By Jeff Pederson – Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) May 7, 2022 – With the customary Wisconsin spring evening chill in the air, the 62^nd consecutive season of racing competition at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. opened with plenty of heated action in all four divisions, during the 2022 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing season opener on Saturday, May 7.

Defending PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls capitalized on a late-race incident between former PDTR 360 Sprint Car champions Ben Schmidt of Plymouth and Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh to earn the 25-lap Kristine Hartmann Pleasantview Realty 360 Sprint Car main event victory.

Jim Schmidt of Cleveland outdueled his son, Justin, to capture the season opening- Sheboygan’s County B93.7 25-lap Late Model A-main.

Luke Scholten of Oostburg rolled to victory in the 25-lap Oostburg Automotive Grand National A main and Jonathan Hitsman of Sheboygan used a late-race pass to secure the 25-lap Next Step Insurance B Mod A-main triumph.

After drawing the pole position, Arenz bolted into the lead on the drop of the green flag of the 25-lap 360 Sprint Car headliner as fourth starter Ben Schmidt ducked into second in the running order.

By lap 4, Arenz had caught the rear of the field on the multi-groove racing surface. On lap 7, the red flag was displayed when Will Gerrits of Waupun flipped in turn one.

On the restart, sixth starter Brandon McMullen made a bold move along the low line to sweep past Schmidt into second in turn two. Four laps later, Arenz found himself bogged down by heavy lapped traffic, which allowed McMullen to close the gap significantly.

On lap 11, Arenz made slight contact with a lapped car along the high groove as McMullen bolted into the lead along the low line exiting turn four. McMullen proceeded to power away from Arenz over the next five laps before Schmidt worked past Arenz to take over second on lap 16 and quickly set his sights on McMullen for the lead.

One lap later, Schmidt made a big run on McMullen along the low line entering turn three. However, contact between the two cars sent Schmidt flipping and resulted in damage to McMullen’s car to bring out the second red flag of the race.

With Schmidt out of the race and McMullen relegated to the pit area to make repairs before restarting the race at the rear of the field, Arenz regained the lead on the ensuing restart. Arenz pulled away on the restart before 2018 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Justin Miller of Plymouth spun in turn three on lap 18 to bring out a yellow flag.

Following the final restart, 2008 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Lance Fassbender of Burnett, who started eighth, and fifth starter Tim Haddy of Waupun waged an epic battle for second in the closing laps.

Fassbender and Haddy, two of the most experienced drivers in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car division, exchanged multiple slide jobs over the final seven circuits before Haddy emerged with the runner-up spot with two laps remaining.

Meanwhile, Arenz shot out to a commanding lead down the stretch en route to his 11^th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car and 23^rd overall Midwest Sprint Car Association A-main victory.

Haddy finished second, Fassbender was third, Doug Wondra of Oakfield charged from the 14^th starting spot to finish fourth and Waldo’s Chris Clayton placed fifth, after starting 16^th.

Late Model rookie Bill Edler of Howards Grove outdueled polesitter Kevin Baldry of Omro to lead the opening lap of the 25-lap Late Model main event. On lap 2, the lone caution of the race appeared for an incident in turn three.

Jim Schmidt of Cleveland, who started fourth, flexed his muscle on the restart to power around Edler and into the top spot utilizing the high groove of the third-mile clay oval. On lap 6, four-time defending PDTR Late Model champion Justin Schmidt, who started fifth, moved past Baldry and Edler to secure second.

Justin Schmidt ducked low to pressure Jim Schmidt for the lead on lap 7, but was unable to make the pass attempt stick. Five laps later, Jim Schmidt made slight contact with a lapped car, which allowed Justin Schmidt to close the gap significantly.

As Jim Schmidt weaved his way through lapped traffic, Justin Schmidt again ducked low to mount another bid for the lead in turn four on lap 20. However, once again Jim Schmidt successfully fended off his son’ challenge and held on over the final five laps to notch his 17^th career PDTR Late Model A-main victory.

Justin Schmidt had to settle for second, sixth starter Justin Ritchie of New London finished third, Charlie Schmidt of Oostburg finished fourth after starting eighth and Baldry rounded out the top five.

Polesitter Steven Ruh of Elkhart Lake powered into the lead in the Bender Racing 89 car on the drop of the green flag in the 25-lap Grand National A main. On lap 2, fourth starter Luke Scholten used the outside groove to challenge Ruh for the lead.

Ruh and Scholten then proceeded to put on a racing clinic over the next 15 laps as they traded the lead back and forth on multiple occasions in an entertaining side-by-side duel.

With Ruh holding strong on the low line, Scholten skillfully worked the high groove to finally gain the top spot for good on lap 16. As Scholten pulled away over the final nine laps, 2019 PDTR Grand National champion Tyler Kulow of Plymouth, who started third, slipped past Ruh to take second on lap 23.

Scholten went on to post his 16^th career PDTR Grand National A-main triumph, Kulow placed second, Ruh wound up third, 2008 PDTR Grand National champ Matt Yancey of Sheboygan placed fourth after starting fifth and Donny Kulow of Elkhart Lake, who started second, placed fifth.

Rory Welch of Grafton grabbed the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap B Mod A main from the pole. On lap three, third starter Shane Long of Sheboygan Falls moved under Welch to take the lead in turn four.

By lap 13, Long had built up a full straightaway lead over Welch. Four laps later, the lone caution flag of the race appeared when Welch and Gary Glander of Sheboygan Falls collided exiting turn four.

Following the restart, ninth starter Jon Hitsman of Sheboygan powered into second and quickly closed in on Long for the top spot. On lap 21, Hitsman used the high line to pull even with Long. The two drivers dueled side by side over the next two laps, before Hitsman gained the lead in turn two on lap 23.

Hitsman held on over the final two laps to rack up his third career PDTR B Mod A-main victory. Shane Long placed second, Jonathan Baumann of Sheboygan, who started fourth, placed third, fifth starter Andy Welter of Hartford placed fourth and Spencer Long of Sheboygan Falls finished fifth after starting 10^th.

Tony Wondra of Campbellsport won the 15-lap PDTR 360 Sprint B main.

The first PDTR program of the 2022 season was sponsored by Collins State Bank.

PDTR action featuring 360 Sprint Cars, Late Models, Grand Nationals and B Mods is scheduled to resume with Fire, Police and Emergency Medical Services Night on Saturday, May 14. All firefighters, police officers and emergency medical services personnel will receive free admission with a valid identification.

Spectator gates open at 3:30 p.m. with hot laps at 4:30 p.m. and racing at 5 p.m.

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.

KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS

HEAT 1

1, Cole Possi 2, Will Gerrits 3, Ben Schmidt 4, Katelyn Krebsbach 5, Justin Miller 6, Chris Clayton 7, Blake Wondra 8, Tony Wondra 9, Bill Taylor.

HEAT 2

1, Tim Haddy 2, Anthony Knierim 3, Brandon Berth 4, Doug Wondra 5, Spyder Akright 6, Mike Yurmanovich 7, Dylan Winkel (DNS) 8, Tommy Colburn (DNS) 9, Jack Vanderboom (DNS).

HEAT 3

1, Brandon McMullen 2, Justin Erickson 3, Travis Arenz 4, Lance Fassbender 5, Chris Larson 6, Preston Ruh 7, Paul Pokorski 8, J.J. Pagel 9, Tyler Brabant (DNS).

B MAIN

1, Tony Wondra 2, Chris Larson 3, Paul Pokorski 4, Bill Taylor 5, Blake Wondra 6, Tommy Colburn 7, J.J. Pagel 8, Preston Ruh 9, Jack Vanderboom (DNS) 10, Dylan Winkel (DNS) 11, Tyler Brabant (DNS).

A MAIN

1, Travis Arenz 2, Tim Haddy 3, Lance Fassbender 4, Doug Wondra 5, Chris Clayton 6, Justin Erickson 7, Tony Wondra 8, Anthony Knierim 9, Brandon McMullen 10, Paul Pokorski 11, Cole Possi 12, Mike Yurmanovich 13, Blake Wondra 14, Chris Larson 15, Justin Miller 16, Bill Taylor 17, Spyder Akright 18, Tommy Colburn 19, Katelyn Krebsbach 20, Ben Schmidt 21, Brandon Berth 22, Will Gerrits.

SHEBOYGAN’S COUNTRY B93.7 LATE MODELS

HEAT 1

1, Justin Ritchie 2, Joe Bongiorno 3, Bill Edler 4, Randy Manos Jr., 5, Tony Peterson 6, Chad Ludwigson 7, Eric Michaels (DNS).

HEAT 2

1, Jim Schmidt 2, Justin Schmidt 3, Kevin Baldry 4, Sawyer Specht 5, Charlie Schmidt 6, Turk Letizia.

A MAIN

1, Jim Schmidt 2, Justin Schmidt 3, Justin Ritchie 4, Charlie Schmidt 5, Kevin Baldry 6, Joe Bongiorno 7, Turk Letizia 8, Sawyer Specht 9, Bill Edler 10, Randy Manos Jr., 11, Tony Peterson (DNS) 12, Chad Ludwigson (DNS) 13, Eric Michaels (DNS).

OOSTBURG AUTOMOTIVE GRAND NATIONALS

HEAT

1, Luke Scholten 2, Tyler Kulow 3, Donny Kulow 4, Steven Ruh 5, Matt Yancey 6, Steven Weber.

A MAIN

1, Luke Scholten 2, Tyler Kulow 3, Steven Ruh 4, Matt Yancey 5, Donny Kulow 6, Steven Weber.

NEXT STEP INSURANCE B MODS

HEAT 1

1, Andy Welter 2, Shane Long 3, Brandon Knepprath 4, Rory Welch 5, Patrick Hanson 6, Spencer Long

HEAT 2

1, Jonathon Baumann 2, Gary Glander 3, Jerry Grasse 4, James Rautmann 5, Jonathan Hitsman 6, Michael Strean.

A MAIN

1, Jonathan Hitsman 2, Shane Long 3, Jonathon Baumann 4, Andy Welter 5, Spencer Long 6, Brandon Knepprath 7, Rory Welch 8, Jerry Grasse 9, Gary Glander 10, Patrick Hanson 11, James Rautmann 12, Michael Strean.