McMullen wraps up second PDTR 360 Sprint Car crown

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) September 26, 2020 – On a night when Sprint Cars were king, four champions were crowned in five different open wheel touring series during the Wisconsin Sprint Car Championships at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, Sept. 26.

In the headlining Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series, Bill Balog of Hartland captured his 12^th IRA A-main victory of the year in the 30-lap main event en route to nailing down his record 10^th IRA title.

Will Gerrits of Waupun led flag to flag to earn his first Plymouth Dirt Track Racing-Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car main event victory of the 2020 season.

In addition, Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh secured his second Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car championship, while also claiming his fourth Midwest Sprint Car Association crown.

Tim Cox of Park City, Ill. notched his first A-main victory of the season in the 20-lap Wisconsin Wingless Sprint Car Series main event, while Jimmy Sivia of Winthrop Harbor, Ill. earned his first career AutoMeter Wisconsin Wingless Sprint Car championship.

C.J. Malueg of Johnsburg, Ill. earned the 20-lap IRA Lightning Sprints A-main victory in a photo finish on the way to the 2020 IRA Lightning Sprints title.

The initial start of the 30-lap IRA 410 Sprint Car Series A main was aborted when Todd Daun of Pleasant Prairie stopped near the turn two wall to bring out the first of six caution flags.

Following a complete restart, Bill Balog jumped out to the lead from the pole position  with third starter Scotty Thiel of Sheboygan surging into second along the low groove.

The second caution was displayed on lap 2 when Hunter Custer of Chippewa Falls stopped in turn four. Following the restart, Balog held strong at the front of the field with Thiel in tow before the lead duo hit lapped traffic on lap 5, which provided Thiel with an opportunity to pounce.

On lap 6, Thiel ducked low to pull even with Balog. The two Sprint Car standouts dueled side by side over the next two circuits before Thiel surged into the lead in turn four on lap 8.

The third caution flag appeared on lap 11 when Robbie Pribnow of Lomira stopped along the frontstretch. Thiel pulled away from Balog on the restart before traffic again made things interesting beginning on lap 15.

One lap later, Balog used the outside groove to power around Thiel into the lead on lap 16. On the next circuit, Jordan Goldesberrry of Springfield, Ill. spun in turn one before collecting Kris Spitz of Salem.

Balog controlled the ensuing restart before the fifth caution flew on lap 22 when Blake Nimee of Oswego, Ill. stopped in turn three on lap 22. On the ensuing restart, Balog again powered away to a full-straightaway advantage on lap 25.

As Balog hit lapped traffic one final time, Balog closed the gap dramatically on lap 28. With Thiel gaining quickly on Balog entering the final two turns, Scott Biertzer of West Bend slowed in turn three, which caused Kris Spitz to spin just in front of Thiel, who was collected in the incident to bring out the sixth caution of the race.

Thiel was able to continue in the race at the rear of the field in a green-white-checkered flag finish. Balog powered away from former IRA champion Jake Blackburst of Hanna City, Ill. on the restart and held onto post is 12^th IRA A-main victory of the season, record a season sweep of the three 2020 IRA A-main events at Plymouth and rack up his 125^th career IRA A-main triumph.

“We had a great battle with Scotty [Thiel] for a while there,” Balog said. “Then the spin happened on the last lap with Scotty. After that, I think Jake [Blackhurst] was behind us. I didn’t know how close Blackhurst was during the lap few laps. I was a little worried because I bobbled and jumped the cushion at the end.”

Blackhurst, who started fourth, came home a strong second.

“It’s great to have this car turned around and consistently running toward the front now,” Blackhurst said. “Congratulations to Bill and his team on the victory and championship. Man, he is good.”

Mike Reinke of Howards Grove finished third in the Bob Hood 10W entry, after starting sixth.

“It looked like we were going to be a fourth or fifth-place car tonight,” Reinke said. “We were not as fast as the top three guys in open air then some things happened near the end that ended up putting us on the podium. I’m happy with a podium finish to close out the year. This will help in building some momentum into the offseason and into 2021.”

Outside front row starter Joey Moughan of Springfield, Ill. finished fourth and former IRA champion Jeremy Schultz of Beaver Dam placed fifth after starting 11^th.

Outside front row starter Will Gerrits grabbed the lead of the 25-lap PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car A main with polesitter Chris Clayton of Waldo sliding into second. By lap 5, Gerrits had bolted out to a full straightaway lead over Clayton.

On lap 10, 2011 PDTR and MSA champion Ben Schmidt of Howards Grove moved in from his sixth starting spot to work around Clayton for second on lap 10.

The leaders hit lapped traffic on lap 13 before Travis Arenz of Sheboygan used a slide job to clear Schmidt and take second in turn two on lap 14. Schmidt battled back to regain second lap 16. However, Arenz regained the spot in turn three on lap 17.

Arenz was closing rapidly on Gerrits for the lead in dense lapped traffic before the lone caution flag of the race was displayed on lap 17 when 2018 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Justin Miller of Plymouth spun in turn two.

Following the restart, Gerrits again opened up a sizable gap when Arenz and Schmidt dueled back and forth for second with Arenz eventually maintaining the spot on lap 18.

Arenz worked the high groove throughout the majority of the final seven circuits, but was unable to reel in Gerrits, who secured his first A-main victory of the 2020 season and his second career PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car A-main victory.

“This certainly makes up for the god-awful year we’ve had,” Gerrits said. “I have to thank everyone in the pits that helps out on this car.”

Arenz finished second, Schmidt placed third, third starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend ended up fourth and Clayton rounded out the top five.

Vince Bartolotta of Muskego grabbed the lead of the 20-lap Wisconsin Wingless Sprint Car A main from the pole with outside front row starter Tim Cox settling into second.

On lap 6, Ryan Marshall of Kansasville, who started fifth, moved in to challenge the high-riding Cox along the high groove, but Cox prevailed before moving in to pressure Bartolotta for the top spot on lap 8.

One lap later, Cox powered around Bartolotta along the outside groove to seize the top spot. On lap 11, Marshall slipped underneath Bartolotta to take over second before the first of two caution flags was displayed on lap 16 when Chris Klemko of Bristol, who entered the race with a 10-point lead over Jimmy Sivia in the chase for the 2020 Wisconsin Wingless Sprint Car Series title, had nowhere to go and was collected after Jake Kouba of Minneapolis, Minn. spun along the frontstretch.

The incident effectively dashed Klemko’s championship hopes as he was forced to restart the race at the rear of the field.

On lap 18, Marshall moved in to pressure Cox for the lead along the inside groove before 11^th starter Nathan Crane of Waukegan assumed third from Marshall on lap 19.

The second caution of the race was then displayed on lap 19 when Brian Strane of Paris spun in turn two. On the restart, third starter Derek Crane of Waukegan, Ill. moved in to assume second as Cox cruised to his first Wisconsin Wingless Sprint Car Series A-main victory of the 2020 season.

Derek Crane finished second, Nathan Crane was third, Marshall wound up fourth and Rusty Egan of Burlington finished fifth after starting 12^th.

“It took us the whole summer to get here,” Cox said. “We crashed badly and missed a few races. I turned 60 this year and it is great to get a win. I want to say ‘congratulations’ to Jimmy Sivia on the championship.”

Sivia was delighted to earn his first career AutoMeter Wisconsin Wingless Sprint Car Series title under the IRA banner.

“I’m feeling a lot of emotions right now,” Sivia said. “I have grown up traveling around with the IRA and now it feels great that now I can call myself an IRA champion.”

In the 20-lap IRA Lightning Sprints A main, Mark Heinert of Oak Creek took the lead from the outside front row starting position. The first of three cautions was displayed on lap 8 when Chris Quillman of Delevan stopped near the turn three pit exit.

Following the restart, the fourth starting C.J. Malueg moved into second from his third starting spot.

After two more caution flags, the table was set for a thrilling finish. On lap 18, Malueg powered in to challenge Heinert.

On the final circuit, Malueg used a huge run of off turn four to pull even with Heinert as the two drivers dueled to the checkered flag with Malueg prevailing at the finish line by four one-thousands of a second.

Heinert placed second, Ron Brannam of Barrington, Ill. finished third after starting fifth, 10^th starter Nick Petska of Spring Grove, Ill. took fourth and polesitter Jeff Schmidt of Slinger placed fifth.

Jake Blackhurst turned the fastest IRA 410 Sprint Car Series qualifying lap of the evening by touring the third-mile clay oval in 11.932 seconds.

The IRA B main went to Blake Ninmee. Blake Wondra of Fond du Lac won the MSA B main. Jim Wehrman of Kansasville captured the Wisconsin Wingless B main.

The all-Sprint Car program, which featured a total of 105 cars, included 29 IRA 410 Sprint Cars and 31 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars, 28 Wisconsin Wingless Sprint Cars and 17 IRA Lightning Sprints.

Collins State Bank and RC Custom Design were the trophy sponsors for the evening.

Plymouth Dirt Track Racing will honor 2020 division champions Brandon McMullen (360 Sprint Car), Justin Schmidt (Late Model), Aaron Stolp (Grand National) and Tim Warner (B Mod), while also giving out special recognition, during the annual PDTR Awards Presentation at Racers Hall in Plymouth on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 6 p.m.

There is no charge to attend the event and those that attend may order food off the menu if they desire.

Awards include trophies for the top three in points in each division, rookie of year, most improved and the Dedication to Dirt Award.

BUMPER TO BUMPER INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION 410 SPRINT CARS

QUALIFYING

1, Jake Blackhurst 11.932 2, Scotty Thiel 11.944 3, Scott Biertzer 11.984 4, Bill Balog 12.029 5, Mike Reinke 12.061 6, Scotty Neitzel 12.063 7, Joey Moughan 12.087 8, Austin Deblauw 12.095 9, Jeremy Schultz 12.135 10, Kyle Schuett 12.146 11, Dave Uttech 12.156 12, Josh Walter 12.176 13, Sean Rayhall 12.190 14, Danny Schlafer 12.237 15, Russel Borland 12.258 16, Hunter Custer 12.262 17, Blake Nimee 12.261 18, Todd King 12.278 19, Jordan Goldesberry 12.278 20, John Fahl 12.349 21, Robbie Pribnow 12.358 22, Kurt Davis 12.361 23, Todd Daun 12.389 24, Jack Routson 12.406 25, Jereme Schroeder 12.485 26, Scott Uttech 12.529 27, Kris Spitz 12.530 28, Bailey Goldesberry 12.582 29, Travis Arenz 12.716.

HEAT 1

1, Bill Balog 2, Kyle Schuett 3, Joey Moughan 4, Jake Blackhurst 5, Sean Rayhall 6, Jordan Goldesberry 7, Blake Nimee 8, Jereme Schroeder 9, Kurt Davis 10, Baily Goldesberry.

HEAT 2

1, Dave Uttech 2, Mike Reinke 3, Scotty Thiel 4, Danny Schlafer 5, Austin Deblauw 6, Travis Arenz 7, John Fahl 8, Scott Uttech 9, Hunter Custer 10, Todd Daun.

HEAT 3

1, Josh Walter 2, Jeremy Schultz 3, Scotty Neitzel 4, Russel Borland 5, Scott Biertzer 6, Robbie Pribnow 7, Jack Routson 8, Kris Spitz 9, Todd King

DASH 1

1, Bill Balog 2, Scotty Thiel 3, Josh Walter 4, Dave Uttech 5, Scott Biertzer.

DASH 2

1, Joey Moughan 2, Jake Blackhurst 3, Mike Reinke 4, Scotty Neitzel 5, Austin Deblauw.

B MAIN

1, Blake Nimee 2, Hunter Custer 3, John Fahl 4, Jack Routson 5, Todd Daun 6, Kris Spitz 7, Jereme Schroeder 8, Kurt Davis 9, Scott Uttech 10, Todd King 11, Bailey Goldesberry.

A MAIN

1, Bill Balog 2, Jake Blackhurst 3, Mike Reinke 4, Joey Moughan 5, Jeremy Schultz 6, Scotty Neitzel 7, Travis Arenz 8, Josh Walter 9, Russel Borland 10, Austin Deblauw 11, John Fahl 12, Robbie Pribnow 13, Jordan Goldesberry 14, Kyle Schuett 15, Sean Rayhall 16, Scotty Thiel 17, Kris Spitz 18, Dave Uttech 19, Jereme Schroeder 20, Hunter Custer 21, Scott Biertzer 22, Blake Nimee 23, Jack Routson 24, Todd Daun.

KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS

HEAT 1

1, Scott Conger 2, Kurt Davis 3, Tyler Brabant 4, Blake Wondra 5, Justin Erickson 6, Paul Pokorski 7, Bill Taylor 8, Chris Larson.

HEAT 2

1, Ben Schmidt 2, Kevin Karnitz 3, Brandon Berth 4, Lance Fassbender 5, Tyler Davis 6, Shane Wenninger 7, Tony Wondra 8, Brady Portschy.

HEAT 3

1, Justin Miller 2, Travis Arenz 3, Anthony Knierim 4, Brandon McMullen 5, Tim Haddy 6, Preston Ruh 7, Josh Teunissen 8, Ken Schmick.

HEAT 4

1, Jack Vanderboom 2, Chris Clayton 3, Alex Pokorski 4, Will Gerrits 5, Doug Wondra 6, Tyler Tischendorf 7, Austin Hartmann.

B MAIN

1, Blake Wondra 2, Shane Wenninger 3, Doug Wondra 4, Lance Fassbender 5, Tyler Davis 6, Paul Pokorski 7, Preston Ruh 8, Tony Wondra 9, Josh Teunissen 10, Austin Hartmann 11, Chris Larson 12, Ken Schmick 13, Brady Portschy 14, Bill Taylor 15, Tyler Tischendorf.

A MAIN

1, Will Gerrits 2, Travis Arenz 3, Ben Schmidt 4, Kevin Karnitz 5, Chris Clayton 6, Scott Conger 7, Tim Haddy 8, Lance Fassbender 9, Jack Vanderboom 10, Brandon Berth 11, Brandon McMullen 12, Justin Erickson 13, Anthony Knierim 14, Doug Wondra 15, Paul Pokorski 16, Justin Miller 17, Shane Wenninger 18, Tyler Brabant 19, Blake Wondra 20, Alex Pokorski 21, Tyler Davis 22, Kurt Davis.

AUTOMETER WISCONSIN WINGLESS SPRINT CAR SERIES

HEAT 1

1, Nathan Crane 2, Zach Hansen 3, Jake Kouba 4, Dennis Spitz 5, Tommy Colburn 6, Jim Wehrman 7, Shawn Swim 8, Paul Shaffer 9, George Gaertner III.

HEAT 2

1, Rusty Egan 2, Chris Dodd 3, T.J. Smith 4, William Huck 5, Tom Eller 6, Seth Johnson 7, Clayton Rossmann 8, George Gaertner Jr. 9, Daniel Walldan.

B MAIN

1, Jim Wehrman 2, George Gaertner Jr. 3, Georg Gaertner III 4, Seth Johnson 5, Shawn Swim 6, Paul Shaffer 7, Clayton Rossman 8, Daniel Walldan.

A MAIN

1, Tim Cox 2, Derek Crane 3, Nathan Crane 4, Ryan Marshall 5, Rusty Egan 6, Chris Dodd 7, Allen Hafford 8, Vince Bartolotta 9, T.J. Smith 10, Jimmy Sivia 11, Natalie Klemko 12, Dennis Spitz 13, Tommy Colburn 14, Jordan Paulsen 15, Zach Hansen 16, George Gaertner Jr. 17, Jim Wehrman 18, Chris Klemko 19, William Huck 20, Seth Johnson 21, Tom Eller 22, Brian Strane 23, Jake Kouba 24, George Gaertner III.

INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION LIGHTNING SPRINTS

QUALIFYING

1, Ion Stear 14.020 2, Ron Brannam 14,077 3, C.J. Malueg 14.155 4, Mike Neau 14.173 5, Mike Heinert 14.289 6, Jeff Schmidt 14.362 7, Nick Petska 14.426 8, Josh Rehberg 14.597 9, Shawn McGill 14.727 10, Bob Jeziorski 14.882 11, Mike Unger 14.887 12, Jonathan Smith 15.070 13, 15.080 14, Phil Brannam 15.126 15, Chris Quillman 15.415 16, Andrew Kiedrowski 15.503 17, Carl Sturt.

HEAT 1

1, Nick Petska 2, Mark Heinert 3, C.J. Malueg 4, Ion Stear 5, Shawn McGill 6, Mike Unger 7, Max Brannam, 8, Chris Quillman 9, Carl Sturt.

HEAT 2

1, Jeff Schmidt 2, Josh Rehberg 3, Ron Brannam 4, Mike Neau 5, Bob Jeziorski 6, Andrew Kiedrowski 7, Jonathan Smith 8, Phil Brannam.

A MAIN

1, C.J. Malueg 2, Mark Heinert 3, Ron Brannam 4, Mike Neau 5, Nick Petska 6, Jeff Schmidt 7, Bob Jeziorski 8, Mike Unger 9, Shawn McGill 10, Max Brannam 11, Andrew Kiedrowski 12, Jonathan Smith 13, Car; Sturt 14, Ion Stear 15, Chris Quillman 16, Josh Rehberg – Phil Brannam (DNS).