By Jeff Pederson-Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) September 9, 2020 – After enduring a season filled with setbacks and challenges, Josh Walter and the Torque Racing team brushed aside adversity in a big way as it rolled up an impressive top-10 finish with the Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association at the Dodge County Fairgrounds in Beaver Dam, Wis. on Friday, Sept. 4.

With 29 IRA competitors check in for the fourth annual Harry Neitzel Tribute Race, Walter opened the evening by ripping off a scorching lap of 17.643 on the high-speed half mile track to record the second-best qualifying circuit of the evening.

“The car felt great Friday at Dodge County,” Walter said. “I was not expecting to qualify as well as we did. In hot laps, I wasn’t able to run the car as hard as I would have liked to because of traffic. When we went out for qualifying, the only way to find out how good of a car we had was to run as hard as I could out of the gate on the warm-up lap.

“We had quick time once in my 410 career in an IRA race during the fair at Wilmot back in 2015, but it felt great to qualify that well on a half mile,” he said.

After lining up fourth in the second eight-lap IRA heat race, Walter dropped to fourth on lap one when Jack Blackhurst moved past. Three laps later, Walter worked underneath Kyle Schuett along the backstretch to regain third. The 16th-year Plymouth, Wis. driver held on to the third spot over the final four laps to earn a spot in the A main.

Walter then started and finished fifth in the second four-lap IRA dash to claim the 10th starting spot in the 25-lap main event.

In the A main, Walter fell to 13th by lap four before the first of four cautions was displayed on lap eight for a spin involving Russel Borland. After starting 12th, Walter moved to 11th when Ryan Ruhl dropped out of the race. Walter gained another spot when Jeremy Schultz slowed on lap 9 to bring out the second caution flag.

Following the restart, Walter passed Todd King in turn four on lap 13 to move into ninth place. After a caution for debris on lap 18 and a flip on lap 21 involving Scotty Thiel, Walter moved up to eighth in the running order.

Walter continued his strong run by passing Danny Schlafer in turn two on lap 22 en route to a season-best seventh-place finish in a race won by Bill Balog.

“After Antigo, we thought we’d have a good base setup for Dodge County, but I wasn’t expecting it to be that good,” Walter said. “The car really ran well all night. It was a lot of fun to drive.”

The team had planned to be in action with the IRA at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, Sept. 5.

However, a faulty push rod was detected during routine engine maintenance prior to the racing program, which forced the team to miss the event at its hometown track.

“We found the push rod problem when inspecting the engine before heading to the race at Plymouth,” Walter said. “It appears that it had started to go at Dodge County. We found it at the right, yet unfortunate time.

“We thought it was best to fix it right rather than try to use a band aid to run at Plymouth,” he said. “We have now fixed everything with the engine and will be ready to race on Friday at Outagamie Speedway.”

Walter will be in action with the Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprint Car Series at Outagamie Speedway in Seymour, Wis. on Friday, Sept. 11. IMCA Sport Mods and Grand Nationals will also be in action.

Grandstand gates open at 5 p.m. with hot laps at 6:15 p.m. and racing at 7 p.m.

For those unable to attend, the race will be broadcast live on pay-per-view at floracing.com.

Torque Racing sponsors for the 2020 season included JDV Lawncare, Brittany’s School of Dance, Sheboygan by Owner, Plymouth Tap, SCA Inc., Doug’s Quality Beef, Cow Pies, Full Throttle Ink, Lakehouse Bar & Grill, Home Transitions, Oostburg Concrete, RC Custom Design and Pedal Down Promotions.

Torque Racing Sponsor Showcase – Full Throttle Ink

The Torque Racing team is pleased to have Full Throttle Ink in Sheboygan Falls on board as a sponsor for the 2020 season.

Full Throttle Ink is Sheboygan County’s premier tattoo, piercing, and apparel shop, located at 501 North Main (Highway 32) in Sheboygan Falls, Wis. Under the direction of owner Jeff Klug, Full Throttle Ink features a 1,100-square foot state-of-the-art tattoo and piercing parlor, as well as a a complete line of 1940s and 1950s-themed high-end hot-rod style clothing.

Full Throttle Ink, which is open daily from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., also offers Motorcult Apparel, Lucky 13 Apparel and Klug’s personal line of Sheboygan County-exclusive apparel.

To book a tattoo or piercing appointment, call 920-467-2215 or email fullthrottleink@hotmail.com.

Pedal Down Promotions is a full-service public relations and media services company devoted to helping its clients effectively communicate with targeted audiences through press releases, newsletters, profile and feature articles, website and social media content development, printed media, editing and layout, graphic design and book publishing services.

For more information on Pedal Down Promotions, email pedaldownpromotions@gmail.com, visit www.pedaldownpromo.com or call 920-323-7970.

2020 Josh Walter-Torque Racing Tentative Upcoming Schedule

Friday, Sept. 11 – Outagamie Speedway, Seymour, Wis. (IRA)

Friday, Sept. 25 – Dodge County Fairgrounds, Beaver Dam, Wis. (IRA)

Saturday, Sept. 26 – Plymouth Dirt Track, Plymouth, Wis. (IRA)

2020 Josh Walter-Torque Racing By The Numbers

Total Events – 8

IRA events – 6

A-Main Victories – 0

B-Main Victories – 0

Top Five A-Main Finishes – 0

Top 10 A-Main Finishes – 1

Heat Race Victories – 0

Dash Victories – 1

Dash Appearances – 4