Schmidt reclaims record, Ruh and Green earn wins 

By Jeff Pederson – Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 22, 2026 – Mitch McGrath of Waukesha sealed his second victory in the span of three days, while Random Lake’s Brad Mueller wrapped up his seventh Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Late Model championship in the Seubert Calf Ranches Super Six Late Model Series 2026 season finale at The Plymouth Dirt Track on Saturday, Aug. 22.

Two-time track champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth took another big step toward buttoning up a third title by securing his seventh A-main win of the 2026 season to regain the division’s all-time victory record with his 35th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car triumph.

In the Oostburg Automotive Grand National main event, Mavrick Ruh of Elkhart Lake collected his first feature win of the 2026 campaign at The Plymouth Dirt Track.

Former track champion Justin Green of Sheboygan Falls put on a driving clinic to claim his second Sheboygan Flooring B Mod A-main win of the 2026 season from a mid-pack starting position.

After an aborted start for a four-car incident, outside front row starter Nick Anvelink of Bonduel grabbed the initial lead of the 30-lap Super Six Late Model Series headliner with 2014 PDTR Late Model champion Mitch McGrath, who started fourth, in tow.

McGrath, who claimed a $3,000 Independence 30 victory at The Plymouth Dirt Track two days prior on Thursday, Aug. 20, hounded Anvelink over the next nine laps, hunting low and high for his opportunity to wrestle away the lead.

Finally, McGrath worked his way past Anvelink in turn one on lap 10. Five laps later, the second caution flag of the race appeared for a single-car spin in turn four. On the restart, 2025 Super Six Late Model Series champ Taylor Scheffler of Waukesha used a low move to slip by Anvelink and seize second.

After another caution on lap 20 for a two-car incident in turn two, Anvelink battled back to regain second. However, the fourth and final caution flag was displayed on the following lap for a two-car incident in turn four.

Following the restart, Scheffler bolted back into second and began cutting into the lead gap. However, McGrath was too strong on the way to his second A-main triumph at the Plymouth Dirt Track in three days, which was worth $2,500. It was McGrath’s second win of the 2026 season in his only two starts at the track, and his 18th career PDTR Late Model victory.

Scheffler wound up second, Anvelink was third, third starter Joel Bennett of Hortonville finished fourth, and Brad Mueller finished fifth to nail down his seventh PDTR Late Model championship and third Super Six Late Model Series title.

Ben Schmidt bolted into the lead on the drop of the green flag in the 25-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car main event from the pole. While Schmidt began to swiftly separate himself from the field, fifth starter Tyler Davis of Franklin used the outside groove to power his way into second on lap 3.

Schmidt caught the rear of the field on lap 6 and made quick work of the slower cars to extend his advantage over Davis. The first caution flag was displayed on lap 15 when an infield tire was knocked onto the track surface.

Two laps later, a four-car incident in turn four prompted the second and final caution of the race.

Davis used lapped traffic to cut into the lead gap as the laps wound down, but the veteran Schmidt, in his 27th season of racing, remained unflappable on the way to his seventh PDTR 360 Sprint Car win of the season, and eighth overall triumph of 2026.

The victory vaulted Schmidt back out of a tie with Brandon McMullen and into sole possession of the all-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car victory record with his 35th career win. It was also the 60th triumph of Schmidt’s Midwest Sprint Car Association career.

Davis placed second, Andover, Minn. native and PDTR 360 Sprint Car rookie Carter Chevalier placed a career-best third from the seventh starting spot, T.J. Smith of Greenville moved up from the 10th starting position to finish fourth, and Tristan Furseth of Cambridge charged from the 12th starting spot to round out the top five.

Second starter Will Schumacher of Hartford led the opening lap of the 25-lap Grand National main event before polesitter Mavrick Ruh ducked under Schumacher to take over the top spot on lap two.

One lap later, 2019 PDTR Grand National champion and current points leader Tyler Kulow of Plymouth moved into second from the fourth starting position and quickly charged in to pressure Ruh for the lead.

Two caution flags for single-car spins slowed the pace on laps 11 and 15, as Kulow continued to doggedly challenge Ruh for the top spot. Despite Kulow’s persistent efforts, Ruh was not to be denied as he rolled on to win his second career PDTR Grand National A main event.

Kulow had to settle for second; three-time PDTR Grand National champion Brad Lubach of Kiel maneuvered up from the 10th starting spot to take third in an IMCA Stock Car, sixth starter Jeff Muehlbauer of Elkhart Lake took fourth, and Josh Pierce of Adell placed fifth from the 12th starting position.

Tyler Kulow will take a 30-point lead over Jeff Muehlbauer in the PDTR Grand National standings into the final night of the 2026 PDTR on Friday, Aug. 28.

Outside front row starter Brad Buckman of Kiel took the lead at the start of the 25-lap B Mod main event with polesitter Ryan Pafford of Kiel following in second. The first of three caution flags appeared on lap eight for debris.

Following the restart, third starter Hunter Larson of Oshkosh moved into second with 2017 PDTR B Mod champion Justin Green following into third from the 10th starting spot.

After another caution on lap 9 for a single-car spin, Green worked past Larson to take second on lap 10. Three laps later, Green grabbed the lead and never looked back on the way to his second main event win of the season and 10th career PDTR B Mod A-main triumph.

2018 PDTR B Mod champion Tim Sheppard of Beaver Dam mounted a stirring run to second from the ninth starting spot, Buckman wound up third, Larson was fourth, and fifth starter Steve Lorier of Sheboygan rounded out the top five.

Heading into the final night of the 2026 season on Friday, Aug. 28, 2024, PDTR B Mod champ Travis Schmidt of Cascade holds a slim 8-point lead over Tim Sheppard.

Travis Kleindl of Beaver Dam won the 12-lap B Mod B main.

Mitch McGrath claimed fast qualifier honors in the Late Model division in 13.359 seconds.

Ethon Stear of Hebron, Ill. picked up fast qualifier accolades in the 360 Sprint Car ranks with a lap of 12.551 seconds.

The 15th event of the 2026 PDTR campaign, which was sponsored by Custom Craft Trophy and Embroidery, attracted a field of 86 total cars, including 27 B Mods, 22 360 Sprint Cars, 20 Late Models, and 17 Grand Nationals.

On Friday, Aug. 28, the WABAM Dirt Kings Late Model Tour makes its lone stop of the 2026 campaign at The Plymouth Dirt Track. It will also be the final points night of the season for the Oostburg Automotive Grand Nationals and Sheboygan Flooring B Mods. The Dirt Devil Series will be part of the Grand National portion of the program, and the Akright Auto 360 Sprint Cars will also be in action.

In addition, the End of Season Championship Night will include a total increased purse of $3,000 in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car, Grand National and B Mod divisions, which equates to an extra $1,000 in each.

The 360 Sprint Cars will race for $1,000 to win and $200 to start. Grand Nationals will compete for $500 to win and $105 to start, and B Mods will receive $500 to win and $85 to start.

Spectator gates open at 5 p.m. with hot laps at 6 p.m. and opening ceremonies at 7 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.

 

SEUBERT CALF RANCHES SUPER SIX LATE MODEL SERIES PRESENTED BY SHEBOYGAN’S ROCK STATION 106.5 THE BUZZ

A Main (30 Laps): 1. 74-Mitch McGrath [4]; 2. 10S-Taylor Scheffler [6]; 3. 15-Nick Anvelink [2]; 4. 7-Joel Bennett [3]; 5. 89-Brad Mueller [5]; 6. 97-Justin Schmidt [14]; 7. 56-Justin Ritchie [17]; 8. 99-Scott Specht [1]; 9. 55B-Joe Bongiorno [11]; 10. 42-Paul Niznik [12]; 11. 99S-Sawyer Specht [7]; 12. 21M-Shawn Miller [15]; 13. 8R-Bill Rezutek [18]; 14. 3-Brett Swedberg [10]; 15. 21X-Kurt Moeller [9]; 16. 42C-Terry Casey [8]; 17. 10-Paul Parker [13]; 18. 54-Kevin Baldry [16]; 19. (DNS) 250-Turk Letizia [20]; 20. (DNS) 99R-Aaron Reivitis [19]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Nick Anvelink[2]; 2. 10S-Taylor Scheffler[3]; 3. 99S-Sawyer Specht[5]; 4. 3-Brett Swedberg[4]; 5. 42-Paul Niznik[6]; 6. 97-Justin Schmidt[7]; 7. (DNF) 250-Turk Letizia[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Joel Bennett[2]; 2. 74-Mitch McGrath[3]; 3. 42C-Terry Casey[4]; 4. 56-Justin Ritchie[1]; 5. 10-Paul Parker[5]; 6. 21M-Shawn Miller[7]; 7. (DNF) 99R-Aaron Reivitis[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Scott Specht[2]; 2. 89-Brad Mueller[3]; 3. 55B-Joe Bongiorno[1]; 4. 21X-Kurt Moeller[5]; 5. 54-Kevin Baldry[4]; 6. 8R-Bill Rezutek[6]

Qualifying 1: 1. 10S-Taylor Scheffler, 13.539[7]; 2. 15-Nick Anvelink, 13.612[4]; 3. 250-Turk Letizia, 13.631[3]; 4. 3-Brett Swedberg, 13.643[5]; 5. 99S-Sawyer Specht, 13.872[2]; 6. 42-Paul Niznik, 13.946[1]; 7. 97-Justin Schmidt, 14.056[6]

Qualifying 2: 1. 74-Mitch McGrath, 13.359[5]; 2. 7-Joel Bennett, 13.677[6]; 3. 56-Justin Ritchie, 13.784[4]; 4. 42C-Terry Casey, 13.900[7]; 5. 10-Paul Parker, 14.060[3]; 6. 99R-Aaron Reivitis, 14.384[2]; 7. 21M-Shawn Miller, 14.616[1]

Qualifying 3: 1. 89-Brad Mueller, 13.430[5]; 2. 99-Scott Specht, 13.508[6]; 3. 55B-Joe Bongiorno, 13.867[1]; 4. 54-Kevin Baldry, 13.997[4]; 5. 21X-Kurt Moeller, 14.052[3]; 6. 8R-Bill Rezutek, 15.179[2]

 

AKRIGHT AUTO PLYMOUTH DIRT TRACK RACING 360 SPRINT CARS

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 35-Ben Schmidt [1]; 2. 68T-Tyler Davis [5]; 3. 15-Carter Chevalier [7]; 4. 69S-TJ Smith [10]; 5. 57-Tristan Furseth [12]; 6. 5-Chad Stouthamer [11]; 7. 22B-Brandon Berth [8]; 8. 59-Ethon Stear [4]; 9. 3-Justin Erickson [21]; 10. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [14]; 11. 14J-Joseph Hintz [9]; 12. 20W-Weston Finke [3]; 13. 11-Tony Wondra [2]; 14. 51C-Brok Clifcorn [22]; 15. 55P-Brady Portschy [15]; 16. 68P-Frank Perko [18]; 17. 55S-Ryan Sawusch [19]; 18. 34T-Tom Becker [16]; 19. 69-Bill Taylor [6]; 20. 46-Steven Ruh [13]; 21. 5K-Kevin Seidler [17]; 22. (DNS) 67-Josh Walter

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Tony Wondra[1]; 2. 68T-Tyler Davis[2]; 3. 69-Bill Taylor[4]; 4. 57-Tristan Furseth[3]; 5. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach[5]; 6. 34T-Tom Becker[6]; 7. (DNS) 67-Josh Walter; 8. (DNS) 3-Justin Erickson

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 20W-Weston Finke[2]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt[3]; 3. 15-Carter Chevalier[4]; 4. 14J-Joseph Hintz[5]; 5. 68P-Frank Perko[1]; 6. 55P-Brady Portschy[6]; 7. 5K-Kevin Seidler[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 59-Ethon Stear[4]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth[1]; 3. 69S-TJ Smith[2]; 4. 5-Chad Stouthamer[3]; 5. 46-Steven Ruh[5]; 6. 51C-Brok Clifcorn[7]; 7. 55S-Ryan Sawusch[6]

Qualifying 1: 1. 69-Bill Taylor, 12.661[6]; 2. 57-Tristan Furseth, 12.917[4]; 3. 68T-Tyler Davis, 12.971[8]; 4. 11-Tony Wondra, 13.096[1]; 5. 67-Josh Walter, 13.225[3]; 6. 3-Justin Erickson, 13.401[5]; 7. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 13.895[7]; 8. 34T-Tom Becker, 14.182[2]

Qualifying 2: 1. 15-Carter Chevalier, 12.690[2]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt, 12.722[1]; 3. 20W-Weston Finke, 12.776[7]; 4. 68P-Frank Perko, 12.863[6]; 5. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 12.889[3]; 6. 55P-Brady Portschy, 13.092[4]; 7. 5K-Kevin Seidler, 13.262[5]

Qualifying 3: 1. 59-Ethon Stear, 12.551[4]; 2. 5-Chad Stouthamer, 12.620[3]; 3. 69S-TJ Smith, 12.668[5]; 4. 22B-Brandon Berth, 12.752[2]; 5. 46-Steven Ruh, 12.758[7]; 6. 55S-Ryan Sawusch, 13.005[6]; 7. (DNS) 51C-Brok Clifcorn

 

OOSTBURG AUTOMOTIVE GRAND NATIONALS 

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 93-Mavrick Ruh [1]; 2. 24K-Tyler Kulow [4]; 3. 39-Brad Lubach [10]; 4. 5M-Jeff Muehlbauer [6]; 5. 13-Josh Pierce [12]; 6. 80-Luke Scholten [11]; 7. 16-Will Schumacher [2]; 8. 15M-Justin Miller [5]; 9. 53W-Dustin Weiss [13]; 10. 53B-Matt Urban [9]; 11. 95-Donny Kulow [15]; 12. 54-Austin Yancey [16]; 13. 42-Jason Juech [7]; 14. 53T-Tanner Lorenz [14]; 15. 15-Derek Kaat [8]; 16. 93S-Daniel Schumacher [17]; 17. 6-Dick Hed [3]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 42-Jason Juech[4]; 2. 6-Dick Hed[2]; 3. 39-Brad Lubach[5]; 4. 24K-Tyler Kulow[3]; 5. 53W-Dustin Weiss[6]; 6. 54-Austin Yancey[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 93-Mavrick Ruh[1]; 2. 80-Luke Scholten[5]; 3. 15M-Justin Miller[3]; 4. 15-Derek Kaat[4]; 5. 53T-Tanner Lorenz[2]; 6. 93S-Daniel Schumacher[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 5M-Jeff Muehlbauer[3]; 2. 53B-Brad Weiss[4]; 3. 13-Josh Pierce[5]; 4. 16-Will Schumacher[1]; 5. 95-Donny Kulow[2]

 

SHEBOYGAN FLOORING B MODS

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 19J-Justin Green [10]; 2. 29S-Tim Sheppard [9]; 3. 11B-Brad Buckman [2]; 4. 9-Hunter Larson [3]; 5. 66-Steve Lorier [5]; 6. 66C-Colten Van Hierden [14]; 7. 3-Travis Schmidt [8]; 8. 26P-Ryan Pafford [1]; 9. 48-Matt Urban [6]; 10. 58-Shane Bahr [18]; 11. 12T-Tim Thrun [20]; 12. 99-Jordan Gracyalny [12]; 13. 18Z-Geoff Zdroik [11]; 14. 19-Parker Glander [4]; 15. 69-Travis Kleindl [17]; 16. 59S-Spencer Long [19]; 17. 73-Rory Welch [13]; 18. 17-Brandon Knepprath [15]; 19. 67-Vince Jung [7]; 20. 85B-Kevin Braaksma [16]

B Main (12 Laps): 1. 69-Travis Kleindl[5]; 2. 58-Shane Bahr[7]; 3. 59S-Spencer Long[6]; 4. 12T-Tim Thrun[2]; 5. 68-Dan Jung[9]; 6. 33H-Chad Hummelmeier[4]; 7. 88-Jonathan Hitsman[3]; 8. (DNF) 96Z-Nick Zdroik[11]; 9. (DNF) 28-Peter Hall[8]; 10. (DNF) 117-Jim Juneau[1]; 11. (DNS) 33-Timothy Murphy

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 48-Matt Urban[4]; 2. 26P-Ryan Pafford[1]; 3. 99-Jordan Gracyalny[7]; 4. 73-Rory Welch[3]; 5. 117-Jim Juneau[2]; 6. 69-Travis Kleindl[6]; 7. 68-Dan Jung[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Hunter Larson[2]; 2. 11B-Brad Buckman[1]; 3. 67-Vince Jung[4]; 4. 66C-Colten Van Hierden[6]; 5. 12T-Tim Thrun[3]; 6. 59S-Spencer Long[5]; 7. 33-Timothy Murphy[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 29S-Tim Sheppard[5]; 2. 19-Parker Glander[3]; 3. 18Z-Geoff Zdroik[6]; 4. 17-Brandon Knepprath[4]; 5. 88-Jonathan Hitsman[2]; 6. 58-Shane Bahr[7]; 7. 96Z-Nick Zdroik[1]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Travis Schmidt[4]; 2. 19J-Justin Green[5]; 3. 66-Steve Lorier[3]; 4. 85B-Kevin Braaksma[1]; 5. 33H-Chad Hummelmeier[2]; 6. 28-Peter Hall[6]