By Jeff Pederson-Pedal Down Promotions
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) July 6, 2019 – Second-year Midwest Sprint Car Association competitor Travis Arenz was clearly the class of the field throughout MSA A-main action at TNT Speedway in Three Lakes, Wis. on Saturday, July 6, as he flexed his muscle in the early going, persevered through four caution periods in the middle stages and pulled away in the closing laps to notch a commanding victory over his closest competitor in the Badger 30 presented by Badger Steel.
Polesitter Tony Wondra of Campbellsport got the initial jump to grab the lead on the opening circuit of the 30-lap A main. On lap 3, 2014 MSA Masters Series champion Paul Pokorski of West Bend used the outside groove to power around rookie Brandon Berth of Cascade, who started third, to secure second.
One lap later, Arenz, who started fifth, rode the high groove to pass Berth and move into third in the running order. The leaders began to work their way into slower traffic on lap 8, which allowed Arenz to close in to pressure Pokorski for second. Two laps later, Arenz dove under Pokorski to seize second and quickly set his sights on Wondra for the lead.
Just as Arenz was about to unseat Wondra for the lead the first of four caution flags appeared on lap 11 when rookie Justin Erickson of Plymouth spun in turn three. On the restart, Arenz pulled off a slide job in turn two to clear Wondra for the top spot. However, Wondra battled back to pull even with Arenz and maintain the top spot on lap 12 before Arenz powered under Wondra for good entering turn one on lap 13.
One lap later, a red flag was displayed when Al Schlafer of Sussex, rookie Tyler Davis of South Milwaukee, rookie Jack Vanderboom and Boltonville’s Bill Taylor collided entering turn three, which resulted in Schlafer tipping on his side. Schlafer was unable to return, but Davis, Taylor and Vanderboom were each able to tag the back off the field on the restart.
The ensuing restart produced a three-car pileup in turn two involving Tyler Davis, Brandon Berth and Kirt Boers of Belleville, which produced enough damage for all three drivers to be done for the night. The next restart resulted in more trouble in turn two as Pokorski collided with Waupun’s Tim Haddy and two-time MSA champion Danny Schlafer of Sussex with Plymouth’s Adam Miller also involved in the incident, which forced Pokorski, Haddy and Schlafer to retire from the race.
Following the restart, Arenz bolted away from the field while four-time MSA champion Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee, who started 11th, made his way to the front of the field moving into fifth on lap 15. One lap later, Davis advanced into fourth before moving into third on lap 20.
Meanwhile, at the front of the pack, Arenz had checked out on the field as he cruised through lapped traffic to post his second MSA A-main victory of the 2019 season and third career MSA main event triumph by a half-lap margin.
Wondra wound up second, Davis placed third, 2018 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing champion Justin Miller of Plymouth finished fourth, after starting 13th, and fourth starter Will Gerrits of Waupun rounded out the top five.
The event drew 26 MSA cars to the third-mile high-banked TNT Speedway facility. Adam Miller won the 12-lap MSA B main and heat race victories went to Bill Taylor, Danny Schlafer and Kurt Davis.
The next MSA race on the 2019 schedule is this Friday, July 12 at Outagamie Speedway in Seymour, Wis. Grandstands open at 5 p.m. with racing at 6:30 p.m. The program will also feature IMCA Modifieds, Stock Cars, Sport Mods, Street Stocks and Sport Compacts.
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For more information on Pedal Down Promotions, email pedaldownpromotions@gmail.com, visit www.pedaldownpromo.com or call 920-323-7970.
Midwest Sprint Car Association
TNT Speedway
Three Lakes, Wisconsin
July 6, 2019
HEAT 1
1, Bill Taylor 2, Travis Arenz 3, Paul Pokorski 4, Will Gerrits 5, Justin Erickson 6, Justin Miller 7, Scott Conger 8, Tyler Davis.
HEAT 2
1, Danny Schlafer 2, Tim Haddy 3, Shane Wenninger 4, Robbie Pribnow 5, Jack Vanderboom 6, Adam Miller 7, Tyler Nelson 8, Tyler Brabant 9, Bob Reichert (DNS).
HEAT 3
1, Kurt Davis 2, Lance Fassbender 3, Al Schlafer 4, Brandon Berth 5, Tony Wondra 6, Blake Wondra 7, Tyler Tischendorf 8, Kirt Boers.
B FEATURE
1, Adam Miller 2, Scott Conger 3, Tyler Brabant 4, Tyler Davis 5, Tyler Tischendorf 6, Kirt Boers 7, Tyler Nelson 8, Blake Wondra 9, Bob Reichert (DNS).
A FEATURE
1, Travis Arenz 2, Tony Wondra 3, Kurt Davis 4, Justin Miller 5, Will Gerrits 6, Shane Wenninger 7, Lance Fassbender 8, Scott Conger 9, Adam Miller 10, Tyler Tischendorf 11, Tyler Brabant 12, Bill Taylor 13, Jack Vanderboom 14, Paul Pokorski 15, Tim Haddy 16, Danny Schlafer 17, Robbie Pribnow 18, Brandon Berth 19, Tyler Davis, 20, Kirt Boers 21, Al Schlafer 22, Justin Erickson.