Published: May 24, 2016
Things speed up at Slinger with new tires
SLINGER — Cooler
temperatures early in the 2016 season at Slinger Super Speedway have
led to fast laps. Weather isn’t the only factor for the fast start by
several drivers at the track as four track records fell in the first two
weekends of the season.
“Everybody bought new cars,” said Rob Braun, the 2010 limited late
model champion at Slinger. “A lot of new chassis, a lot of new
technology, everybody’s updated.”
Or is it the new tire compound engineered by Hoosier Tire?
It’s a softer compound, specifically with the right-side tires, with
firmer sidewalls, which help with grip. In addition, because they are
softer, they get up to temperature quicker, which also helps with grip.
The left-side tires are firmer. So adding the softer rights and firmer
lefts creates better balance with the tires and the car.
“We ran it last year at Madison and Kaukauna,” Travis Dassow said.
“It’s a more stable and consistent tire. The speeds stay up throughout
the whole race. It doesn’t fall off at the end of the race like the old
tire does.
“The racing has been pretty good here.”
Whatever the reason, it’s provided some thrills for drivers and fans.
And when the weather warms up, don’t expect the competition to
dissipate.
The speeds may slip, but track copromoter Todd Thelen believes the speed will slip only about a tenth of a second.
“The drivers are doing their homework,” he said.
Braun, Dassow and Conrad Morgan are three of the drivers that built
new cars in the offseason in the super late model division.
“I needed one,” Braun said when asked why he built a new car, adding his previous car was about 15 years old.
“The car I was racing wasn’t capable ... I couldn’t put in the
set-ups everybody is running these days,” Morgan said. “I decided I had
to do something.”
Dick Melius, the pit steward at Slinger, said Hoosier tested the tire last fall at Slinger and was thrilled with the result.
“It’s a tire we used to run here,” Dassow said. “We used to run it
five or six years ago. I always liked this tire. I’ve been begging to go
back to it.”
If the tire has a harder side
wall, Melius said, it allows drivers to be more aggressive in the
corners without the worry of abusing the right-front tire. That tire can
take a so-called beating, especially on a high-banked track like
Slinger. If the tire has a softer side wall it can roll, which is an
unsettling feeling for a driver — especially one trying to make up every
tenth-of-a-second possible.
The change in tire compound may also cut some costs. When the tires
are closer in firmness, a driver can rotate the them whereas before it
was harder to do that because of the imbalance.
“It helps cut down burning up your tires because you’re not running
the car so hard,” Dassow said. “I’m driving the car way easier and going
faster.”
On May 15,
Mike Held and Jordan DeVoy reset the track record during qualifying in
the limited late model division. Held broke the record he set April 24
in the season opener, which was 12.053 seconds. Held’s time Sunday was
12.029.
It didn’t last long.
DeVoy upped Held’s mark with a lap in 12.018 seconds. They weren’t alone as far as track records were concerned.
In the area sportsman, Scott Ascher broke Bill Prietzel’s record of 12.868 with a lap in 12.833.
The super late models are inching closer to a mark seemingly
unbreakable for several years. The record is 11.095, set by Tony Strupp
in 1994.
At the 2010
Slinger Nationals, NASCAR superstar Kyle Busch turned a lap in 11.185
seconds. Since then, no driver had come within seven-tenths of a second —
which at Slinger is a big difference — in more than six years.
On April 24, Jeff Holtz was fast qualifier with a time of 11.239, the fastest lap turned at Slinger since Busch’s lap.
“I do believe the track record is within grasp,” Thelen said.
They’re getting close.
On May 15, Dennis Prunty set fast time at 11.226 seconds. With 28
super late models in the pit area that evening, the top 16 made the
60lap feature on qualifying time. The 16th-fastest qualifier was Tim
Lampmann at 11.381, which would’ve been fast time in six of 18 races last season.
The 17th quickest in qualifying was Josh Wallace (11.385). The top 16 in qualifying were separated by 0.155 seconds.
“I think it’s good to have the tighter competition,” Braun said. “You
always hear the talk about the old days where it was super tight to make
the show.
“I would
argue more cars are closer together today than they were in the Tony
Strupp days when it was so tough to make the feature.” A bobble off a
turn may make the difference as to whether a driver qualifies for the
feature or not.
According to some veterans like Morgan and Dassow, it’s been at least a
decade since the competition has been as close as it is on the speed
chart.
“It’s a blast,” Morgan said. “I’d rather have the close competition.”
Competition like this is common at Slinger Nationals, but not in the middle of May.
“I think it’ll be very difficult for anyone to come in here and be competitive,” Braun said.
The quantity of cars isn’t where it used to be and it may never be
again. However, the quality is maybe at its best in more than 10 years.
“I believe guys have stepped it up a notch this year,” Braun said.
❑
West Bend’s Brad Hetzel won his first career late model feature Saturday at Dells Raceway Park in Wisconsin Dells.
Hetzel, the 2012 thunderstock track champion at Slinger, held off Kurt
Clapper by 0.894 seconds to win the 40-lap feature. Hetzel started the
feature on the pole position and led all 40 laps.
❑
Kewaskum’s Donny Goeden won the 360 sprint car “A” main Saturday at
Plymouth Dirt Track, his second in a row. Kewaskum’s Shane Wenninger was
fourth and West Bend’s Paul Pokorski was ninth.
Rick Scheffler won the late model feature, Matt Loehr won the grand
national feature and Brandon Berth won the sport modified feature.
Reach sports editor Nicholas Dettmann at ndettmann@conleynet.com
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