(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) May 4, 2019 – The excitement of a brand new season brought dirt track racing competitors, crews, fans and supporters out in full force to usher in the 15^th season of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing (PDTR) sanctioned competition at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, May 4.

With a strong contingent of 95 cars in PDTR’s four regular divisions packing the pit area, a pair of veteran drivers claimed their first career A-main victories as Paul Parker of Kaukauna scored a wire-to-wire triumph in the 25-lap Gasroots Project Late Model A main and Chad Espen of West Bend survived an incident-filled 25-lap Klips & Tips Grand National A main to notch his first career PDTR main event victory.

In other action, West Bend’s Kevin Karnitz mounted a late charge to capture the 25-lap Richard’s of Dunbar 360 Sprint Car A main and Tim Warner of Malone pulled off the winning move with two laps to go to claim the 25-lap Cellcom B Mod A main.

Mike Yurmanovich of Cascade led the Sprint Car A-main to the green flag from the pole position with Paul Pokorski of West Bend lining up on the outside of the front row. Pokorski got the jump on the start to power into the lead along the high groove of the smooth, wide and slick track surface.

As Pokorski rocketed away from 2005 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Danny Schlafer of Sussex, who started third, the first of two caution flags was displayed on lap 2 when Nich Melis of Plymouth spun his machine in turn four.

On the restart, Schlafer got sideways and spun in turn two, triggering a five-car melee involving 2010 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee, Shane Wenninger of Kewaskum, Al Schlafer of Sussex and Adam Miller of Plymouth. All five drivers emerged uninjured, but none of them were able to return to the race.

Pokorski grabbed the lead on the restart while sixth starter Kevin Karnitz used the high grove to move around fourth starter Robbie Pribnow of Lomira to secure second on lap 3.

By lap 7, Pokorski had built up a full-straightaway lead over Karnitz. Three laps later, 14^th starter Travis Arenz of Sheboygan moved in to take third from Pribnow. Meanwhile, Karnitz was quickly reeling in the high-riding Pokorski along the low groove.

On lap 16, Karnitz ducked underneath Pokorski to seize the top spot exiting turn four, while Arenz followed Karnitz into second place one lap later. Arenz appeared poised to challenge Karnitz as he drew within striking distance along the cushion on lap 19.

However, Karnitz was too strong as he pulled away over the final five laps to notch his third career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory and fifth overall Midwest Sprint Car Association triumph of his career. Arenz had to settle for second, Pokorski held on to finish third, fifth starter Tyler Brabant of Waupun placed fourth and Pribnow wound up fifth.

Polesitter Paul Parker outdueled defending PDTR Late Model champion Justin Schmidt of Cleveland to lead the opening lap of the 25-lap Late Model A main.

The lone caution of the event appeared on lap 2 when 2016 PDTR Late Model champ Tim Buhler of Greenbush stopped on the frontstretch with a flat tire. Parker was strong again on the restart as he pulled away from Schmidt along the extreme inside lane to gain a quarter-straightaway cushion by lap 15.

Parker encountered lapped traffic on lap 18, which allowed Schmidt to close the gap and mount a late challenge for the lead. Schmidt took a peek under Parker in turn one on lap 22, but Parker shut the door and maintained a solid edge over the final three laps to post his first career PDTR Late Model A-main triumph.

Schmidt was second, fourth starter Turk Letizia of Milwaukee placed third, Justin Ritchie of New London finished fourth after starting sixth and eight starter Charlie Schmidt of Cedar Grove placed fifth.

Donny Singer of Waldo led the opening lap of the 25-lap Grand National A main from the pole. On lap three, third starter Jeff Muehlbauer of Elkhart Lake slipped under Singer to gain the top spot in turn three before the first of five cautions slowed the field.

On the restart, Chad Espen, who started fifth, began to make his presence felt as he moved into to challenge Muehlbauer along the long groove before the second caution was displayed for debris on the backstretch.

After the restart, further starter Tyler Kulow of Plymouth used the high line to pressure to make it a three-car battle for the lead. As Kulow worked the outside groove, both Espen and Muehlbauer held tight to the low line as the three raced in close quarters for seven consecutive laps before a pair of cautions appeared on lap 15 and lap 16 for single-car spins.

On the restart, Kulow ducked low, Espen swung out high and Muehlbauer held the middle lane as they raced three-wide through turn four on lap 17. On lap later, Espen seized the lead along the high groove in turn two.

Following another caution for a single-car spin on lap 21, Kulow worked the high line to mount one last shot at the victory. Kulow and Espen dueled side by side on lap 23, but Espen successfully fended off the challenge while sixth starter J.J. Pagel of Campbellsport snuck in to steal second from the high-riding Kulow on the final lap.

Espen held on to secure his first career PDTR Grand National A-main victory, Pagel placed second, Kulow finished third, Muehlbauer wound up fourth and second starter Donny Kulow of Elkhart Lake placed fifth.

Steve Lorier of Sheboygan grabbed the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap B Mod A main from his outside front row starting position before the first of two caution flags flew for a three-car incident in turn two.

On the restart, Lorier again seized the top spot as Jesse Jakubowski of Sheboygan Falls, who started on the pole, settled into second. By lap 8, Lorier had built up a half-straightaway lead over Jakubowski, while Tim Warner, who started eighth, was making a charge to the front of the pack.

On lap 12, Warner worked the high groove to power his way into third as Lorier caught the rear of the field on lap 15, which allowed Jakubowski and Warner to cut the gap.

As Jakubowski and Warner moved into striking range, the second caution appeared on lap 22 when Travis Schmidt of Waldo spun in turn two. On the restart, Warner again charged hard along the outside line to capture the lead in turn two on lap 23. Warner then pulled away to secure his second career PDTR B Mod A-main victory.

Lorier had to settle for second, Jakubowski placed third, Marcus Hoeppner of Hartford finished fourth after starting fourth and third starter Justin Bauer of Sheboygan Falls was fifth.

Justin Miller of Plymouth won the first 12-lap 360 Sprint Car B main and Josh Walter of Plymouth captured the second 12-lap 360 Sprint Car B main. Brian Wieland of Elkhart Lake was victorious in the B Mod B main.

The program, which was sponsored by Collins State Bank, featured a huge field of 39 PDTR 360 Sprints, along with 25 B Mods, 17 Grand Nationals and 14 Late Models.

PDTR racing action will continue next Saturday, May 11 with an earlier starting time. Grandstands gates will open at 3:30 p.m. with racing scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. The evening will honor all police, fire and EMS personnel with free admission with proper credentials.

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.

RICHARD’S OF DUNBAR SPRINT CAR

HEAT 1

1, MICHAEL YURMANOVICH. 2, ANTHONY KNIERIM. 3, ADAM MILLER. 4,

WILL GERRITS. 5, JUSTIN MILLER. 6, DOUG WONDRA. 7, BILL TAYLOR.

8, TYLER TISCHENDORF.

HEAT 2

1, DANNY SCHLAFER. 2, KEVIN KARNITZ. 3, AL SCHLAFER. 4, TIM

HADDY. 5, SHANE WENNINGER. 6, BRANDON BERTH. 7, SPYDER

AKRIGHT. 8, BRYCE SCHMITT.

HEAT 3

1, KURT DAVIS. 2, NICH MELIS. 3, SCOTT CONGER. 4, CHRIS CLAYTON.

5, CHRIS FLICK. 6, SEAN RAYHALL. 7, BLAKE WONDRA. 8, MIKE

DECKER. (DNS).

HEAT 4

1, TYLER BRABANT. 2, ROBBIE PRIBNOW. 3, JUSTIN ERICKSON. 4,

LANCE FASSBENDER. 5, TONY WONDRA. 6, JACK VANDERBOOM. 7,

TYLER DAVIS. 8, TYLER NELSON.

HEAT 5

1, JIM MELIS. 2, PAUL POKORSKI. 3, BRANDON MCMULLEN. 4,

TRAVIS ARENZ. 5, JOSH WALTER. 6, JOSH TEUNISSEN. 7, PRESTON

RUH. (DNS).

B FEATURE

1, JUSTIN MILLER. 2, LANCE FASSBENDER. 3, WILL GERRITS. 4, JOSH

TEUNISSEN. 5, JACK VANDERBOOM. 6, TYLER DAVIS. 7, BRYCE

SCHMITT. 8, BLAKE WONDRA. 9, SCOTT CONGER. 10, BRANDON

BERTH. 11, DOUG WONDRA. 12, PRESTON RUH.

B FEATURE

1, JOSH WALTER. 2, SHANE WENNINGER. 3, AL SCHLAFER. 4, TONY

WONDRA. 5, BILL TAYLOR. 6, SPYDER AKRIGHT. 7, MIKE DECKER. 8,

CHRIS FLICK. 9, TYLER NELSON. 10, TYLER TISCHENDORF. 11, SEAN

RAYHALL.

A FEATURE

1, KEVIN KARNITZ. 2, TRAVIS ARENZ. 3, PAUL POKORSKI. 4, TYLER

BRABANT. 5, ROBBIE PRIBNOW. 6, TIM HADDY. 7, JUSTIN MILLER. 8,

WILL GERRITS. 9, CHRIS CLAYTON. 10, LANCE FASSBENDER. 11,

BRANDON MCMULLEN. 12, ANTHONY KNIERIM. 13, MICHAEL

YURMANOVICH. 14, JOSH WALTER. 15, JIM MELIS. 16, JUSTIN

ERICKSON. 17, DANNY SCHLAFER. 18, KURT DAVIS. 19, ADAM MILLER.

20, SHANE WENNINGER. 21, AL SCHLAFER. 22, NICH MELIS.

GASROOTS PROJECT LATE MODEL

HEAT 1

1, CHARLIE SCHMIDT. 2, TIM BUHLER. 3, JUSTIN SCHMIDT. 4, TURK

LETIZIA. 5, BRIAN KONITZER. 6, ZACK KESSLER. (DNS).7, RICK

SCHEFFLER. (DNS).

HEAT 2

1, JUSTIN RITCHIE. 2, JOE BONGIORNO. 3, TAYLOR SCHEFFLER. 4,

PAUL PARKER. 5, KEVIN BALDRY. 6, BRAD MUELLER. 7, RON STROIKA.

A FEATURE

1, PAUL PARKER. 2, JUSTIN SCHMIDT. 3, TURK LETIZIA. 4, JUSTIN

RITCHIE. 5, CHARLIE SCHMIDT. 6, KEVIN BALDRY. 7, TAYLOR

SCHEFFLER. 8, RON STROIKA. 9, TIM BUHLER. 10, BRIAN KONITZER.

11, BRAD MUELLER. 12, JOE BONGIORNO. 13, ZACK KESSLER.

(DNS).14, RICK SCHEFFLER. (DNS).

KLIPS & TIPS GRAND NATIONAL

HEAT 1

1, CHAD ESPEN. 2, JEFF MUEHLBAUER. 3, TYLER KULOW. 4, JOSH

PIERCE. 5, JIM FISCHER. 6, LUKE SCHOLTEN. 7, DEREK KAAT. 8, DYLAN

MAY. 9, JOSH HITSMAN.

HEAT 2

1, JJ PAGEL. 2, DONNY SINGER. 3, DONNY KULOW. 4, BRAD WEISS. 5,

DICK HED. 6, JACOB MUEHLBAUER. 7, MARK FIEBER. 8, STEVEN

WEBER. (DNS).

A FEATURE

1, CHAD ESPEN. 2, JJ PAGEL. 3, TYLER KULOW. 4, JEFF MUEHLBAUER.

5, DONNY KULOW. 6, LUKE SCHOLTEN. 7, DICK HED. 8, STEVEN WEBER.

9, BRAD WEISS. 10, MARK FIEBER. 11, DONNY SINGER. 12, JACOB

MUEHLBAUER. 13, JOSH PIERCE. 14, JOSH HITSMAN. 15, DYLAN MAY.

16, DEREK KAAT. 17, JIM FISCHER. (DNS).

CELLCOM B MOD

HEAT 1

1, SHANE LONG. 2, TRAVIS SCHMIDT. 3, BRANDON KNEPPRATH. 4,

GARY GLANDER. 5, TIM LANGE. 6, CRAIG GESSNER. 7, ANDY SINGER.

8, BRIAN WIELAND. 9, NATHAN JAKUBOWSKI. (DNS).

HEAT 2

1, MARK HOEPPNER. 2, MARCUS HOEPPNER. 3, STEVE LORIER. 4,

RICK KRETSCHMANN. 5, DONNY SINGER. 6, JAMES RAUTMANN. 7,

CHRISTOPHER GILSON. 8, JOSHUA MAVIS.

HEAT 3

1, TIM WARNER. 2, JUSTIN BAUER. 3, JESSE JAKUBOWSKI. 4, RORY

WELCH. 5, PATRICK HANSON. 6, SPENCER LONG. 7, MICHAEL GILSON.

(DNS).8, PHIL CAMPANELLA. (DNS).

B FEATURE

1, BRIAN WIELAND. 2, DONNY SINGER. 3, SPENCER LONG. 4, ANDY

SINGER. 5, NATHAN JAKUBOWSKI. 6, CHRISTOPHER GILSON. 7,

JOSHUA MAVIS. 8, MICHAEL GILSON. (DNS).9, PHIL CAMPANELLA.

A FEATURE

1, TIM WARNER. 2, STEVE LORIER. 3, JESSE JAKUBOWSKI. 4, MARCUS

HOEPPNER. 5, JUSTIN BAUER. 6, JAMES RAUTMANN. 7, GARY

GLANDER. 8, MARK HOEPPNER. 9, SHANE LONG. 10, RICK

KRETSCHMANN. 11, DONNY SINGER. 12, ANDY SINGER. 13, BRANDON

KNEPPRATH. 14, CRAIG GESSNER. 15, BRIAN WIELAND. 16, TRAVIS

SCHMIDT. 17, RORY WELCH. 18, TIM LANGE. 19, SPENCER LONG. 20,

PATRICK HANSON.