running caution-free featured plenty of action.

Brad Keith and Rob Braun led the field to the green flag and Braun quickly jumped into the lead while Keith raced with Steve Apel and Chris Blawat for second. Braun stretched out his advantage as Blawat and Keith raced door to door for second while further back, Reynolds and Chris Ratajczyk began to move forward. Braun’s race went up in smoke on lap ten as his car suddenly slowed while enjoying a comfortable advantage on the field, turning the lead over to Keith who was under pressure from Blawat. By lap 15, Blawat held the top spot while Reynolds and Ratajczyk began to challenge Keith for second with Apel in their tire tracks. The fierce battle for the lead positions was marked by contact amongst the lead cars and Keith became a victim of the circumstances as his car was sent spinning off the frontstretch on lap 19 while Blawat continued to lead over Reynolds. Reynolds took to the high groove and began to challenge Blawat for the lead, taking the position on lap 21. Once out front, Reynolds was never headed and he charged to the win while Apel nipped Blawat at the line for second. Scott Ascher advanced late in the event to finish fourth while Ratajczyk took the checkered flag in fifth.

Dave Thomas charged to the lead on lap three and then held off defending track champion Kenny Joosten to win the 35-lap Midwest Sportsman feature.

Scott Shambeau led the opening two laps while Thomas battled Mike Borchardt for the second spot ahead of Jeff Holtz and Mike Graczkowski. Thomas shot into the lead a lap later by slipping to the inside of Shambeau exiting turn two while Borchardt filled the gap to battle for second. Shambeau and Borchardt raced side by side until they rubbed together down the backstretch on lap five which allowed Joosten to race by into second. Shambeau recovered to hold down the third spot while Holtz forged ahead of Borchardt for the fourth position. Thomas began to stretch his lead by the time the first caution flag waved on lap 18 as the machines of Shawn Hoeffler and Andy Haver looped on the front straightaway. Thomas took the inside lane for the restart and maintained the top spot as racing resumed while Borchardt dipped to the inside of Shambeau for third. With Shambeau out of line, Holtz and Graczkowski were also able to move forward and into the top five. Joosten tracked down Thomas for the lead and while he tried to make several attempts to pass, Thomas proved to be stronger off turn two which enabled him to keep control of the race. The action stopped under the red flag on lap 30 when the cars of Shambeau and Jake Vanoskey nosed into the frontstretch wall and the imact sent Vanoskey’s car barrel-rolling over three times into turn one. Vanoskey emerged from his battered car uninjured as the field lined up for the restart with just five laps to go. Thomas chose the inside lane again and as before, as able to ease ahead of Joosten exiting turn two while Holtz joined the battle for the top spot. With three laps to go, the cars of Borchardt and Graczkowski became stuck together exiting turn four and by the time the drivers sorted the situation out, Jay Shambeau raced around them and into fourth. Thomas took the checkered flag for the win ahead of Joosten and Holtz while Shambeau finished fourth in front of Graczkowski in fifth.

Aaron Cain drove to convincing win in the 18-lap Thunderstock feature over Al Stippich and Jack Stern. Jake Larson and Jim Bentzler finished fourth and fifth respectively. Matt Klenz held off the challenges of Matt Westphal to win the 18-lap Slinger Bees feature. Derek Hoerig capped off a strong run by finishing third ahead of Mike Lang and Ken Schraufnagel. Ron Pipping was the winner of the Speedway Guest Car race and Rick Bruskiewicz topped off the night by capturing the win in the Figure 8 event.