Apel reaches victory lane again

Picking up right where he left off when the super late-models last raced, Steve Apel drove to a convincing win in the Tribute Night 75-lap main event at Slinger Super Speedway Sunday night.

“I can’t thank the crew enough because we wrecked the car pretty bad in the Nationals,” Apel said, referencing the crash in the prestigious event on July 7 following his June 28 victory.

“And we bought a house and moved last week, so between getting the new house set up and getting the race car done it’s been crazy. But to come out here and race with Brad Keith and Brad Mueller and never rub doors, it’s been an awesome night.”

Keith, who came in second, said it came down to the final restart.

“I think it was a difference of picking the right lane on the last restart,” he said. “He (Apel) found a hole and once we both got out front. We were turning equal lap times.”

Mueller led the race early and took third.

“We didn’t have a bad car and we are still trying to work some bugs out of it,” he said.

“When I saw Steve (Apel) coming up on my right rear I knew my night was over and then Brad (Keith) came by and we were able to hang onto third. The car is struggling with being tight in the middle of the corner but we’ll get to the bottom of it.”

Mueller took the lead at the drop of the green flag from the outside front row starting position as polesitter Nick Wagner’s car kicked loose in the first turn. That enabled Rich Loch and Mark Eswein to advance to second and third, respectively.

R.J. Braun, Mike Held and Keith all used the inside groove to move forward as well while Mueller continued to lead.

Farther back, Chris Blawat, Apel and Alex Prunty also worked their way ahead as the front six raced in single file.

Keith was able to dive to the inside of Held for fifth while Blawat and Apel followed suit as Held was trapped in the high groove.

Toward the front, Loch began to dog Mueller for the lead while Keith continued his march by picking off Braun to take fourth while setting his sights on Eswein for third.

Once again, Apel followed Keith’s lead and used the inside lane to pass by Braun while Keith raced around Eswein to take third.

When Held also tried to pass Braun using the inside lane, contact sent Held’s car sliding to the infield before it came up the track and was struck by Blawat’s car, which was then struck by Prunty.

The caution flag waved on lap 15.

Held and Blawat were able to keep racing but Prunty’s car was too damaged for him to continue.

Mueller chose the outside lane for the restart, leaving Loch the inside while behind them Keith chose the inside and Apel tried the top side as racing resumed.

While Mueller and Loch battled side-by-side for the lead, Apel’s outside groove choice paid off as he was able to get around Keith for third.

Apel then used the outside lane to first pass Loch for second and, when Mueller moved to the inside after clearing Loch for the lead, Apel stayed up top and drove around him to take command of the race on lap 23. Keith also moved to the outside lane and passed Loch for third before also working his way by Mueller for second as Apel pulled away out front.

With the top three stabilized, the best battle on the speedway was for fourth between Loch and Eswein, who made his first Slinger appearance of the season.

The two raced alongside each other for much of the late stages of the race until Eswein drove hard on the inside into turn one with four laps to go, which caused Loch’s car to move up the track and relinquish the position.

Eswein finished fourth and afterward apologized to Loch over the late-race incident. Held finished fifth. R.J. Braun took sixth and Loch was seventh. Rob Braun, Wagner and Jacob Vanoskey rounded out the top 10.

In other races:
•  Braun won the super late-model fast dash and pocketed $300.
Keith was the fastest qualifier, finishing a lap in 11.3 seconds.
•  Jack Stern paced the 40-lap late-model feature from start to finish and collected the victory over Ryan Gutknecht and Ryan Craine. Tyler Hromadka had one of his best races of the season as he finished fourth while Cole Thomas finished fifth. Tom Jasinksi was sixth, Joe Shelby was seventh and Tom Berens was eighth. Jerry Eckhardt and Mitchell Haver completed the top 10.
Defending track champion Jacob Nottestead experienced mechanical issues just before the halfway point and retired from the event.
Late-model heat race victories were collected by Jerry Eckhardt and Joe Shelby. Jacob Nottestad was the fastest qualifier in 12.116 seconds.
•  Gutknecht turned back the challenges of Jacob Schraufnagel to win the 35-lap sportsman feature. Gutknecht took the lead on lap 26 after early leader Dale Lecus Jr. exited the race with mechanical problems while leading. Jay Kalbus finished third, Bobby Gutknecht was fourth and Dan Calhoun was fifth.
•  Adam Bleskan and Jay Kalbus were the winners of the sportsman heat races. Schraufnagel set the fast time with a lap of 12.662 seconds.
•  Todd Buckley won the 25-lap Super Beez feature over Scott Hoeft and Steve Zoromski. Zach Greer finished fourth and Al Strobel took fifth.
•  Greer won the Super Beez heat race. Todd Buckley had the fastest qualifying lap of 13.624 seconds.
•  Ricky Gebhard edged Brady Held to win the 25-lap Slinger Bees feature. Misty Benn finished third while Brandon Tackes  won the family battle with his father Marty Tackes for
Slinger Bees heat races were won by Al Strobel and Held. The fast time was set by Tom Elsinger Jr. with a lap of 15.206 seconds.
•  Dan Wood drove the Foolery’s Liquid Therapy entry to victory in the Bar Car race.
•  Bill Shavlik survived a wild Figure 8 event to take the victory.

Drawings for bikes to be held Sunday

Slinger Speedway will hold Kids Bike Night on Sunday and feature drawings for free bikes.

Races include super late model, late model, sportsman, Slinger Bees, Super Beez, figure 8 and the Hooligans motorcycle exhibition race.

Gates open at 4:45 p.m. Qualifying is at 5 p.m. and racing is at 6:30 p.m.