Myers Jr., Sandholm earn initial A-main victories

By Jeff Pederson – Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) July 27, 2024 – If you were to describe the eighth Plymouth Dirt Track Racing program of the 2024 season on Saturday, July 27 in one word, “ordinary” most certainly wouldn’t be it.

Whether it was a father-son 1-2 finish, inspired runs from the back to the front of the field, a heaping helping of slide jobs, a pair of A-main leaders meeting misfortune in the same race, a father driving his daughter’s car to an A-main win or two  incidents involving hard impacts with the outer wall and fence, action in the Akright Auto Plymouth Dirt Track Racing – Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Cars, PDTR B Mods and the visiting Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car divisions provided Plymouth Dirt Track Racing fans with an abundance of wheel-to-wheel entertainment.

Two-time Akright Auto 360 Sprint Car champion Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee bested a career-best run from his son, Tyler, to capture his first A-main victory at The Plymouth Dirt Track in over three years as the Davis’ achieved a rare 1-2 father-son showing in the 25-lap PDTR-MSA main event.

After the first two leaders encountered misfortune, Joel Myers Jr. of Santa Rosa, Calif. nailed down a victory in the 30-lap IRA 410 Sprint Car Series main event.

Mike Sandholm of Oconomowoc made his first start in the car normally wheeled by his daughter, Miranda, a memorable one as he led wire-to-wire en route to victory in the 25-lap PDTR B Mod A-main.

In the 25-lap PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car main event, polesitter Bill Taylor of Boltonville raced into the lead on the drop of the green flag as Kurt Davis, who started fourth, jumped to the high groove of the third-mile clay oval to challenge third starter T.J. Smith of Greenville for second.

The first caution of two cautions appeared on lap 3 when Justin Erickson of Plymouth spun in turn two and collected Clayton Rossmann of Wadsworth, Ill, T.J. Haddy of Waupun and Alex Pokorski of West Bend. All three drivers retreated to the work area before rejoining the race at the rear of the field on the ensuing restart.

Taylor continued to hold down the lead when the race resumed while Kurt Davis stormed into second place along with the cushion on lap 7. Three laps later, the all-time winningest driver in the 25-season history of the Akright Auto Midwest Sprint Car Association powered his way past Taylor to secure the lead on the slick, smooth and multi-groove racing surface.

The second and final caution flag was displayed on lap 13 when Taylor and Brandon Berth of Cascade were involved in an incident in turn two during a four-car duel for second. Both drivers were able to return to the race.

Following the restart, Kurt’s son, Tyler Davis of Franklin, moved up from the sixth starting spot to shoot past Smith into second on lap 14 as ninth starter Robbie Pribnow charged into third along the outside line.

With five laps to go, Kurt Davis caught the rear of the field and had to deal with a swarm of slower cars, which allowed Tyler Davis to reel in his father.

With one lap to go, Tyler pulled to within striking distance his father. However, Kurt Davis proved to be the top Davis family finisher on this occasion as he held on by a car length to capture his first victory in PDTR 360 Sprint Car competition since May 8, 2021, as well as his 26^th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main triumph and MSA A-main leading 65^th career A-main win.

In his 39^th season of competition, Kurt Davis’ PDTR 360 Sprint Car win moved him to within seven victories of all-time PDTR A-main victory leader Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh, who currently sits at the top of the heap at The Plymouth Dirt Track with 33 wins.

The win also helped Kurt Davis to stretch his lead at the top of the MSA 360 Sprint Car all-time A-main victory list to 13 over current runner-up Danny Schlafer of Sussex, who has 52 MSA 360 Sprint Car A-main victories to his credit. It was Davis’ first MSA win since May 15, 2022 at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wis.

“I’ve been going through the year doubting myself – am I too old, did I lose some stuff?” Kurt Davis said. “I may be a little bit more out of shape. I may have lost a bit of timing, but this one’s for the old guys. As for running the number 39 this year, we lost Cole Possi last year. The Possi family have been great friends to me. I’m glad I could at least pay them back for all their years of friendship and support with a victory.”

Tyler Davis claimed a career-best second place showing, Pribnow placed third, Smith wound up fourth and Chris Clayton of Waldo mounted an inspired run from the 20^th starting spot to secure a fifth place showing in his first appearance of the 2024 season in PDTR and MSA 360 Sprint Car competition.

The 30-lap IRA A-main proved to overflow with action in various ways. Polesitter and early race leader Danny Schlafer of Sussex took the lead at the start before the red flag appeared when Mike Reinke of Howards Grove made hard contact with the turn four wall and flipped on lap 3.

Schlafer controlled the restart and hit lapped traffic on lap 9 as second starter Jake Neuman of New Berlin, Ill., two-time IRA champion Jake Blackhurst of Hanna City, Ill., who started fourth, fifth starter Blake Nimee of Oswego, Ill. and Joel Myers Jr. who started eighth, waged an epic slide job-laden battle for third.

After leading the first 11 laps of the event, Schlafer made contact with a lapped car on lap 12, which launched his No. 25 car on a series of flips into the turn one fence.

With Schlafer out of the race, second starter Jake Neumann of New Berlin, Ill. assumed the top spot until his 3N machine rolled to a stop in turn three on lap 20 to become the second race leader to drop out of the event over the span of eight laps.

Blackhurst inherited the lead with Myers Jr. and Max Guilford of Aukland, New Zealand, who started 11^th, lurking close behind. The fourth and final stoppage of the race occurred with five laps to go when Ryan Zielski of Oconomowoc spun.

The closing laps saw Blackhurst, Myers Jr. and Nimee relentlessly duel for the top spot as the trio reeled off slide job after slide job. Myers Jr. eventually swept into the lead along the high line. At the same time, Nimee ducked under Blackhurst utilizing the low groove as the trio raced three-wide coming out of turn four on lap 27.

Myers Jr. surged ahead of Nimee for good on lap 28 with Guilford charging back into the top three as the checkered flag flew to cap the action-packed race with Myers Jr. collecting his first career IRA A-main triumph.

Nimee finished second, Guilford wound up third, two-time PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car champion Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls charged up 16 spots from the 20^th starting position to place fourth and Blackhurst finished fifth.

Filling in for his daughter, Miranda, Mike Sandholm grabbed the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap PDTR B Mod A-main.

Sandholm held down a solid cushion over Brad Buckman of Kiel before the first of three caution flags appeared on lap 7 when Scott Quarnstrom of Lake Villa, Ill. spun in turn four.

Sandholm maintained the top spot on the restart as fifth starter Brandon Knepprath of Boltonville slipped into second place on lap 8 with Hunter Larson of Oshkosh, who started seventh taking over third.

The second caution flag appeared on lap 9 for a six-car incident in turn two. After fending off Larson’s challenge for second, Knepprath set his focus on tracking down Sandholm.

As the leaders hit slower traffic, Knepprath remained highly determined as he remained within striking distance when the third and final caution period occurred on lap 19. When the race resumed Knepprath stayed glued to Sandholm’s bumper and stayed there straight through to the finish.

However, Sandholm proved to have just enough to claim his first career PDTR B Mod main event victory. Knepprath finished a career-best second, Larson wound up third, 11^th starter Travis Schmidt of Plymouth charged up from the 11^th starting spot to finish fourth and Barrett Hummelmeier of Beaver Dam, advanced from the 12^th starting position to place fifth.

Jake Blackhurst was the top qualifier in the IRA 410 Sprint Car ranks with a lap of    11.882 seconds.

Clayton Rossmann claimed fast qualifier honors in PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car group qualifying with a time 13.365 of seconds.

The eighth event of the 2024 PDTR campaign, which was sponsored by Hopf Farms, featured 72 total entries, including 28 IRA 410 Sprint Cars, 23 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars and 21 B Mods.

The next Plymouth Dirt Track Racing program on Saturday, Aug. 3 will feature the PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars, Grand Nationals, B Mods, IRA Lightning Sprints and the High School Racing Association.

The program will also include the VanDerVart Concrete Coin and Candy Drop, along with a coloring contest, which will feature prizes for the winners.

Grandstand 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. 39K-Kurt Davis [4]; 2. 68T-Tyler Davis [6]; 3. 0-Robbie Pribnow [9]; 4. 69S-TJ Smith [3]; 5. 2-Chris Clayton [20]; 6. 14J-Joseph Hintz [19]; 7. 35-Ben Schmidt [8]; 8. 53A-Paul Pokorski [2]; 9. 30-Doug Wondra [15]; 10. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [11]; 11. 3-Justin Erickson [5]; 12. 4-Alex Pokorski [13]; 13. 22B-Brandon Berth [7]; 14. 55P-Brady Portschy [21]; 15. 11-Tony Wondra [16]; 16. 09-Clayton Rossmann [10]; 17. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [14]; 18. 69-Bill Taylor [1]; 19. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [17]; 20. 21H-TJ Haddy [18]; 21. 24-Scott Conger [12]; 22. 46-Kevin Ruh [23]; 23. (DNF) 52-Cody Schlafer [22]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 69S-TJ Smith [1]; 2. 68T-Tyler Davis [2]; 3. 09-Clayton Rossmann [4]; 4. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [5]; 5. 0-Robbie Pribnow [3]; 6. 14J-Joseph Hintz [8]; 7. 21H-TJ Haddy [7]; 8. 11-Tony Wondra [6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 53A-Paul Pokorski [2]; 2. 39K-Kurt Davis [3]; 3. 3-Justin Erickson [4]; 4. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [1]; 5. 30-Doug Wondra [5]; 6. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [6]; 7. 46-Kevin Ruh [7]; 8. 55P-Brady Portschy[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 24-Scott Conger [1]; 2. 69-Bill Taylor [2]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth [3]; 4. 4-Alex Pokorski [5]; 5. 35-Ben Schmidt [4]; 6. 2-Chris Clayton [6]; 7. 52-Cody Schlafer [7]

Qualifying 1: 1. 09-Clayton Rossmann, 13.365 [7]; 2. 0-Robbie Pribnow, 13.375 [6]; 3. 68T-Tyler Davis, 13.591 [3]; 4. 69S-TJ Smith, 13.631 [5]; 5. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 13.671 [4]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra, 13.885 [2]; 7. 21H-TJ Haddy, 13.950 [8]; 8. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 13.978 [1]

Qualifying 2: 1. 3-Justin Erickson, 13.600 [5]; 2. 39K-Kurt Davis, 13.629 [1]; 3. 53A-Paul Pokorski, 13.658[7]; 4. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 13.845[2]; 5. 30-Doug Wondra, 13.871[4]; 6. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 13.925 [3]; 7. 55P-Brady Portschy, 14.507 [8]; 8. (DNF) 46-Kevin Ruh [6]

Qualifying 3: 1. 35-Ben Schmidt, 13.478[1]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth, 13.574 [5]; 3. 69-Bill Taylor, 13.670 [3]; 4. 24-Scott Conger, 13.727 [7]; 5. 4-Alex Pokorski, 13.774 [4]; 6. 2-Chris Clayton, 14.299 [6]; 7. 52-Cody Schlafer, 14.849 [2]

BUMPER TO BUMPER INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION 410 SPRINT CAR SERIES

A Main (30 Laps): 1. 19-Joel Myers Jr. [8]; 2. 79-Blake Nimee [5]; 3. 79M-Max Guilford [11]; 4. 25T-Travis Arenz [20]; 5. 96-Jake Blackhurst [4]; 6. 85J-Logan Julien [7]; 7. 73-Scotty Thiel [16]; 8. 16C-Tylar Rankin [13]; 9. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [3]; 10. 37-Bryce Norris [10]; 11. 16-Anthony Knierim [9]; 12. 87A-Austin Hartmann [17]; 13. 9K-Kyle Schuett [19]; 14. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [15]; 15. 68-Dave Uttech  [6]; 16. 43-Jereme Schroeder [23]; 17. 9-Tyler Duff [18]; 18. 4K-Kris Spitz  [21]; 19. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski [24]; 20. 33B-Scott Broty [22]; 21. (DNF) 3B-Shelby Bosie [14]; 22. (DNF) 3N-Jake Neuman [2]; 23. (DNF) 25-Danny Schlafer [1]; 24. (DNF) 10W-Mike Reinke [12]

B Main (12 Laps): 1. 9K-Kyle Schuett [1]; 2. 25T-Travis Arenz [3]; 3. 4K-Kris Spitz [2]; 4. 33B-Scott Broty [4]; 5. 43-Jereme Schroeder [6]; 6. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski [8]; 7. 88-Chris Flick [5]; 8. 17-Dylan Winkel [9]; 9. 70W-Logan Wienke [10]; 10. (DNF) 26R-Preston Ruh [7]

Dash 1 (4 Laps): 1. 25-Danny Schlafer [2]; 2. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [4]; 3. 79-Blake Nimee [3]; 4. 85J-Logan Julien [5]; 5. 16-Anthony Knierim [1]

Dash 2 (4 Laps): 1. 3N-Jake Neuman [2]; 2. 96-Jake Blackhurst [3]; 3. 68-Dave Uttech [1]; 4. 19-Joel Myers Jr. [5]; 5. 37-Bryce Norris [4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [1]; 2. 19-Joel Myers Jr [3]; 3. 25-Danny Schlafer [2]; 4. 96-Jake Blackhurst [4]; 5. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [5]; 6. 73-Scotty Thiel [6]; 7. 25T-Travis Arenz [9]; 8. 33B-Scott Broty [8]; 9. 26R-Preston Ruh [7]; 10. (DNF) 70W-Logan Wienke [10]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 79-Blake Nimee [4]; 2. 85J-Logan Julien [3]; 3. 10W-Mike Reinke [5]; 4. 3B-Shelby Bosie [6]; 5. 16-Anthony Knierim [2]; 6. 9-Tyler Duff [9]; 7. 9K-Kyle Schuett [1]; 8. 88-Chris Flick [8]; 9. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski [7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 3N-Jake Neuman [2]; 2. 79M-Max Guilford [1]; 3. 37-Bryce Norris [4]; 4. 16C-Tylar Rankin [5]; 5. 68-Dave Uttech [3]; 6. 87A-Austin Hartmann [7]; 7. 4K-Kris Spitz [6]; 8. 43-Jereme Schroeder [9]; 9. 17-Dylan Winkel [8]

Qualifying: 1. 96-Jake Blackhurst, 11.882 [5]; 2. 79-Blake Nimee, 12.160 [9]; 3. 37-Bryce Norris, 12.194[2]; 4. 19-Joel Myers Jr, 12.226 [12]; 5. 85J-Logan Julien, 12.231 [8]; 6. 68-Dave Uttech, 12.297 [3]; 7. 25-Danny Schlafer, 12.307 [7]; 8. 16-Anthony Knierim, 12.317 [6]; 9. 3N-Jake Neuman, 12.378 [22]; 10. 2W-Scotty Neitzel, 12.422[28]; 11. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 12.428 [23]; 12. 79M-Max Guilford, 12.443 [24]; 13. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 12.455 [15]; 14. 10W-Mike Reinke, 12.531 [19]; 15. 16C-Tylar Rankin, 12.708 [16]; 16. 73-Scotty Thiel, 12.849 [27]; 17. 3B-Shelby Bosie, 12.913 [26]; 18. 4K-Kris Spitz, 12.972 [10]; 19. 26R-Preston Ruh, 12.980 [4]; 20. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski, 12.988 [1]; 21. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 13.002 [18]; 22. 33B-Scott Broty, 13.035 [17]; 23. 88-Chris Flick, 13.050 [11]; 24. 17-Dylan Winkel, 13.084 [14]; 25. 25T-Travis Arenz, 13.196 [20]; 26. 9-Tyler Duff, 13.200 [21]; 27. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 13.478 [13]; 28. 70W-Logan Wienke, 14.506 [25]

Hot Laps: 1. 79M-Max Guilford, 11.964 [24]; 2. 73-Scotty Thiel, 12.013 [27]; 3. 19-Joel Myers Jr, 12.022 [12]; 4. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 12.092 [23]; 5. 10W-Mike Reinke, 12.098 [19]; 6. 3N-Jake Neuman, 12.223 [22]; 7. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 12.260 [15]; 8. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 12.264 [18]; 9. 37-Bryce Norris, 12.297 [2]; 10. 3B-Shelby Bosie, 12.374 [26]; 11. 9-Tyler Duff, 12.379 [21]; 12. 33B-Scott Broty, 12.430 [17]; 13. 16C-Tylar Rankin, 12.458 [16]; 14. 25T-Travis Arenz, 12.459 [20]; 15. 96-Jake Blackhurst, 12.471 [5]; 16. 2W-Scotty Neitzel, 12.582[28]; 17. 25-Danny Schlafer, 12.687 [7]; 18. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 12.741 [13]; 19. 79-Blake Nimee, 13.018 [9]; 20. 85J-Logan Julien, 13.146 [8]; 21. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski, 13.218 [1]; 22. 88-Chris Flick, 13.289 [11]; 23. 4K-Kris Spitz, 13.303 [10]; 24. 16-Anthony Knierim, 13.340 [6]; 25. 68-Dave Uttech, 13.343 [3]; 26. 70W-Logan Wienke, 13.351 [25]; 27. 26R-Preston Ruh, 13.410 [4]; 28. 17-Dylan Winkel, 13.489 [14]

SHEBOYGAN FLOORING B MODS

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 18-Mike Sandholm [1]; 2. 17-Brandon Knepprath [5]; 3. 9-Hunter Larson [7]; 4. 3-Travis Schmidt [11]; 5. 33H-Barrett Hummelmeier [12]; 6. 66-Steve Lorier [8]; 7. 69-Travis Kleindl [14]; 8. 31W-Kelan Wolfe [2]; 9. 19-Parker Glander [18]; 10. 117-Tom Barnharst [19]; 11. 11B-Brad Buckman [3]; 12. 29S-Scott Quarnstrom [20]; 13. 35W-Wayne Walker [16]; 14. 25S-Steve Ellis [17]; 15. 11S-Zachary Schmidt [15]; 16. 26-Ryan Pafford [13]; 17. 73-Rory Welch [6]; 18. 59S-Spencer Long [9]; 19. 89-Logan Brass [4]; 20. 91-Cole Thomas [10]; 21. 54-Michael Strean [21]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11B-Brad Buckman [2]; 2. 59S-Spencer Long [6]; 3. 73-Rory Welch [5]; 4. 18-Mike Sandholm [1]; 5. 26-Ryan Pafford [4]; 6. 35W-Wayne Walker [3]; 7. (DNS) 29S-Scott Quarnstrom

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 17-Brandon Knepprath [4]; 2. 3-Travis Schmidt [6]; 3. 9-Hunter Larson [5]; 4. 31W-Kelan Wolfe [1]; 5. 69-Travis Kleindl [3]; 6. 25S-Steve Ellis [2]; 7. 54-Michael Strean [7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 89-Logan Brass [3]; 2. 33H-Barrett Hummelmeier [6]; 3. 66-Steve Lorier [5]; 4. 91-Cole Thomas [7]; 5. 11S-Zachary Schmidt [1]; 6. 19-Parker Glander [4]; 7. 117-Tom Barnharst [2]