DeStafano finally wins

A driver’s first super late-model feature victory at Slinger Super Speedway is always memorable but the moment is even more special when that victory is achieved by beating the best in the business.
Ryan DeStefano did just that Sunday night as he captured his first career super late-model feature win in the 75-lap main event by besting Rich Bickle Jr., Steve Apel and Conrad Morgan who together own 13 track championships.
“It’s just surreal,” DeStefano said.  “We’ve been growing up here and we’ve been at this track for 36 years and we’ve always dreamed of doing this.
“I tried to drive with a ton of respect because Rich (Bickle) has more laps around here than I’ll ever see and he had a great car early on, and I had a little better car but didn’t want to push the envelope. I held back a little bit and when the time came to go, my car was pretty good on the outside and we may have touched but I ran him as clean as I could.”
Apel was third, Morgan was fourth and Nick Wagner was fifth.
In other races:
n Bickle Jr. won the super late-model fast dash and Brad Keith was the fastest in qualifying after circling the speedway in 11.234 seconds.
n Jacob Nottestad won the 40-lap late-model main event. Late-model heat races were won by Mitchell Haver, Cole Thomas and Zach Prunty. Ryan Gutknecht was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 12.095 seconds.
n Jay Kalbus won the 35-lap sportsman feature. Jake Schraufnagel and Brian Holtz were the winners of the sportsman heat races and Bobby Gutknecht set fast time with a lap in 12.670 seconds.
n Zach Greer won the 25-lap super beez feature. Greer and Todd Buckley each won super beez heat races. Scott Hoeft set a new track record in qualifying with a lap of 13.514 seconds.
n Brady Held edged Brandon Tackes in a photo finish to win the 25-lap Slinger bees feature. Ricky Gebhard was third followed by Mitchell Strobel and Misty Benn in fourth and fifth, respectively. Slinger bees heat races were won by Colin Saegert and Ricky Gebhard while Brandon Mennicke was the fastest qualifier with a lap at 15.245 seconds.
n Mark Fogel Jr. won the Slinger sixers feature. Rick Buss won the Slinger sixer heat race.
n Michael Seifert won the first Bar Car race driving the Slippery Rail of Allenton entry and Bryant Johnson won the second Bar Car race aboard the Hank’s of Hartford entry.