(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) June 22, 2019 – Racers and fans arrived at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. amidst warm weather and clear skies for the first time during the 2019 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing season on Saturday, June 22.

Two drivers won for the second time this season, one for the first time in nearly a year, and another for the first time with PDTR. The four divisions of competitors would give the fans an evening of exciting racing on a well-prepared track, which provided two and sometimes three-wide racing.

The 25-lap Richard’s Supper Club and Motel of Dunbar 360 Sprint Car A-main saw 2010 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Kurt Davis from South Milwaukee take advantage of his outside front row starting position and edge ahead of polesitter Travis Arenz of Sheboygan on the second lap. Davis would show his 30 plus years of experience and drive to his 22^nd win with PDTR and series leading 59^th overall win with the Midwest Sprint Car Association.

In the Gasroots Project Late Model division, Jim Schmidt from Cleveland won for the first time since last August, besting a field of fast cars that raced hard. In the Klips and Tips Grand National A-main, Plymouth’s Tyler Kulow took his second win of the season and sixth career checkered with PDTR.

Visiting driving Nick Schultz of Beaver Dam won for the first time with PDTR besting the field in the Cellcom B-Mod division.

In getting his second win in his last three races with PDTR, Kurt Davis had to take the lead away from a determined Arenz, who started on the pole. Davis used a wide track to pass Arenz on the outside early and survived several restarts to stay in front.

While Davis and Arenz stayed close until a caution flag waved on lap four, others were charging ahead. After the restart, 2017 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh would move into third coming from his sixth-place starting spot. Another driver on the move was Josh Walter from Plymouth, who came from his 12^th starting spot to settle into seventh in the running order.

The second caution flag for a spin in turn three bunched the field again, but still Davis was too fast to be passed. At this point, Davis, Arenz, McMullen, Kevin Karnitz of West Bend and Glenbuelah’s Jim Melis would be the front five cars.

Davis would eventually build a six car-length lead and would soon catch the back of the field. While Davis was weaving past cars high and low, last year’s PDTR 360 Sprint Car Rookie of the Year, Arenz, would catch him with five laps remaining and make for an exciting finish, but again it would be 30-plus year veteran, Davis, the winner.

Finishing in the top-five behind Davis were Arenz in second, McMullen third, Melis fourth and Karnitz rounding out the top five.

For Jim Schmidt, who was making only his third start of the season with PDTR, despite starting outside the front row next to polesitter “Diamond” Jim Letizia of Milwaukee, the win was anything but easy. A high-side pass in turn four gave Schmidt the lead, but a caution would slow the pace after Joe Bongiorno of Milwaukee and Rick Scheffler of Waukesha tangled between turns three and four. Both drivers would make a quick visit to the pits and promptly return.

Back under the green, Tim “The Toolman” Buhler from Greenbush would move into second from his fourth starting spot before Letizia would spin on lap 3, resulting in a flat tire and another caution. Defending PDTR Late Model champion Justin Schmidt of Cleveland would now settle into third and soon he would be in second challenging his father. Justin’s attempted inside pass was negated by Jim, who would stay in front.

Four-time PDTR Late Model champion Brad Mueller of Random Lake picked up a several spots moving from sixth to fourth before racing side by side with Buhler. Meanwhile, last week’s winner Justin Ritchie from New London closed in from his seventh starting spot.

After a restart when two cars tangled on the backstretch, Ritchie and Mueller would swap positions creating a lot of excitement for the fans. With 10 laps left, Jim Schmidt would enjoy a nice lead with Justin Schmidt and Ritchie behind. Then with six laps left Oostburg’s Charlie Schmidt would squeeze past Buhler for fourth.

By the final lap, Justin Schmidt would move in close to the leader, but the veteran Jim Schmidt would hold on for the win, which would be his 15^th Late Model A-main victory with PDTR.

Rounding out the top behind the winner were Justin Schmidt in second, Ritchie third, Charlie Schmidt in fourth and Mueller rounding out the top five.

The Grand National feature, which was the first run in the program was also raced hard. Polesitter Josh Pierce from Fredonia would establish an early lead from the pole. On the second lap, three cars tangled and the yellow flag waved.

On the restart, Tyler Kulow who started in the fourth position, would be in second. They would stay that way until lap 10 when Kulow would make a pass coming into turn three for the lead.

J.J. Pagel of St. Cloud and Will Sorce of Franksville would run a number of laps side by side for third and fourth, but later they would get together bringing out a yellow. Oostburg’s Luke Scholten, who started 11^th, raced hard on the high side of the track, as did Dick Hed from Plymouth. With 10 laps left, Kulow would be ahead of Pierce, Steven Weber of Plymouth, Nick Schumacher of Eagle and Jess Muehlbauer of Elkhart Lake.

Sorce, after restarting at the back, would charge up to sixth by lap 20 where he would finish. With two laps left, Schumacher, Weber and Muehlbauer would show the fans some three-wide racing before the race ended with Kulow claiming the victory, followed by Pierce in second, Schumacher third, Weber in fourth and Muehlbauer rounding out the top five.

Nick Schultz would start on the pole of the B Mod A main with Skyler Woods of Beaver Dam on the outside. The start was negated immediately when Justin Bauer and Gary Glander came together at the starting cone. Glander’s car was done for the night. However, Bauer would restart at the tail.

The yellow lap would wave after one lap when two cars got together in turn two. Bill Edler of Howards Grove would restart in second with Woods in third and Elijah Koenigs of Beaver Dam ahead of Barry Maas of Cascade.

Schultz and Edler would race hard and on lap seven, making contact in turn one, but both were able to hold their positions. Meanwhile, Koenig would close in on both of them before a caution came out after Koenig and Edler, along with several other cars, would tangle in turn one. Tim Warner of Fond du Lac would go to the pits, but promptly return.

On the restart, Schultz would be followed by Woods, Barry Maas. Mark Hoeppner of Rubicon and Steve Lorier of Sheboygan. After restarting at the back, Bauer would make his way up to sixth where he would finish. With two laps left Hoeppner, Maas and Bauer would be three-wide.

At the finish line, it was Schultz leading the way, followed by Woods in second, Travis Schmidt of Waldo in third, Hoeppner fourth and Maas in fifth.

The 360 Sprint Car B-Main was won by Lance Fassbender of Burnett, while Marcus Hoeppner won the B-Mod B main.

The next PDTR racing program, which will be held on Friday, June 28, will pay tribute to Late Model racer Russ Scheffler, who passed away in the fall 2017. To date, Scheffler has won more races with PDTR than any other driver.

A reported purse of about $18,500 will be paid to the Late Model Division. 360 Sprint Cars, Grand Nationals and B Mods will also compete. The grandstand will open at 4:30 with hot laps at 5:30 and racing to start at 7 p.m.

On Saturday, June 29, there will no racing at The Plymouth Dirt Track and on Saturday, July 6 again there will be no racing in conjunction with the Fourth of July weekend.

PDTR Saturday night racing will resume on Saturday, July 13 and include a special “Remembering Randy Tracy” tribute in honor of the former Winged Super Modified racer, who recently passed away. Additional money will be awarded in the 360 Sprint Car division on July 13.

RICHARD’S OF DUNBAR SPRINT CAR

Date of Race: June 22, 2019

HEAT 1

1, Travis Arenz 2, Shane Wenninger 3, Josh Walter 4, Anthony Knierim 5, Tim Haddy 6, Josh Teunissen 7, Brandon Berth 8, Mike Decker.

HEAT 2

1, Jack Vanderboom 2, Paul Pokorski 3, Al Schlafer 4, Danny Schlafer 5, Tyler Brabant 6, Nich Melis 7, Scott Conger 8, Preston Ruh.

HEAT 3

1, Kevin Karnitz 2, Jim Melis 3, Will Gerrits 4, Lance Fassbender 5, Adam Miller 6, Tony Wondra 7, Chris Clayton 8, Sean Rayhall.

HEAT 4

1, Justin Miller 2, Brandon McMullen 3, Kurt Davis 4, Justin Erickson 5, Tyler Davis 6, Chris Flick 7. Blake Wondra.

B FEATURE

1, Lance Fassbender 2, Tim Haddy 3, Tony Wondra 4, Chris Flick 5, Justin Erickson 6, Brandon Berth 7, Chris Clayton 8, Mike Decker 9, Scott Conger 10, Josh Teunissen 11, Preston Ruh 12, Sean Rayhill 13, Blake Wondra 14, Tyler Davis 15, Nich Melis (DNS).

A FEATURE

1, Kurt Davis 2, Travis Arenz 3, Brandon McMullen 4, Jim Melis 5, Kevin Karnitz 6, Josh Walter 7, Justin Miller 8, Will Gerrits 9, Lance Fassbender 10, Adam Miller 11, Tyler Brabant 12, Danny Schlafer 13, Paul Pokorski 14, Tim Haddy 15, Shane Wenninger 16, Al Schlafer 17, Justin Erickson 18, Anthony Knierim 19, Tony Wonda 20, Brandon Berth 21, Jack Vanderboom 22, Chris Flick.

 

GASROOTS PROJECT LATE MODEL

HEAT 1

1, Justin Schmidt 2, Justin Ritchie 3, Tim Buhler 4, Jim Schmidt 5, Taylor Scheffler 6, Rick Scheffler 7, Brian Konitzer.

HEAT 2

1, Joe Bongiorno 2, Brad Mueller 3, Eric Michaels 4, Charlie Schmidt 5, Jim Letizia 6, Kevin Baldry.

A FEATURE

1, Jim Schmidt 2, Justin Schmidt 3, Justin Ritchie 4, Charlie Schmidt 5, Brad Mueller 6, Kevin Baldry 7, Rick Scheffler 8, Tim Buhler 9, Joe Bongiorno 10, Taylor Scheffler 11, Eric Michaels 12, Jim Letizia 13, Brian Konitzer (DNS).

 

KLIPS & TIPS GRAND NATIONAL

HEAT 1

1, Donny Kulow 2, Dick Hed, 3, Tyler Kulow 4, Jason Juech 5, Jeff Muehlbauer 6, Derek Kaat 7, Jim Fischer 8, Bruce Troesch 9, Dakota Cabunac.

HEAT 2

1, Steven Weber 2, Nick Schumacher 3, J.J. Pagel 4, Will Source 5, Josh Pierce 6, Luke Scholten 7, Brad Weiss 8, Josh Hitsman 9, Jess Muehlbauer.

A FEATURE

1, Tyler Kulow 2, Josh Pierce 3, Nick Schumacher 4, Steven Weber 5, Jeff Muehlbauer 6, Will Source 7, J.J. Pagel 8, Donny Kulow 9, Luke Scholten 10, Dick Hed 11, Brad Weiss 12, Jess Muehlbauer 13, Derek Kaat 14, Dakota Cabunac 15, Jim Fischer 16, Bruce Troesch 17, Jason Juech 18, Josh Hitsman.

CELLCOM B MOD

HEAT 1

1, Elijah Koenig 2, Barry Maas 3, Gary Glander 4, Rory Welch 5, Mark Hoeppner 6, Brandon Knepprath 7, Craig Gessner 8, Joshua Mavis 9, Nathan Jakubowski (DNS).

HEAT 2

1, Travis Schmidt 2, Nick Schultz 3, Bill Edler 4, Skyler Woods 5, James Rautmann 6, Marcus Hoeppner 7, Patrick Hanson 8, Justin Lueck.

HEAT 3

1, Steve Lorier 2, Tim Warner 3, Brian Wieland 4, Justin Bauer 5, Andy Singer 6, Tim Lange 7, Phil Campanella 8, Christopher Gilson.

B FEATURE

1, Marcus Hoeppner 2, Craig Gessner 3, Andy Winger 4, Justin Lueck 5, Patrick Hanson 6, Phil Campanella 7, Christopher Gilson 8, Joshua Mavis 9, Nathan Jakubowski (DNS).

A FEATURE

1, Nick Schultz 2, Skyler Woods 3, Travis Schmidt 4, Mark Hoeppner 5, Barry Maas 6, Justin Mauer 7, Tim Warner 8, Steve Lorier 9, Brain Wieland 10, Andy Singer 11, Brandon Knepprath 12, Rory Welch 13, James Rautmann 14, Tim Langer 15, Craig Gessner 16, Justin Lueck 17, Bill Edler 18, Elijah Koenig 19, Gary Glander 20, Marcus Hoeppner (DQ).