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Two In A Row For Prunty In The Pepsi 100
By Dan Margetta
(Slinger, WI) August 13—For the second week in a row, David Prunty held the
winner’s trophy following the late model feature at the Slinger Super
Speedway as he turned back the challenges of Lowell Bennett to capture the win
in the Pepsi 100.
“Lowell (Bennett) is a great racer but I could tell he was just a little
tight and I just took advantage of that,” Prunty told the crowd after
scoring his third feature win of the season as well as the overall Pepsi
Challenge championship. The Pepsi Challenge consisted of points awarded for
three rounds during the 2006 Slinger season and the Pepsi 100 made up the
championship round.
Fred Winn and Tommy Pecaro paced the field to the green and Pecaro got the
jump at the start to shoot out into the lead while Winn fell into place in
second ahead of Bennett and Chad Barker. Pecaro maintained his lead using the
outside groove as Winn kept the nose of his machine planted alongside on the
inside line. Winn was able to edge ahead to lead a few laps before Pecaro once
again advanced on the outside to retake the top spot. Bennett then took to the
outside to overtake Winn for second place on lap 14 and tracked down Pecaro
for the lead when the leader slipped and bobbled in turn two. Using the inside
line this tim, Bennett made his way around Pecaro for the lead on lap 22. The
first caution flag appeared on lap 39 when Mike Strupp and Pecaro tangled in
turn two and Bennett lined up on the inside for the restart, leaving Winn to
take the top side.
The inside lane worked well as racing resumed and Bennett kept his lead while
Barker, David Prunty, Dennis Prunty, and Al Schill all advanced into the top
five while Winn and Nick Schumacher fell back on the outside. As Winn and Matt
Kocourek raced hard for position, they made slight contact and in the gridlock
behind them, Mike Egan and Randy Schuler spun in turn three to draw another
caution flag on lap 44. Bennett once again took to the inside for the restart
and Barker lined up on the outside, leaving David Prunty to occupy the inside
slot behind Bennett. The inside line again marched forward as the green flag
reappeared and Prunty slotted into second place behind Bennett while Schill,
Barker, and Dennis Prunty followed. Another quick caution on lap 52 for
a spin by Dave Teske in turn two, resulted in David Prunty occupying the
outside lane alongside Bennett for the restart.
Prunty was able to work well in the top groove and both he and Bennett raced
side by side for several laps with neither driver able to gain a sizeable
advantage. Prunty finally was able to clear Bennett for the top spot on lap 63
as behind them, Schill skated up the track as Dennis Prunty and John Mueller
raced by and into third and fourth. A final caution flag appeared on lap 65 as
Mike Egan spun against the turn one wall and this time Bennett found himself
in the outside lane for the restart with Prunty in the inside lane. Prunty
held his ground and raced unchallenged to the checkered flag, leaving Bennett
to settle for second place. Schill rebounded to finish third as Dennis Prunty
and Josh Bauer rounded out the top five.
Rich Loch won the 30-lap late model semi-feature and along with Nick Hammer
transferred into the main event. Tony Strupp finished third ahead of Tommy
Hromadka and Jim Schmittinger. Al Schill was the winner of the late model fast
dash and David Prunty set fast time at 11.321 seconds.
Brad Keith walked away with the Midwest Sportsman series feature win, taking a
convincing victory over Pat McIntee and Rob Braun.
Corey Funk and Ryan Zielski paced the field to the green and Zielski took the
early lead as Keith battled with Mark Kissinger for third. By lap three, Keith
worked his way into second place and then dove to the inside of Zielski to
take command of the event. Once out front, Keith checked out on the field as
McIntee and Braun made their way into second and third place respectively. The
top three ran unchallenged as Zielski raced with Mike Borchardt and Mike
Graczkowski for fifth. Borchardt and Graczkowski split Zielski on lap 20 with
Graczkowksi using the inside and Borchardt taking to the outside as both of
them moved forward. Keith cruised to the victory over McIntee and Braun while
Graczkowksi finished in fourth place and Borchardt finished fifth.
Keith also was victorious in the Midwest Sportsman Series fast dash and
Graczkowksi was the fastest qualifier at 12.659 seconds.
Dale Prunty held off Wes Biswell to win the 25-lap Midwest Modified feature.
Joey Bentfield led the way to the green flag and he quickly jumped out front
while Joe Ostermann and Jason Feyereisen disputed second place. Dale Prunty,
Wes Biswell, Ron Schmitt, and Steve Huelsbeck all raced hard behind them.
Bentfield increased his lead while Feyereisen tried to work his way around
Ostermann, finally settling on the inside lane on lap ten. The move proved
costly as Ostermann checked up exiting turn four, forcing Feyereisen to slow
and allowing Prunty and Biswell to race by on the outside and into second and
third place respectively. Once into second, Prunty tracked down Bentfield,
moving to the inside on lap eleven to complete the pass for the lead. Biswell
followed the move a lap later and advanced to second place while Schmitt
battled Feyereisen and Huelsbeck over third place as Bentfield faded on the
outside. At the halfway mark, Prunty led Biswell while Huelsbeck took sole
possession of third place ahead of Feyereisen and Schmitt. With five laps to
go, Feyereisen spun across the front stretch, but the race remained under the
green flag as Schmitt moved to fourth place. Prunty could not be caught in the
final laps and he drove to the win ahead of Biswell and Huelsbeck while
Schmitt crossed the line in fourth place with Jon Kruschel finishing
fifth.
Earlier, Feyereisen won the Midwest Modified fast dash and Prunty was the
fastest qualifier at 12.359 seconds.
Kyle Quella drove to a convincing win the Wisconsin Sport Truck main event
over Tyler Nault and Scott Baker.
Jason Looker paced the opening laps while Baker pressured him. Looker’s time
out front was relatively short-lived as he spun across the frontstretch while
racing with Baker. As Looker attempted to rejoin the chase, he stalled against
the wall as the field beared down and Jason Plutz clipped his stalled truck to
bring out the caution flag. On the restart, Baker was the leader, but didn’t
come up to speed as trucks whizzed by him. Quella worked his way forward to
snag the lead on lap 11 and proceeded to check out from there, steadily
increasing his advantage as the laps clicked by. Behind Quella, Tyler Nault
and Baker battled with Dan Vixmer for second. Quella was untouched as he
charged to the win ahead of Nault, Baker, and Vixmer. In addition to winning
the feature, Quella was also the fastest qualifier, touring the speedway in
12.924 seconds.
Justin Okruhlica took the checkered flag first in the Thunderstocks feature
over Jamie Vetter and Shawn Hoeffler. Mark Kissinger finished in fourth place
ahead of Rick Schaefer. Travis Buchholtz was the winner of the first Complete
Car Care Slinger Bee race that ended under caution when Josh Wenninger rolled
his car four times on the backstretch. Wenninger was not injured in the mishap
and Matt Schatz won the second Slinger Bee event. Trevor Michaels won
the Port-A-John Speedway Guest Car race and Drew Zellmer was the Spectator
Eliminator race winner in his Subaru. Donald Van Camp won the Figure 8 event
and Vincent Eggle won the demo-derby to close the
night.
Event: Pepsi Challenge Series Round
3
Date: August 13, 2006
Late Model Feature 100-laps
1. David Prunty (Brownsville) 15.
Matt Kocourek (Franklin)
2. Lowell Bennett
(Neenah) 16. Gary
LaMonte (West Allis)
3. Al Schill
(Franklin)
17. Nick Schumacher (Hartford)
4. Dennis Prunty (Lomira)
18. Jeremy Lepak (Wausau)
5. Josh Bauer (Random Lake) 19. Tommy Pecaro
(Markesan)
6. John Mueller
(Hubertus)
20. Randy Schuler (Mequon)
7. Chad Barker (Hubertus)
8. Fred Winn (Sussex)
9. Nick Hammer (Sun Prairie)
10. Mike Strupp (Theresa)
11. Dave Teske (Richfield)
12. Robert Maynor (Colgate)
13. Rich Loch (Muskego)
14. Mike Egan (Slinger)
Late Model Semi Feature- 30 lap
1. Rich Loch
(Muskego)
4. Tommy Hromadka (Brookfield)
2. Nick Hammer (Sun Prairie) 5. Jim Schmittinger (West Bend)
3. Tony Strupp (West Bend)
Late Model Fast Dash- Al Schill (Franklin)
Late Model Fast Time- David Prunty (Brownsville) 11.321
seconds
Late Model Consi- 15 lap
1. Chris Ratajczyk (West Bend)
4. Chris Blawat (Eagle)
2. Mark Bitzan (Menomonee Falls) 5. Shawn Roethle (West
Bend)
3. Mike McCabe (New Berlin)
Midwest Modified Feature 20 laps
1. Dale Prunty (Allenton) 4.
Ron Schmitt (Jackson)
2. Wes Biswell (Sussex) 5.
John Kruschel (Sussex)
3. Steve Huelsbeck (Milwaukee)
Midwest Modified Fast Dash- Jason Feyereisen (Random Lake)
Midwest Modified Fast Time- Dale Prunty (Allenton) 12.359 seconds
Midwest Sportsman Feature 30 laps
1. Brad Keith (West Bend) 4. Mike
Graczkowski (Jackson)
2. Pat McIntee (West Bend) 5. Mike Borchardt
(Greenfield)
3. Rob Braun (Wales)
Midwest Sportsman Fast Dash- Brad Keith (West Bend)
Midwest Sportsman Fast Time- Mike Graczkowski (Jackson) 12.695
seconds
Wisconsin Sport Truck Feature 19 laps
1. Kyle Quella
(Appleton)
4. Dan Vixmer (St. Peter)
2. Tyler Nault (Port Washington) 5. Shane Otto (Freedom)
3. Scott Baker (Freedom)
Wisconsin Sport Truck Fast Time- Kyle Quella (Appleton) 12.924
seconds
Thunderstocks Feature 12 laps
1. Justin Okruhlica (Slinger) 4. Mark Kissinger (West
Bend)
2. Jamie Vetter (Oak Creek) 5. Rick Schaefer
(Slinger)
3. Shawn Hoefler (Slinger)
Slinger Bees Heat #1 8-laps
1. Travis Buccholtz (Hartland) 4. Roman Blank
(Allenton)
2. Jake Vanoskey (Hartford) 5. Matt
Westphal (West Bend)
3. Brian Wick (Richfield)
Slinger Bees Heat #2 8-laps
1. Matt Schatz
(Hartford)
4. Steven Gilmeister (Cedarburg)
2. Russ Walworth (Slinger) 5.
Brandon Wolf (West Bend)
3. Frank Verhunce (Mayville)
Port-A-John Guest Cars Winner-Trevor Michaels
Spectator Elimination Winner- Drew Zellmer
Figure 8 Winner- Donald Van Camp (Seymour)
Demo Derby Winner- Vincent Eggle (Saukville)
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