By Jeff Pederson-Pedal Down Promotions
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 29, 2020 – Third-year 360 Sprint Car driver Travis Arenz of Sheboygan continued his season-long hot streak in Midwest Sprint Car Association competition by notching his fourth A-main victory of the 2020 season Saturday, Aug. 29 at Beaver Dam Raceway in Beaver Dam, Wis.
The 13th MSA event of the 2020 campaign drew a field of 31 competitors to the third-mile Beaver Dam Raceway facility where the Southeastern Wisconsin-based 360 Sprint Car division got its start in 1996.
Doug Wondra of Campbellsport led the opening lap of the 25-lap Jim Wipperfurth Memorial MSA A-main from the pole before 2011 MSA champ Ben Schmidt of Howards Grove, who started third, snagged the top spot in turn two on lap 2, while five-time MSA champion Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee, who started fourth, followed Schmidt into second.
On lap 3, the first of three red flags appeared when Justin Miller of Plymouth flipped in turn three during an incident that also involved Adam Miller of Plymouth and Chris Clayton of Waldo.
When the race resumed, Schmidt bolted out to a full-straightaway cushion over Davis on the ultra-slick racing surface. On lap 8, Travis Arenz worked his way into third from his 10th starting spot. Three laps later, the leaders began to work their way through lapped traffic, which allowed Davis and Arenz to close the gap on Schmidt.
Arenz worked underneath Davis on lap 13 before Davis brought out the second red flag of the race after drifting high in turn two and hitting the turn two wall before flipping. Davis was uninjured, but heavy damage to his car forced him to retire from the race.
On the restart, Schmidt again raced away from Arenz, who felt heavy pressure from sixth starter Tyler Tischendorf of Waupaca, who worked his way past Arenz into second before the third and final red flag appeared on lap 14 when Justin Erickson of Plymouth spun in turn four and was collected by Shane Wenninger of Kewaskum, who flipped.
Following the restart, Arenz used the high groove to sweep around Tischendorf into second on lap 15 and quickly reel in Schmidt along the high groove. On lap 20, Arenz pulled off a slide job in turn two to wrestle the top spot away from Schmidt.
Two laps later, three-time MSA champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh, who started 15th, worked past Schmidt into second. McMullen was able to trim the gap slightly in the final three laps, but Arenz was too strong as he held on to secure his 11th career MSA A-main victory.
McMullen finished second, Schmidt placed third, Tischendorf finished fourth and eighth starter Jack Vanderboom of Dousman placed fifth.
MSA heat race victories went to Travis Arenz, Will Gerrits of Waupun, Brandon McMullen and Bill Taylor of Kewaskum.
2005 MSA champion Lance Fassbender of Burnett claimed the 15-lap MSA B Main and Jack Vanderboom was the fast qualifier in MSA group qualifying with a lap of 13.454 seconds.
Kristine Hartmann Pleasantville Realty served as the main sponsor of this year’s MSA Jim Wipperfurth Memorial Race.
The MSA will return to action on Friday, Sept. 4 at the Dodge County Fairgrounds in Beaver Dam, Wis.
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Midwest Sprint Car Association
Beaver Dam Raceway
Beaver Dam, Wis.
August 29, 2020
QUALIFYING
1, Jack Vanderboom 13.454 2, Tim Haddy 13.505 3, Tyler Tischendorf 13.528 4, Anthony Knierim 13.695 5, Scotty Neitzel 13.743 6, Blake Wondra 13.757 7, Lance Fassbender 13.760 8, Tyler Davis 13.917 9, Scott Conger 13.973 10, Kurt Davis 14.012 11, Ben Schmidt 14.029 12, Josh Teunissen 14.047 13, Doug Wondra 14.200 14, Chris Clayton 14.211 15, Shane Wenninger 14.241 16, Tommy Colburn 14.304 17 Travis Arenz 14.362 18, Justin Erickson 14.441 19, Adam Miller 14.493 20, Paul Pokorski 14.499 21, Justin Miller 14.609 22, Will Gerrit 14.615 23, Brandon McMullen 14.623 24, Bill Taylor 14.674 25, Brandon Berth 14.812 26, Jordan Paulsen 15.118 27, Austin Hartmann 15.160 28, Chris Larson 15.363 29, Tyler Brabant no time 30, Preston Ruh no time 31, Tony Wondra no time.
HEAT 1
1, Travis Arene 2, Justin Miller 3, Doug Wonda 4, Jack Vanderboom 5, Brandon Berth 6, Scott Conger 7, Scotty Neitzel 8, Tyler Brabant.
HEAT 2
1, Will Gerrit’s 2, Tim Haddy 3, Chris Clayton 4, Kurt Davis 5, Blake Wondra 6, Jordan Paulsen 7, Justin Erickson 8, Preston Ruh (DNS).
HEAT 3
1, Brandon McMullen 2, Ben Schmidt 3, Adam Miller 4, Tyler Tischendorf 5, Shane Wenninger 6, Lance Fassbender 7, Austin Hartmann 8, Tony Wondra.
HEAT 4
1, Bill Tayler 2, Paul Pokorski 3, Anthony Knierim 4, Josh Teunissen 5, Tyler Davis 6, Chris Larson 7, Tommy Colburn.
B MAIN
1, Lance Fassbender 2, Scott Conger 3, Shane Wenninger 4, Jordan Paulsen 5, Justin Erickson 6, Blake Wondra 7, Tony Wondra 8, Tyler Brabant 9, Brandon Berth 10, Tommy Colburn 11, Austin Hartmann 12, Chris Larson 13, Tyler Davis 14, Scotty Neitzel (DNS) 15, Preston Ruh (DNS).
A MAIN
1, Travis Arenz 2, Brandon McMullen 3, Ben Schmidt 4, Tyler Tischendorf 5, Jack Vanderboom 6, Scott Conger 7, Lance Fassbender 8, Jordan Paulsen 9, Will Gerrits 10, Paul Pokorski 11, Adam Miller 12, Tim Haddy 13, Bill Taylor 14, Josh Teunissen 15, Doug Wondra, 16, Anthony Knierim 17, Blake Wondra 18, Justin Erickson 19, Shane Wenninger 20, Kurt Davis 21, Chris Clayton 22, Justin Miller.