By Jeff Pederson – Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) June 20, 2026 – Defending Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car champion Kevin Karnitz of West Bend halted two-time track champion Ben Schmidt’s Plymouth winning streak at three in claiming his second A-main victory of the 2026 PDTR campaign on Mid-Season Night at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis., on Saturday, June 20.

In the 25-lap Oostburg Automotive Grand National division, Nick Schumacher of Eagle racked up his initial A-main win of the season.

Former track champion Travis Schmidt of Cascade racked up his first 25-lap Sheboygan Flooring B Mod main event triumph of the year.

Seth Johnson of Hartland led flag to flag en route to his first career 20-lap A-main victory in the AutoMeter Powered by Gandrud Performance Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car Series presented by PDTR guest division sponsor Sheboygan’s Rock Station 106.5 The Buzz.

After lining up on the outside of the front row, Kevin Karnitz outpowered polesitter Brandon Berth of Cascade to take the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car main event.

Riding the high and wide cushion, Karnitz caught up the back of the field on lap 6 and went to work slicing his way through thick slower traffic. As the leaders worked their way through a continual swarm of cars, Berth pulled even with Karnitz with a slide job on lap 8.

However, Karnitz fended off Berth’s spirited challenge for the lead. On lap 10, Berth exchanged sliders with fourth starter T.J. Smith of Greenville in a heated duel for the runner-up spot.

Meanwhile, Karnitz weaved his way through slower traffic with some daring, but well-measured moves utilizing the bite of the preferred outside groove to extend his lead by lap 15.

Three laps later, Ben Schmidt of Plymouth charged up from the 10th starting spot to slip past Smith to secure second. As the laps wound down, Schmidt used the low line to gradually reel in the high-riding Karnitz.

However, Schmidt’s valiant bid for a fourth straight PDTR and fifth consecutive Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car A-main win came up just short.

Karnitz secured his 10th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car victory and 12th career MSA main event win in the caution-free race, which came with a $1,000 first-place prize.

Schmidt was second, Berth wound up third, Smith finished fourth, and third starter Josh Walter of Plymouth rounded out the top five.

Polesitter Nick Schumacher grabbed the lead on the opening lap of the Grand National A main with 2018 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Justin Miller of Plymouth, who started third, following in second.

Schumacher wasted no time building up a solid lead before catching the back of the pack on lap 12, which allowed Miller and sixth starter Matt Urban of Milwaukee behind the wheel of Brad Weiss’ 53 car to close the gap.

The only caution flag of the event appeared on lap 20 when Tanner Lorenz spun in turn four. Following the restart, Urban moved past Miller to seize second. Over the final five laps, Urban dug hard and mounted a final bid for the lead with a low move exiting turn four of the final lap.

However, Schumacher held on to edge Urban by just half a car length (.102 of a second) at the finish line to score his fifth career PDTR Grand National A-main victory and $500 first-place paycheck.

Urban, who raced to victory in his first time behind the wheel of the 53 car on June 13, had to settle for a close second, Miller placed a Grand National career-best third, 2018 PDTR Grand National champion Tyler Kulow of Plymouth moved up from the 12th starting spot to take fourth, and fourth starter Donny Kulow of Plymouth rounded out the top five.

Outside front row starter Parker Glander of Sheboygan Falls outdueled Tim Thrun of Horicon, who started fourth, to pace the field in the early stages of the PDTR B Mod main event.

The first of four caution flags came out on lap 6 for Justin Blackburn’s spin in turn four. Following the restart, 2024 PDTR B Mod champion Travis Schmidt, who started eighth, powered in to seize second on lap 8 before shooting past Glander into the lead in turn three on lap 9.

The second caution flag came out on lap 12 for an incident involving Vince Jung and Tim Sheppard in turn three. After the restart, sixth starter Matt Urban advanced to second. By lap 19, Schmidt had built up a full-straightaway cushion over Urban.

After two more caution flags for single-car incidents involving Parker Glander and Steve Lorier on lap 23, Schmidt held strong on the way to his ninth career PDTR B Mod A-main win, which was worth $500.

Urban took second, Spencer Long of Sheboygan Falls bolted up from the 16th starting spot (last on the grid) to take third, newcomer Ryan Kuehn of Oconomowoc, who started ninth, finished fourth, and Trevor Maurer of De Pere placed fifth from the 12th starting spot in his first appearance at The Plymouth Dirt Track.

Seth Johnson, who started on the pole, jumped into the lead of the 20-lap Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car A main on the drop of the green flag. The lone caution of the event came out on lap 3 when Jordan Miklas spun in turn two.

Johnson utilized the preferred high line to control the lead after the restart with Wisconsin wingLESS rookie Colin Sivia of Winthrop Harbor, Ill., who started on the outside of the front row, following in second.

On lap 16, Johnson and Sivia were dueling in close quarters when Johnson came in contact with a slower car in turn two. However, Johnson recovered nicely to maintain the lead and pull away from Sivia over the final four laps on the way to his first career Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car Series A-main victory.

Sivia was second, third starter John Fahl of Brown Deer took third, Rusty Egan of Round Lake Heights, Ill. moved up from the eighth starting spot to place fourth, and Tim Cox of Park City, Ill. wound up fifth after starting sixth.

Weston Finke of Mayville won the 12-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main.

Rookie Ethon Stear of Hebron, Ill. was the overall fastest qualifier in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car division with a lap of 12.480 seconds.

Rusty Egan earned fast qualifier honors in the Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car division with a lap of 13.771 seconds.

The seventh event of the 2026 PDTR campaign, sponsored by Vesta, drew a field of 82 entries, including 27 360 Sprint Cars, 21 Grand Nationals, 17 B Mods and 17 Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Cars.

To help celebrate Mid-Season Night, PDTR added $3,000 to the purse for the 360 Sprint Car, Grand National and B Mod divisions ($1,000 each).

Plymouth Dirt Track Racing will return to action on Saturday, June 27 with the third scheduled 2026 Seubert Calf Ranches Super Six Late Model Series event presented by Sheboygan’s Rock Station 106.5 The Buzz, along with the Akright Auto PDTR 360 Sprint Cars, Oostburg Automotive Grand Nationals and Sheboygan Flooring B Mods.

The program will also feature Hot Wheels Races at the PDTR merchandise table under the grandstand to start the evening.

Spectator gates open at 4:30 p.m. with qualifying at 5:30 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m.

Weather information for all Plymouth Dirt Track Racing events will be posted on the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram pages, as well as the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing website – www.plymouthdtr.com.

The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds is located at 229 Fairview Drive in Plymouth, Wis.

For more information, visit www.plymouthdtr.com or check out Plymouth Dirt Track Racing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

 

AKRIGHT AUTO PLYMOUTH DIRT TRACK RACING 360 SPRINT CARS

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [2]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt [10]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth [1]; 4. 69S-TJ Smith [4]; 5. 67-Josh Walter [3]; 6. 3-Justin Erickson [16]; 7. 68T-Tyler Davis [5]; 8. 69-Shane Wenninger [7]; 9. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [6]; 10. 14J-Joseph Hintz [8]; 11. 15-Carter Chevalier [18]; 12. 59-Ethon Stear [13]; 13. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski [9]; 14. 57-Tristan Furseth [15]; 15. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [14]; 16. 24X-Eric Wilke [11]; 17. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl [21]; 18. 44H-Hayden Johnson [19]; 19. 51-Chris Larson [12]; 20. 11-Tony Wondra [20]; 21. 68P-Frank Perko [22]; 22. 20W-Weston Finke [17]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 20W-Weston Finke[2]; 2. 15-Carter Chevalier[1]; 3. 44H-Hayden Johnson[7]; 4. 11-Tony Wondra[3]; 5. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl[8]; 6. 68P-Frank Perko[5]; 7. 46-Steven Ruh[9]; 8. 87R-Josh Rehberg[4]; 9. 30-Nathan Skelton[10]; 10. (DNS) 37Z-Jake Zimmerman; 11. (DNS) 5-Chad Stouthamer

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 68T-Tyler Davis[1]; 2. 63K-Kevin Karnitz[4]; 3. 51-Chris Larson[2]; 4. 15-Carter Chevalier[3]; 5. 20W-Weston Finke[5]; 6. 68P-Frank Perko[6]; 7. (DNS) 5-Chad Stouthamer

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 22B-Brandon Berth[1]; 2. 14J-Joseph Hintz[2]; 3. 35-Ben Schmidt[3]; 4. 59-Ethon Stear[4]; 5. 57-Tristan Furseth[6]; 6. 44H-Hayden Johnson[5]; 7. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 67-Josh Walter[2]; 2. 69-Shane Wenninger[3]; 3. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski[4]; 4. 24X-Eric Wilke[5]; 5. 46-Steven Ruh[1]; 6. 87R-Josh Rehberg[7]; 7. (DNF) 30-Nathan Skelton[6]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 69S-TJ Smith[2]; 2. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach[3]; 3. 3-Justin Erickson[1]; 4. 3BK-Billy Kreutz[4]; 5. 11-Tony Wondra[5]; 6. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman[6]

Qualifying 1: 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 12.743[2]; 2. 15-Carter Chevalier, 12.802[6]; 3. 51-Chris Larson, 12.834[3]; 4. 68T-Tyler Davis, 12.954[5]; 5. 20W-Weston Finke, 12.973[7]; 6. 68P-Frank Perko, 13.051[1]; 7. 5-Chad Stouthamer, 13.051[4]

Qualifying 2: 1. 59-Ethon Stear, 12.480[2]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt, 12.723[5]; 3. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 12.782[6]; 4. 22B-Brandon Berth, 12.805[1]; 5. 44H-Hayden Johnson, 12.813[4]; 6. 57-Tristan Furseth, 12.876[3]; 7. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl, 12.893[7]

Qualifying 3: 1. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski, 12.884[4]; 2. 69-Shane Wenninger, 12.953[7]; 3. 67-Josh Walter, 12.991[5]; 4. 46-Steven Ruh, 12.999[3]; 5. 24X-Eric Wilke, 13.117[1]; 6. 30-Nathan Skelton, 13.497[6]; 7. 87R-Josh Rehberg, 13.497[2]

Qualifying 4: 1. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 12.760[1]; 2. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 12.849[5]; 3. 69S-TJ Smith, 12.961[3]; 4. 3-Justin Erickson, 13.108[4]; 5. 11-Tony Wondra, 13.490[6]; 6. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman, 13.951[2]

 

OOSTBURG AUTOMOTIVE GRAND NATIONALS 

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 47-Nick Schumacher [1]; 2. 53B-Matt Urban [6]; 3. 15M-Justin Miller [3]; 4. 24K-Tyler Kulow [12]; 5. 95-Donny Kulow [4]; 6. 5M-Jeff Muehlbauer [13]; 7. 39-Brad Lubach [11]; 8. 53W-Dustin Weiss [10]; 9. 16-Will Schumacher [5]; 10. 93-Mavrick Ruh [20]; 11. 80-Luke Scholten [7]; 12. 6-Dick Hed [2]; 13. 27-Greg Goschey [15]; 14. 13-Josh Pierce [9]; 15. 42-Jason Juech [14]; 16. 54-Austin Yancey [18]; 17. 44G-Rich Garb [17]; 18. 41K-Katelyn Sohrweide [19]; 19. 15-Derek Kaat [8]; 20. 53T-Tanner Lorenz [16]; 21. 77-Ron Johnson [21]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 47-Nick Schumacher[2]; 2. 95-Donny Kulow[3]; 3. 15-Derek Kaat[5]; 4. 39-Brad Lubach[6]; 5. 5M-Jeff Muehlbauer[7]; 6. 53T-Tanner Lorenz[4]; 7. 54-Austin Yancey[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 53B-Matt Urban[4]; 2. 6-Dick Hed[2]; 3. 13-Josh Pierce[5]; 4. 16-Will Schumacher[3]; 5. 42-Jason Juech[6]; 6. 44G-Rich Garb[7]; 7. (DNF) 41K-Katelyn Sohrweide[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 15M-Justin Miller[2]; 2. 24K-Tyler Kulow[5]; 3. 53W-Dustin Weiss[4]; 4. 80-Luke Scholten[3]; 5. 27-Greg Goschey[1]; 6. 77-Ron Johnson[6]; 7. (DNS) 93-Mavrick Ruh

 

SHEBOYGAN FLOORING B MODS

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 3-Travis Schmidt [8]; 2. 48-Matt Urban [6]; 3. 59S-Spencer Long [16]; 4. 29R-Ryan Kuehn [9]; 5. 22T-Trevor Maurer [12]; 6. 29S-Tim Sheppard [7]; 7. 67-Vince Jung [10]; 8. 31W-Shane Long [14]; 9. 17-Brandon Knepprath [13]; 10. 12T-Tim Thrun [4]; 11. 5X-Tony Gates [3]; 12. 66-Steve Lorier [5]; 13. (DNF) 19-Parker Glander [2]; 14. (DNF) 73-Rory Welch [1]; 15. (DNF) X-Chris Budzban [11]; 16. (DNF) 4-Justin Blackburn [15]; 17. (DNS) 26P-Ryan Pafford

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. X-Chris Budzban[6]; 2. 3-Travis Schmidt[5]; 3. 66-Steve Lorier[4]; 4. 73-Rory Welch[2]; 5. 17-Brandon Knepprath[3]; 6. 4-Justin Blackburn[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 5X-Tony Gates[3]; 2. 48-Matt Urban[4]; 3. 22T-Trevor Maurer[6]; 4. 29R-Ryan Kuehn[5]; 5. 31W-Shane Long[2]; 6. (DNF) 26P-Ryan Pafford[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 29S-Tim Sheppard[3]; 2. 12T-Tim Thrun[2]; 3. 67-Vince Jung[4]; 4. 19-Parker Glander[1]; 5. (DNS) 59S-Spencer Long

 

SHEBOYGAN’S ROCK STATION 106.5 THE BUZZ WISCONSIN WINGLESS SPRINT CARS

A Main (20 Laps): 1. 99J-Seth Johnson [1]; 2. 11S-Colin Sivia [2]; 3. 0-John Fahl [3]; 4. 50-Rusty Egan [8]; 5. 14-Tim Cox [6]; 6. 22-Greg Alt [5]; 7. 38-Allen Hafford [7]; 8. 29J-Ralph Johnson 4]; 9. 26-Preston Ruh [9]; 10. 24-Eric Wilke [17]; 11. 2J-Christian Janssen [11]; 12. 4G-George Gaertner III [12]; 13. 54-Chance Ciskowski [13]; 14. 7-Trinity Uttech [14]; 15. 7D-Josh Davidson [16]; 16. 41-Dennis Spitz [15]; 17. 44J-Jordan Miklas [10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 29J-Ralph Johnson[2]; 2. 14-Tim Cox[3]; 3. 26-Preston Ruh[5]; 4. 11S-Colin Sivia[1]; 5. 50-Rusty Egan[4]; 6. 2J-Christian Janssen[6]; 7. 7-Trinity Uttech[7]; 8. 7D-Josh Davidson[8]; 9. (DNS) 24-Eric Wilke

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 99J-Seth Johnson[1]; 2. 22-Greg Alt[3]; 3. 44J-Jordan Miklas[5]; 4. 0-John Fahl[2]; 5. 38-Allen Hafford[4]; 6. 4G-George Gaertner III[8]; 7. 54-Chance Ciskowski[6]; 8. 41-Dennis Spitz[7]

Qualifying: 1. 50-Rusty Egan, 13.771[1]; 2. 38-Allen Hafford, 14.153[2]; 3. 14-Tim Cox, 14.171[16]; 4. 22-Greg Alt, 14.260[5]; 5. 29J-Ralph Johnson, 14.326[6]; 6. 0-John Fahl, 14.340[15]; 7. 11S-Colin Sivia, 14.342[3]; 8. 99J-Seth Johnson, 14.359[17]; 9. 26-Preston Ruh, 14.365[14]; 10. 44J-Jordan Miklas, 14.373[13]; 11. 2J-Christian Janssen, 14.446[4]; 12. 54-Chance Ciskowski, 14.470[11]; 13. 7-Trinity Uttech, 14.657[9]; 14. 41-Dennis Spitz, 14.673[7]; 15. 7D-Josh Davidson, 14.989[12]; 16. 4G-George Gaertner III, 15.017[10]; 17. (DNS) 24-Eric Wilke, 15.017