Prunty honors dad, wins limited late model race at Slinger

Published: June 18, 2013

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News Sports Editor

SLINGER — First or last, Dan Prunty will still love his son, Alex Prunty, just the same.
But finishing first is a lot more enjoyable, especially on Father’s Day.
Alex Prunty won Sunday’s limited late model feature at Slinger Superspeedway, his second of the season, but first since the season opener April 28.
“It’s sweet,” said Dan Prunty, Alex’s father. “We spend a lot of time in the garage working on (the car). It’s nice to see him win; it makes me proud.
“But I’d love him the same even if we were running in the back. Just to be able to enjoy doing the same thing is cool in itself. A victory just makes it a lot more fun.”
James Swan won his division-leading third super late model feature, while Kyle Chwala, Steve Dickson and Ron Schmitt won the area sportsman, Slinger Bees and Figure 8 division features, respectively.
Prunty won his race after taking the lead from Al Stippich on lap 2 of 40. Prunty led the rest of the race for his ninth career late model victory, tying him for the most all-time with Jon Reynolds Jr. And Prunty won with his father’s number on his race car, No. 39.
“To be able to share interests with people you love, that’s always cool,” Dan Prunty said.
Prunty is among a collection of brothers who have enjoyed great success at Slinger in more than 25 years of racing.
Prunty won two track championships in the Slinger Stingers division (1991 and 1992). During his brief racing career, Prunty had the No. 39 on his car. In 1990, Prunty was the division Rookie of the Year. After the 1992 season, Prunty stopped racing as his son, Alex, was born, and decided to help his brothers, Dale, David and Dennis, while also raising a family.
Alex Prunty is a two-time track champion at Slinger (Slinger Bees in 2010 and limited late models in 2012). Dennis Prunty is the defending track champion in the super late model division. The Pruntys is the only family to win more than one track championship in a season and have done so twice. In all, the Pruntys have 13 championships at Slinger. Track announcer Todd Behling called the Pruntys, “The First Family of Slinger.”
“It’s a big deal,” said Alex Prunty about winning on Father’s Day with his dad’s number on his car. “I’ve never won on Father’s Day. It’s really cool to win with the 39 on the door. Everything today was about him.”
On the lettering of the 39 was a phrase, “Thanks Dad.”
Doug Prunty, Alex’s grandfather, started this chain of success and the brothers were there to learn all they could about racing. Not long after Alex Prunty was born, he was introduced to racing and what it meant to the entire Prunty family.
“It’s not me, it’s them,” Doug Prunty said when asked about the family’s success at Slinger. “We’ve learned so much over the years.”
During an interview in the stands, he joked that Alex Prunty has had it easy because of the knowledge he was inheriting.
“I don’t know if I’d say if I had it easy, but I definitely had an advantage over everybody else,” Alex said. “From the moment I was born, I was in the race shop.”
Alex Prunty struggled with his car for most of the day in preparation for Sunday’s race. At one point, he and his father, who is on his pit crew, were working on the car, together. At the time, they didn’t know they were sharing a special father-son moment. It was more about getting the darn car fixed.
“This morning was the Father’s Day deal,” Alex said. “We shook hands and hugged this morning.
“Once we got here, we were focused on trying to get this going.”
That kind of focus has been a big part in the Pruntys’ success at Slinger. Dan Prunty had so much focus on last year that he didn’t even know his old car number was on Alex’s car last season, despite that it was in big lettering on the roof. When he realized it, he smiled.
This year, it was still neat to see his number on the car, especially in victory lane of a late model race.
“I didn’t notice it last year until they showed it to me after qualifying,” Dan Prunty said with a smile.
“They must’ve put it on right before we came to the track. I never noticed it.”
The No. 39 has a significance, too. Doug Prunty was born in 1939, which is why Dan Prunty had the No. 39 during his career.
“That was really cool,” Dan Prunty said of Alex’s dedication. “I’ve got to say the car looks really good with 39 on it.”
Last year on Father’s Day, Prunty was the fast qualifier in the limited late model division and finished third. Dan Prunty got to drive the car for the honorary parade lap during the National Anthem.
“That was really, really cool,” Prunty said.
“Today, it’s not as special only because it’s happened before.”
Alex Prunty was in contention to win last year on Father’s Day, but a late-race caution prevented him from the victory.
“To be able to figure the car out, for all this to come together today was pretty cool,” Alex Prunty said.
When Prunty was looking for his dad, he got the response he expected, kind of.
“He was watching Dennis drive his Firebird on the track,” Alex said with a big smile. “I came by to give him a hug and he ignored me.
“He’s more of a tough love kind of guy,” he added. “It’s like, ‘You won by a half a lap, why not three-quarters?’”

PMF TRUCKING AND LANDSCAPE SUPPLY 60
Results
Feature winners
Super late model — James Swan
Limited late model — Alex Prunty
Area sportsman — Kyle Chwala
Slinger Bees — Steve Dickson
Figure 8 — Ron Schmitt
Fast qualifiers
Super late model — James Swan (11.458 seconds)
Limited late model — Danny Church (12.673)
Area sportsman — Kyle Chwala (13.453)
Slinger Bees — Brandon Tackes (15.004)
Point standings
Super late model — 1, Rob Braun 612; 2, Steve Apel 539; 3, James Swan 535; 4, Lowell Bennett 507; 5, Conrad Morgan 505.
Limited late model — 1, Alex Prunty 662; 2, Ryan DeStefano 605; 3, Mike Lichtfeld 570; 4, Danny Church 560; 5, Braison Bennett 496.
Area sportsman — 1, Kyle Chwala 658; 2, Kody Hubred 616; 3, Joe Shelby 525; 4, Nick Egan 446; 5, Ken Schraufnagel 405.
Slinger Bees — 1, Nick Schmidt 688; 2, Steve Dickson 658; 3, Brandon Tackes 513; 4, Marty Tackes 480; 5, Russ Davison 478.
Figure 8 — 1, Willy Van Camp 735; 2, Scott Goetzke 705; 3, Shane Becker 670; 4, Ron Schmitt 625; 5, Ryan Lovald 615.