It had been an all too familiar story for Jacob Nottestad in the previous Elite Eight Super Late Model Series races at the Slinger Speedway in 2023 as each week he led many laps before having the victory snatched away in the end. That was until Sunday, when he put it all together to win the Washington County Fair Park and Conference Center 75 in dominating fashion.
Once again, Nottestad charged to the lead early but this time, the handling on his car remained steady and he couldn’t be caught as he charged to an impressive win over Brad Keith in second and Steve Apel, who finished third after starting eighth. Dennis Prunty and Brad Mueller also advanced from the ninth and eleventh starting positions to finish fourth and fifth respectively. Grant Griesbach finished in the sixth position ahead of Alex Prunty and Nick Egan in seventh and eighth respectively. Bakersfield, California driver Derek Thorn made an appearance in preparation for the upcoming Slinger Nationals and finished ninth while Rich Loch was tenth.
Jacob Nottestad also was the winner of the Elite Eight Super Late Model fast dash while Steve Apel was the fastest qualifier after turning in a qualifying lap in 11.403 seconds.
After finishing second to Jesse Bernhagen by inches a few weeks ago, Ryan Gutknecht found victory lane when it counted in the 40-lap Uptown Motor Cars Pro Late Model feature as with the win he collected the $1,000 bounty placed on Bernhagen who had won the previous five main events. Gutknecht took the checkered flag ahead of Zach Prunty in second and Zach Braun who made his season debut with a strong third place result. Jesse Bernhagen finished fourth as his streak of consecutive victories ended at five. Jeff Holtz finished fifth while Jon Reynolds Jr. also made his first Slinger appearance of 2023 and finished sixth. Tyler Schley took the checkered flag in seventh followed by Jerry Eckhardt and Tyler Hromadka in eighth and ninth respectively. Nick Egan finished tenth.
Pro Late Model heat races were won by Tyler Hromadka and Jesse Bernhagen and fast time honors went to Jeff Holtz with a qualifying lap of 12.190 seconds.
Justin Okrulichka won the 25-lap Modified feature over Steven Schulz and Carl Benn. Steven Schulz also won the Modified heat race and was the division’s fastest qualifier after turning in a lap in 12.116 seconds.
Brandon Mennicke was the winner of the 25-lap Slinger Bees feature with Ricky Gebhard Jr. and Marty Tackes following in second and third respectively. Tom Elsinger Jr. finished fourth and Travis Kreuser was fifth. Slinger Bees heat races were won by Marty Tackes and Al Strobel while Tom Elsinger Jr. was the fastest qualifier with a time of 15.281 seconds.
Darrin Allard took top honors in the Vintage Modified 12-lap main event Brian Titel finished second and Jim Straseski was third. Jerry Jacobsen and Matt Schellinger completed the top five finishers.
Bill Shavlik closed the evening with a victory in the Figure 8 race over Scott Goetzke and Nick Ostberg. Chad Snuggs finished fourth and Jim Ward was fifth.
Super Late Models – Feature 75 Laps 1. 97N-Jacob Nottestad , Janesville, WI[4], 2. 48K-Brad Keith , West Bend, WI[1], 3. 51A-Steve Apel , Slinger, WI[8], 4. 42P-Dennis Prunty , Allenton, WI[9], 5. 89M-Brad Mueller , Random Lake, WI[11], 6. 17G-Grant Griesbach , Waukesha, WI[2], 7. 11P-Alex Prunty , Kewaskum, WI[7], 8. 13E-Nick Egan , Lomira, WI[15], 9. 7T-Derek Thorn , Bakersfield, CA[5], 10. 55L-Rich Loch , Franklin, WI[14], 11. 92B-Rj Braun Jr, Wales, WI[6], 12. 49M-Jerry Mueller , Richfield, WI[12], 13. 38W-Nick Wagner , Hartford, WI[3], 14. 80F-Ryan Farrell , Big Bend, WI[13], 15. 92M-Conrad Morgan , Waukesha, WI[10], 16. 7S-James Swanson , Pembine, WI[16]
Pro Late Models – Feature 40 Laps 1. 01G-Ryan Gutknecht , Oak Creek, WI[1], 2. 39P-Zach Prunty , Lomira, WI[5], 3. 30B-Zach Braun , Slinger, WI[3], 4. 28B-Jesse Bernhagen , Willard, WI[9], 5. 88H-Jeff Holtz , Franksville, WI[8], 6. 10R-Jon Reynolds Jr, Rockford, IL[15], 7. 55S-Tyler Schley , Colgate, WI[4], 8. 61E-Jerry Eckhardt , Johnson Creek, WI[2], 9. 3H-Tyler Hromadka , Colgate, WI[12], 10. 13E-Nick Egan , Lomira, WI[14], 11. 99B-Tom Berens , Slinger, WI[7], 12. 31B-Billy Braun , Wales, WI[10], 13. 22D-Jordan DeVoy , Lake Geneva, WI[6], 14. 3B-Grant Brown , Jordan, MN[13], 15. 16D-Mitchell Delcamp , Germantown, WI[11]
Slinger Bees – Feature 25 Laps 1. 11M-Brandon Mennicke , Slinger, WI[1], 2. 10G-Ricky Gebhard Jr, Oconomowoc, WI[9], 3. 24M-Marty Tackes , West Bend, WI[13], 4. 33E-Tom Elsinger Jr, Germantown, WI[8], 5. 20K-Travis Kreuser , West Bend, WI[5], 6. 19B-Misty Benn , Lisbon, WI[7], 7. 52L-Dylan Lemberger , Menomonee Falls, WI[6], 8. 21E-Scott Emrich Sr, Milwaukee, WI[16], 9. 20X-Kendall Becker , Hartford, WI[10], 10. 3C-Jason Clope , Racine, WI[2], 11. 08W-Matthew Wandrey , Germantown, WI[14], 12. 14S-Albert Strobel , Iron Ridge, WI[4], 13. 124B-Brandon Tackes , West Bend, WI[11], 14. 23S-Brian Stanczyk , West Bend, WI[12], 15. 69D-Anthony Dorzok , Menasha, WI[3], 16. 84S-Mitchell Strobel , West Bend, WI[15]
Modifieds – Feature 25 Laps 1. 54O-Justin Okruhlica , Jackson, WI[2], 2. 45S-Steven Schulz , Lisbon, WI[4], 3. 01B-Carl Benn , Lisbon, WI[5], 4. [DNS]67J-Vincent Jung , Iron Ridge, WI[6], 9. [DQ]6M-Mike Sandholm , Oconomowoc, WI[1], 10. [DQ]87P-Justin Poenitsch , Richfield, WI[3]
Figure 8’s – Feature 10 Laps 1. 0S-Bill Shavlik , West Bend, WI[5], 2. 4G-Scott Goetzke , Kewaskum, WI[4], 3. 1O-Nick Ostberg , West Bend, WI[6], 4. 96S-Chad Snuggs , Dalton, WI[1], 5. 80W-Jim Ward , West Bend, WI[2], 6. 17B-Rick Bruskiewicz , Mayville, WI[3]
Vintage Modifieds – Feature 12 Laps 1. 9A-Darrin Allard , Saint Francis, WI[1], 2. 40T-Brian Titel , Sheboygan, WI[6], 3. 40S-Jim Straseski , Saint Francis, WI[4], 4. 88J-Jerry Jacobsen , Crivitz, WI[2], 5. 61S-Matt Schellinger , South Milwaukee, WI[5], 6. 66A-Jeff Allard , Oak Creek, WI[3]
-Slinger Speedway Press Release
-Photo credit: Will Bellamy/Racing America