Emotions heat up at Slinger

West Bend Daily News: Sept. 3, 2013

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News Sports Editor

SLINGER — Who likes fireworks?
An almost capacity crowd at Slinger Superspeedway on Sunday night got to watch a spectacular Labor Day fireworks extravaganza light up the sky. Moments earlier, though, fans were treated to fireworks in the form of angry race car drivers, thus leaving fans with something to talk about.
Dennis Prunty won the 100-lap super late model feature, the final super late model race of the 2013 season, making an aggressive pass on the inside of Austin Luedtke heading into Turn 3 on the final lap of the race. The move stirred the pot.
As Prunty pulled his car into victory, Luedtke, the 2010 super late model Rookie of the Year at Slinger, charged down the banking in Turn 2, the entrance to pit road, toward Prunty. Luedtke stood nose-to-nose with Prunty in victory lane as the majority of the crowd voiced its displeasure and cheered Luedtke.
"I don't got nothing to say," an angered Luedtke said in an interview over the public address system. "We had that one in the bag."
Luedtke, a Kewaskum High School graduate, was close to winning his first career late model feature at Slinger.
"I thought I had it," he said. "My spotter said Prunty was on the outside of me on my right-rear bumper and I thought (Steve) Apel was close enough behind me that he wasn't going to be able to do a crossover. I didn't think about it.
"I guess it's one of those things I've got to play through my mind of what's all possible at the end of a race."
Luedtke called the move dirty.
"I passed Dennis clean on the outside," he added. "He thinks I chopped him going in (to the turn). If I did it bad, then I don't know what a good outside pass is. The move was dirty.
"We'll just move on to the next race and if we get the opportunity, we know how to repay it back. ... I've got a pretty good memory and I told him the rivalry is back on."
Fans may not have to wait long to see what happens next as both are expected to compete in the TUNDRA Super Late Model Series race Sunday at Slinger.
Prunty said he was about ready to watch Luedtke win his first race.
"I didn't have any chance of winning," Prunty said. "I was going to finish second.
"Coming to that last corner, he stayed real high and I didn't know what he was doing so he opened the door and I drove right down in there. ... I think he did an awesome job. I was real proud of him. But he left the door open. I come to win."
Prunty added he was glad Luedtke came down to victory lane.
"We'll be fine," Prunty said. "He says we're going to have some hard racing in the future, but we'll be fine."
Since winning the Rookie of the Year title, Luedtke has made just two super late model feature starts at Slinger, competing in various touring series around the Midwest. His best career finish at Slinger in a super late model before Sunday was fourth twice, including in his last feature start at Slinger, which was July 31, 2011. He finished third.
"I couldn't have asked for a better race," Luedtke said. "The guys gave me a great car right out of the trailer. We made a couple adjustments, that was it the entire day."
It was a battle between the leaders all night, as the top five cars were within one second of each other for most of the second half of the race. In addition, drivers used every inch of the track to gain an advantage, even tapping other cars to create space.
Luedtke appeared to have the race as he neared Turn 3. Prunty wasn't finished.
He made a sharp move to the left on the back straight and nudged his way past Luedtke, who slid up the banking as they exited Turn 4. Prunty held on and won.
"Hey, he opened the door and I'm coming in," he said in victory lane. "I saw that he stayed high and I'm like, 'Cool. I'll drive it in hard.' I think we bounced tires, but it was all good."
The boos continued throughout Prunty's interview over the public address system.
"I called Chuck Norris this morning and he said do not take second and we'll take care of the consequences," Prunty said.
This wasn't the first run in between Prunty and Luedtke.
In 2010, Luedtke had a couple rough patches on the track with Prunty. Later, they talked it over and Prunty left a message for Luedtke to remember.
"He said I needed to learn how to run on the outside," Luedtke said. "That's what I did and that's what I did to pass him."
They have raced each other a number of times since as they both compete in the ARCA Midwest Tour and have competed in other specials around the Midwest. Both said they've had no troubles in those events.
"I thought me and Dennis were over our differences and we were going to have a cordial relationship," Luedtke said. "Let's just say the feud's started again and we'll see who comes out on top next time."
Prunty said, "He was giving me enough room. I arched it real nice, I got right down in there before he was able to come down. I filled the hole real quick."