Hromadka Breaks Through for First Slinger Feature Win in Graduation Celebration 50

Tyler Hromadka scored his first Uptown Motor Cars Late Model feature victory Sunday night at the Slinger Speedway. It was anything but easy as the Colgate, Wisconsin driver had to fend off challenges from former track champions Ryan Gutknecht and Jon Reynolds Jr. before pulling away late to capture the win.

The race was slowed four times under the caution flag and each time as racing resumed, Hromadka found himself under serious pressure for the top spot. Gutknecht fared the best of the challengers as he wrestled the lead away from Hromadka twice but each time Hromadka regrouped and was able to power by using the inside lane. In the closing laps, Hromadka began to ease away as Jon Reynolds Jr. and Ryan Craine began to challenge Gutknecht for second. As Hromadka drove under the checkered flag for the win, Reynolds and Craine were able to charge by Gutknecht for second and third as all three cars finished tightly together. Gutknecht was forced to settle for the fourth position while Zach Prunty rebounded from an earlier caution to finish fifth. Robbie Rucks made his Slinger late model debut and finished in the sixth position followed by Drew Bernhagen and Simon Seyfert in seventh and eighth respectively. The top ten finishers were completed by Mike Held in ninth and Billy Braun in tenth.

Late Model heat race victories were recorded by Rick Redig-Tackman and Billy Braun while Jon Reynolds Jr. set fast time with a qualifying lap time of 12.150 seconds.

The brand new 602 Craters division took to the Slinger Speedway for the first time and super late model standout Brad Mueller scored the inaugural feature victory in the 35-lap event driving his Midwest Truck. The 602 Crater division features all types of vehicles from trucks to modifieds to outlaws to quarter mile late models all powered by 602 Crate engines and fifteen competitors were on hand for the division debut. Dennis Prunty finished second driving an outlaw late model followed by Jon Reynolds Jr. in another outlaw late model. Rob Braun wheeled his outlaw late model to a fourth place finish while Aaron Moyer was fifth in his Midwest Truck. Dave Teske finished sixth and Tanner Berge was seventh while Dave Edwards finished eighth in his modified. Bill Prietzel challenged for the lead early on in his modified before becoming caught up in a caution and finished ninth while Dan Thomson was tenth in his WIR quarter mile late model.

602 Crater heat races were won by Brad Mueller and Bill Prietzel while top time honors went to Dennis Prunty with a lap time of 12.103 seconds.

Brandon Tackes dominated the 35-lap Sportsman feature as he charged out front early and was never headed en route to the checkered flag. Brian Holtz survived a wild late race tussle with Jake Schraufnagel and Nick Bruley to finish second leaving Schraufnagel to finish third and Bruley fourth. Alex Lopacinski finished fifth. Sportsman heat races were won by Carl Benn and Brady Held and Brian Holtz was the fastest qualifier with a lap time of 12.737 seconds.

Nick Schmidt outdueled Al Strobel to win the 25-lap Super Beez main event. Jason Uttech came from deep in the field to finish third while Paul Reagles was fourth and Brandon Tackes finished fifth. Paul Reagles and Al Strobel were the winners of the Super Beez heat races and Jason Uttech circled the speedway in 13.603 seconds to nail down fast time honors.

Travis Kreuser drove to the lead early in the 25-lap Slinger Bees feature and never looked back as he scored the victory over Ricky Gebhard and Cooper Bodendorfer. Brandon Mennicke and Brian Stanczyk finished fourth and fifth respectively. Cooper Bodendorfer and Brandon Mennicke were the winners of the Slinger Bees heat races while the fastest qualifier was Scott Emrich with a qualifying time of 15.208 seconds.

Late Models – Feature 50 Laps 1. 3H-Tyler Hromadka, Colgate, WI [2], 2. 10R-Jon Reynolds Jr, Rockford, IL [12], 3. 99C-Ryan Craine, Hartford, WI [10], 4. 01G-Ryan Gutknecht, Oak Creek, WI [6], 5. 39P-Zach Prunty, Allenton, WI [7], 6. 5R-Robbie Rucks, Deerfield, WI [17], 7. 27B-Drew Bernhagen, Markesan, WI [3], 8. 9S-Simon Seyfert, Saukville, WI [16], 9. 72H-Mike Held, Hartford, WI [5], 10. 17B-Billy Braun, Wales, WI [4], 11. 98R-Rick Redig-Tackman, Hartford, WI [15], 12. 70S-Alan Shierling Jr, Waupun, WI [18], 13. 28W-Nolan Woods, Shelby, IN [20], 14. 16D-Mitchell Delcamp, Germantown, WI [8], 15. 5S-Penn Sauter, Deforest, WI [14], 16. 22L-Nicholas Lemberger, Menomonee Falls, WI [19], 17. 99B-Tom Berens, Slinger, WI [11], 18. 66K-Kendrick Kreyer, Wisconsin Dells, WI [9], 19. 48U-Matt Urban, Slinger, WI [13], 20. 61E-Jerry Eckhardt, Johnson Creek, WI [1]

602 Craters – Feature 35 Laps 1. 89M-Brad Mueller, Random Lake, WI , 2. 42P-Dennis Prunty, Allenton, WI , 3. 36R-Jon Reynolds Jr, Rockford, IL , 4. 5B-Rob Braun, Wales, WI , 5. 140M-Aaron Moyer, Hartford, WI , 6. 51T-David Teske, Richfield, WI , 7. 35B-Tanner Berge, Elkhorn, WI , 8. 5E-David Edwards, Salem, WI , 9. 5P-Bill Prietzel, Hubertus, WI , 10. 99TDan Thomson, Neenah, WI , 11. 7S-Mitchell Strobel, Slinger, WI , 12. 11T-Bill Tandetzke, Cudahy, WI , 13. 73M-Peter Mcvey, Neenah, WI , 14. 05B-Tucker Bodendorfer, Muskego, WI

Slinger Bees – Feature 25 Laps 1. 20K-Travis Kreuser, West Bend, WI , 2. 10G-Ricky Gebhard Jr, Oconomowoc, WI , 3. 64B-Cooper Bodendorfer, Muskego, WI , 4. 11M-Brandon Mennicke, River Falls, WI , 5. 33S-Brian Stanczyk, West Bend, WI , 6. 3C-Jason Clope, Racine, WI , 7. 33E-Matthew Elsinger, West Bend, WI , 8. 20X-Kendall Becker, Hartford, WI , 9. 35Z-Morgan Zerwinski, West Bend, WI , 10. 32C-Rachel Czarapata, Menomonee Falls, WI , 11. 21EScott Emrich, Milwaukee, WI , 12. 52L-Dylan Lemberger, Menomonee Falls, WI , 13. 08W-Matthew Wandrey, Germantown, WI , 14. 14S-Albert Strobel, Iron Ridge, WI , 15. 44S-Todd Snow, Belvidere, IL , 16. 96PPreston Peters, Fond Du Lac, WI , 17. 25L-Nathan Lemberger, Hartford, WI

Sportsman – Feature 35 Laps 1. 24B-Brandon Tackes, West Bend, WI , 2. 88H-Brian Holtz, Muskego, WI , 3. 29S-Jake Schraufnagel, Horicon, WI , 4. 23B-Nick Bruley, Johnson Creek, WI , 5. 89L-Alex Lopacinski, West Bend, WI , 6. 33E-Tom Elsinger Jr, Germantowm, WI , 7. 04H-Brady Held, Iron Ridge, WI , 8. 8K-Dale Kiley-Schaefer, Allenton, WI , 9. 32S-Ryan Sielaff, North Prairie, WI , 10. 21B-Brett Butler, West Bend, WI , 11. 01B-Carl Benn, Lisbon, WI

Super Beez – Feature 25 Laps 1. 09X-Nick Schmidt, Watertown, WI , 2. 14S-Albert Strobel, Iron Ridge, WI , 3. 36U-Jason Uttech, Watertown, WI , 4. 25R-Paul Reagles, Colgate, WI , 5. 24B-Brandon Tackes, West Bend, WI , 6. 82D-Mark Dewey, Janesville, WI , 7. 19B-Misty Benn, Lisbon, WI , 8. 84S-Mitchell Strobel, Slinger, WI , 9. 10D-Steve Dickson, Rockton, IL , 10. 01B-Carl Benn, Lisbon, WI , 11. 8B-Todd Buckley, West Bend, WI , 12. 20K-Travis Kreuser, West Bend, WI , 13. [DNS]15N-Tracy Neu, Watertown, WI

-Slinger Super Speedway Press Release
-Photo credit: Ron Erstad, Jr.