Justin Schmidt secures third straight PDTR Late Model title

By Jeff Pederson-Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 22, 2020 – The 10^th Plymouth Dirt Track Racing program of the 2020 season featured a little bit of everything on Saturday, Aug. 22 at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis, including a newly crowned three-time repeat Late Model champion, a first-time B Mod A-main winner, a photo finish in the Grand National main event and the first A-main victory of the year for a former Sprint Car champion plagued by bad luck for much of the 2020 season.

In the 25-lap Kristine Hartmann Pleasant View Realty 360 Sprint Car A main, 2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Ben Schmidt of Howards Grove got his incident-plagued 2020 season back on track by notching his first A-main victory of the 2020 season. Justin Schmidt of Cleveland tallied his third 25-lap A-main victory of the season to clinch his third straight PDTR Gasroots Project Late Model title by a slim two-point margin over Turk Letizia of Waukesha. PDTR Klips N Tips Grand National point leader Aaron Stolp of Milwaukee pulled off a last lap pass to post his third 25-lap A-main win of the season by just .03 seconds. Brian Wieland of Sheboygan Falls collected his first career PDTR Cellcom B Mod A-main victory in the 25-lap A main.

In the 25-lap 360 Sprint Car A main, Ben Schmidt vaulted into the lead in the first turn of the opening lap from the pole position as outside front row starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend settled into second.

By lap 4, Schmidt had opened up a full straightaway cushion over Karnitz on the slick and smooth track surface. Three laps later, Schmidt began to work his way through heavy lapped traffic, which allowed Karnitz to close the gap.

On lap 13, the first of two caution flags appeared when Waupun’s Tim Haddy spun in turn two. Schmidt again bolted out to a commanding lead on the restart utilizing the preferred outside groove. By lap 21, Schmidt had again built up a full-straightaway lead as point leader Travis Arenz of Sheboygan, who started 12^th, and 2017 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh, who started seventh, traded slide jobs for fifth on lap 22.

The second and final caution appeared on lap 24 when Anthony Knierim of Franksville spun in turn four to set up a single-file green, white, checkered flag finish. On the restart, Schmidt again charged away from Karnitz, while Arenz made a daring move to sweep past two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee, who started fifth, and Shane Wenninger of Kewaskum, who started fourth, to move from fifth to third on the final lap.

Schmidt, who suffered a series of motor failures and a hard crash at Beaver Dam Raceway early in the season, pulled away to secure his 10^th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory and 26^th career Midwest Sprint Car Association main event triumph.

Karnitz finished second, Arenz placed third, Wenninger was fourth and Davis rounded out the top five.

The 25-lap PDTR Late Model points season-ending A-main got off to a rough start when rookie Justin Green of Sheboygan Falls, who started second, spun in turn two on the opening lap to bring out the first of two caution flags.

Following a complete restart, third starter Joe Bongiorno of Milwaukee grabbed the lead in turn one, while fifth starter Charlie Schmidt of Oostburg slipped into second. On lap 4, Schmidt ducked under Bongiorno to take over the top spot in turn three.

One lap later, Schmidt spun into the infield in turn two, which gave the lead back to Bongiorno. On lap 6, the battle for the lead really heated up when 2016 PDTR Late Model champion Tim Buhler of Greenbush, who started seventh, fourth starter Justin Ritchie of New London and Justin Schmidt, who started eighth, bolted in to challenge Bongiorno for the top spot.

Using the high groove, Justin Schmidt emerged from a wild four-wide duel to take over the top spot in turn four on lap 6 with Ritchie moving into second. Four laps later, the second and final caution flag appeared on lap 10 when 2008 PDTR Late Model champ Billy Rezutek of Big Bend spun in turn two.

On the restart, Schmidt pulled away from Ritchie while ninth starter Turk Letizia of Waukesha, who came into the race with a four-point lead over Schmidt in the chase for the PDTR Late Model title, moved past four-time PDTR Late Model champion Brad Mueller of Random Lake, who started 10^th, to take fourth on lap 12.

Schmidt cruised over the final 10 laps to secure his 13^th career PDTR Late Model A-main victory and wrap up his third consecutive track title by two points over Letizia. Ritchie placed second, Buhler was third, Letizia placed fourth and Mueller rounded out the top five.

Two-time PDTR Grand National champion Don Sorce Jr. of West Allis took the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap Grand National A main from the pole with second starter Jonathan Otte of Cedar Grove seizing second.

The first of three caution flags appeared on lap 5 when Derek Kaat of Plymouth stopped in turn three. On the restart, Sorce Jr. pulled away, while third starter Dick Hed of Plymouth and fourth starter Luke Scholten of Oostburg dueled side by side for second before Scholten assumed the runner-up spot on lap 7.

The second caution appeared on lap 8 when Dylan Struve of Plymouth spun in turn two. Following the restart, Aaron Stolp charged in from his seventh starting spot to move into fourth on lap 10 along the cushion. Three laps later Stolp worked around Hed to take third and three laps later, he rode the high groove past Scholten for second.

The third and final caution was displayed on lap 18 when Josh Pierce of Fredonia spun in turn two. On the restart, Stolp worked the high groove to perfection to pressure Sorce Jr. for the top spot. The high-riding Stolp pulled even with the low-riding Sorce Jr. on lap 20 and the two dueled side by side over the final five laps to set up a thrilling finish.

On the final lap, Stolp pounded the cushion and used a huge run off of turn four to nip Sorce. Jr. at the finish line by just .03 seconds en route to his third career PDTR Grand National A-main victory. Sorce. Jr. had to settle for second, Scholten placed third, fifth starter Steven Weber of Plymouth finished fourth and defending PDTR Grand National champ Tyler Kulow of Plymouth placed fifth after starting ninth.

After an incident involving Barry Maas of Cascade, Spencer Long of Sheboygan Falls, Will Garceau of Mishicot and Conrad Kaufert of Random Lake on the initial start, polesitter Brian Wieland grabbed the lead on the drop of the green flag with outside front row starter Steve Lorier of Sheboygan sliding into second.

On lap 2, fourth starter Jesse Cullen of Chilton moved in second while 10^th starter Jason Schilling of Greenfield rode the high groove into fourth on lap 3 before moving into third on lap 4.

By lap 9, Wieland had built up a half-straightaway cushion at the front of the field. Two laps later, the second caution appeared on lap 11 when Rory Welch of Grafton spun against the frontstrech wall.

On the restart, Will Garceau and Jonathan Hitsman of Plymouth spun in turn two. Lorier battled back to take second lap 12, while Waldo’s Travis Schmidt, who started sixth, worked the high line into third on the following lap before taking second from Lorier on lap 13.

On lap 19, rookie Trevor Frank of Sheboygan, who started third, flexed his muscle to work underneath Schmidt into second. Five laps later, defending PDTR B Mod champ and current point leader Tim Warner of Fond du Lac moved up from his 12^th starting spot to take third with a nifty move in turn four.

Wieland remained smooth at the front of the field in the final circuits on the way to his first career PDTR B Mod victory in flag-to-flag fashion. Frank recorded a career-best second-place finish, Warner placed third, Schmidt wound up fourth and Jerry Duggan of Manitowoc worked his way up from his ninth starting spot to take fifth.

Lance Fassbender of Burnett won the 15-lap 360 Sprint Car B main.

The 10th PDTR racing program of the 2020 season, which was sponsored by the city of Sheboygan Falls Fire Department, drew a total of 82 cars, including 28 PDTR 360 Sprint Cars, 15 Late Models, 15 Grand Nationals and 24 B Mods.

PDTR action will resume on Thursday, Aug. 27 with the third annual Russ Scheffler Tribute Night event featuring an added purse for the Late Model division, including a full points night for the PDTR 360 Sprint Car, Grand National and B Mod divisions.

On Friday, Aug. 28, PDTR will host the Dirt Kings Late Model Tour for the Mueller Sales and Service 30. The evening also includes a full points program for the PDTR 360 Sprint Cars, as well as non-points programs for the Grand National and B Mod divisions.

Grandstand gates open at 4:30 p.m. with hot laps at 5:30 p.m. and racing at 6:30 p.m. on both nights.

For all remaining 2020 PDTR races, Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan will have his new book “RPM – The Golden Era of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing” for sale under the grandstand.

A portion of the money collected from the sale of the book will be donated to Plymouth Dirt Track Racing.

 

KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS

HEAT 1

1, Shane Wenninger 2, Kurt Davis 3, Bill Taylor 4, Lance Fassbender 5, Tyler Davis 6, Austin Hartmann 7, Kevin Seidler.

HEAT 2

1, Justin Erickson 2, Doug Wondra 3, Brandon McMullen 4, Travis Arenz 5, Brandon Berth 6, Scott Conger 7, Tony Wondra.

HEAT 3

1, Kevin Karnitz 2, Chris Clayton 3, Justin Miller 4, Anthony Knierim 5, Preston Ruh 6, Will Gerrits 7, Blake Wondra.

HEAT 4

1, Ben Schmidt 2, Tyler Tischendorf 3, Tim Haddy 4, Tyler Brabant 5, Jack Vanderboom 6, Adam Miller 7, Josh Teunissen.

B MAIN

1, Lance Fassbender 2, Will Gerrits 3, Adam Miller 4, Tyler Davis 5, Tony Wondra 6, Scott Conger 7, Austin Hartmann 8, Blake Wondra 9, Josh Teunissen 10, Kevin Seidler 11, Preston Ruh 12, Brandon Berth.

A MAIN

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

 

GASROOT PROJECT LATE MODELS

HEAT 1

1, Tim Buhler 2, Justin Schmidt 3, Justin Ritchie 4, Charlie Schmidt 5, Joe Bongiorno 6, Chad Ludwigson 7, Sawyer Specht 8, Jim Schmidt.

HEAT 2

1, Turk Letizia 2, Brad Mueller 3, Billy Rezutek 4, Justin Green 5, Jim Letizia 6, Donny Singer 7, Eric Michaels.

A MAIN’

1, Justin Schmidt 2, Justin Ritchie 3, Tim Buhler 4, Turk Letizia 5, Brad Mueller 6, Joe Bongiorno 7, Jim Schmidt 8, Charlie Schmidt 9, Billy Rezutek 10, Justin Green 11, Jim Letizia 12, Chad Ludwigson 13, Sawyer Specht 14, Eric Michaels 15, Donny Singer.

 

KLIPS N TIPS GRAND NATIONAL

HEAT 1

1, Jonathan Otte 2, Matt Yancey 3, Steven Weber 4, Aaron Stolp 5, Darryl Traber 6, Tyler Kulow 7, Donny Kulow 8, Eric Lingford.

HEAT 2

1, Luke Scholten 2, Dick Hed 3, Don Sorce Jr. 4, Josh Pierce 5, Brad Weiss 6, Dylan Struve 7, Derek Kaat.

A MAIN

1, Aaron Stolp 2, Don Sorce Jr. 3, Luke Scholten 4, Steven Weber 5, Tyler Kulow 6, Dick Hed 7, Brad Weiss 8, Matt Yancey 9, Jonathan Otte 10, Darryl Traber 11, Donny Kulow 12, Eric Lingford 13, Dylan Struve 14, Josh Pierce 15, Derek Kaat.

CELLCOM B MOD

HEAT 1

1, Jason Schilling 2, Steve Lorier 3, Spencer Long 4, Gary Glander 5, Rory Welch 6, Matthew Roehl 7, Patrick Hanson 8, Donny Singer.

HEAT 2

1, Travis Schmidt 2, Jesse Cullen 3, Barry Maas 4, Tim Warner 5, Brian Wieland 6, James Rautmann 7, Brandon Knepprath 8, Will Garceau.

HEAT 3

1, Shane Long 2, Trevor Frank 3, Jerry Duggan 4, Jonathan Hitsman 5, Brendan Ostrowski 6, Phil Campanella 7, Conrad Kaufert 8, Jim Fischer.

A MAIN

1, Brian Wieland 2, Trevor Frank 3, Tim Warner 4, Travis Schmidt 5, Jerry Duggan 6, Gary Glander 7, Jason Schilling 8, Steve Lorier 9, Brandon Knepprath 10, James Rautmann 11, Shane Long 12, Brendan Ostrowski 13, Jonathan Hitsman 14, Donny Singer 15, Will Garceau 16, Rory Welch 17, Patrick Hanson 18, Phil Campanella 19, Jesse Cullen 20, Matthew Roehl 21, Jim Fischer 22 Conrad Kaufert 23, Barry Maas 24, Spencer Long.