by Kari Shear-Carlson / Aug 3, 2016 – Dennis Prunty collected a $10,000 check and his first ARCA Midwest Tour presented by Scag Power Equipment victory on Tuesday night in the Forest County Potawatomi Dixieland 250 at Wisconsin International Raceway.
With ten laps to go, Johnny Sauter appeared to have the field covered but suddenly fell off the pace. On lap 244 of 250, Sauter blew a tire handing the lead over to Prunty who had pulled away from current point leader, Ty Majeski.
A unique pit strategy made for an exciting night of lead changes and battles throughout the entire field. As the sun set behind turn three, the field rolled off the grid. Local veteran, Lowell Bennett set the pace as starter Tom White waved the green flag. Bennett led the first few laps until Andrew Morrissey made his way around for the lead. Local hero, Jeff Van Oudenhoven glued himself to Morrissey’s bumper also passing Bennett for second.
Meanwhile, Paul Shafer, Sauter, and Majeski were racing for 4th-6th and appeared to be the fastest trio on the track. Van Oudenhoven passed Morrissey for the lead but Majeski’s charge to the front came as no surprise. On lap 45, Majeski took away the top spot.
The first competition caution of the night came on lap 56. Sauter, Bennett, Van Oudenhoven, and Chris Weinkauf were among the cars to pit. When the race returned to green, Ty maintained his lead, but the caution quickly came out again when Dan Fredrickson hit the wall coming out of the dogleg.
Majeski led once again and Prunty was up to sixth at the restart. Johnny Sauter was held up in the middle of the pack but worked his way through the field. Just as Prunty was passing Bennett for second another caution came out for Casey Johnson who was stopped against the backstretch wall.
Majeski and Prunty led the field back to green followed by Paul Shafer and Dalton Zehr. Again the caution came out on lap 108. Several drivers pitted including Majeski and Prunty. Sauter quickly took the lead at the restart.
As the laps wound down, Sauter was able to hold onto his lead with great racing taking place in his rearview mirror. Kyle Calmes and Derek Kraus were now in the top five and battled side-by-side, but Johnson’s bad luck continued when he brought out another yellow.
When the green waved, Sauter had a great restart. Calmes and Shafer juggled back and forth for the second spot. One more caution flag waved and only four cars stayed out, Nick Panitzke, Chris Weinkauf, Noah Gragson, and Brandon Reichenberger.
The field settled in for the final few laps and it appeared Sauter had them covered until his luck ran out with six to go and Prunty was able to take advantage of it. Bobby Kendall snuck his way into third behind Majeski, who finished second. Chris Weinkauf and Cardell Potter rounded out the top five.
The next event for the ARCA Midwest Tour is Saturday, August 13th at Marshfield Motor Speedway. For complete even details log on to arcamidwesttour.com.
Be sure to follow the ARCA Midwest Tour on Facebook (/midwesttour) and Twitter (@midwesttour).
To learn more about the Automobile Racing Club of America Midwest Tour, log on to arcamidwesttour.com. The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is among the leading auto racing sanctioning bodies in the country. Founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum, the organization administers more than 100 events each year in multiple racing series, including the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, the ARCA/CRA Super Series, the ARCA Truck Series and the ARCA Midwest Tour, plus weekly racing at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedway.
