By Jeff Pederson-Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 10, 2019 – As the 2019 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing season turned down the home stretch, the on-track action remained as hot as ever at The Plymouth Dirt Tack at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, Aug. 10.

In the 25-lap Richard’s of Dunbar 360 Sprint Car A main, veteran Jim Melis of Glenbeulah emerged victorious for the first time at Plymouth in 2019. Justin Ritchie of New London turned in an impressive effort to earn his second 25-lap Gasroots Project Late Model A-main win of the 2019 season. Tyler Kulow of Plymouth padded his points lead with a wire-to-wire victory in the 25-lap Klips & Tips Grand National A main. Travis Schmidt of Waldo drew closer in his quest for his first Cellcom B Mod championship by earning the victory in the 25-lap A main.

The front row of the PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main featured one of the most experienced drivers in the pit area, 38-year veteran Jim Melis, on the pole and teenage rookie Jack Vanderboon of Dousman on the outside of the front row.

The race got off to a rough start when Josh Teunissen of Waldo spun in turn two on the opening lap, which collected Bill Taylor of Boltonville, Ben Schmidt of Howards Grove and Chris Clayton of Waldo to bring out a red flag. Of the four cars that were involved in the incident, only Clayton was unable to continue in the race after turning his car over on its side.

After a complete restart, Melis and Vanderboom dueled side by side throughout the opening lap before Melis used the high groove to inch ahead of the young rookie to lead the opening lap.

Melis, who notched a Midwest Sprint Car Association victory at the Dodge County Fairgrounds in Beaver Dam on July 3, continued to ride the cushion in the early stages of the race, while Vanderboom stayed glued to the inside lane to stay within striking distance. On lap 12, Melis began to encounter some heavy lapped traffic, which allowed Vanderboom to close the gap considerably.

On lap 13, 2018 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Justin Miller of Plymouth, who started eighth, moved in to pressure third starter Will Gerrits of Waupun for third. On the next lap, Miller powered past Gerrit into third.

Meanwhile, Vanderboom was giving Melis all he could handle at the front of the field as he pulled in to challenge for the lead on lap 15. One lap later, Vanderboom ducked low to seize the top spot from Melis in turn four. Miller then surged underneath Melis to gain second place and mounted a brief challenge for the lead on lap 16 before the second and final caution flag of the race was displayed on lap 17 when rookie Tyler Davis of South Milwaukee spun exiting turn four.

Following the restart, Melis and Vanderboom continued to wage war for the lead, as Melis pounded the cushion harder and harder each lap before regaining the top spot for good in turn four on lap 21.

Vanderboom refused to back down in the closing laps as he stayed within reach along the low groove. However, Melis was not to be denied as he held off the talented rookie to secure his 17^th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory and 21^st overall Midwest Sprint Car Association main event triumph of his career.

Vanderboom posted a career-best runner-up showing, Miller finished third, 2017 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh finished fourth after starting 13^th and Gerrits rounded out the top five.

After starting on the pole, 2014 PDTR Late Model champion Mitch McGrath of Waukesha emerged from a three-wide duel with 2018 PDTR Late Model champ Justin Schmidt of Cleveland, who started second, and third starter Turk Letizia of Milwaukee to lead the opening circuit of the 25-lap Late Model main event.

Letizia then secured second place along the low groove by powering past Schmidt in turn two on lap two. Three laps later, Justin Ritchie moved in from the fourth starting spot to pressure Schmidt for third.

Schmidt built up some major momentum along the high grove of the slick and racy multi-groove racing surface, to challenge Letizia for second entering turn one on lap 6. However, the two drivers made contact, which resulted in Schmidt falling back to fourth behind Ritchie.

On lap 11, Ritchie used the low line to pressure Letizia for second before the lone caution flag of the race appeared on lap 13 when Joe Bongiorno of Milwaukee spun in turn four.

Following the restart, Ritchie ventured up to the high groove and Schmidt ducked low as the two drivers split Letizia with Ritchie seizing second and Schmidt sliding into third heading down the backstretch on lap 14.

Ritchie dug hard along the low grove to take over the top spot from McGrath on lap 15 with Schmidt following into second on lap 18 after a heated side-by-side duel with McGrath, who has been competing as a regular on the Lucas Oil Midwest Latemodel Racing Association (MLRA) tour this year.

Once in front, Ritchie controlled the final laps of the race and he held on to post his second PDTR Late Model A-main victory of the 2019 season and second career main event win at Plymouth.

Schmidt was second, McGrath finished third, Letizia placed fourth and sixth starter Jim Schmidt of Cleveland rounded out the top five.

In the 25-lap Grand National A main, Tyler Kulow bolted into the lead on the drop of the green flag followed by second starter Steven Weber of Plymouth and Dick Hed of Plymouth, who started third.

On lap 5, Hed moved up to the high line to challenge the low-riding Weber for second as Kulow had built up a full-straightaway cushion over the field by lap 6. Hed finally wrestled second from Weber with a high move in turn three on lap 10 and then started his search for Kulow, who had extended his advantage to a half lap on lap 12.

Fifth starter Brad Weiss of West Bend then engaged in a side-by-side battle with Weber for third on lap 15 with Weber holding the spot when the only caution flag of the race was displayed on lap 21 when rookie Justin Muehlbauer spun in turn two.

On the restart, Weiss gained third and eighth starter J.J. Pagel of Mount Calvary slipped into fourth before Pagel powered past Weiss into third on lap 23.

Meanwhile, it was all Kulow at the front of the field as he went on to post his second PDTR Grand National A-main victory of the 2019 and seventh career Grand National main event win at Plymouth by a four-car length margin.

Hed finished second, Pagel placed third, Jeff Muehlbauer of Elkhart Lake, who started seventh, finished fourth and ninth starter Luke Scholten of Oostburg rounded out the top five.

Outside front row starter Travis Schmidt of Waldo used the high groove to move past polesitter Justin Bauer of Sheboygan Falls and take over the lead of the 25-lap B Mod A main on the opening lap.

On lap 2, 2019 PDTR B Mod champ Tim Sheppard of Beaver Dam rode the high line from his sixth starting spot to take second in turn four. With Schmidt holding a solid cushion over Sheppard, the first of two consecutive caution periods came on lap 7 when Jesse Cullen of Chilton spun in turn four. Another caution flag came out on the ensuing restart attempt when Gary Glander of Sheboygan Falls spun in turn two.

When the race returned to green flag action, Sheppard moved in to pressure Schmidt for the top spot on lap 12. By lap 16, current B Mod point leader Tim Warner of Fond du Lac, who starter fourth, joined in to make it a three-way battle for the lead.

With the laps winding down and the leaders working through lapped traffic, Sheppard broke out of line along the low groove and attempted to pass Schmidt for the lead using the outside lane. However, after briefly pulling even with Schmidt, a lapped car impeded Sheppard’s progress, which allowed Warner to sneak by into second on lap 23.

Schmidt maintained the top spot over the final two circuits to secure his first PDTR B Mod A-main victory of the 2019 season and his second career main event win in the B Mod division at Plymouth.

Warner placed second, Sheppard was third, Bauer claimed fourth and 11^th starter Barry Maas of Cascade finished fifth.

Anthony Knierim of Franksville won the 12-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main. Randy Theys of Algoma captured the 12-lap PDTR B Mod B main.

The program, which was sponsored by Roger and Dan’s Auto Service, drew a total of 80 cars, including 29 Sprint Cars, 23 B Mods, 16 Late Models and 12 Grand Nationals.

PDTR Saturday night racing will resume on Saturday, Aug. 17 with autograph night presented by Hopf Farms highlighting the evening with checkered flags and drawstring bags distributed at the gate. The evening will also feature past champion’s night and kids’ backpack night.

Hot laps will begin at 5:30 p.m. with racing to start at 6 p.m.

Five events remain on the 2019 PDTR schedule, which concludes on Saturday, Sept. 28.

RICHARD’S OF DUNBAR 360 SPRINT CAR

Date of Race: August 10, 2019

HEAT 1

1, Kurt Davis 2, Shane Wenninger 3, Jim Melis 4, Ben Schmidt 5, Travis Arenz 6, Brandon Berth 7, Scott Conger 8, Sean Rayhall.

HEAT 2

1, Justin Miller 2, Will Gerrits 3, Adam Miller 5, Anthony Knierim 6, Doug Wondra 7, Justin Erickson.

HEAT 3

1, Tyler Brabant 2, Josh Teunissen 3, Jack Vanderboom 4, Chris Clayton 5, Tim Haddy 6, Preston Ruh 7, Tyler Nelson.

HEAT 4

1, Tyler Davis 2, Paul Pokorski 3, Kevin Karnitz 4, Brandon McMullen 5, Bill Taylor 6, Blake Wondra 7, Tony Wondra (DNS).

B MAIN

1, Anthony Knierim 2, Lance Fassbender 3, Justin Erickson 4, Tim Haddy 5, Bill Taylor 6, Tony Wondra 7, Doug Wondra 8, Scott Conger 9, Brandon Berth 10, Tyler Nelson 11, Blake Wondra 12, Preston Ruh 13, Sean Rayhall.

A MAIN

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

GASROOTS PROJECT LATE MODEL

HEAT 1

1, Justin Ritchie 2, Mitch McGrath 3, Tim Buhler 4, Jim Schmidt 5, Joe Bongiorno 6, Zack Kessler 7, Jim Juneau 8, Chad Ludwigson.

HEAT 2

1, Turk Letizia 2, Justin Schmidt 3, Kevin Baldry 4, Brian Konitzer 5, Charlie Schmidt 6, Glen Blanke 7, Donny Singer 8, Brad Mueller.

A MAIN

1, Justin Ritchie 2, Justin Schmidt 3, Mitch McGrath 4, Turk Letizia 5, Jim Schmidt 6, Tim Buhler 7, Charlie Schmidt 8, Brian Konitzer 9, Joe Bongiorno 10, Glen Blanke 11, Jim Juneau 12, Chad Ludwigson 13, Kevin Baldry, 14, Donny Singer 15, Zack Kessler (DNS) 16, Brad Mueller (DNS).

KLIPS & TIPS GRAND NATIONAL

HEAT 1

1, Luke Scholten 2, Brad Weiss 3, Jason Juech 4, Dick Hed 5, Tyler Kulow 6, Josh Hitsman.

HEAT 2

1, Jeff Muehlbauer 2, J.J. Pagel 3, Donny Kulow 4, Steven Weber 5, Derek Kaat 6, Justin Muehlbauer.

A MAIN

1, Tyler Kulow 2, Dick Hed 3, J.J. Pagel 4, Jeff Muehlbauer 5, Luke Scholten 6, Brad Weiss 7, Steven Weber 8, Donny Kulow 9, Derek Kaat 10, Jason Juech 11, Josh Hitsman 12, Justin Muehlbauer.

CELLCOM B MOD

HEAT 1

1, Sawyer Haese 2, Tim Sheppard 3, Jesse Jakubowski 4, Brandon Knepprath 5, Jesse Cullen 6, Tim Lange 7, Donny Singer 8, Patrick Hanson.

HEAT 2

1, Gary Glander 2, Justin Bauer 3, Travis Schmidt 4, James Rautmann 5, Marcus Hoeppner 6, Randy Theys 7, Rory Welch 8, Joshua Mavis.

HEAT 3

1, Tim Warner 2, Mark Hoeppner 3, Steve Lorier 4, Barry Maas 5, Rick Kretschmann 6, Phil Campanella 7, Brian Wieland.

B MAIN

1, Randy Theys 2, Patrick Hanson 3, Rory Welch 4, Joshua Mavis 5, Phil Campanella 6, Donny Singer (DNS) 7, Brian Wieland (DNS).

A MAIN

1, Travis Schmidt 2, Tim Warner 3, Tim Sheppard 4, Justin Bauer 5, Barry Maas 6, Sawyer Haese 7, Brandon Knepprath 8, Jesse Cullen 9, Jesse Jakubowski 10, Mark Hoeppner 11, Marcus Hoeppner 12, Gary Glander 13, Randy Theys 14, Rick Kretschmann 15, James Rautmann 16, Tim Lange 17, Patrick Hanson 18, Steve Lorier 19, Joshua Mavis 20, Rory Welch.