Schley tops the 50-lap Slinger Late Model Feature on Vintage Night | By Dan Margetta

June 8, 2020 – Slinger, WI —Tyler Schley parlayed an inside groove pass on Ryan Gutknecht with eight laps to go into his first victory of the season in the 50-lap late model main event Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway.

Schley began the event deep in the field from the twelfth starting spot and methodically worked his way forward, doing most of his work under green flag conditions as the race was slowed just once under caution.

Ryan Gutknecht charged into the early lead from the pole position as Jack Stern and Tyler Hromadka battled for second just ahead of Tom Berens and Cole Thomas. After a few laps Stern was able to take sole possession of second as Hromadka fell into line in third while behind Berens and Thomas, Tom Jasinski, Zach Prunty, and Jacob Nottestad raced hard for positions just outside the top five.

Berens was able to pass Hromadka for third by lap 12 while Prunty and Nottestad continued their side by side dispute. As the two entered turn one with Prunty on the inside and Nottestad on the outside, Nottestad’s car appeared to slightly scrape the outside wall and as he regained control, Prunty barely slipped by.

Nottestad’s nose barely brushed Prunty’s rear bumper as he fell back into line in turn two and the slight contact got both cars out of shape momentarily. Once they entered turn three, Nottestad’s car slid way up the track and a cut right rear tire caused him to spin in turn one to draw the caution flag on lap 14 with Gutknecht continuing to lead over Stern, Berens, Hromadka, and Thomas.

Stern chose the outside lane for the restart and he immediately challenged Gutknecht for the lead as racing resumed. After a lap under green, Stern was able to pull ahead into the lead from the outside as Gutknecht’s car washed high off turn two on lap 16. The lead battle caused the third running Berens to check up which allowed Thomas to pass by. Once out front Stern began to pull away, as Gutknecht found himself in a battle with Thomas for second. Farther back, Tyler Schley began his march forward advancing his way from deep in the field to fifth. Schley then worked the outside groove to pass Berens and take over fourth on lap 30 as Stern suddenly slowed from his commanding lead and exited the speedway with what was later reported to be a fuel pressure issue.

The sudden exit of Stern left Gutknecht and Thomas to challenge for the lead as Schley continued to close from third. Gutknecht’s car appeared to kick loose off the turns and Thomas made several attempts to take the lead from the inside only to be turned back on the straightaways. In the closing laps, Schley ran down the lead battle as the fight up front became a three-car tussle. Schley got around Thomas and made several serious attempts to pass Gutknecht for the lead using the inside lane.

Gutknecht remained tough on the top side and he and Schley drove several laps side by side before Schley was able to power ahead from the inside to take command on lap 42. Schley could not be caught from there and he drove to the victory over Gutknecht who finished in second. Cole Thomas, who is set to graduate high school this week, turned in one of his best performances to date with a solid third place finish. Zach Prunty took the checkered flag with a strong fourth place result while Jon Reynolds Jr finished fifth after starting fifteenth. Tom Berens finished sixth ahead of Tyler Hromadka and Tom Jasinski in seventh and eighth respectively. Jacob Nottestad rebounded from his earlier problems to finish ninth and Dan Church was tenth.

Jon Reynolds Jr. and Ryan Gutknecht were the winners of the late model heat races and Jacob Nottestad set fast time with a lap at 12.126 seconds.

Prior to his second place finish in the late model main event, Ryan Gutknecht hopped into his sportsman car and won the 35-lap feature.

Bobby Gutknecht led at the start of the race and paced the opening ten laps before Ryan Gutknecht took over the lead on lap 11. Bobby Gutknecht and Dale Lecus Jr. got together in turn three while racing towards the front of the field on lap 19 to draw the only caution flag of the event with Ryan Gutknecht leading over Jacob Schraufnagel, Jay Kalbus, and Andrew Meyerhofer. Once racing resumed, Ryan Gutknecht could not be caught and he charged to the victory while Schraufnagel held off Kalbus for second. Dan Calhoun made is first Slinger appearance of the season and finished fourth while Dale Lecus Jr. recovered from the earlier incident to finish fifth.

Bobby Gutknecht and Ryan Gutknecht each won a sportsman heat race and Jacob Schraufnagel was the fastest qualifier with a lap at 12.646 seconds.

The Outlaw Modified division competed for the first time this season at Slinger and Steven Schulz won the 30-lap feature over James Swan and Bill Prietzel. While Schulz led every lap, Swan gave him a run for his money after closing in late in the event. Schulz’s ability to work lapped traffic proved to be the difference as the captured the victory as Swan finished second. Prietzel took the checkered flag in third while Justin Okruhlica and Bill Tandetzke rounded out the top five finishers. Bill Prietzel was the winner of the Outlaw Modified heat race and he also set fast time by circling the speedway in 12.279 seconds.

Brandon Tackes won the 25-lap Super Beez feature after taking the lead from early pace setter Jason Uttech on lap ten. Steve Zoromski finished second and Scott Hoeft was third. George Sparkman and Paul Reagles rounded out the top five. The race ended under the red and checkered flags simultaneously as hard racing between Zoromski, Hoeft, and Zach Greer on the final lap resulted in Hoeft’s car spinning into the infield near turn one and momentarily catching fire. The fire was quickly extinguished and the race was declared official off the white flag lap. Greer finished seventh. Marty Tackes and Brandon Tackes were the winners of the Super Beez heat races and George Sparkman was the fastest qualifier with a lap time of 13.741 seconds.

Steve Bergdorf drove his vintage 1958 Chevy all steel body modified to the win in the vintage exhibition race and the entry from the Slippery Rail in Allenton was driven to victory in the Bar Cars race. Rick Bruskiewicz edged Russ Lorbiecki to win the thrilling nine car Figure 8 race and at 9:03pm the racing program was completed and everyone was invited in the pits.