Smith, Weiss, Van Hierden tally PDTR A-main wins

By Jeff Pederson of Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) May 11, 2024 – The first full Plymouth Dirt Track Racing program of the 2024 season produced a little bit of everything with two new faces making their PDTR A-main victory lane debut and two distinguished veterans adding more hardware to their trophy cases on You’re Our Heroes Night at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, May 11.

The program served as a tip of the cap to the sacrifice and dedication of U.S. military, police, fire and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel by providing free admission to those who have worked to preserve the freedom, safety and health of United States citizens both near and far.

While temperatures dipped into the chilly 40s during the racing program, the racing action furnished on the venerable third-mile clay oval track provided plenty of heated competition to enhance the viewing pleasure of PDTR fans.

In the 30-lap PDTR 106.5 The Buzz, Seubert Calf Ranches Super Six Late Model Series 2024 season opening main event, 2014 PDTR Late Model champion Mitch McGrath of Waukesha put together a strong performance to claim his third career Super Six Late Model Series A-main triumph.

T.J. Smith of Greenville led all but two laps en route to his first career Akright Auto PDTR – Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car A main triumph. Brad Weiss of Cascade and Colten Van Hierden of Waupun each picked up A-main victories in the Oostburg Automotive Grand National and Sheboygan Flooring B Mod divisions respectively.

Polesitter Mike Mullen of Seymour jumped into the lead on the drop of the 30-lap PDTR Super Six Late Model Series main event before outside front row starter Mitch McGrath utilized the outside groove to wrestle the lead away from the low-riding Mullen.

McGrath then proceeded to build up a solid cushion over Mullen, who followed tight in his tracks along the outside groove in the ensuing laps.

The first of two caution flags appeared on lap 3 when Kevin Baldry of Omro spun in turn one. On the restart, Shawano’s Troy Springborn, who started third, slipped into second with Mullen dropping to third on lap 4.

Meanwhile, McGrath stretched his advantage on the field utilizing primarily the outside groove of the third-mile oval. On lap 19, the final yellow flag was displayed when Jayden Schmidt of Seymour rolled to a stop along the back stretch on lap 19.

Again, McGrath controlled the restart and began to pull away from the rest of the field when the race went green for the final time. While McGrath held down a solid cushion at the head of the pack, fifth starter Justin Richie of New London and five-time PDTR Late Model champion Brad Mueller of Random Lake, who started fourth, waged a spirited back-and-forth duel for the third spot.

McGrath went on to post his first PDTR Late Model A-main victory of the 2024 campaign and 16^th career PDTR Late Model main event triumph, which was good for a $1,500 payday.

Springborn wound up second, Ritchie placed third, Mueller took fourth and Mullen rounded out the top five.

Outside front-row starter Tony Wondra of Campbellsport outpowered polesitter Bill Taylor of Boltonville to seize the lead at the start of the 25-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car main event with fourth starter T.J. Smith seizing second on the opening circuit.

On lap 3, Smith reeled off a well-applied slide job entering turn three to pry the lead away from Wondra. Wondra battled back to pull even with Smith entering turn one on lap 4. However, Smith pounded the cushion to nail down the lead for good exiting turn two.

Sticking primarily to the outside line, the second-year PDTR 360 Sprint Car competitor began to encounter lapped traffic on lap 8. Smith, who has acquired nine track and series championships in 10 different racing divisions during his stellar career behind the wheel, expertly sliced his way through dense lapped traffic to build up a half-straightaway lead over Wondra on lap 19.

With two laps to go, sixth starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend dipped under Wondra to secure second in the running order.

Smith, who has collected over 70 A-main victories in his distinguished racing career, went on to post his first career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory in the caution-free race.

Karnitz went on to finish second, Wondra was third, 2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth placed fourth after starting ninth and Taylor placed fifth.

After starting on the pole, 85-year-old Dick Hed of Plymouth paced the opening lap of the 25-lap PDTR Grand National main event as third starter Brad Weiss of Cascade slipped into second.

Five laps later, Weiss incorporated the outside line to dart past Hed to take the lead on lap six. Further back in the field, defending PDTR Grand National co-champion Will Sorce of Franklin charged up from the 10^th starting position along the high groove to break into the top five.

The lone caution flag of the race came out on lap 9 when Scott Kafka of Cleveland spun. On the restart, 2022 PDTR Grand National champion Luke Scholten of Oostburg, who started ninth, utilized the high line to work his way into third on lap 12.

On lap 14, Scholten powered into second and quickly moved in to battle side-by-side with Weiss for the top spot. Scholten and Weiss dueled in close quarters starting on lap 16 before Weiss finally regained control of the top spot on lap 19.

Weiss maintained the lead in the closing laps, while Scholten made contact with the outside retaining wall in turn four with two laps to go, which dropped him out of the top five, and allowed 2019 PDTR Grand National champ Tyler Kulow of Sheboygan, who started fifth, to move into the runner-up position.

Weiss went on to rack up his first career PDTR Grand National A-main victory.

Kulow placed second, Sorce finished third, 11^th starter Dustin Weiss of Iron Ridge finished fourth and T. J. Smith of Greenville placed fifth after starting 12^th.

Polesitter Joe Shelby of Slinger led the 25-lap PDTR B Mod main event over the opening three laps before the first of four caution flags appeared when Steve Lorier of Sheboygan stopped near the turn one wall on lap 4.

After another caution, fifth starter Barrett Hummelmeier of Beaver Dam slipped into second and Colten Van Hierden, who started fourth, rode the outside groove to sweep into second place following the restart.

Shortly after, Van Hierden powered into the top spot with a strong outside move on lap 5. Following two more caution flags, Van Hierden continued to hold down the top spot. However, Hummelmeier moved in to draw even with Van Hierden on lap 21.

Van Hierden maintained the top spot before Hummelmeier spun into the field on lap 24. The veteran competitor cruised to a full straightaway lead en route to his fourth career PDTR B Mod A-main victory.

Travis Schmidt of Plymouth, who started third, placed second, sixth starter Cole Thomas of Franklin placed third, Geoff Zdroik of Rubicon, who started 10^th, placed fourth and eighth starter Jim Zdroik of Hartford rounded out the top five.

2008 PDTR Late Model champion Bill Rezutek of Big Bend won the Late Model B main and Spencer Long of Sheboygan Falls earned the victory in the B Mod B main.

2008 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Lance Fassbender of Burnett registered the overall fastest lap in Akright Auto Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car hot lap-heat race group qualifying in 12.666 seconds.

Mitch McGrath claimed the fast qualifier award in the 106.5 The Buzz Seubert Calf Ranches Super Six Late Model division with a lap of 13.882 seconds.

The second event of the 2024 PDTR campaign, which was sponsored by the city of Sheboygan Falls Fire Department, attracted 92 total entries, including 26 B Mods, 24 Late Models, 22 360 Sprint Cars and 20 Grand Nationals.

The next Plymouth Dirt Track Racing program on Saturday, May 18 will feature the first of five 2024 scheduled appearances at The Plymouth Dirt Track for the Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series. Also on the card for the all-Sprint Car program are the Akright Auto PDTR 360 Sprint Cars and Autometer Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Cars.

Grandstand gates open at 4:30 p.m. with on-track action starting at 5:30 p.m.

Weather information for all Plymouth Dirt Track Racing events will be posted on the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram pages, as well as the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing website – www.plymouthdtr.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, Twitter and Instagram.

106.5 THE BUZZ SEUBERT CALF RANCHES SUPER SIX LATE MODELS

A Main: 74-Mitch McGrath [2]; 2. 81-Troy Springborn [3]; 3. 70-Justin Ritchie [5]; 4. 89-Brad Mueller [4]; 5. 99M-Mike Mullen [1]; 6. 97-Justin Schmidt [8]; 7. 77-Bill Edler [6]; 8. 19J-Justin Green [14]; 9. 10S-Taylor Scheffler [16]; 10. 9N-Tom Naeyaert [7]; 11. D1-Turk Letizia [11]; 12. 99-Sawyer Specht [18]; 13. 10-Paul Parker [9]; 14. 99S-Scott Specht [15]; 15. 03-Dan White [13]; 16. 24S-Jayden Schmidt [12]; 17. 8R-Bill Rezutek [17]; 18. 22-Charlie Schmidt [10]; 19. R1-Randy Manos [20]; 20. 54-Kevin Baldry [19]

B Main: 1. 8R-Bill Rezutek [1]; 2. 99-Sawyer Specht [5]; 3. 54-Kevin Baldry [2]; 4. R1-Randy Manos [3]; 5. (DNF) 9Z-Jayme Zidar [7]; 6. (DNF) 44-Wayne Freimund [4]; 7. (DNF) 25-Jared Siefert [8]; 8. (DNS) 57M-Eric Michaels

Heat 1: 1. 81-Troy Springborn [3]; 2. 89-Brad Mueller [2]; 3. 70-Justin Ritchie [4]; 4. 97-Justin Schmidt [5]; 5. 03-Dan White [6]; 6. 8R-Bill Rezutek [7]; 7. 25-Jared Siefert [1]; 8. 44-Wayne Freimund [8]

Heat 2: 1. 99M-Mike Mullen [3]; 2. 9N-Tom Naeyaert [1]; 3. 22-Charlie Schmidt [2]; 4. 10-Paul Parker [5]; 5. 19J-Justin Green [6]; 6. 10S-Taylor Scheffler [7]; 7. 9Z-Jayme Zidar [4]; 8. 99-Sawyer Specht [8]

Heat 3: 1. 74-Mitch McGrath [3]; 2. 77-Bill Edler [1]; 3. D1-Turk Letizia [2]; 4. 24S-Jayden Schmidt [4]; 5. 99S-Scott Specht [5]; 6. 54-Kevin Baldry [6]; 7. R1-Randy Manos [8]; 8. 57M-Eric Michaels [7]

Qualifying 1: 1. 81-Troy Springborn, 14.243 [8]; 2. 89-Brad Mueller, 14.614 [4]; 3. 25-Jared Siefert, 14.856 [1]; 4. 70-Justin Ritchie, 15.035 [6]; 5. 8R-Bill Rezutek, 15.175 [7]; 6. 97-Justin Schmidt, 15.516 [5]; 7. 03-Dan White, 15.559 [3]; 8. 44-Wayne Freimund, 15.885 [2]

Qualifying 2: 1. 99M-Mike Mullen, 14.271 [3]; 2. 22-Charlie Schmidt, 14.380 [2]; 3. 9N-Tom Naeyaert, 14.440 [7]; 4. 9Z-Jayme Zidar, 14.502 [6]; 5. 10-Paul Parker, 14.614 [5]; 6. 19J-Justin Green, 14.673 [8]; 7. 10S-Taylor Scheffler, 14.736 [1]; 8. 99-Sawyer Specht [4]

Qualifying 3: 1. 74-Mitch McGrath, 13.882 [6]; 2. D1-Turk Letizia, 13.997 [2]; 3. 77-Bill Edler, 14.186 [3]; 4. 24S-Jayden Schmidt, 14.18 6[7]; 5. 99S-Scott Specht, 14.378 [5]; 6. 54-Kevin Baldry, 15.053 [8]; 7. 57M-Eric Michaels, 15.154 [1]; 8. R1-Randy Manos, 15.377 [4]

AKRIGHT AUTO PLYMOUTH DIRT TRACK RACING 360 SPRINT CARS

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 69S-TJ Smith [4]; 2. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [6]; 3. 11-Tony Wondra [2]; 4. 35-Ben Schmidt [9]; 5. 69-Bill Taylor [1]; 6. 7-Lance Fassbender [10]; 7. 4-Alex Pokorski [14]; 8. 3-Justin Erickson [5]; 9. 22B-Brandon Berth [8]; 10. 51-Chris Larson [3]; 11. 21H-TJ Haddy [11]; 12. 09-Clayton Rossmann 7]; 13. 0-Blake Wondra [18]; 14. 54-Randy Post [12]; 15. 24-Scott Conger [15]; 16. 14J-Joseph Hintz [22]; 17. 30-Doug Wondra [13]; 18. 66T-Tristan Koenings [17]; 19. 53A-Spyder Akright [19]; 20. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [16]; 21. 46-Kevin Ruh [21]; 22. 12P-JJ Pagel [20]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22B-Brandon Berth [2]; 2. 09-Clayton Rossmann [1]; 3. 35-Ben Schmidt [3]; 4. 7-Lance Fassbender [4]; 5. 3-Justin Erickson [5]; 6. 66T-Tristan Koenings [6]; 7. 0-Blake Wondra [7]; 8. 46-Kevin Ruh [8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 69S-TJ Smith [2]; 2. 51-Chris Larson [1]; 3. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [4]; 4. 11-Tony Wondra [5]; 5. 30-Doug Wondra [7]; 6. 53A-Spyder Akright [6]; 7. (DNS) 08-Katelyn Krebsbach

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 69-Bill Taylor [4]; 2. 4-Alex Pokorski [1]; 3. 21H-TJ Haddy [3]; 4. 54-Randy Post [2]; 5. 24-Scott Conger [5]; 6. 14J-Joseph Hintz [6]; 7. (DNS) 12P-JJ Pagel

Qualifying 1 (3 Laps): 1. 7-Lance Fassbender, 12.666 [6]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt, 12.750 [4]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth, 12.773 [1]; 4. 09-Clayton Rossmann, 12.807 [5]; 5. 3-Justin Erickson, 12.983 [2]; 6. 66T-Tristan Koenings, 13.110 [3]; 7. 0-Blake Wondra, 13.331 [7]; 8. 46-Kevin Ruh, 14.702 [8]

Qualifying 2 (3 Laps): 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 12.969 [5]; 2. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 13.053 [4]; 3. 69S-TJ Smith, 13.085 [1]; 4. 51-Chris Larson, 13.118 [2]; 5. 11-Tony Wondra, 13.167 [7]; 6. 53A-Spyder Akright, 13.595 [3]; 7. 30-Doug Wondra, 13.599 [6]

Qualifying 3 (3 Laps): 1. 69-Bill Taylor, 13.330 [1]; 2. 21H-TJ Haddy, 13.496 [2]; 3. 54-Randy Post, 13.553 [4]; 4. 4-Alex Pokorski, 13.632 [5]; 5. 24-Scott Conger, 13.731 [6]; 6. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 13.802 [7]; 7. 12P-JJ Pagel, 13.997 [3]

 

OOSTBURG AUTOMOTIVE GRAND NATIONALS

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 53B-Brad Weiss [3]; 2. 24K-Tyler Kulow [5]; 3. 14X-Will Sorce [10]; 4. 53W-Dustin Weiss [11]; 5. 69-TJ Smith [12]; 6. 80-Luke Scholten [9]; 7. 95-Donny Kulow [6]; 8. 89-Brian Gilles [8]; 9. 5R-Nate Ruh [4]; 10. 6-Dick Hed [1]; 11. 52W-Jack Wiroll [18]; 12. 15-Derek Kaat [13]; 13. 55-Tony Miller [15]; 14. 42-Jason Juech [17]; 15. 34-Steven Weber [2]; 16. 23-Scott Kafka [16]; 17. 35-Jared Weiss [20]; 18. 54-Austin Yancey [19]; 19. 5M-Jeff Muehlbauer [7]; 20. 47-Nick Schumacher [14]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 69-TJ Smith [6]; 2. 6-Dick Hed [1]; 3. 5R-Nate Ruh [2]; 4. 80-Luke Scholten [5]; 5. 15-Derek Kaat [3]; 6. 23-Scott Kafka [4]; 7. 35-Jared Weiss [7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 34-Steven Weber [1]; 2. 5M-Jeff Muehlbauer [4]; 3. 95-Donny Kulow [3]; 4. 14X-Will Sorce [5]; 5. 47-Nick Schumacher [6]; 6. 54-Austin Yancey [7]; 7. 52W-Jack Wiroll [2]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 53B-Brad Weiss [1]; 2. 24K-Tyler Kulow [2]; 3. 53W-Dustin Weiss [5]; 4. 89-Brian Gilles [4]; 5. 55-Tony Miller [3]; 6. 42-Jason Juech [6]

SHEBOYGAN FLOORING B MODS

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 66C-Colten Van Hierden [7]; 2. 3-Travis Schmidt [3]; 3. 91-Cole Thomas [6]; 4. 18Z-Geoff Zdroik [10]; 5. 6Z-Jim Zdroik [8]; 6. 3Z-Austin Zdroik [9]; 7. 51-Jared Apel [12]; 8. 33H-Barrett Hummelmeier [5]; 9. 9-Hunter Larson [2]; 10. 32Z-Andy Welter [11]; 11. 73-Rory Welch [17]; 12. 17-Brandon Knepprath [14]; 13. 2-Joe Shelby [1]; 14. 11B-Brad Buckman [15]; 15. 66-Steve Lorier [4]; 16. 29M-Ryan Mech [16]; 17. 25S-Steve Ellis [19]; 18. 29S-Scott Quarnstrom [18]; 19. 89-Logan Brass [20]; 20. 59S-Spencer Long [13]

B Main: 1. 59S-Spencer Long [1]; 2. 17-Brandon Knepprath [3]; 3. 11B-Brad Buckman [10]; 4. 29M-Ryan Mech [2]; 5. 73-Rory Welch [5]; 6. 29S-Scott Quarnstrom [7]; 7. 25S-Steve Ellis [9]; 8. 89-Logan Brass [11]; 9. 31W-Kelan Wolfe [12]; 10. 96Z-Nick Zdroik [6]; 11. (DNF) 11S-Zachary Schmidt [8]; 12. (DNF) 19-Parker Glander [4]; 13. (DNS) 18-Miranda Sandholm; 14. (DNS) 12T-Tim Thrun

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 33H-Barrett Hummelmeier [4]; 2. 66C-Colten Van Hierden [5]; 3. 18Z-Geoff Zdroik [6]; 4. 51-Jared Apel [7]; 5. 11B-Brad Buckman [8]; 6. 17-Brandon Knepprath [3]; 7. 73-Rory Welch [2]; 8. 11S-Zachary Schmidt [1]; 9. 25S-Steve Ellis [9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Travis Schmidt [3]; 2. 91-Cole Thomas [4]; 3. 2-Joe Shelby [1]; 4. 6Z-Jim Zdroik [5]; 5. 59S-Spencer Long [2]; 6. 12T-Tim Thrun [7]; 7. 96Z-Nick Zdroik [6]; 8. 89-Logan Brass [8]; 9. 18-Miranda Sandholm [9]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Hunter Larson [2]; 2. 32Z-Andy Welter [6]; 3. 66-Steve Lorier [3]; 4. 3Z-Austin Zdroik [5]; 5. 29M-Ryan Mech [4]; 6. 19-Parker Glander [1]; 7. 29S-Scott Quarnstrom [8]; 8. 31W-Kelan Wolfe [7]