Bilderback gets emotional victory at Slinger, edges Farrell

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Sept. 9, 2014

Bilderback gets emotional victory at Slinger, edges Farrell

Driver was 2013 Rookie of the Year

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

SLINGER — Michael Bilderback and Ryan Farrell put on a show that left a crowd Sunday at Slinger Superspeedway hoping this offseason won’t be as long as the last one.

Bilderback edged Farrell by 0.059 seconds — tied for the ninth-closest super late model finish since 2007 — to win the TUNDRA Super Late Model Touring Series race at Slinger and finish the 2014 season in style.

In addition to the close finish, which was the 12th to be less than 0.1 seconds since 2007, there were 14 lead changes among six drivers in the 75-lap feature, including the last one coming with two laps to go.

“What a race,” Bilderback said. “Holy cow. That was fun.”

It was also an emotional victory for Bilderback, the 2013 super late model Rookie of the Year at Slinger. On Friday, his grandfather suffered a stroke and has been unresponsive since.

“It’s been hard,” Bilderback said. “He’s my rock. He’s my best friend. He’s my everything.

“He’s been to every race for 18 years and he hadn’t missed one. But he’s missed the last two races.”

Bilderback added his grandfather, Roger Bilderback, wasn’t feeling well last week, which forced him to miss the race. Bilderback finished third at Slinger.

“Definitely a piece of our hearts is missing without him here,” Bilderback said.

Moments after pulling his car into victory lane, Bilderback was on a cellphone. He called his grandmother, who was at Grandpa’s bedside at Waukesha Memorial Hospital where he is in intensive care, to reveal the great news.

And for the first time in days, Grandpa showed a response: A tear dripped out of his eye.

The Bilderback family is from the Rockford, Illinois, area. Roger Bilderback was on a work trip in Milwaukee and was driving back to Rockford when he pulled over on the freeway because he wasn’t feeling well. He was found on the side of the road by police and was transported to the hospital.

“He’s been sick on and off the last couple of weeks,” Michael Bilderback said.

“When they took him to the ER, we were all thinking the worst,” he added.

Bilderback quickly dedicated the victory to his ailing grandfather. He honored his grandpa by having the words “Get Well Soon Grandpa” etched in big yellow letters on the hood of his red race car.

“He’s the strongest guy I’ve ever met,” Bilderback said.

Holding back some emotion, he paused, and then added “He’ll be fine.”

The finish tied Dennis Prunty’s margin over Conrad Morgan on Aug. 1, 2010. The closest finish in that span is 0.004 seconds by Steve Apel over Scott Schoeni on Aug. 22, 2010. That is believed to be the closest finish in track history.

Bilderback has also been involved in one of the most lopsided races in the last seven years. Bilderback beat Jeremy Lepak, the 2011 track champion, by 4.838 seconds Sept. 4, 2011. That was Bilderback’s first career super late model victory at Slinger.

For Farrell, he was oh-so-close to his first career super late model victory in his first season.

“Second sucks,” he said. “I don’t know what else to say. I used every ounce of the track. I gave him all I had.”

The feature winners were Danny Church (limited late model), Kyle Chwala (area sportsman), Jack Stern (midwest sportsman), Jacob Schraufnagel (Slinger Bees), Ryan Lovald (Figure 8) and Derek Doerr (American Super Cups).

Track championships were issued to Church and Chwala, plus Brandon Tackes (Slinger Bees), Ryan Gutknecht (midwest sportsman) and Scott Goetzke (Figure 8). Dalton Zehr, who was fifth at this year’s Slinger Nationals, was crowned champion of the TUNDRA Series.

Church is Farrell’s car owner.

“We get to celebrate a championship, a career best super late finish; it’s a pretty good day,” Farrell said.

Farrell took over the lead with 14 laps to go after Brad Mueller spun in Turn 3 while battling for the lead with Dennis Prunty. During the caution, Prunty pulled off the track, relinquishing the lead to Farrell.

It was a single-file restart and Farrell got the jump he needed. But a yellow came out one lap later when James Swan spun because of a flat tire. Farrell got a good restart and so did Bilderback.

The two battled side-by-side for 10 laps, with Farrell holding tough on the bottom line, while Bilderback tried to move into the lead on the high line, the line that’s been the preferred line this season at Slinger.

“We weren’t giving up,” Bilderback said. “He ran us really clean,” he added about Farrell. “It was a great race. It was fun. ... There was no letting that one go.”