By Dan Margetta
Slinger, Wis., July 31--— Chris Blawat held off Alex Prunty
in a five lap shootout to capture his third super late model feature win of the
season in the 60-lap main event Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway.
“This season has been a lot of fun and this car has been
awesome all year,” Blawat told the fans from victory lane, “It’s good to get a
win and we’ll take it from here.”
“I thought we were pretty close together and as the leader I
set the pace,” Blawat continued, explaining his version of several aborted late
race restarts between himself and the second place finisher Alex Prunty, “It is
what it is, I guess.”
“It feels great to get back into the top two, but I really
wanted that one,” Prunty stated following his runner-up finish, “And it was close
and we kept it clean which is what it is all about but I really, really wanted
that one.”
“We were just slipping and sliding and Chris (Blawat) was
doing the same thing and it was just a matter of getting hooked up, I don’t
think there was gamesmanship going on there,” Prunty stated, echoing Blawat’s
explanation of the restart attempts, “I was trying to get some from him and he
was trying to get some from me and it just is what it is.”
Rob Braun and Chris Blawat paced the field to the green flag
and Braun led the opening two laps before Blawat powered by on the outside for
the lead on lap three. Alex Prunty advanced to challenge Braun for second and
after a few laps was able to ease alongside using the bottom of the speedway to
take the position. Dennis Prunty took advantage of the inside gap Alex Prunty
opened and he moved by Braun for third. Steve Apel followed suit and also used
the low line to advance past Braun who settled back in line in fifth. Drivers
racing for position around mid-pack created an accordion like situation which
sent Grant Griesbach sliding off turn four and into the infield as the race
remained green with Blawat leading over Alex Prunty, Dennis Prunty, Steve Apel,
and Rob Braun. Dave McCardle’s car developed problems entering turn one on lap
23 and he exited the speedway trailing fluid which produced the first caution
flag. Blawat chose the high side for the restart and he was able to hang onto
the lead despite numerous challenges on the inside from Alex Prunty. Dennis
Prunty followed Blawat in the outside lane and eventually was able to power by
Alex Prunty for second while Steve Apel and Rob Braun remained in fourth and
fifth respectively. Brady Bennett’s spun car off turn two on lap 29 drew
another caution flag just before the halfway point.
Dennis Prunty chose the inside lane for the restart, leaving
Blawat the high side and the two raced door to door as the green flag appeared.
Prunty’s car skated a bit loose off the turns and upon exiting turn four he
drifted wide and rubbed the side of Blawat’s car before sliding into the
infield towards turn one as the caution waved once again. Dennis Prunty took
responsibility for the incident, which allowed Blawat to inherit the lead over
Alex Prunty, Steve Apel, and Rob Braun with now five laps to go. After three
aborted restarts, the race resumed on the fourth try and Blawat maintained the
lead only to have the caution wave again when Tim Lampman spun in turn two
after having the right rear tire go flat. Blawat and Prunty only needed one
attempt to get the restart right this time and they charged into turn one side
by side in a five lap battle for the win. Prunty was able to hang tough
alongside in the low groove but Blawat proved to be too strong exiting the
turns and he powered ahead from the outside. Blawat drove to his third super
late model feature victory of the season while Alex Prunty had to settle for
second. Steve Apel finished third while Ryan DeStefano edged Rob Braun for the
fourth spot by inches at the line.
Super late model heat races were won by Fred Winn, Brad
Mueller, and Alex Prunty while Brad Keith was the fastest qualifier at 11.359
seconds.
