By Jeff Pederson-Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) June 18, 2022 – The cream rose to the top as three former track champions and one of the region’s most versatile and successful competitors rolled to victory lane in Plymouth Dirt Track Racing A-main action at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, June 18.

In the 25-lap Kristine Hartmann Pleasant View Realty A main, defending PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls racked up his fourth Plymouth Dirt Track Racing main event triumph in five attempts during the 2022 campaign. Four-time PDTR Late Model champion Brad Mueller of Random Lake raced to victory in the 25-lap Sheboygan’s Country B93.7 Late Model A main. Greenville’s T.J. Smith adapted quickly to the Plymouth Dirt Track in a rare appearance at the third-mile clay oval by claiming a victory in the caution-filled 25-lap Oostburg Automotive Grand National A-main. Two-time PDTR Grand National B Mod champion Tim Warner of Fond du Lac endured six caution flags to earn the victory in the 25-lap Next Stop Insurance B Mod A-main in his first Plymouth Dirt Track Racing appearance of the 2022 season.

Polesitter Doug Wondra of Oakfield jumped into the lead on the drop of the green flag of the 25-lap 360 Sprint Car A main with third starter Shane Wenninger of Kewaskum, who was competing for the first time since the end of the 2020 season, moving into second and 2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth, who started fourth, taking third on the opening lap.

Four laps later, Schmidt worked his way around Wenninger to take over second in the running order. On lap 6, the first of three caution flags appeared when Preston Ruh of Elkhart Lake spun in turn two. Following the ensuing restart, Travis Arenz, who started sixth, swept past Wenninger and Schmidt to move into the runner-up spot on lap 7.

One lap later, the second caution flag flew when Alex Pokorski West Bend rolled to a stop in turn three. When the race resumed, Arenz used the outside groove to power his way around Wondra and into the lead in turn one on lap 8.

As Arenz bolted away from the field, Schmidt used a low move to pass Wondra and gain second place on lap 12. Schmidt closed the gap slightly on Arenz as the leaders began to weave their way through lapped traffic on lap 18.

On lap 20, the third and final caution flag appeared when Tyler Davis of Franklin spun to a stop in turn two. Arenz then fended off Schmidt over the final five laps en route to his fourth PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory of the 2022 season, 14^th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car main event win and 26^th career Midwest Sprint Car Association feature triumph.

Schmidt had to settle for second, Wondra placed third, 2008 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Lance Fassbender of Burnett placed fourth after starting fifth and Brandon Berth of Cascade charged up from his 14^th starting spot to round out the top five.

PDTR Late Model rookie Bill Edler of Howards Grove raced to the lead on the opening lap from his outside front row starting spot with polesitter Eric Michaels of Cleveland moving into second.

The first of four caution flags appeared on lap 2 when Jim Schmidt of Cleveland stopped in turn four while Wayne Freimund of West Allis spun in turn two. On the restart, four-time defending PDTR Late Model champion Justin Schmidt of Cleveland, who started fourth, powered his way into second place along the high groove.

The second caution flag was then displayed on lap 3 when Wayne Freimund spun in turn four. When the race resumed, Brad Mueller, who started eighth, moved in to challenge Schmidt for the runner-up spot. On the following lap, Schmidt looped his machine into the infield, but continued on after dropping several spots, while Mueller assumed second.

On lap 8, Mueller began to apply pressure to Edler along the outside groove before securing the lead in turn four on lap 10. Once ahead, Mueller set sail to build up a sizable cushion over Edler.

A pair of cautions slowed the pace and bunched the field on lap 19 when Sawyer Specht of Sheboygan Falls spun in turn two and on lap 23 when Charlie Schmidt of Oostburg stopped in turn two.

However, Mueller was not to be denied as he pulled away after the final restart to notch his 23^rd career PDTR Late Model A main victory.

Edler placed second, Justin Schmidt recovered to finish third, Joe Bongiorno of Milwaukee, who started 11^th, finished fourth and Turk Letizia of Milwaukee finished fifth after starting fifth.

Chad Espen of West Bend assumed the initial lead from the pole in the 25-lap Grand National A main. The first of six caution flags appeared on lap four when Marc Caswell of West Allis spun in turn four.

On the restart, 2010 PDTR Grand National champion Brian Gilles of Plymouth, who owns a total of six career track championships at The Plymouth Dirt Track, moved in from his sixth starting spot to take second in the Bender Racing No. 89 car along the high groove on lap 8.

The third caution flag was displayed when Kyle Caswell of Caledonia spun along the front stretch on lap 8. On the restart, T.J. Smith made his presence felt as he powered into second from his fifth starting spot on lap 9 and worked past Espen into the lead on lap 10 before the fourth caution flag flew on lap 10 when Rich Garb spin in turn four.

Gilles, who has returned from a retirement from racing as one of three team drivers in the Bender Racing No. 89 entry this season, battled back to take second from Espen  along the outside line on lap 10 before two more caution flags slowed the pace in succession on lap 11 for single-car spins.

When the race resumed, Luke Scholten of Oostburg, who started 19^th, charged in to duel with Gilles for second before Gilles gained the runner-up spot for good on lap 20. Gilles then mounted one final charge as he again worked the outside lane to pull even with Smith on lap 24.

However, Smith was too strong as he fended off Gilles persistent challenges to earn his first career PDTR Grand National A-main victory. Gilles placed second, Scholten wound up third, Espen placed fourth and 13^th starter Jonathan Otte of Cedar Grove completed the top five.

Outside front row starter Andy Welter of Hartford outpowered polesitter Jonathan Hitsman of Newton to lead the first lap of the 25-lap B Mod A main.

The first of six caution flags was displayed on lap 4 when Steve Lorier of Sheboygan spun and collected Gary Glander of Sheboygan Falls in turn two.

On the restart, 2019 and 2020 PDTR B Mod champion Tim Warner worked his way into second from his seventh starting position. Warner was closing on Welter when the second caution flag came out for Gary Glander, who stopped near turn three while attempting to exit the track on lap 14.

After a series of three caution flags with one on lap 15 and two on lap 18, Warner tracked down Welter and powered in the lead with a high move in turn two on lap 19. The sixth and final caution flag was displayed when Jonathan Hitsman spun in turn four on lap 23.

Following a single-file restart, Warner pulled away to notch his seventh career PDTR B Mod A-main victory, which moved him into second place on the all-time PDTR B Mod A-main win list.

Welter placed second, Travis Schmidt of Waldo wound up third, after starting sixth, fifth starter Shane Long of Sheboygan Falls took fourth and third starter Brendon Ostrowski of Milwaukee placed fifth.

Will Gerrits of Waupun was victorious in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main.

2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth was the overall fastest qualifier in the group qualifying session with a lap of  seconds.

Thirteen drivers made their first appearance of the 2022 season at The Plymouth Dirt Track with a total of 74 drivers on hand. The program, which as sponsored by Mayer Automotive, included 26 360 Sprint Cars, 11 Late Models, 21 Grand Nationals and 16 B Mods.

With no racing scheduled at The Plymouth Dirt Track next Saturday, June 25, the next PDTR program is set to take place on Thursday, June 30 featuring the Road America Challenge Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series event and the PDTR 360 Sprint Cars.

Pit gates open at 2 p.m. with spectator gates opening at 4:30 p.m., qualifying at 6:30 p.m. and racing at 7 p.m.

Advance adult $25 tickets can be purchased for the June 30 Road America Challenge IRA event by visiting https://myracepass.com/406362/tickets/ until Thursday, June 30 at 9 a.m. Tickets can also be purchased at the gate for at the regular adult price of $30 on Thursday, June 30.

Shuttle buses will be available to transport NASCAR weekend campers from Road America to The Plymouth Dirt Track for the June 30 event.

The new book “Racing Recollections – Plymouth Racetrack Fans & Drivers 1950-2021” by Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan, George Baumann of Waupun and Verla Peichl of Sheboygan Falls will be available for purchase at every race during the 2022 PDTR season, as well as at the Sheboygan County Fair office during regular business hours and online at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.

The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds is located at 229 Fairview Drive in Plymouth, Wis. For more information, visit www.plymouthdtr.com or check out Plymouth Dirt Track Racing on Facebook.

 

KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANT VIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS

QUALIFYING

1, Tim Haddy 12.427 2, Alex Pokorski 12.435 3, Ben Schmidt 12.454 4, Doug Wondra 12.576 5, Shane Wenninger 12.617 6, Cole Possi 12.622 7, Kurt Davis 12.638 8, Travis Arenz 12.639 9, Justin Erickson 12.731 10, Tim McMullen 12.731 11, Bill Taylor 12.822 12, Preston Ruh 12.904 13, Will Gerrits 12.909 14, Katelyn Krebsbach 12.998 15, Justin Miller 13.001 16, Lance Fassbender 13.031 17, Tyler Brabant 13.040 18, Tyler Davis 13.111 19, Brandon Berth 13.157 20, Chris Clayton 13.164 21, Mike Yurmanovich 13.197 22, Dylan Winkel 13.329 23, Kevin Seidler 13.593 24, J.J. Pagel 13.883 25, Randy Post 14.335 26, Tony Wondra no time.

HEAT 1

1, Lance Fassbender 2, Tyler Davis 3, Justin Miller 4, Katelyn Krebsbach 5, Brandon Berth 6, Mike Yurmanovich 7, Chris Clayton 8, J.J. Pagel 9, Tony Wondra(DNS).

HEAT 2

1, Travis Arenz 2, Ben Schmidt 3, Kurt Davis 4, Dylan Winkel 5, Tim McMullen 6, Will Gerrits 7, Kevin Seidler 8, Randy Post 9, Tyler Brabant.

HEAT 3

1, Shane Wenninger 2, Doug Wondra 3, Alex Pokorski 4, Tim Haddy 5, Preston Ruh 6, Justin Erickson 7, Bill Taylor 8, Cole Possi.

B MAIN

1, Will Gerrits 2, Bill Taylor 3, Chris Clayton 4, Tim McMullen 5, Tyler Brabant 6, Cole Possi 7, Tony Wondra 8, Kevin Seidler 9, J.J. Pagel 10, Randy Post (DNS).

A MAIN

1, Travis Arenz 2, Ben Schmidt 3, Doug Wondra 4, Lance Fassbender 5, Brandon Berth 6, Justin Erickson 7, Chris Clayton 8, Shane Wenninger 9, Will Gerrits 10, Tim Haddy 11, Dylan Winkel 12, Tyler Brabant 13, Justin Miller 14, Bill Taylor 15, Kurt Davis 16, Mike Yurmanovich 17, Tim McMullen 18, Preston Ruh 19, Tyler Davis 20, Cole Possi 21, Katelyn Krebsbach 22, Alex Pokorski.

 

SHEBOYGAN’S COUNTRY B93.7 LATE MODELS

HEAT 1

1, Jim Schmidt 2, Turk Letizia 3, Justin Schmidt 4, Sawyer Specht 5, Chad Ludwigson 6, Joe Bongiorno.

HEAT 2

1, Charlie Schmidt 2, Brad Mueller 3, Bill Edler 4, Eric Michaels 5, Wayne Freimund.

A MAIN

1, Brad Mueller 2, Bill Edler 3, Justin Schmidt 4, Joe Bongiorno 5, Turk Letizia 6, Eric Michaels 7, Charlie Schmidt 8, Chad Ludwigson 9, Sawyer Specht 10, Wayne Freimund 11, Jim Schmidt.

 

OOSTBURG AUTOMOTIVE GRAND NATIONALS

HEAT 1

1, Steven Weber 2, Josh Pierce 3, Tyler Kulow 4, Matt Yancey 5, Jonathan Otte 6, Tim Mitchell 7, Luke Scholten.

HEAT 2

1, Nick Schumacher 2, Kyle Caswell  3, Brian Gilles 4, Chad Espen 5, Marc Caswell 6, Scott Kafka 7, Joshua Koslowski.

HEAT 3

1, Donny Kulow 2, Paul Tod 3, T.J. Smith 4, Rich Garb 5, Will Schumacher 6, Jim Wirtz 7, Dick Hed.

A MAIN

1, T.J. Smith 2, Brian Gilles 3, Luke Scholten 4, Chad Espen 5, Jonathan Otte 6, Josh Pierce 7, Nick Schumacher 8, Matt Yancey 9, Donny Kulow 10, Kyle Caswell 11, Steven Weber  12, Tim Mitchell 13, Rich Garb 14, Jim Wirtz 15, Joshua Koslowski 16, Scott Kafka 17, Tyler Kulow 18, Paul Tod 19, Will Schumacher 20, Marc Caswell 21, Dick Hed (DNS).

 

NEXT STEP INSURANCE B MODS

HEAT 1

1, Travis Schmidt 2, Jonathan Hitsman 3, Spencer Long 4, Tim Warner 5, Brandon Knepprath 6, Patrick Hanson 7, Don Marquart 8, Gary Glander.

HEAT 2

1, Shane Long 2, Brendan Ostrowski 3, Andy Welter 4, Jonathon Baumann 5, Steve Lorier 6, James Rautmann 7, Tim Thrun 8, Rory Welch.

A MAIN

1, Tim Warner 2, Andy Welter 3, Travis Schmidt 4, Shane Long 5, Brendan Ostrowski 6, Brandon Knepprath 7, James Rautmann 8, Spencer Long 9, Tim Thrun 10, Rory Welch 11, Jonathan Hitsman 12, Jonathon Baumann 13, Patrick Hanson 14, Steve Lorier 15, Gary Glander 16, Don Marquart (DNS).