Pruntys Run To The Front At The Snowball Derby Just Might Have Him Rethinking His Future Appearances In Pensacola. Dennis Prunty may have been considered a long shot to win the 47th annual Snowball Derby, especially after starting the race from the 28th position. However a steady run towards the front resulting in reaching the top ten with less than a hundred laps to go, led to a little more disappointment than expected. A broken rear end sidelined Prunty after 255 laps after he had climbed all the way into the eighth position. I feel we could have been there in the end, said Prunty. Not sure what broke yet. I assume its the ring gear bolts. We will take it apart and see this week. I just felt bad for the team and everyone who was there supporting me. Prunty had to get moving quickly as the race went green and had a plan to keep from being lapped early on while methodically making his way through the field. Before the race i knew that if i could pass one car per every 10 laps i would be in front, said Prunty. I was close to doing that. While making his way towards the front, Prunty may have been at a disadvantage compared to his competition. Prunty runs the Wide 5 hubs with the lugnuts space on the outer edges of the wheel, while many of the high dollar teams from other parts of the country run hubs similar to the NASCAR pattern with the lugnuts closer to the center of the wheel. Pit stops can make or break a race and Prunty tried to be proactive and had a NASCAR pit crew on standby to help change tires. Unfortunately that deal fell through, but Prunty was proud of the crew he did have. When the team that hired the NASCAR guys didnt make the race the guys found a different team, said Prunty. They apparently didnt know about the deal we had worked out. I am glad my guys pitted for me. We didnt have any problems in the pits. We even gained a few spots on some of the stops. My crew chief for the week Joe Wood changed the front tires with Lars Johnson carrying for him. My nephew Alex changed the back tires with NASCAR official Rich Lofy carrying for him. Friend and NASCAR crew member Greg Emmer jacked. Dale Prunty put gas in with crew guy Greg Holmes did catch can. Before the race I stated that this would be my last pit stop race. But the guys did so well that it gave me confidence that we can win a race like this. My brother Dusty did a great job spotting. In a pre-race interview I stated that my goal was to be in the top ten with 50 to go. We were right on track and had a set of tires left. Would I have won the race? Would we have been collected in a crash? We will never know now. The car was fast and I did my best to save what I had for the end. I spent around $10K not including getting the car ready and now fixing the car afterward. I got almost half of that back. from sponsors and face book friends. While dropping out so late in the race was a disappointment, Prunty seemingly was revitalized by the performance of his crew as well as the car. There is a lot of stress involved in this race, said Prunty. When Wisconsin races are over most people start their off season, but for us we rebuild the car to get ready for Snowball. Its a lot of work, and now after the race we need to go through the car again. Considering how dominant that car was at the 2014 Slinger Nationals, Prunty felt he had almost as good of a car for the Snowball Derby. We were close not as close as we were for the Nationals but close, said Prunty. The decision on whether or not we go back will be made by August 2015. While money certainly plays a major role in racing decisions, and hiring an experienced NASCAR crew may have its advantages, Prunty is leaning towards keeping his close knit crew that he has and is very accustomed to. I would want the same crew we had this time, said Prunty. We all worked good together and we also had a ton of fun. Sometimes the amount of fun you can have can outweigh the results of your performance. Yet considering how Dennis Prunty has been able to run with the high dollar teams with the NASCAR crews and be a force, perhaps some day his luck will change in his favor. heres to hoping he decides to give the Snowball Derby another shot.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 06:47:01 +0000
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