By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News Sports Editor
SLINGER — Brad Mueller waited four years to do what he did Sunday afternoon.
Less than 24 hours from winning the late model “A” main feature at the Plymouth Dirt Track, which also sealed his second track championship in three years, Mueller won the 75-lap TUNDRA Super Late Model Touring Series feature at Slinger Superspeedway.
Never had Mueller won a feature at Plymouth and Slinger on the same weekend.
“This car was awesome today,” Mueller said in victory lane. “This is a dream come true. It doesn’t get any better than this. This is awesome.”
To win Sunday’s race, Mueller got the jump on the restart over race-leader James Swan and made the outside line stick, which at times can be tricky at Slinger, and drove away, leading the final 25 laps for the victory.
“I’ve been trying for a lot of years to get both on the same weekend,” Mueller said. “It’s pretty cool to do that. It’s kind of unbelievable.”
It was Mueller’s second feature victory of the season at Slinger. He also won May 5.
“There was no way James Swan was going to beat me on the restart here on my home track,” said Mueller, a three-time track champion at Slinger. “The car was superior.”
Braison Bennett, son of seven-time track champion Lowell Bennett, won the consolation feature for his first career super late model victory at Slinger.
“This is like the upper echelon of late model racing,” Mueller added. “To win with a dirt late model and an asphalt late model, it’s not like you’re doing it in a street stock and a modified. You’re doing it with the best of the best.
“On Saturday night, I race against the best of the best around here and Sunday I race against the best of the best around here.”
Dennis Prunty finished second, followed by Swan, Steve Apel and Austin Luedtke. The top finishing touring star for the TUNDRA Series was Dalton Zehr, who finished seventh after starting the feature 23rd.
It was the first time in about a decade that Mueller has won a touring series race.
“It’s tough as imaginable,” said Mueller. “It’s two completely opposite ends of the spectrum. With the dirt car you throw it in the corner and you blast it off. That thing makes 850 horsepower and (an asphalt late model) makes 550 horsepower. Everything is so completely different.”
Nick Panitzke sealed the championship when the green flag dropped on the 24-car field. He went on to finish eighth.
“It means so much to my family and my whole racing program,” he said. “It couldn’t have been a better season. We had a blast with it.”
Paige Decker finished her season with a 16th-place finish. She ended the season with the Rookie of the Year award in a season in which she became the first rookie and first woman to win a feature race. She finished eighth in the points, three points ahead of Matt Pyburn, who crashed on lap 47 and finished 23rd.
“My crew’s been behind me 100 percent,” Decker said. “At times where I was ready to almost give up, they were there saying, ‘Hey, look what you’ve done.’”
Of the top-10 finishers, seven were Slinger regulars.
“They all did a really, really good job,” said Mueller of the TUNDRA drivers who made their first appearance at Slinger. “They have a lot to be proud of. This isn’t the easiest place in the world to race at.”
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