WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. (June 17, 2012) – It was smooth sailing through the first 74 laps of TUNDRA Super Late Model Series Round Two at Dells Raceway Park Saturday night for Dennis Prunty. However, a caution with six laps remaining brought a squall threatening to sink his chances of a first DRP win.

Prunty grabbed the lead just six laps into the Advanced Engine Concepts 80-lap feature event and built his advantage to over five seconds until a caution with six to go brought challenges from Frank Kreyer and Tanner Whitten. Prunty was able to turn back both.

Before the caution Prunty began to foreshadow his fate. “With 20 to go I was starting to think, ‘when is something going to happen?’ I definitely didn’t want to see (the caution),” Prunty said.

“I knew that Tanner Whitten was going to be fast. He was able to get alongside me, but we held him off. It felt good.”

Prunty built his enormous advantage by streaking to the front of the field from his fifth-place starting spot. After the green fell Terry Schoppenhorst grabbed an early lead from Dennis’ brother Dale Prunty. Quickly after Schoppenhorst took the top spot, Kenny Reiser and Dennis Prunty moved past Dale Prunty into second and third.

Schoppenhorst’s lead was short-lived as Reiser took to the lead on lap two. Right behind, Prunty was lurking and waiting for his opportunity to pounce. Prunty found his chance on lap six when he swooped to the inside and left Reiser to deal with the rest of the pack.

Just past the ten-lap mark Reiser fell into the clutches of Dalton Zehr, Whitten and fast qualifier Bobby Kendall. Zehr worked furiously in an attempt to move past Schoppenhorst and Reiser, but found no room to grab the runner-up spot.

As second spot on back stayed in heavy dispute, Prunty worked calmly through lapped traffic and built his lead to over four seconds. The pack finally broke open on lap 36 when Whitten was able to negotiate his line around Reiser. Reiser began to reel backward with Dalton Zehr stuck on the outside line, as well. In a matter of just five laps they fell to the tail end of the top ten.

Sour luck for Reiser and Zehr opened up room for two of the stars of TUNDRA Round One. As the field clicked past the midway point Kreyer and Round One winner Rich Bickle made an appearance in the top five. The duo locked into a tussle for the next ten laps in hopes to settle a dispute for third. Kreyer emerged with on lap 54 and began to chase down his teammate Whitten.

Over the next 20 laps, Prunty kept picking off lapped traffic and got as near to the top ten as 13th place John Zimmerman.

When things seemed to be completely in Prunty’s favor, the caution fell for a Derek Childs spin. With a brand new script to write over the final six circuits, Prunty was set to face off against a driver he chased in title standings last year in Kreyer.

The cone was placed leaving Prunty all alone in the front row. Kreyer, who just six laps before the yellow had taken second from Whitten, chose the inside line. Whitten swung to the outside with Bickle being flanked by Kendall in the third row.

Initially Prunty broke away on the restart. However, Kreyer caught him quickly and provided a challenge to the inside. Sealing off the bottom Prunty turned back Kreyer. However, the outside line was left wide open for Whitten. Whitten got side-by-side with Prunty and on some occasions appeared to have the advantage. However, Prunty proved too strong in the bottom groove.

Whitten, who earlier in the evening upset Bickle in the five-for-five dash, tucked back into line hoping to shake Prunty off the bottom. Prunty kept his composure and held on to win by less than a car length. Bickle grabbed third from Kreyer with three laps to go and secured his point lead. Zehr made a late run back into the top five and stole fourth from Kreyer on the final circuit.

After challenging Bickle, and his 14-race winning streak since 1989, in Round One, Prunty was satisfied to be the one who ended the tremendous feat.

“It’s not that you want to go out and be the one that ruins people’s streaks, but I wanted to be the one to do it,” he said.

Bickle, racing with a heavy heart after the passing of his mother on Friday, was first to congratulate Prunty on the win.

“I’m not really that much of a points racer, I just like to win,” said Prunty who now trails Bickle by four points in TUNDRA standings. “If I can win races the points will be there at the end. It would be really cool to win two championships this year. That would be quite an amazing season.”

Earlier in the night TUNDRA preliminaries provided excitement, as well. Tom Lichtfeld made his return after missing Round One and turned back Tim Lampman to win the Waterfurnace Shootout.

Kelsey Bauer was victorious in the Leo’s Upper Dells Bar Gong Show, a six-car, six-lap last chance race with only two transfers. The race dazzled as Corey Jankowski made a late move to the second and final transfer spot. Jankowski later cruised through the feature field, finishing seventh. His passing points helped locked him into a tie with Prunty for second behind Bickle.

The next Round of TUNDRA action at Dells Raceway Park is on Saturday, July 21. TUNDRA will be joined by the DRP Late Models, Sportsman and Pure Stocks. Racing is slated for 6:30 p.m.

Dells Raceway Park is located at N1070 Smith Road, five minutes north of downtown Wisconsin Dells, Wis., off highway 12-16. For more information including the latest news, the 2012 schedule and more visit http://www.dellsracewaypark.com.

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. (May 27, 2012) – Streaks may be made to be broken, but some streaks last a long time before they’re snapped. On Saturday night Rich Bickle stretched his Dells Raceway Park winning streak to 14 straight since 1989.

Bickle passed Dalton Zehr with 11 laps remaining in the 80-lap TUNDRA Super Late Model Series feature event. He felt late pressure from Dennis Prunty, who charged through the field after an early caution, but held on to win in front of a thrilled crowd.

“Once I passed (Zehr) I thought I had it licked and kind of backed off,” Bickle said. “(Prunty) ran a good race. I knew he wasn’t going to go by me unless he hit me. I have a lot of respect for the guy; he’s come a long way in ten years of racing.”

With a late start due to poor weather conditions throughout the afternoon, TUNDRA drivers drew for their starting spot in the feature. The field was led to green by Landry Potter and Terry Schoppenhorst. Potter got the early jump on Schoppenhorst and led the first circuit.

The first caution of the race fell on lap one when Kelsey Bauer was sent spinning in turns one and two. Prunty stopped as part of the yellow and headed to the pit area to check over his machine before the green flew again.

On the restart Zehr, who won two features at DRP last season, jumped to the outside. Zehr worked furiously to find away around Potter, who seemed to be fighting an ill-handling machine. On lap nine Zehr moved past potter into the lead.

Before Zehr had the chance to build his lead, a caution fell when Mike Egan and Kenny Reiser tangled. The restart gave Zehr the front row to himself with Potter and Bickle starting side-by-side in the second row.

Coming back to green on lap 11, Potter and Bickle made contact, which sent the remainder of the 26-car field scurrying. Zehr built up a large advantage while Bickle battled with the likes of Michael Bilderback, Bobby Kendall and Josh Wallace in the top five.

As Bickle began to close in on Zehr another caution fell on lap 18 when Dan Lensing spun in turn two. Bickle this time was accompanied in the second row by Bilderback with Kendall and Wallace behind.

With Zehr taking off on the short run once again, defending Champion Frank Kreyer and Corey Jankowski were moving through the field. By lap 22 Kreyer and Jankowski were door-to-door for the sixth spot with Prunty in hot pursuit. Eight laps later, Kreyer had moved past Jankowski with Prunty still hanging on his back bumper. The tandem then passed Bilderback to secure fourth and fifth.

Zehr and Bickle continued to cruise out front while Kreyer and Prunty sliced through the top ten. On lap 38, the pressure from Prunty was too much and Kreyer surrendered the fourth spot. The duo then crept to the back bumper of Bobby Kendall when another caution fell on lap 50 for a spin on the front stretch.

With another solid restart, Zehr jumped out to another sizeable advantage. Bickle was left to deal with Prunty, who soon swung behind Bickle and began to log laps.

A seemingly insurmountable lead for Zehr was slowly closed on by Bickle. With 15 laps remaining Bickle caught Zehr and began to survey his options. Three laps later Bickle went to the top and slid past Zehr. Two laps later Prunty rocketed past on the inside.

“I’ve never raced that kid before, and he was really fast,” Bickle said of Zehr. “I saw his car giving up a little. My car seemed to get better in the longer run. The thing I liked best about the race was that I passed him on the outside. People say you can’t pass on the outside, but I always have and always think you can.”

In the closing laps Prunty got to Bickle’s bumper on several occasions, but could not find enough room to make a maneuver. In the final trip through turns three and four Prunty gave Bickle a nudge, but did not shake him off the bottom.

“My brother David came on the radio and said, ‘just so you know, Rich Bickle hasn’t lost a race here since 1989,” I wanted to change that for him,” Prunty said. “I wanted to do it clean, but I just couldn’t quite get there.”

Kendall capped off a strong run with a third-place finish, Kreyer was fourth and Jankowski made a late-race pass to round out the top five.

In securing a victory in TUNDRA Super Late Model Series Round One Bickle made a statement that he may have been out of the game for a few years, but he is still a force. The win was Bickle’s first since 2006 and also had special significance.

“It felt good to win here with my mom being really sick and being able to win the race for her tonight was really special,” Bickle said.

Bickle said he hopes to extend his streak over the next four TUNDRA Super Late Model Series races at Dells Raceway Park.

“It’s like the same racing we’ve had here forever. It’s a good group of guys with a lot of fast cars. I really thought my streak could get broken tonight.”

Whether Bickle’s streak gets stretched to 15 straight will be determined when TUNDRA comes back to DRP on June 16 for Round Two.

Dells Raceway Park is located at N1070 Smith Road, five minutes north of downtown Wisconsin Dells, Wis., off highway 12-16. For more information including the latest news, the 2012 schedule and more visit http://www.dellsracewaypark.com

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. (August 13, 2011) – An ominous forecast threatened Saturday’s Alive For Five Super Late Model Series presented by Advanced Engine Concepts Round Four. Little did everyone know that a different type of Storm was brewing – and was poised to visit victory lane at Dells Raceway Park.

Jeff Storm jumped out to an early lead and dominated the 55-lap feature until the final circuits. AFF Round One winner and current point leader Frank Kreyer chased Storm down from a straightaway back and made several attempts to steal the win away.

“That 51 car (of Kreyer) is fast,” Storm said after providing a smoke show on the front straight. “Our car was good enough to win, but it could be better.”

Despite the forecast, a season-high 29 Super Late Models rolled through the gates for the third consecutive increase in car count in the Alive For Five Series.

Cautions and restarts again played a factor in the race as Storm had to survive several displays of the amber. The first ten laps clicked off without incident as Storm took the lead from fellow front-row starter Tom Lichtfeld and began to stretch out his advantage. Behind Lichtfeld, Dave Trute had taken third from Amanda Ferguson and was looking to move to second.

The first caution flag fell on lap 11 when Dennis Prunty spun after making contact with Troy Nelson. Both were sent to the tail of the field.

For the restart the decision cone was placed. Storm restarted alone in the front row with Lichtfeld and Trute aligned side-by-side in the second row and Ferguson flanked by Frank Nitzke to the outside in the third row.

An incident entering turn one after the drop of the green targeted a pair of former Lake Geneva racers. Landry Potter and Jamie Wallace made contact and Wallace was sent spinning into turns one and two. With nowhere to go Nelson hopped over the left side of Prunty’s racer. Must See Racing Sprint driver Jason Cox, making his Super Late Model debut, was also involved. All were able to continue.

Another restart went awry when Mike Egan and fast qualifier Bobby Kendall made contact after several cars in front of them checked up. Egan was sent spinning into turn one.

Per a new rule for the Super Late Models, the following restart was single file. With some time and space to operate in third, Trute worked to the bottom of Lichtfeld to take second. Nitzke followed Trute into third.

Nelson’s hard-luck day continued as he spun in turns one and two to bring out a caution with 21 laps in the books. By that point a train of Kreyer, Ken Reiser, Terry Schoppenhorst and Dalton Zehr were creeping toward the top five.

When the green fell again, Kreyer patiently worked his way around his team car driven by Ferguson. When the door was opened Reiser moved to the inside and took the spot, but again the run was cut off by a caution.

Kreyer immediately challenged Lichtfeld for fourth with Reiser not far behind. However, Schoppenhorst’s run to the front was stalled as he made contact with Ferguson sending the young Florida driver spinning. Both were sent to the tail of the field.

With 25 laps remaining Kreyer was able to work around Lichtfeld, bringing Reiser along. With some distance to close on the top three, Kreyer set his sights on a developing second-place battle. Nitzke dared to take the outside line on Trute and stole second. Trute later dropped out with a problem on his machine.

A final restart with 16 laps remaining set Storm, Nitzke, Kreyer, Reiser and Zehr in the top five. Derek Childs, who was utilizing his Budweiser Late Model with ten inch tires, won the last chance race and had worked his way up to sixth from his 19th-place starting spot at that time.

Storm broke away from the pack leaving Nitzke to deal with Kreyer. After Storm had built a substantial lead, Kreyer broke free of Nitzke and he began to try to reel in the leader.

Slowly Kreyer chopped away at the disadvantage. With five laps to go he was within car-lengths and with two to go he was on Storm’s bumper. Through the final circuit Kreyer dropped as low as he could to open up the bottom on Storm. Storm was not shaken, however, as he held his ground. Kreyer settled for second for the third consecutive time after winning Round One, Dalton Zehr jumped around Kenny Reiser to take third and Nitzke held on for fifth.

The Super Late Models return for the finale of the Alive For Five Super Late Model Series on Season Championship night Sept. 10.

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. (July 23, 2011) – Although he calls Daytona Beach, Fla. home, Dalton Zehr soon may want to set up residence in Wisconsin Dells. For the second consecutive event Zehr looked at home while cruising to victory in Super Late Model action at Dells Raceway Park.

Zehr dashed to the top side and survived what seemed to be an endless string of cautions and restarts in the Alive For Five Super Late Model Series presented by Advanced Engine Concepts Round Three.

As storms brewed to the north and east, and lightning lit up the sky around Wisconsin’s Showcase Short Track, Zehr said a raindrop or two may have helped him in the 55-lap feature event.

“The track was slick from the heat and a little bit of rain made for a tough-to-pass track,” he said. “It really narrowed the track up and sort of made for a single groove track tonight. It didn’t affect us that much because we weren’t being pressured the whole time, except those restarts – they were killers.”

After three tries to start the event the field was led to green by Don Turner and Jeff Storm. Turner claimed the early lead, which lasted only one lap before a caution came out involving fast qualifier Bobby Kendall.

Just one lap after the restart AFF Round One winner Frank Kreyer dived to the bottom for positioning in the top three, but made contact with Kenny Reiser in the process. Reiser spun bringing out the yellow, but via the Gentleman’s Rule, Kreyer took blame awarding Reiser his spot in the top three.

On both restarts Zehr jumped to the outside and gained spots, just as he did in Round Two on his way to victory. Zehr was up to second by lap four and, cruising to the top, he stole the lead from Kenny Reiser just six laps in.

After three more cautions for spins the top five consisted of Zehr, Dennis Prunty, Reiser, Storm and John Zimmerman. The five raced furiously, exchanging paint and positions at the front of the field. On lap 21 the battles were brought to a halt as another yellow was displayed for an incident involving Terry Schoppenhorst, Terry Patnode and Turner.

Zehr continued to hold the field at bay on the restart with Prunty choosing the outside and sliding into second over Reiser. As the laps started to click off, Steve Holzhausen worked his way into the top five and secured the fourth spot by lap 23.

With 26 circuits remaining, Reiser started to regain momentum and worked past Prunty into second. Prunty attempted to shut the door, but Holzhausen had slid in. Prunty was sent spinning, bringing out another yellow.

On the ensuing restarts Reiser pressed hard to take the lead away from Zehr. Although Reiser was able to get to the door, Zehr’s machine was prepared to utilize the outside line, and ultimately he retained the lead.

“I thought I had a handle on those restarts, but Kenny taught me a few things on those two,” Zehr joked.

After another pair of cautions Frank Kreyer had moved from the back and into contention. With 20 laps remaining Kreyer had moved to third, and then worked past Reiser into second with 18 laps left.

Another pair of cautions set up a final restart with Kreyer and fast qualifier Bobby Kendall in the top three. The final ten laps went off without incident and without a challenge to a stout Zehr.

Kreyer finished runner-up to Zehr for a second time, Kendall was third, Holzhausen fourth and Frank Nitzke rounded out the top five. (Results are unofficial as of time of publication).

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. (July 1, 2011) – With the heat index reaching over 100 degrees at Dells Raceway Park, Daytona Beach, Fla. Native Dalton Zehr barely broke a sweat. Looking at home in the heat and humidity, Zehr looked like a born-natural behind the wheel of his Super Late Model Friday night.

Zehr swiped the lead from his teammate Troy Nelson just 14 laps into the Alive For Five Super Late Model Series presented by Advanced Engine Concepts North American Cup Feature and pulled away in the late stages from Round One Winner Frank Kreyer. The win was Zehr’s first in select visits to Dells Raceway Park.

Starting 12th in the 21-car field after setting fast time, Zehr’s journey to the front started early thanks to a caution and restart. Utilizing the decision cone after a first-lap caution, Zehr took his mount to the outside line and moved up four spots on the outside line. He later moved up to the fifth spot on a lap-seven restart.

“The car was just amazing on the outside,” Zehr said.

After the lap-seven restart Zehr picked off three cars in succession. Zehr raced to the outside of John Zimmerman on the restart, Dennis Prunty one lap later then moved around Dave Trute into second on lap 10.

With Nelson in his sights, Zehr left Trute and Prunty to battle furiously for the third spot. Zehr caught Nelson by lap 13, but could not complete the pass using his preferred outside line. On lap 14 Zehr took a new line on his teammate and took the lead away.

“I couldn’t quite get it done on the outside with (Nelson) but I was able to get the bottom. After that he was right on my tail.”

Nelson was in hot pursuit of Zehr up until an incident on lap 26. Landry Potter rejoined the field from the pit area in an inopportune situation. Zehr was able to take evasive action, but Nelson was not as he made hard contact with Potter’s machine. Potter drove away, but Nelson’s night came to an abrupt end. Both drivers were unharmed.

The restart saw Zehr pull away from the disputing duo of Trute and Prunty. Prunty secured second after the restart on the outside line, but was unable to chase down Zehr.

Zehr looked to be in complete control of the feature until Round One Winner Frank Kreyer tore into the top five. Kreyer took second on lap 38 and initially chewed away two tenths of a second away a lap. However, as the run continued, Zehr maintained and refurbished his lead.

“He was chasing me down,” Zehr said. “Our car was better on the longer run, it really showed and I was able to pull away from him.”

Kreyer was credited with second, but did not pass post-race inspection. Dennis Prunty finished third, defending DRP Late Model Champion Corey Jankowski made a late surge to finish fourth and Jeff Storm finished fifth.