Steve Apel Outduels R.J. Braun For Labor Day Weekend Win, Alex Prunty Captures Second Slinger Title

Steve Apel prevailed in an intense battle for the lead with R.J. Braun and then held on as his car sputtered on the final lap to win the Labor Day Weekend Celebration 75-lap Super Late Model Feature Sunday night at the Slinger Speedway.

After several laps of side by side racing with Braun, Apel took command of the event as they approached lapped traffic with six laps to go as Braun fell into a battle for second with Brad Mueller. Apel’s car appeared to develop a mechanical issue coming to the white flag but he was able to hold on and capture the victory while Braun edged Mueller for second by less than a car length.

“All race my car was popping out of gear in second, “Apel explained from victory lane, “We race in third so I didn’t think anything of it until two to go coming out of turn four I thought it popped out of third gear, so I shoved it into second as fast as I could and then dumped it back into third and just held it there for the last lap and it stayed together.”

“It was pretty cool to get a one-two finish for our shop,” R.J. Braun said after finishing second, alluding to both cars being prepared in the same shop,” After the caution the car kind of got messed up and it just wasn’t the same.” Braun paced the first half of the race and was well out front when he tangled with a lapped car while leading for the event’s only caution flag.

“I’m really mad at myself right now,” Brad Mueller stated after finishing a close third, “I put myself in this position in this race, I wasn’t filling the holes early like I should’ve been and I was just laying back a little bit because I knew we had a really good car. I got stuck behind some side by side racing and that really put me behind the eight ball. I think we had a little bit faster car than Steve (Apel) did but I couldn’t capitalize on it because of the mistakes I made early.”

“Ultimately we did what we needed to do and finished fourth and won the championship, “Alex Prunty said after clinching the 2024 Super Late Model track championship, “There’s a lot of people who come together to make this happen and we really appreciate the help.”

Dennis Prunty finished fifth while Rich Loch took the checkered flag in sixth ahead of Nick Egan and Jesse Bernhagen in seventh and eighth place respectively. Billy Braun and Jerry Mueller completed the top ten finishers in ninth and tenth.

Dennis Prunty won the Super Late Model fast dash and Alex Prunty was the fastest qualifier after turning in a qualifying lap in 11.344 seconds.

Ryan Gutknecht won the 40-lap Late Model main event over Zach Prunty and Rick Redig-Tackman. Tyler Hromadka finished fourth while Mitchell DelCamp was fifth. Jon Reynolds Jr. and Evan Hassler finished sixth and seventh respectively after intensely battling at the front of the field in the early laps. Matt Urban was eighth followed by Drew Bernhagen in ninth and Alan Shierling Jr. in tenth. Late Model heat races were won by Nicholas Lemberger and Mitchell DelCamp while Jon Reynolds Jr. was the fastest qualifier at 11.982 seconds.

Nick Bruly won the 35-lap Sportsman feature after racing hard with Jake Schraufnagel who finished second. Brady Held led laps early before being passed for the lead while working lapped traffic and finished third while Tom Elsinger Jr. and Brian Holtz finished fourth and fifth. Brian Holtz won the 10-lap Sportsman bonus race and Jake Schraufnagel set fast time in qualifying with a lap time of 12.678 seconds. Jake Schraufnagel’s second place finish was enough to clinch the 2024 Slinger Speedway Sportsman track championship.

Blake Nottestad was the winner of the 25-lap Super Beez feature over Travis Kreuser and Al Strobel. Mark English and Nick Schmidt completed the top five finishers. Super Beez heat race wins were recorded by Tracy Neu and Mark English while Blake Nottestad set fast time with a qualifying lap time of 13.476 seconds.

Gracie Flanagan won the 20-lap High School Racing Association feature to claim the 2024 track championship and become the first female track champion in the 77-year history of Slinger Speedway. Caleb Arneson finished second and Jackson Martindale was third. Aidan Laubenstein finished fourth ahead of Peyton Payne in fifth. High School Racing Association heat races were won by Nathan Ulik and Caleb Arneson while Gracie Flanagan was the fastest qualifier with a lap time of 15.817 seconds.

-Slinger Speedway Press Release
-Photo credit: Ron Erstad, Jr.

Super Beez – Feature 25 Laps 1. 98N-Blake Nottestad, Cambridge, WI [10], 2. 20K-Travis Kreuser, West Bend, WI [4], 3. 14S-Albert Strobel, Iron Ridge, WI [5], 4. 57E-Mark English, Janesville, WI [3], 5. 09X-Nick Schmidt, Watertown, WI [7], 6. 15N-Tracy Neu, Watertown, WI [2], 7. 35P-Lyle Phillips, Edgerton, WI [11], 8. 25R-Paul Reagles, Colgate, WI [9], 9. 84S-Mitchell Strobel, Slinger, WI [1], 10. 35Z-Morgan Zerwinski, West Bend, WI [13], 11. 20X-Kendall Becker, Hartford, WI [12], 12. 24B-Brandon Tackes, West Bend, WI [6], 13. 11S-Rick Schaefer, West Bend, WI [8], 14. 3C-Jason Clope, Racine, WI [14], 15. [DNS]8B-Todd Buckley, West Bend, WI [15], 16. [DNS]36U-Jason Uttech, Watertown, WI [16]

Super Late Models – Feature 75 Laps 1. 51A-Steve Apel, Slinger, WI [7], 2. 92B-RJ Braun, Wales, WI [2], 3. 89M-Brad Mueller, Random Lake, WI [9], 4. 11PAlex Prunty, Kewaskum, WI [8], 5. 42P-Dennis Prunty, Allenton, WI [4], 6. 55L-Rich Loch, Franklin, WI [3], 7. 13E-Nick Egan, Lomira, WI [11], 8. 28B-Jesse Bernhagen, Markesan, WI [5], 9. 17B-Billy Braun, Wales, WI [10], 10. 49M-Jerry Mueller, Richfield, WI [1], 11. 92M-Conrad Morgan, Waukesha, WI [6], 12. 84V-Jacob Vanoskey, Hubertus, WI [13], 13. 46J-Thomas Jasinski, Pewaukee, WI [12]

Sportsman – Feature 35 Laps 1. 23B-Nick Bruley, Johnson Creek, WI [9], 2. 29S-Jake Schraufnagel, Horicon, WI [8], 3. 04H-Brady Held, Iron Ridge, WI [5], 4. 33E-Tom Elsinger Jr, Germantown, WI [6], 5. 88H-Brian Holtz, Muskego, WI [7], 6. 89L-Alex Lopacinski, West Bend, WI [4], 7. 24B-Brandon Tackes, West Bend, WI [3], 8. 32S-Ryan Sielaff, North Prairie, WI [2], 9. 01B-Carl Benn, Lisbon, WI [11], 10. 45B-Chris Beine, Slinger, WI [10], 11. 14M-Andrew Meyerhofer, Freedom, WI [1], 12. 52G-Chuck Gilbertson Jr, Kaukauna, WI [13], 13. [DNS]22A-Jared Apel, Colgate, WI [12]

Late Models – Feature 40 Laps 1. 01G-Ryan Gutknecht, Oak Creek, WI [1], 2. 39P-Zach Prunty, Allenton, WI [10], 3. 98R-Rick Redig-Tackman, Hartford, WI [2], 4. 3H-Tyler Hromadka, Colgate, WI [11], 5. 16D-Mitchell Delcamp, Germantown, WI [4], 6. 10R-Jon Reynolds Jr, Rockford, IL [9], 7. 38H-Evan Hassler, Hartland, WI [7], 8. 48U-Matt Urban, Slinger, WI [5], 9. 28D-Drew Bernhagen, Markesan, WI [12], 10. 70S-Alan Shierling Jr, Waupun, WI [15], 11. 9S-Simon Seyfert, Saukville, WI [3], 12. 61E-Jerry Eckhardt, Johnson Creek, WI [13], 13. 99B-Tom Berens, Slinger, WI [6], 14. 22L-Nicholas Lemberger, Menomonee Falls, WI [14], 16. [DQ]72H-Mike Held, Hartford, WI [8]

HSRA – Feature 20 Laps 1. 73F-Gracie Flanagan, Oregon, WI [7], 2. 12A-Caleb Arneson, Melrose, WI [5], 3. 13M-Jackson Martindale, Stillman Valley, IL [8], 4. 58L-Aidan Laubenstein, Mayville, WI [3], 5. 19P-Peyton Payne, Elroy, WI [4], 6. 27W-Xander Weeks, Sauk City, WI [2], 7. 35U-Nathan Ulik, West Bend, WI [1], 8. 16R-Truman Robertson, Richfield, WI [9], 9. 18R-Trenton Robertson, Richfield, WI [10], 10. 34K-Kennedy Krueger, Sparta, WI [6]