2008 Schedule / Race Results
KENSETH PREVAILS TO EARN
FOURTH MILLER LITE NATIONALS TITLE!!
By Dan Margetta Slinger, Wis., July 15—Matt Kenseth scored a hard-fought victory in an aggressive 29th Annual Miller Lite Nationals Tuesday night at the Slinger Super Speedway, his fourth overall in the prestigious 200-lap late model event. “What a great race,” Kenseth stated after battling intensely with David Prunty for the lead before holding off Jeremy Lepak for the win. “I had a great time racing Jeremy (Lepak) there and Prunty put on a heck of a battle for the lead and we got pretty crazy there for awhile so it was a fun race.” “It was good hard racing,” Kenseth continued, describing the fender rubbing action at the front of the field. “It was a little bit back and forth but everybody’s trying to win and that’s what you do, try to race as hard as you can every lap and these guys did a great job. They sure made us work for it.” Kenseth, Prunty, and Lepak all took turns at the head of the field as they raced side by side and nose to tail throughout the second half of the event and shortly after taking the lead for good on lap 138, the battle between Prunty and Lepak for second place allowed Kenseth to gain the distance he needed to drive to victory. Prunty eventually fell out of contention when his engine sputtered on lap 178 while Lepak drove on to a second place finish, equaling his effort from a year ago. “I told (David) Prunty that was awesome because we leaned on each other,” Lepak told the crowd. “That’s what Wisconsin short track racing is all about and I’m just glad we could put on a show like that for these fans.” Dennis Prunty led twice for 54 laps and raced with the leaders all night long before coming home with a third place finish after spending most of the late laps charging wheel to wheel with Kyle Busch. “I’m hoping ‘Rowdy’ (Busch) lets me use on his car because I want to do that again,” Prunty stated in reference to the torrid battle with Busch for the position. “That was a blast and we really needed this third place finish.” Busch, the current NASCAR Sprint Cup point leader, qualified second to Kenseth and raced among the top ten the entire 200 lap distance before settling for a fourth place result at the checkered flag. “We were junk before halfway and we were junk after halfway,” Busch said after his team made major changes during the allotted ten minute break at the midpoint. “We had a better car last year but we couldn’t keep tires on it so we tried something different this year. The car was turning a lot better than it’s ever have but it was just so loose off the corner you couldn’t get any drive down the straightaway. We got beat down the straightaway all night.” Nick Schumacher backed up his feature win from Sunday night with a strong and impressive run to fifth place at the finish while Kelly Bires turned in his best Slinger performance with a steady sixth place result. Dale Prunty took the checkered flag in seventh place and Chris Wimmer, Tommy Pecaro, and defending Nationals champion Lowell Bennett rounded out the top ten. Among the other NASCAR drivers competing, Erik Darnell, Scott Wimmer, and David Stremme all exited the event before the halfway mark while early contender Rich Bickle left the speedway with damage from a crash on lap 150 and Brad Mueller retired from the race on lap 105 the result of a flat tire after racing hard with Kenseth over the fourth spot. Dan Jung took top honors in the 35-lap late model semi-feature over Gary LaMonte and Randy Schuler. Scott Schoeni and Jeff Way completed the top five finishers. Dale Prunty was the winner of the 25-lap late model qualifying race as he along with Josh Bauer, Eric Fransen, and Erik Darnell transferred to the main event by finishing in the top four positions. The late model qualifying race was stopped on lap three for a scary, fiery incident involving Collin Bamke. The cars of Bamke and Fred Winn made hard contact with the turn four wall while trying to avoid a spin in front of them with Bamke’s car tipped sideways and pinned against the wall by Winn’s machine. As the safety crew arrived on the scene, the cars burst into flames. In a dramatic scene, Winn exited his car and rolled to safety down the speedway while Bamke exited his car from the passenger side window and up over the turn four catch fence with assistance from his mother and safety crew members. Bamke was transported to a local hospital with shoulder, knee, and ankle injuries but later returned to the speedway to watch the main event. A field of 42 late models was on hand and they were topped in qualifying by Kenseth, who toured the speedway in 11.359 seconds. Kyle Busch turned in the second fastest time in qualifying as Brad Mueller, Chris Wimmer, and Tommy Pecaro were third through fifth in the qualifying results.
By Dan Margetta Slinger, Wis., July 13—Nick Schumacher drove to his first feature win of the season Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway as he took top honors in the Lagina Plumbing/PPC 75-lap late model main event. “I thought as long as this race stayed green, I could probably hold them off, “Schumacher said from victory lane after taking command of the event following an intense battle with Al Schill. “It was tough going door to door with (Al) Schill, “Schumacher continued. “We also tried a new set-up tonight and it worked.” Schumacher started from the outside of the front row and used the outer lane to grab the lead from fellow front row starter Dan Jung while Schill slotted into the third spot. A few laps later, Schill moved into second place while Jung battled with David Prunty and Tommy Pecaro. The caution flag waved on lap eight as Jamie Wallace looped around in turn four after racing in a tight pack of cars while Schumacher continued to lead over Schill. Schumacher chose the inside lane for the restart and Schill lined up outside as racing resumed. Schumacher maintained the lead as Schill eventually lined up behind the leader and began to work the low side. On lap 12, Schill ducked to the inside of Schumacher and both drivers raced side by side for the top spot with neither being able to gain ground. Schumacher and Schill swapped the lead as they continued to circle the speedway door to door as behind them Lowell Bennett and David Prunty began to gain ground in third and fourth place respectively. Schumacher’s persistence in the upper groove gradually paid off as he was able to fend off Schill’s challenges and keep the top spot by lap 16. Schill kept Schumacher in his sights and made another challenge for the lead, briefly taking the top spot on lap 24 before Schumacher as able to retake command of the race on lap 29. While the leaders continued their intense tussle for the lead, Bennett and Prunty drew even closer and were on Schill’s bumper as Schumacher took the lead. Schill’s car appeared to begin to falter off the corners and both Bennett and Prunty were able to race around him as Schumacher began to stretch his lead. Schumacher began to catch lapped traffic and continued to put lapped cars between himself and Bennett during the race’s second half as the best battles on the speedway were over the fifth spot between Dan Jung and Jamie Wallace and over seventh between Dale Prunty and Collin Bamke. Schumacher was able to work traffic well over the final laps as he drove to the win over Bennett and Prunty. Schill finished fourth while Wallace edged Jung for fifth. Dale Prunty crossed the stripe in seventh while Bamke, Brad Dahmer, and Mike Egan rounded out the top ten. Dennis Prunty drove to victory in the 30-lap late model semi-feature, holding off Jeff Way for the win. Jerry Eckhardt was third ahead of Josh Wallace and Ron Ragan. Al Schill won the late model fast dash and Brad Dahmer was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 11.519 seconds.
.: Sunday,
June 29th, 2008 :.
Slinger, Wis., June 29—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.
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. .: Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 :. SLINGER SPEEDWAY
Prunty Tops Pepsi-Challenge 60 Presented by Enders
Construction and Design to Construct Dennis Prunty charged into the lead at the
drop of the green flag while Collin Bamke advanced into second place while
Mike Meyerhofer, Nick Schumacher, and David Prunty raced into the top five
by the fifth lap. Dennis Prunty and Bamke were able to pull ahead from the
field while Schumacher went to work on Meyerhofer for third. Schumacher was
able to make the move around Meyerhofer for the spot on lap 13, bringing
David Prunty along with him in fourth. On lap fifteen, David Prunty eased to
the inside of Schumacher, taking the third position while Dennis Prunty
continued to set the pace with Bamke close behind. Bamke made numerous looks
to the inside of Dennis Prunty for the lead before deciding to take to the
outside line on lap 20. Bamke was able to keep his car wound up in the upper
groove and he used it to execute a pass for the lead on lap 21 while David
Prunty began to close in from third.
.: Sunday,
June 15th, 2008 :.
Al Schill led the Late Model field to the
green flag in the sixty-lap feature event. Bennett immediately started his
run to the front using the outside groove to pick up positions. By the tenth
lap, Bennett took over second place with an outside pass of Conrad Morgan
and set his sights on Schill. Caution was displayed after an incident in
turn one involving Jeremy Lepak, Jeff Way and Gary LaMonte. Tommy Pecaro and
Fred Winn had contact in the third turn sending Winn spinning and collecting
Scott Schoeni, bringing out the second caution. Bennett restarted first but
Schill was able to slip past to resume the lead.
.: Sunday,
June 1st, 2008 :.
“That was some awesome racing,” Lepak told the crowd from Victory Lane, “We touched a little bit on that last lap but that’s just fun short track racing. Congratulations to Lowell (Bennett) on a good run as well.” Bennett, who took the lead on lap 18 from Mike Strupp, paced the race for much of the event while Lepak clawed his way forward from his tenth starting position. Utilizing the outside groove early on, Lepak worked his way into the top five by lap 30 and twenty laps later, raced his way by Strupp for second while Bennett enjoyed a sizeable lead. Again using the outside, Lepak began to cut into Bennett’s advantage as the leader began to work lapped traffic and with fifteen laps to go, Lepak found himself nearly on Bennett’s bumper. Bennett’s car appeared to begin to swing loose off the corners in the closing laps, which allowed Lepak to narrow the gap even more. As Bennett began to protect the outside line, Lepak began to work the bottom as the laps continued to click away. With two laps to go, Lepak was glued to Bennett’s rear bumper and as they took the white flag, Lepak nudged Bennett heading into turn one, sending him high enough on the racetrack to pull alongside as they exited turn two. After running side by side down the backstretch, Bennett shut the door entering turn three to keep the lead, but in doing so, drifted wide exiting turn four, allowing Lepak to get a run on the inside in the sprint to the checkered flag. Lepak was able to edge Bennett at the finish line by less than a car length for the victory. Mike Strupp led in the early going and kept the leaders in sight to finish third while David Prunty charged his way from the eleventh starting position to finish in fourth place. Tommy Pecaro also raced his way forward to finish a strong fifth. Al Schill finished in the sixth spot followed by Collin Bamke and Mike Meyerhofer who led the opening thirteen laps. Dennis Prunty and Dan Jung rounded out the top ten finishers.
.: Sunday,
May 25th, 2008 :.
Tommy Pecaro and
Fred Winn led the field to the green flag with Winn using the outside to
take the early lead while Mike Strupp and Nick Schumacher slotted ahead of
Pecaro and into second and third respectively. Winn set the pace for the
first four laps before Strupp was able to work his way to the front on lap
five as farther back, just outside the top five, Lepak and Brad Mueller
jockeyed for position with Dennis Prunty, Lowell Bennett, and David
Prunty. Strupp and Winn hooked up nose to tail and began to ease away from
the field before mechanical issues sent Conrad Morgan’s car slamming into
the turn three wall on lap 14, triggering an incident that also swept up
the cars of Mike Meyerhofer and Tommy Hromadka as the caution flag waved
to slow the event.
Sunday,
May 4th, 2008
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Questions or problems with this site, email ddpmotorsports@yahoo.com This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Copyright dennisprunty.com. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
