SLINGER — Ty Majeski took the lead from Max Kahler following a lap 21 restart and never looked back as he charged to a dominating victory Sunday during the season-opening ASA Midwest Tour Jerry Priesgen Memorial at the Slinger Speedway.
Once out front, Majeski seemingly pounded the field into submission in the 100-lap event as he took the checkered flag, more than five seconds ahead of Max Kahler, who claimed second, and Luke Fenhaus.
"It’s never easy," Majeski said from victory lane. "We thought we had a great car yesterday and then when we unloaded today on race day, we fought the same thing. We fought at the Slinger Nationals and you start second guessing yourself wondering if you are good enough. But this place is tough and that’s why we like coming here.
"These guys are some of the best friends in my life," Majeski continued, "We’ve been together as a team 11 years now, nearly to the day. April 20th, 11 years ago, was my first race with these guys at La Crosse and it’s been a great run."
Kahler was pleased with his showing after finishing second.
"I’m beyond happy with second," he said. "We’ve struggled quite a bit here in the past so to get a good run here is really rewarding for us. We finally have a baseline set up here we can work with for other big events like the Slinger Nationals and I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.
"Some of my inexperience here showed on the restarts and I kind of got schooled once by the 91 (Majeski)," he added. "But I was able to hang onto second so all in all it’s a good day."
Fenhaus opened the season in third place.
"We just didn’t have enough," he told the crowd. "We brought a good car but we just struggled and I knew right away the 91 (Majeski) just killed us on center speed and I told the guys that 30 laps in.
"I knew it was going to be a race between us three," Fenhaus continued. "This tire is a little bit different and acts in a little bit different way but I’m just thankful for my guys and I guess it’s time to just go and get better."
Fast qualifier Alex Prunty finished a strong fourth while Derek Kraus turned in one of his strongest Slinger performances by finishing fifth. John DeAngelis showed strong late-run speed and finished in the sixth position while defending Slinger Super Late Model Champion Steve Apel crossed the finish line in seventh. Brad Keith completed a solid race in eighth while defending ASA Midwest Tour Champion Gabe Sommers and Levon Van Der Geest were ninth and 10th, respectively.
A strong field of 35 super late models timed in for the 24 starting spots in the 100-lap Jerry Priesgen Memorial. Alex Prunty and Levon Van Der Geest turned in identical 11.205-second laps for fast time honors. Because Prunty set the mark first, he was the official fast qualifier, and the top 16 cars were locked into the main event. The remaining cars were divided into two last chance qualifying races in which the top two finishers earned feature starting spots. Ryan DeStefano won the first qualifying race and advanced to the main event along with second-place finisher Gabe Sommers. Brad Mueller, Justin Mondeik, and Billy Mohn rounded out the top five finishers.
Dennis Prunty won the second qualifying race over Nick Egan as both drivers transferred to the 100-lapper. Kody King finished third, Willie Nelson claimed fourth and Ryan Farrell was fifth.
Jeff Holtz won the 45-lap late model feature over Zach Prunty, who earned second place, and Jon Reynolds Jr. edged Ryan Gutknecht in a hotly contested battle for third. Drew Bernhagen was fifth, Jerry Eckhardt finished sixth, Tyler Hromadka ended up seventh and Matt Urban claimed eighth. Tom Berens finished ninth and Simon Seyfert was 10th. Jon Reynolds Jr. was the fastest qualifier with a qualifying lap time of 12.062 seconds.
Karter Stark won the 30-lap Super Beez feature over Carl Benn and Todd Buckley. Al Strobel was fourth and Jason Uttech finished fifth. Nick Schmidt was sixth, Travis Kreuser took seventh, Brandon Tackes crossed the finish line in eighth followed by Davey Pennel and Paul Reagles. Stark was also the fastest qualifier with a lap time of 13.277 seconds.
Matthew Elsinger was the winner of the 30-lap Slinger Bees feature over Kendall Becker and Travis Kreuser. Bart Brockmann and Dylan Lemberger were fourth and fifth, respectively. Jason Clope finished sixth followed by Morgan Zerwinski and Todd Snow. Brian Stanczyk finished ninth and Preston Peters was 10th. Brockmann was the fastest qualifier with a lap time of 15.206 seconds.
Ryan Lovald won the 10-lap Figure 8 main event over Scott Goetzke and Eli Gorecki to close out the afternoon.
Karter Stark, left, is in the winner’s circle after taking first place in the 30-lap Super Beez feature Sunday at Slinger Speedway. Right, Ty Majeski is all smiles after opening the season with a decisive win in the ASA Midwest Tour Jerry Priesgen Memorial.