Ty Majeski joined elite company on Wednesday night in winning his second Slinger Nationals in Slinger Wisconsin.
He became just the seventh driver to have won the marquee Super Late Model event more than once, joining a list of Hall of Famers that includes Matt Kenseth (8), Lowell Bennett (5), Rich Bickle (4), Joe Shear (4), Dick Trickle (4) and Butch Miller (2).
Kenseth came close to joining this company in 2019, before Kenseth unseated him with a last lap pass to win his record extending eighth.
Majeski dominated the 200-lap main event, taking the top spot on Lap 53 and leading the rest of the way. It was more challenging than the box score would make it appear.
Majeski ran into the back on Rich Loch shortly after the resumption of the race from the Lap 97 halfway break. The damage dented the nose of his signature No. 91, disrupting its handling and perhaps draining the car of its power steering.
The four-time ARCA Midwest Tour champion still maintained a one second lead throughout much of the second half and won over Casey Johnson by a half second.
“The 55 (Loch) stopped in front of me there,” Majeski said in Victory Lane on the Speed51 PPV broadcast. “I lost power steering about 20 laps into that run. I don’t know if we lost some fluid, but it was okay turning to the left. As soon as I got loose, it was hard for me to catch it. I was real lazy on exit, because I just didn’t have the strength to correct. I was trying to be as smooth as I could. That was definitely the toughest 100-lap run of my career.
“I knew we had a good car in the first half. After that damage, I got tight in the center and lost a little bit of power steering. I was having to muscle it when it got loose. It got really loose a couple of times in one and two. I just didn’t have enough strength to correct.”
In addition to his two Slinger wins, Majeski has three Rattler 250 wins, three Florida Governor’s Cup victories, a Ocktoberfest win and the 2016 World Series of Asphalt championship.
Johnson made a valiant charge in the closing laps, cutting his deficit from over one second to just under a half second in lapped traffic. The runner-up improves on his Slinger Nationals best finish of third in 2014.
If not for an engine sputter on restarts, Johnson believes his long run speed could have matched Majeski in a 103-lap uninterrupted green flag run to the finish.
“It was just a deal with the motor stumbling,” Johnson said. “Our restarts were just awful. We’d get about 10 laps under our belt and the thing would take off. I knew it was all about track position. The cars were about equal, and he’s one of the best in the country. We were able to run with him today, so I’m pretty happy.”
Just three other drivers finished on the lead lap behind them: Luke Fenhaus, Derek Kraus and John DeAngelis.
“That was exhausting,” Fenhaus said. “We fought really tight at the end. I was just trying to hang on and get the best roll speed I could. I was just a little tight and couldn’t roll as much as I’d like.”
Other notables include 2015 winner Dennis Prunty and Stephen Nasse, who remained on the lead lap until the closing laps of the race. Bubba Pollard finished the first half in third but quickly sank through the field at the start of the second half and parked his iconic No. 26 behind the wall upon falling outside of the top-15.
Steve Apel crashed while leading into the Turn 4 wall on Lap 54 while trying to lap Dale Nottestad, who suffered a mechanical failure while side by side with the No. 51A.
The race started all 28 entrants, the most to have ever started the 200 lap main event since the inaugural event in 1980. The race paid a base purse of $10,000 plus lad leader bonuses.
The complete results of the 2020 Singer Nationals can be found below.
- Ty Majeski
- Casey Johnson
- Luke Fenhaus
- Derek Kraus
- John DeAngelis
- Dennis Prunty
- Stephen Nasse
- Johnny Sauter
- Alex Prunty
- Brad Mueller
- Chris Blawat
- Michael Bilderback
- Corey Heim
- Rob Braun
- Ryan DeStefano
- RJ Braun
- Rich Loch
- Bubba Pollard
- Sammy Smith
- Austin Nason
- Conrad Morgan
- Carson Hocevar
- Steve Apel
- Rich Bickle
- Dale Nottestad
- Brad Keith
- Steve Dorer
- Ryan Farrell
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