Brad Mueller wins Slinger Nationals after Andrew Morrissey DQ

UPDATE: From the penthouse, to the outhouse, to the penthouse again and back to the outhouse.

That’s figuratively what happened to Andrew Morrissey who won the pole for the Slinger Nationals, was disqualified and had to race through the qualifying race just to make the field, to then win the race, only to be disqualified again afterwards.

As a result, Brad Mueller has won his first Slinger Nationals after decades of trying, this time in the 45th running. This story will be updated as more details are made available.

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From the penthouse, to the outhouse, and back to the penthouse again.

That’s figuratively how Andrew Morrissey emerged victorious in the 45th annual Slinger Nationals, his first in the Wisconsin summer classic.

Morrissey began his day by posting the fastest lap in qualifying but his No. 39 was light across the scales and that sent him to last in the qualifying race. He finished fourth in that 20 lapper and then drove all the way back through the field win over 200 laps.

It wasn’t quite so straightforward, however.

The misfortune of his disqualification may have actually proven to be a blessing as numerous cautions towards the front of the field allowed him to pick spots up … and also not have a destroyed race car with the others.

Most notably, six laps into the race, numerous contenders were dealt a blow including Ryan Preece, Ty Majeski, Gio Ruggiero and Austin Nason. Morrisey went from P16 to P7 by virtue of his disqualification.

https://twitter.com/RacingAmerica/status/1810854903780131166

“We got lucky there, they had a big wreck there about lap six that picked me up six or seven spots right there,” said Morrissey. “Everything just worked out for us. The DQ after qualifying probably helped us out. We would have been right in the middle of where that wreck happened if we had started there. I’m feeling really lucky right now. I’ll probably go buy a lottery ticket.”

Derek Thorn, driving the Paul Schafer No. 7, led 43 laps and looked to be the best car on the track but couldn’t keep his FURY Race Cars chassis off the wall.

“The backstretch has a bow to it,” explained Thorn. “Luckily, it was just a glancing blow, I didn’t climb it. Didn’t seem like it really hurt the car at all. At one point, I thought it might have actually helped it in the first 100. The last 20 laps of that first 100, this car was just on rails.”

https://twitter.com/RacingAmerica/status/1810864838748360933

Preece was actually involved in a second crash, this time with 55 laps to go, ending his debut effort for good.

https://twitter.com/RacingAmerica/status/1810884160501760315

Derek Kraus and Steve Apel completed the top-five.

45th Slinger Nationals
July 9 2023
Slinger Speedway

Brad Mueller
Derek Thorn
Derek Kraus
Steve Apel
R.J. Braun
Ryan Farrell
Dennis Prunty
Gabe Sommers
Willie Nelson
Brad Keith
Jordan DeVoy
John DeAngelis
Jeremy Lepak
Ryan Preece
Jesse Bernhagen
Max Kahler
Grant Griesbach
Steve Dorer
Levon Van Der Geest
Luke Fenhaus
Alex Prunty
Ty Majeski
Johnny Sauter
Rich Bickle, Jr.
Gio Ruggiero
Austin Nason
Andrew Morrissey (DQ)