Scholten, Schmidt earn first PDTR A-main wins of 2020

By Jeff Pederson-Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 14, 2020 – Jesse Glenz of Fall Creek, the hottest Dirt Late Model driver in Western Wisconsin, made the long trek to the eastern side of the state pay off to the tune of a $4,200 pay day as he claimed his first Dirt Kings Late Model Tour A-main victory and fifth main event win of the 2020 campaign in an eventful third annual Diamond 42 headliner at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Friday, Aug. 14.

In other non-points PDTR action, Luke Scholten of Oostburg steered the Bender Racing No. 89 car to his first main event victory of the 2020 season in the 25-lap Klips N Tips Grand National A main, while Travis Schmidt of Waldo notched is initial A-main victory of the season in the 25-lap Cellcom B Mod main event.

In a rare appearance at The Plymouth Dirt Track, Jesse Glenz, who started second, bolted into the lead of the 42-lap Diamond 42 Dirt Kings Late Model Tour A-main event along the high groove on the opening lap, while third starter Mike Mullen of Seymour ducked low to assume second on the initial circuit.

The first of sixth cautions appeared on lap 3 when Zack Kessler of Plymouth spun in turn two. Following the restart, sixth starter Justin Reed of Camp Point, Ill. rode the high groove of the fast and tacky racing surface into third place on lap 4 before the second caution appeared on lap 5 for a spin involving Joe Bongiorno of Milwaukee and Ron Berna of Abrams in turn four.

On the restart, Reed used a high move to power his way past Mullen into second on lap 5 before Mullen battled back to regain the runner-up spot along the low groove on lap 9. Meanwhile, Glenz pulled away to a solid lead before lapped traffic made things very interesting starting on lap 16 when Mullen dove low to pull even with Glenz in heavy lapped traffic.

One lap later, the high-riding Reed joined in to make it a three-way duel for the top spot as moved into second lap 18 and powered around Glenz into the lead on lap 19. On lap 20, Mullen briefly grabbed the top spot down low before Reed battled back to regain the lead on lap 21.

On lap 28, two-time and defending PDTR Late Model champion Justin Schmidt of Cleveland, who started 11^th, worked his way into fourth along the outside groove. On lap 29, 2014 PDTR Late Model champ Mitch McGrath of Waukesha moved into fourth just as Schmidt moved around Glenz into second.

The third caution appeared on lap 30 when McGrath made contact with Glenz, which sent Glenz spinning in turn three. However, Dirt Kings officials ruled the caution to be inadvertent as Glenz did not stop on the track and both drivers maintained their spots in the running order.

On the restart, Glenz regained second, while McGrath moved into third as Schmidt dropped back after hitting the turn two wall. Just as Glenz was trimming the gap on Reed the fourth caution appeared on lap 37 when Dirt Kings point leader Brett Swedberg of Shawano spun in turn four.

Glenz changed his line to work the middle and high groove of the multi-groove track on the restart to work his way around Reed into the lead in turn two on lap 38. Glenz then pulled away from the rest of the pack as McGrath moved into third on lap 39.

One lap later, the fifth caution appeared when Reed spun in turn two after contact with McGrath as the two battled for second. On the restart, the sixth and final caution flag was displayed when four-time PDTR Late Model track champion Brad Mueller of Random Lake spun in turn two.

On the restart, McGrath moved into second, while three-time Dirt Kings Late Model Tour champion Nick Anvelink of Navarino, who started ninth, made his presence felt by moving into third and challenging McGrath for the runner-up spot.

On the final circuit, McGrath and Anvelink collided while dueling for second, which sent Anvelink into the turn two tire barrier, while McGrath was disqualified from the race for rough driving and subsequently issued a suspension from all Dirt Kings Tour events for the remainder of the 2020 season due to his conduct throughout the program.

Glenz pulled away over the final two laps to notch his first career Dirt Kings Late Model Tour victory, second career PDTR Late Model A-main victory, third straight main event triumph and fifth overall A-main win of 2020.

“I’m super stoked to be in victory lane at Plymouth as it has been a few years since our last victory here,” Glenz said. “Justin Reed was kind of hugging the bottom on that restart and I tried rolling through the middle and then worked up to the top to get by him. I’m super happy with this victory.”

Schmidt placed a strong second after starting in the middle of the pack.

“That caution with about 12 to go hurt us,” Schmidt said. “We were really going pretty good before that. I didn’t really know exactly where I was running for a while until I looked at the scoreboard and saw myself second. This was a really good run for us. We’ve kind of struggled over the past few weeks, so it feels good to get a good finish tonight.”

Ritchie worked his way up from his 13^th starting spot to place third.

“It was pretty hairy out there with a lot of guys making some crazy moves,” Ritchie said. “I hope it was a good show for the fans because it was really something to watch from my seat.”

Ron Berna, who started 22^nd, recovered from an early race spin to finish fourth and fourth starter Taylor Scheffler of Waukesha placed fifth in the Diamond 42, which was run in honor of Late Model driver “Diamond” Jim Letizia’s 42^nd year in racing.

Defending PDTR Grand National champion Tyler Kulow of Plymouth jumped out to the lead of the 25-lap Grand National A main from the pole as fourth starter Luke Scholten worked the high groove into second on the opening lap.

On lap 7, Scholten closed in to challenge Kulow for the top spot along the low groove. Kulow and Scholten dueled side by side for multiple laps until Scholten finally surged ahead in turn four on lap 14.

The lone caution flag of the race appeared on lap 21 when Donny Singer of Waldo and Steven Wirtz of Milwaukee stopped in turn four.

Scholten used a strong restart to pull away from Kulow over the final four laps en route to his 13^th career PDTR Grand National A-main victory to move into a tie for second place on the division’s all-time main event win list with two-time PDTR Grand National champ Don Sorce Jr. of West Allis.

Roger Lee of Wind Lake placed third after starting sixth, seventh starter Donny Kulow of Elkhart Lake finished fourth and 2008 PDTR Grand National champ Matt Yancey of Sheboygan placed fifth after starting fifth.

Tim Lange of Dousman led the opening circuit of the 25-lap B Mod A main from the second starting spot. On lap 4, polesitter Donny Singer of Waldo moved in to challenge Lange for the top spot. Two laps later, Singer assumed the top spot in turn one just as fourth starter Justin Bauer of Sheboygan Falls moved into second and sixth starter Barry Maas of Cascade moved into third.

On lap 11, Maas powered around Bauer to claim second and moved in to pressure Singer for the top spot on lap 13 before the first of two caution flags appeared on lap 13 when Bauer spun in turn two.

On the restart, eighth starter Travis Schmidt ducked low to work underneath Maas into second on lap 15. Five laps later, Schmidt snuck under Singer for the lead as Maas also got around Singer into second on lap 20.

The final caution flag appeared on lap 22 when Steve Lorier of Sheboygan spun in turn two. On the restart, Schmidt pulled away from Maas to claim his third career PDTR B Mod A-main victory by a three-car length margin over Maas, who finished second. Singer held on to take third, third starter Brandon Knepprath of Kewaskum placed fourth and Bauer recovered from his lap 13 spin to place fifth.

Jim Schmidt of Cleveland won the first 12-lap Dirt Kings Late Model B main, while Joel Bennett won the second 12-lap Dirt Kings Late Model B main.

The event attracted a total of 56 cars, including 34 Dirt Kings/PDTR Late Models, 11 Grand Nationals and 11 B mods.

Main event trophies were sponsored by Recognition Race Products.

For all remaining 2020 PDTR races, Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan Falls 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.

 

DISCOUNT SHOP TOWELS DIRT KINGS LATE MODEL TOUR DIAMOND 42

PRO POWER RACING ENGINES HEAT 1

1, Jesse Glenz 2, Paul Parker 3, Justin Schmidt 4, Troy Springborn 5, Joe Bongiorno 6, Ron Berna 7, Tim Buhler 8, Brett Swedberg 9, Lukas Postl.

MUELLER’S SALES AND SERVICE HEAT 2

1, Taylor Scheffler 2, Brad Mueller 3, Justin Reed 4, Kevin Eder 5, Chris Engels 6, Justin Green 7, Derek Janke 8, Kyle Raddant 9, Joel Willman.

WEHRS MACHINE AND RACING PRODUCTS HEAT 3

1, Mike Mullen 2, Aaron Wickersheim 3, Zack Kessler 4, Joel Bennett 5, Jim Schmidt 6, Ron Stroika 7, Mitch McGrath 8, Buddy Hanestad.

DISCOUNTSHOPTOWELS.COM HEAT 4

1, Rick Hanestad 2, Nick Anvelink 3, Justin Ritchie 4, Mark Rose 5, Turk Letizia 6, Tom Naeyaert 7, Charlie Schmidt 8, Jim Letizia.

KIRKPATRICK LAW OFFICE B MAIN 1

1, Jim Schmidt 2, Chris Engels 3, Ron Berna 4, Tom Naeyaert 5, Charlie Schmidt 6, Lukas Postl 7, Derek Janke.

KIRKPATRICK LAW OFFICE B MAIN 2

1, Joel Bennett 2, Mitch McGrath 3, Turk Letizia 4, Tim Buhler 5, Brett Swedberg 6, Ron Stroika 7, Jim Letizia 8, Justin Green.

A MAIN

1, Jesse Glenz 2, Justin Schmidt 3, Justin Ritchie 4, Taylor Scheffler 5, Ron Berna 6, Troy Springborn 7, Paul Parker 8, Aaron Wickersheim 9, Jim Schmidt 10, Nick Anvelink 11, Joel Bennett 12, Joe Bongiorno 13, Turk Letizia 14, Justin Reed 15, Brad Mueller 16, Kevin Eder 17, Brett Swedberg 18, Mike Mullen 19, Mark Rose 20, Chris Engels 21, Rick Hanestad 22, Zack Kessler 23, Mitch McGrath.

 

KLIPS N CLIPS GRAND NATIONAL

Heat 1

1, Luke Scholten 2, Tyler Kulow 3, Matt Yancey 4, Donny Kulow 5, Donny Singer 6, Paul Perronne.

Heat 2

1, Steven Wirtz 2, Daryl Traber 3, Roger Lee 4, Dave Holm 5, Matt Schlehlein.

A Main

1, Luke Scholten 2, Tyler Kulow 3, Roger Lee 4, Donny Kulow 5, Matt Yancey 6, Daryl Traber 7, Steven Wirtz 8, Donny Singer 9, Dave Holm 10, Paul Perronne 11, Matt Schlehlein (DNS).

CELLCOM B MOD

Heat 1

1, Barry Maas 2, Jason Schilling 3, Brandon Knepprath 4, Tim Lange 5, Donny Singer 6, Jim Fischer

Heat 2

1, Travis Schmidt 2, Steve Lorier 3, Justin Bauer 4, Brian Wieland 5, Rory Welch

A Main

1, Travis Schmidt 2, Barry Maas 3, Donny Singer 4, Brandon Knepprath 5, Justin Bauer 6, Jim Fischer 7, Brian Wieland 8, Steve Lorier 9, Tim Lange 10, Jason Schilling 11, Rory Welch.