Scheffler, Pagel, Steenbergen earn Mid-Season Championship A-main triumphs

By Jeff Pederson-Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) July 13, 2019 – The record book will show that Josh Walter of Plymouth led all 30 laps of the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Remembering Randy Tracy Mid-Season Championship 360 Sprint Car A main at the Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, July 13.

However, a closer examination will find that Walter used all of the skill he has accumulated in his 14 seasons of Sprint Car racing to negotiate heavy lapped traffic and turn back a heated challenge from Travis Arenz of Sheboygan in the closing laps to earn his second A-main victory of the 2019 season in the Richard’s of Dunbar PDTR 360 Sprint Car division in the first Remembering Randy Tracy Night celebrating of the life and racing career popular late driver affectionately dubbed “The Meat” during his 24-year racing career at Plymouth.

In other A-main action, Taylor Scheffler of Waukesha rode the high groove to his second Gasroots Project Late Model A-main win of the 2019 season. J.J. Pagel of Mount Calvary earned his first career Klips & Tips Grand National A-main win. Jeff Steenbergen of Watertown raced to victory in the Cellcom B mod A main.

In the 30-lap Remembering Randy Tracy Sprint Car A-main, Walter got the jump on the drop of the green flag from the pole position with third starter Will Gerrits taking second on the opening circuit. Riding the high line around the multi-groove racing surface, Walter had built up a full straightaway cushion over Gerrits when he encountered slower traffic beginning on lap 8.

On lap 9, fifth starter Jim Melis of Glenbeulah dove underneath Gerrits to wrestle away the second spot in the running order. However, Gerrits battled back to regain the position before the lone caution flag of the race appeared on lap 10 for a three-car incident in turn two involving Paul Pokorski of West Bend, Anthony Knierim of Franksville and Shane Wenninger of Kewaskum. Pokorski and Wenninger were forced to drop out of the race, while Knierim was able to return.

Following the restart, Jim Melis pulled off a slide job to move past Gerrits into second in turn four on lap 12, while Travis Arenz of Sheboygan, who started eighth, used the low line to advance to fifth on lap 13.

By lap 14, Walter had again bolted out to a full-straightaway advantage over Melis. However, lapped traffic began to become a factor starting on lap 16 when Walter had to deal with the cars of Anthony Knierim and Bill Taylor dueling side by side for multiple laps.

As Walter struggled to find a way through the lapped traffic, Melis closed significantly along the high groove before Walter was finally able to split Knierim and Taylor on lap 24. As Melis faded with a power steering issue in the closing laps, Arenz was on a charge as he worked is way past 2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Howards Grove, who started seventh, on lap 26 to secure second.

Arenz pulled even with Walter with a low move in turn two on lap 29, but he was unable to make the move stick as Walter held strong along the cushion. On the final circuit with Arenz still hot on his heels, Walter made a bold low move underneath the slower car of Tyler Brabant in turn three to clinch his sixth career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory and second A-main triumph of the 2019 season.

Arenz, who came into the event as the winner of the last two Midwest Sprint Car Association A mains, had to settle for second, Schmidt, who was sporting the No. 42 made famous by Randy Tracy for the evening, placed third, Gerrits wound up fourth and 2010 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion and current point leader Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee moved up for the ninth starting spot to place fifth.

Polesitter Kevin Baldy of Omro seized the top spot in turn one of the opening lap of the action-packed 30-lap Late Model A main. On lap 2, second starter Justin Ritchie of New London worked the high groove to challenge Baldy for the top spot. The two drivers dueled side by side for the next five laps before Baldry pulled away.

On lap 9, four-time PDTR Late Model track champion Brad Mueller of Random Lake, who started seventh, worked the cushion to pass Ritchie for second in turn two. One lap later, Mueller shot past Baldry existing turn four to assume the lead.

Meanwhile, 10^th starter Taylor Scheffler was also finding speed along the high line as he darted around Baldry into second on lap 13. Scheffler hounded Mueller over the next eight laps as the leaders found themselves in heavy lapped traffic.

On lap 21, Scheffler played the lapped cars perfectly to power past Mueller into the top spot in turn four. Mueller was able to stay in contact with Scheffler in the closing laps and cut the gap on lap 28. However, he was not able to mount a serious challenge as Scheffler secured his third career PDTR Late Model A-main victory and his second main event win of the 2019 season at Plymouth.

Mueller was second, defending PDTR Late Model champion Justin Schmidt of Cleveland placed third, after starting ninth, Ritchie placed fourth and Baldry completed the top five in the caution-free race.

In the 30-lap Grand National A main, J.J. Pagel grabbed the lead on the drop of the green flag from the pole with second starter Jeff Muehlbauer of Elkhart Lake and third starter Dick Hed of Plymouth in hot pursuit.

Muehlbauer worked the high line over the next seventh laps as Pagel and Muehlbauer mounted a spirited side-by-side duel for six straight circuits. On lap 13, Luke Scholten of Oostburg pulled in to join Pagel, Muehlbauer and Hed in a four-way battle for the lead.

On lap 15, the first of two caution flags appeared when an infield tire was pushed onto the track in turn three. On the restart, sixth starter and current point leader Tyler Kulow of Plymouth moved in to challenge for second as Muehlbauer, Hed and Kulow went three-wide in turn four on lap 16.

Kulow emerged in second while Scholten worked past Hed to claim third on lap 17 as positions were swapped at a lightning pace. Once again, Muehlbauer ventured up to the high groove to pressure Pagel for the top spot as the laps wound down and the two drivers again waged a side-by-side battle for the victory.

With one lap remaining, the second caution appeared when Jason Juech of Plymouth spun in turn four to set up a green-white-checkered flag finish. Pagel got a big jump on the restart to pull away as Hed made a daring move in turn three on lap 29 to move from fifth to third.

Pagel held on to earn his first career PDTR Grand National A-main victory. Muehlbauer took second, Hed was third, Scholten placed fourth and Kulow completed the top five.

Jesse Cullen of Chilton led the opening circuit of the 30-lap B Mod A main from the pole. Cullen maintained a solid lead over second-starter Mark Hoeppner of Rubicon before sixth starter Tim Warner of Fond du Lac passed Hoeppner for second on lap 9. The first of sixth caution flags appeared on lap 10 for debris.

On the restart, Cullen continued to lead with Warner in tow, while Jeff Steenbergen, who started ninth, worked his way into third on lap 12. After another caution flag for a spin on lap 14, Steenbergen moved into second with a low move on Warner on lap 16. Three laps later, Cullen spun in turn four to bring out the third caution flag. With Cullen relegated to the rear of the field for bringing out the caution, Steenbergen assumed the top spot on the restart.

Following the fourth caution period for a spin, seventh starter Gary Glander of Sheboygan Falls darted past Warner into second as Steenbergen built up a big advantage. After a caution on lap 27 for infield tires on the track in turn four, Warner and rookie Brian Wieland of Elkhart Lake, who started third, waged a duel for second with Wieland getting the best of Warner on lap 28.

After the sixth and final caution flag on lap 28, Steenbergen again flexed his muscle on the restart to earn his third career PDTR B Mod A-main victory. Wieland finished a career-best second, Glander placed third, 11^th starter Brandon Knepprath of Kewaskum finished fourth and Randy Theys, who started 18^th, completed the top five.

Danny Schlafer of Sussex won the first PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main and Doug Wondra of Lomira captured the second PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main. Justin Bauer of Sheboygan Falls was victorious in the B Mod B main.

The Remembering Randy Tracy Mid-Season Championship program, which was sponsored by Cupcake Wonders of Sheboygan Falls, drew a total of 90 cars, including 36 Sprint Cars, 25 B Mods, 15 Late Models and 14 Grand Nationals.

PDTR Saturday night racing will resume on Saturday, July 20 with autograph night presented by Hopf Farms highlighting the evening with checkered flags distributed at the gate. Hot laps will begin at 5:30 p.m. with racing to start at 6 p.m.

RICHARD’S OF DUNBAR 360 SPRINT CAR

Date of Race: July 13, 2019

HEAT 1

1, Nich Melis 2, Paul Pokorski 3, Brandon McMullen 4, Kevin Karnitz 5, Mike Yurmanovich 6, Josh Teunissen 7, Tyler Brabant 8, Chris Clayton, 9, Chris Larson.

HEAT 2

1, Adam Miller 2, Jim Melis 3, Ben Schmidt 4, Danny Schlafer 5, Anthony Knierim 6, Scott Conger 7, Tyler Nelson 8, Blake Wondra 9, Preston Ruh.

HEAT 3

1, Will Gerrits 2, Travis Arenz 3, Kurt Davis 4, Shane Wenninger 5, Bill Taylor 6, Brandon Berth 7, Tim Haddy 8, Bryce Schmitt 9, Tyler Tischendorf.

HEAT 4

1, Tony Wondra 2, Josh Walter 3, Justin Miller 4, Justin Erickson 5, Tyler Davis 6, Lance Fassbender 7, Doug Wondra 8, Al Schlafer 9, Jack Vanderboom.

B MAIN 1

1, Danny Schafer 2, Lance Fassbender 3, Justin Erickson 4, Chris Clayton 5, Brandon Berth 6, Mike Yurmanovich 7, Blake Wondra 8, Tim Haddy 9, Bryce Schmitt 10, Tyler Nelson.

B MAIN 2

1, Doug Wondra 2, Tyler Davis 3, Tyler Brabant 4, Al Schlafer 5, Preston Ruh 6, Jack Vanderboom 7, Josh Teunissen 8, Chris Larson 9, Scott Conger 10, Tyler Tischendorf.

A MAIN

1, Josh Walter 2, Travis Arenz 3, Ben Schmidt 4, Will Gerrits 5, Kurt Davis 6, Adam Miller 7, Danny Schlafer 8, Brandon McMullen 9, Justin Miller 10, Jim Melis 11, Nich Melis 12, Kevin Karnitz 13, Doug Wondra 14, Tony Wondra 15, Lance Fassbender 16, Justin Erickson 17, Tyler Brabant 18, Bill Taylor 19, Anthony Knierim 20, Tyler Davis 21, Paul Pokorski 22, Shane Wenninger.

GASROOTS PROJECT LATE MODEL

HEAT 1

1, Justin Schmidt 2, Brad Mueller 3, Taylor Scheffler 4, Justin Ritchie 5, Ron Stroika 6, Jim Schmidt 7, Brian Konitzer 8, Zack Kessler.

HEAT 2

1, Tim Buhler 2, Jon Bongiorno 3, Turk Letizia 4, Dave Jaeger 5, Kevin Baldry 6, Chad Vetting 7, Charlie Schmidt.

A MAIN

1, Taylor Scheffler 2, Brad Mueller 3, Justin Schmidt 4, Justin Ritchie 5, Kevin Baldry 6, Turk Letizia 7, Jim Schmidt 8, Tim Buhler 9, Dave Jaeger 10, Charlie Schmidt 11, Ron Stroika 12, Joe Bongiorno 13, Brian Konitzer 14, Chad Vetting 15, Zack Kessler

KLIPS & TIPS GRAND NATIONAL

HEAT 1

1, Jason Juech 2, Dick Hed 3, J.J. Pagel 4, Donny Kulow 5, Brad Weiss 6, Josh Hitsman 7, Matt Yancey.

HEAT 2

1, Tyler Kulow 2, Luke Scholten 3, Jeff Muehlbauer 4, Steven Weber 5, Jacob Muehlbauer 6, Derek Kaat 7, Dave Holm.

A MAIN

1, J.J. Pagel 2, Jeff Muehlbauer 3, Dick Hed 4, Luke Scholten 5, Tyler Kulow 6, Brad Weiss 7, Steven Weber 8, Donny Kulow 9, Derek Kaat 10, Matt Yancey 11, Dave Holm 12, Jason Juech 13, Jacob Muehlbauer 14, Josh Hitsman.

CELLCOM B MOD

HEAT 1

1, Gary Glander 2, Brian Wieland 3, Mark Hoeppner 4, Rory Welch 5, Rick Kretschmann 6, Tim Lange 7, Joshua Mavis 8, Andy Singer 9, Phil Campanella.

HEAT 2

1, Tim Warner 2, Barry Maas 3, Jeff Steenbergen 4, James Rautmann 5, Brandon Knepprath 6, Justin Bauer 7, Randy Theys 8, Patrick Hanson.

HEAT 3

1, Marcus Hoeppner 2, Steve Lorier 3, Nathan Jakubowski 4, Jesse Cullen 5, Travis Schmidt 6, Lee Sohns 7, Tony Gates 8, Donny Singer.

B MAIN

1, Justin Bauer 2, James Rautmann 3, Randy Theys 4, Tony Gates 5, Lee Sohns 6, Andy Singer 7, Patrick Hanson 8, Donny Singer 9, Phil Campanella.

A MAIN

1, Jeff Steenbergen 2, Brian Wieland 3, Gary Glander 4, Brandon Knepprath 5, Randy Theys 6, Travis Schmidt 7, Barry Maas 8, Marcus Hoeppner 9, Mark Hoeppner 10, Rick Kretschmann 11, Tim Warner 12, Steve Lorier 13, Tim Lange 14, James Rautmann 15, Justi Bauer 16, Jesse Cullen 17, Rory Welch 18, Tony Gates 19, Lee Sohns 20, Joshua Mavis 21, Nathan Jakubowski-(DNS).