Paul Pokorski posted a heat race victory during the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Mid-Season Championship Night program on Saturday, July 7, at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. – RC Custom Design photo

By Jeff Pederson – Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS, Plymouth, Wis.) July 7, 2018 – A thrilling last lap pass and a pair of first-time A-main winners highlighted the evening as Plymouth Dirt Track Racing staged its annual Mid-Season Championship Night of racing at The Plymouth Dirt Track on the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, July 7.

In the extended 30-lap Richard’s of Dunbar 360 Sprint Car A main, Plymouth’s Justin Miller stole the lead from Sprint Car rookie Travis Arenz of Sheboygan on the final lap to post an exciting victory. Gasroots Project Late Model rookie Kevin Baldry of Omro notched his first career PDTR Late Model A-main victory in the 30-lap main event. Luke Scholten of Oostburg claimed the 30-lap Klips & Tips Grand National A-main victory in the Bender Racing entry, while Gary Glander of Sheboygan Falls collected his first career Cellcom B Mod A-main triumph. Defending Micro Sprint champion Preston Ruh of Elkhart Lake was victorious in the 15-lap Kristine Hartmann Pleasant View Realty Micro Sprint A main.

The Sprint Car A-main headliner began with Tyler Brabant of Waupun and Tony Wondra of Campbellsport lined up on the front row. Despite dry and slick track conditions, the race featured three different leaders and plenty of jockeying for position throughout the field.

Wondra got the jump on the drop of the green flag from his outside front row starting spot as point leader Josh Walter of Plymouth used the outside groove to jump from fourth at the start into second on the opening lap.

The first of two caution flags appeared on lap 5 when Scott Conger of Eagle spun in turn three. On the restart, Wondra continued to lead while Travis Arenz, who started third, bolted past Brabant and Walter to secure second on lap 8.

The second caution flag slowed the pace on lap 10 when two-time PDTR Sprint Car champion Danny Schlafer of Sussex spun in turn three and was collected by Chris Clayton of Waldo.

On the restart, Arenz flexed his muscle utilizing the extreme low groove to gain ground on Wondra, while Justin Miller, who started 10^th, charged into third on lap 11.

After hounding Wondra for several laps, Arenz made his move on lap 16, taking the lead in turn one. Justin Miller followed suit in getting past Wondra to set up an exciting duel to the finish.

On lap 18, Arenz encountered slower traffic, which allowed Miller to close the gap considerably. The two dueled side-by-side briefly on lap 20 before Arenz pulled away after clearing the lapped car.

Miller worked the low line to perfection in the final five circuits to close within striking range. On the final lap, Miller shot underneath Arenz in turn one to seize the top spot. Miller then held on to claim his second career PDTR Sprint Car and fourth overall Midwest Sprint Car Association A-main triumph.

Arenz, who captured the 2013 PDTR Outlaw Compact championship, posted a career-best runner-up finish in his first season behind the wheel of a Sprint Car. Walter was third, Brabant finished fourth and Wondra rounded out the top five.

Kevin Baldry grabbed the lead on the opening lap of the 30-lap Late Model A main from the pole position with four-time PDTR Late Model champion and current point leader Brad Mueller of Random Lake, who started second, sliding into the runner-up spot.

Just as Mueller closed the gap along the prevailing inside groove on lap 9 the first of four caution flags appeared for an infield tire on the track surface. On the restart, seventh starter Charlie Schmidt of Cedar Grove moved past 2016 PDTR Late Model champ Tim Buhler of Greenbush, who started third, to assume third.

After two more caution periods for spins involving Eric Michaels of Cleveland and Jim Letizia of Milwaukee, fourth starter Justin Schmidt of Cleveland showed some strength, moving into third place and pressuring Mueller for second.

The final caution flag appeared on lap 17 when Late Model rookie Chad Vetting of Valders, Charlie Schmidt and Eric Michaels collided in turn one.

Over the final 13 laps, Baldry clung tight to the inside lane to successfully hold off Mueller and Justin Schmidt en route to his first career PDTR Late Model A-main triumph. Mueller was second, Justin Schmidt finished third, Buhler took fourth and sixth starter Jim Schmidt of Cleveland rounded out the top five.

Polesitter Chad Espen of West Bend jumped into the lead of the 30-lap Grand National A main followed by third starter Steven Weber of Plymouth. Four caution flags over the first two laps ground the race to a halt in the early going.

When the race returned to green flag action, Luke Scholten, who was behind the wheel of the Bender Racing No. 89 machine, moved into third on lap 3 after starting ninth. After the fifth and final caution flag of the race appeared on lap 12 for an infield tire in turn four, Espen continued to lead with Scholten hot on his heels.

On lap 19, Espen lost control of his car and spun into the infield in turn four. Espen’s misfortune turned the lead over to Scholten, who held off fifth starter Tyler Kulow of Plymouth over the final 11 circuits to claim his 10^th career PDTR Grand National A-main victory.

Kulow was second, fourth starter Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee recovered from a trip to the pits to repair a flat tire on lap 1 to finish third, Espen battled back from his spin to place fourth and 10^th starter Donny Kulow of Elkhart Lake placed fifth.

Outside front row starter Gary Glander outpowered polesitter Patrick Hanson of Sheboygan Falls to gain the lead of the 30-lap B Mod A main on the opening circuit with third starter Rick Kretschmann of Sheboygan Falls and seventh starter Tim Warner of Malone in tow.

On lap 9, Travis Schmidt of Plymouth, who started ninth, worked his way into third and three laps later Schmidt passed Kretschmann in turn one to assume second.

After a pair of caution flags for spins, Schmidt continued to pressure Glander for the top spot, pulling even with Glander on a few occasions with some contact made between the two on lap 26.

After the fourth and final caution flag appeared on lap 27 for a spin involving Jesse Cullen of Chilton, Glander closed out the race in impressive fashion to post his first career PDTR B Mod A-main victory.

A slight bobble from Schmidt on the final lap allowed 2016 PDTR B Mod champion Brandon Berth of Cascade to steak into second after starting sixth, Schmidt wound up third, Derek Fehling of Beaver Dam charged up from the 17^th starting spot to finish fourth and 16^th starter J.J. Walvoord of Oostburg placed fifth.

Polesitter Jake Dohner of Milton paced the first five laps of the 15-lap Micro Sprint A main before fourth starter Preston Ruh assumed the top spot on lap 6.

Dave Collins of Madison, who started second, closed the gap on Ruh on lap 10 before fifth starter Jack Vanderboom of Dousman slipped past Collins to gain the runner-up spot.

After two caution flags on lap 13 and lap 14 for spins, Ruh maintained the top spot over the final two laps to collect his fourth career PDTR Micro Sprint A main victory. Vanderboom was second, Collins took third and Dohner placed fourth.

The Plymouth Dirt Track Racing program, which was sponsored by Dale’s Pale Ale and Oskar Blues Brewery, featured 81 cars, including 28 B Mods, 20 Sprint Cars, 11 Late Models, 16 Grand Nationals and six Micro Sprints.

The next PDTR program will take place on Saturday, July 14, topped off by autograph night following the races. The racing program, which begins at 6 p.m., will be sponsored by Hopf Farms.

The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth is located at 229 Fairview Drive in Plymouth. For more information, visit www.plymouthdtr.com or check out Plymouth Dirt Track Racing on Facebook.

Pedal Down Promotions is a full-service public relations and media services company devoted to helping clients effectively communicate with targeted audiences through a diverse array of promotional strategies and methods, including press releases, newsletters, profile and feature articles, website and social media content development, printed media, editing and layout, graphic design and book publishing services.

 For more information on Pedal Down Promotions, email pedaldownpromotions@gmail.com, visit www.pedaldownpromotions.com or call 920-323-7970.

Miller posts first career PDTR Sprint Car A-main win

By Jeff Pederson, Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) September 9, 2017 – On a night when four of the five regular Plymouth Dirt Track Racing divisions crowned 2017 champions at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds third-mile clay oval, one of the biggest turnouts of cars and fans of the season gathered to join in the festivities Saturday, Sept. 9.

In the Late Model division, 30-year veteran Brad Mueller of Random Lake claimed his third A-main victory of the 2017 campaign and his fourth career PDTR Late Model title. Cascade’s Mark Fieber racked up his second career title in the Grand National division. Justin Green of Sheboygan Falls collected his first career B Mod championship and rookie Preston Ruh of Elkhart Lake secured the Micro Sprint crown.

In main event action, Plymouth’s Justin Miller held off a hard charge from two-time PDTR Sprint Car champion Danny Schlafer of Sussex to earn his first career 25-lap Sprint Car A-main victory at Plymouth. Tyler Kulow of Plymouth notched his first PDTR Grand National A-main victory of the 2017 season in the 25-lap A main. Jared Siefert of Luxemburg raced to his first PDTR B Mod triumph of the season, while Zach Boden of Cambridge captured his third 15-lap Micro Sprint A-main victory of the 20017 PDTR campaign.

Polesitter Justin Miller grabbed the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap Sprint Car A main with 2010 PDTR Sprint Car champ Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee, who started on the outside of the front row, following in second.

On lap 4, Davis closed in to challenge Miller along the high groove. Two laps later, 2008 PDTR Sprint Car champ Lance Fassbender spun in turn two while running third, which brought out the first caution flag of the race.

With Miller running the high groove, Davis worked the middle to low lanes in an attempt to oust the lead from Miller when green flag action resumed. On lap 12, Davis attempted to slide past Miller in turn two, but Miller held strong to retain the lead.

The action really heated up two laps later when seventh starter Danny Schlafer joined the duel for the lead. With Miller sticking to the top, Davis running the middle and Schlafer working the low line, the three drivers raced three-wide on lap 17 with Miller holding the slightest of advantages over the two most successful drivers in the history of the Midwest Sprint Car Association.

On lap 18, Davis worked past Miller exiting turn two to seize the lead. However, Davis got very high in turn three and clipped the wall in turn four to bring out the second caution of the race and end his chance at victory.

Miller regained the lead on the restart with Schlafer trailing in second. Miller got a good job on the restart to pull out to a quarter straightaway cushion before Schlafer battled back to mount a late charge. The hard-charging Schlafer slipped past Miller along the inside lane to seize the lead on lap 24.

However, Miller pulled off a big power move on the cushion in turns one and two to regain the lead on the final lap and nip Schlafer by one car length at the finish line to register his first career PDTR Sprint Car main event victory and his second overall MSA A-main triumph.

Schlafer had to settle for second, eighth starter Jim Melis of Glenbeulah finished third, fifth starter Ben Schmidt of Howards Grove placed fourth and Kevin Karnitz of West Bend, who started sixth, placed fifth.

With extra money added to the Late Model A-main purse for the evening, courtesy of an effort led by Late Model supporters Chad Marquardt and Greg Wester, a strong field of 28 Late Models checked into the pit area with 22 lining up for the main event.

Outside front row starter Billy Rezutek of Big Bend grabbed the lead on the drop of the green flag ahead of polesitter Joe Reuter of Green Bay. On lap 3, Brad Mueller, who started fourth, worked around Reuter to take over second while sixth starter Chris Carlson of Union Grove gained third on lap 5.

With Rezutek running the extreme high groove, Mueller found grip in the middle of the wide, slick track surface to pull even with Rezutek on lap 8. After a brief side-by-side duel, Mueller assumed the top spot on lap 9.

Carlson then moved in to battle Rezutek for second place on lap 14 before taking over the runner-up position one lap later. However, Mueller was not to be denied at the head of the field as he rolled to his third A-main victory of the season and 19^th career PDTR Late Model A-main triumph by five car lengths over Carlson to secure his fourth career PDTR Late Model championship.

Carlson was second, Reuter placed third, third starter Jared Siefert of Luxemburg placed fourth and eighth starter Taylor Scheffler of Waukesha rounded out the top five in the caution-free race.

Polesitter Tyler Kulow assumed the lead on the drop of the green flag in the Grand National main event with 2008 PDTR Grand National champ Matt Yancey trailing in second. The first of four caution flags appeared on lap 2 for a spin involving Matt Jackson of Sheboygan in turn two.

On lap 3, fourth starter Mark Fieber moved past Yancey into second with Dotyville’s Matt Loehr, who started fifth, following into third. With the top three cars running in nose-to-tail fashion along the low groove, Loehr began to apply heavy pressure to Fieber on lap 15 before diving under Fieber to take second on lap 18.

Three consecutive caution periods slowed the race starting on lap 21. When the race resumed, Fieber outpowered Loehr to regain second on lap 22, while seventh starter Jeff Lammers of Plymouth slipped past Loehr to take third.

Meanwhile, Kulow pulled away to claim his second career PDTR Grand National A-main triumph. Fieber secured his second Grand National title by placing second, Lammers was third, Loehr took fourth and Kurt Davis came up for his 10^th starting spot to finish fifth.

After two aborted starts, Jared Siefert gained the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap B Mod A main from his outside front row starting position. On lap 4, third starter Chad Vetting of Valders worked past polesitter Gary Glander of Sheboygan Falls to take over second, while Travis Schmidt of Plymouth moved up from the fifth starting position to take over third on lap 8.

Siefert was strong out front as he built up a full straightaway lead over Vetting by lap 12. The third and final caution flag of the event was displayed on lap 18 when John Singer spun in turn four.

Four laps later Schmidt used the high groove to work past Vetting into second place. However, it was all Siefert at the head of the field en route to his first career PDTR B Mod A-main victory.

Schmidt placed second, Vetting was third, Randy Lemieux placed fourth after starting 10^th and Glander rounded out the top five.

Chad Bogar of Sun Prairie took the lead in the early going of the 15-lap Micro Sprint A main from the third starting spot. On lap 8, Zach Boden, who started sixth, moved into to challenge Bogar for the lead.

On lap later, Boden executive a low move in turn one to take the lead for good. The 2016 PDTR Micro Sprint champion cruised the rest of the way to a full straightaway victory over Bogar. Jack Vanderboom of Dousman placed third after starting seventh, fifth starting Dave Collins of Madison was fourth and second starter Preston Ruh wrapped up the 2017 PDTR Micro Sprint title with a fifth place showing.

Prior to the racing program, Randy Markwardt of Sheboygan was presented with the PDTR Dedication to Dirt Award for his efforts during a long and successful racing career, which began with Eastern Wisconsin Stock Cars at Plymouth in 1977.

During his career, Markwardt racked up two track championships at Plymouth in the Sportsman (1993) and Limited Late Model (1999) divisions and was one of the most popular drivers with fans. Markwardt, who was inducted into the Southeastern Wisconsin Short Track Racing Hall of Fame in 2014, announced his retirement from racing earlier this year with Saturday’s PDTR program serving as his final race.

Shane Wenninger of Kewaskum won the Sprint Car B main, Dave Fieber of Neenah captured the Late Model B main and Steve Lorier of Sheboygan won the B Mod B main.

A total of 111 cars check into the pit area for the evening, including 29 Sprint Cars, 28 Late Models, 24 B Mods, 22 Grand Nationals and 8 Micro Sprints.

After two weekends off, the final race of the season at The Plymouth Dirt Track is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 30. The program will feature the final points night for the PDTR 360 Sprint Car division, along with the Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car, Wisconsin Wingless Sprint Cars and Wisconsin-Illinois Mini Sprints.

Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. with IRA qualifying and racing to follow.

Pedal Down Promotions is a full-service public relations and media services company devoted to helping clients effectively communicate with targeted audiences through a diverse array of promotional strategies and methods, including press releases, newsletters, profile and feature articles, website and social media content development, printed media, editing and layout, graphic design and book publishing services.

For more information on Pedal Down Promotions, email pedaldownpromotions@gmail.com, visit www.pedaldownpromotions.com or call 920-323-7970.