Arenz secures second PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car title

By Jeff Pederson – Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) September 24, 2022 – Sprint Cars reigned supreme as a healthy contingent of open-wheel racers and teams converged on The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. for the fifth annual Wisconsin Sprint Car Championships to cap off the 2022 racing season at the venerable third-mile clay speed plant on Saturday, Sept. 24.

Jake Neuman of New Berlin, Ill. secured the 2022 Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series Rookie of the Year Award by nailing down his first career IRA A-main victory in flag-to-flag fashion in the 30-lap headliner.

In the 25-lap Kristine Hartmann Pleasantview Realty Plymouth Dirt Track Racing-Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car A main, 2022 PDTR and MSA champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth used a late pass to notch his second main event triumph of the 2022 campaign.

Ryan Zielski of Oconomowoc claimed the victory in the 20-lap Wisconsin wingless Sprint Car A-main event, while Mark Heinert of Oak Creek was victorious in the 20-lap Interstate Racing Association Lightning Sprints A main.

Jordan Goldesberry of Springfield, Ill. secured his first career Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series championship.

Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls wrapped up his second straight double championship season in both the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing and Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car divisions.

Clayton Rossmann of Wadsworth, Ill. and Tim Cox of Park City, Ill. were named 2022 Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car Series co-champion, after finishing in a tie for first place in the final point standings.

Mike Neau of Pleasant Prairie completed a championship season in the Interstate Racing Association Lightning Sprints division.

In the 30-lap IRA 410 Sprint Car Series main event, Jake Neuman outpowered polesitter Josh Schneiderman of West Burlington, Iowa to grab the initial lead along the high groove of the lightning fast, hammer-down track surface.

On lap five, Neuman caught the back of the field with Schneiderman chasing in second and fifth-starting Danny Schlafer of Sussex in third. As the leaders wound their way through dense lapped traffic, Schneiderman began to chip away at the lead gap to close in on Neuman.

The lone caution flag flew on lap 16 when Jordan Paulsen of Trevor stopped near the turn one wall. When the race resumed, Neuman again maintained control of the lead, while Scotty Thiel of Sheboygan, who started ninth, worked his way past visiting Port Royal, Pa. driver Dylan Cisney into fourth.

With time running out as the laps clicked off, Schneiderman mounted one final charge to briefly pull even with Neuman in turn two on lap 29. However, Neuman fended off Schneiderman’s advances en route to his first career IRA 410 A-main victory.

“It’s awesome to get a win here tonight,” Neuman said in victory lane. “We were close to getting our first IRA win earlier this year here, but [Bill] Balog got us and he’s tough to beat here. It was a great year earning the IRA Rookie of the Year Award. We will see what we can do for next year.”

Schneiderman placed second, Schlafer finished third, Thiel was fourth and Cisney, who started eighth, rounded out the top five.

The 25-lap PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car A main got off to a rocky start when a red flag appeared on lap one when Katelyn Krebsbach of Cascade flipped hard along the front stretch.

Following a complete restart, two-time PDTR and four-time MSA 360 Sprint Car champ Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh, who started second, bolted past polesitter Shane Wenninger of Kewaskum to take the lead on the opening lap.

By lap five, McMullen caught the rear of the field with Wenninger in pursuit and 2021 PDTR and MSA champion Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls following in third, after starting fourth.

The caution was displayed on lap 8 when Brandon Berth of Cascade stopped in turn one. On the restart, Ben Schmidt powered in from his sixth starting spot to bolt past Arenz into third.

Schmidt then reeled in Wenninger to take over second on lap 22 just before the red flag appeared on lap 22 from a flip involving Brandon Berth in turn three. Another caution flag was displayed when Anthony Knierim of Caledonia stopped along the back stretch on the ensuing restart.

Following a single-file restart, Schmidt moved to steal the lead away from McMullen with a well-executed low move in turn three on lap 24. Schmidt then held on to wrap up his 15^th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory, 32^nd career Midwest Sprint Car Association triumph and second 360 Sprint Car A-main victory of the 2022 season.

Schmidt, who came into the night trailing Travis Arenz by 19 points in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car title chase, stated in victory lane that he went into the final A main of the season with a winning mindset.

“We really had nothing to lose tonight, so that was kind of my approach sitting second in points with one night left,” Schmidt said. “Running second to Travis [Arenz] two races in a row at Dodge County frustrated me a bit, so that also lit a fire under me. This race was kind of a replay of opening night with Brandon [McMullen] and I going for the lead in turn three. That incident on opening night proved to be the difference in the points race as I had my only DNF [did not finish] of the season that night. It was almost exactly the same tonight, but I made it through and made the pass this time and it feels great to end the season in victory lane.”

Polesitter Rusty Egan of Round Lake Heights, Ill. jumped into the lead on the drop of the green flag of the 20-lap Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car Series A main with third starter Ryan Zielski following in second and outside front row starter Allen Hafford of Beach Park, Ill. in third.

On lap 10, Egan caught the back of the field, which allowed Zielski to close in on the lead. Zielski moved in to challenge the low riding Egan along the high line of fast and tacky track surface on lap 18 before sweeping into the lead in turn one on lap 19 in dense lapped traffic.

The first of two caution flags appeared for a two-car incident involving the third-place car of Ryan Marshall of Kansasville and Trinity Uttech of New Berlin in turn four on lap 19 and another caution flag was displayed for the stalled car of Dennis Spitz of Lewisburg, Ky. along the back stretch on the restart.

When the race resumed, Zielski pulled away from Egan en route to the victory.

Egan finished second, newly crowned 2022 Wisconsin wingLESS Series co-champion Clayton Rossman of Wadsworth, Ill., who started fifth, placed third, Hafford wound up fourth and ninth starter Chris Klemko of Bristol placed fifth.

After starting third, Mark Heinert used a big push on the start to take the lead on the opening lap of the 20-lap IRA Lightning Sprints A main.

The yellow flag appeared on lap 3 when Jordan Funderburk of Wadsworth, Ill. stopped along the front stretch. Heinert again controlled the restart and extended his lead at the front of the field before a red flag was displayed on lap 19 when Shawn Steinpas of Brookfield flipped exiting turn four.

Newly crowned 2022 IRA Lightning Sprints champion Mike Neau of Pleasant Prairie, who started fifth, bolted in to challenge Heinert for the top spot on lap 19. However, Heinert held strong on the ensuing restart en route to the victory.

Neu placed second, Derek Fortier of Pleasant Prairie took third after starting fourth, sixth starter John Kirk of Johnsburg, Ill was fourth and 11^th starter Tim Brannam of Holiday Hills, Ill.

Dylan Cisney was the IRA 410 Sprint Car Series fast qualifier with a lap of 11.240 seconds.

Ben Schmidt earned PDTR 360 Sprint Car overall fast qualifier honors with a lap of 12.200 seconds.

John Kirk was the fastest IRA Lightning Sprints driver in group qualifying with a fast lap of 13.383 seconds.

Derek Crane of Racine won the 12-lap Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Cars B main.

The 14^th official and 13^th full PDTR racing program of the 2022 season, which was sponsored by JosFO Electric, drew a total of 97 cars, including 24 IRA 410 Sprint Cars and 24 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars, 32 Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Cars and 17 IRA Lightning Sprints.

The 2022 book “Racing Recollections – Plymouth Racetrack Fans & Drivers 1950-2021” by Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan, George Baumann of Waupun and Verla Peichl of Sheboygan Falls, as well as the 2021 book “70 Years of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing” by Dennis Darovich and George Baumann, remain available for purchase at the Sheboygan County Fair office at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. during regular business hours throughout the off season and online at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.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.

BUMPER TO BUMPER INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION 410 SPRINT CARS

QUALIFYING

1, Dylan Cisney 11.240 2, Scotty Thiel 11.310 3, Scotty Neitzel 11.357 4, Shelby Bosie 11.466 5, 11.466 6, Danny Schlafer 11.491 7, Dave Uttech 11.496 8, Jordan Goldesberry 11.519 9, Tyler Tischendorf 11.537 10, Steve Meyer 11.568 11, Austin Hartmann 11.718 12, Josh Schneiderman 11.727 13, Jeremy Schultz 11.732 14, Jake Neuman 11.776 15, Kyle Schuett 11.783 16, Preston Ruh 11.859 17, James Broty 11.874 18, Scott Conger 12.029 19, Jett Mann 12.048 20, Blake Nimee 12.051 21, Kris Spitz 12.090 22, Zach Hansen 12.363 23, Jordan Paulsen 12.417 24, Dylan Winkel 12.508.

HEAT 1

1, Steve Meyer 2, Dave Uttech 3, Shelby Bosie 4, Dylan Cisney 5, Preston Ruh 6, Zach Hansen 7, Jett Mann 8, Jeremy Schultz.

HEAT 2

1, Scotty Thiel 2, Jake Neuman 3, James Broty 4, Blake Nimee 5, Jordan Paulsen 6, Jordan Goldesberry 7, Russel Borland 8, Austin Hartmann.

HEAT 3

1, Josh Schneiderman 2, Danny Schlafer 3, Tyler Tischendorf 4, Scotty Thiel 5, Kyle Schuett 6, Kris Spitz 7, Dylan Winkel 8, Scott Conger.

DASH 1

1, Josh Schneiderman 2, Shelby Bosie 3, Danny Schlafer 4, Tyler Tischendorf 5, Scotty Thiel.

DASH 2

1, Jake Neuman 2, Dave Uttech 3, Scotty Neitzel 4, Dylan Cisney 5, Steve Meyer.

A MAIN

1, Jake Neuman 2, Josh Schneiderman 3, Danny Schlafer 4, Scotty Thiel 5, Dylan Cisney 6, Scotty Neitzel 7, Shelby Bosie 8, Jeremy Schultz 9, Blake Nimee 10, Steve Meyer 11, James Broty 12, Tyler Tischendorf 13, Jordan Goldesberry 14, Kyle Schuett 15, Preston Ruh 16, Dave Uttech 17, Kris Spitz 18, Russel Borland 19, Austin Hartmann 20, Dylan Winkel 21, Jordan Paulsen 22, Zach Hansen 23, Scott Conger 24, Jett Mann.

KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANT VIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS

QUALIFYING

1, Ben Schmidt 12.200 2, Lance Fassbender 12.216 3, Anthony Knierim 12.344 4, Shane Wenninger 12.384 5, Katelyn Krebsbach 12.397 6, Brandon McMullen 12.424 7, Travis Arenz 12.494 8, Brandon Berth 12.500 9, Justin Erickson 12.518 10, Tony Wondra 12.548 11, Tyler Davis 12.594 12, Chris Larson 12.606 13, Blake Wondra 12.621 14, Will Gerrits 12.623 15, Tim Haddy 12.665 16, J.J. Pagel 12.716 17, Bill Taylor 12.734 18, Doug Wondra 12.835 19, Nick Daywalt 12.896 20, Justin Miller 12.902 21, Chris Clayton 12.911 22, Kevin Seidler 13.163 23, Alex Pokorski 13.179 24, Randy Post 13.328.

HEAT 1

1, Travis Arenz 2, Katelyn Krebsbach 3, Shane Wenninger 4, Lance Fassbender 5, Tyler Davis 6, Bill Taylor 7, Tim Haddy 8, Kevin Seidler.

HEAT 2

1, Brandon Berth 2, Anthony Knierim 3, Brandon McMullen 4, Chris Larson 5, Justin Miller 6, Nick Daywalt 7, Alex Pokorski 8, Chris Clayton.

HEAT 3

1, Tony Wondra 2, Ben Schmidt 3, Blake Wondra 4, Justin Erickson 5, Will Gerrits 6, J.J. Pagel 7, Doug Wondra 8, Randy Post.

A MAIN

1, Ben Schmidt 2, Brandon McMullen 3, Shane Wenninger 4, Travis Arenz 5, Blake Wondra 6, Lance Fassbender 7, Tony Wondra 8, Will Gerrits 9, Doug Wondra 10, Alex Pokorski 11, Bill Taylor 12, Tyler Davis 13, Chris Larson 14, Nick Daywalt 15, Chris Clayton 16, J.J. Pagel 17, Kevin Seidler 18, Anthony Knierim 19, Justin Miller 20, Justin Erickson 21, Brandon Berth 22, Tim Haddy 23, Randy Post 24, Katelyn Krebsbach.

 

WISCONSIN WINGLESS SPRINT CARS

QUALIFIER 1

1, Eric Wilke 2, Bryce Andrews 3, C.J. Maleug 4, Greg Alt 5, Jake Kouba 6, William Huck 7, Craig Lager 8, Natalie Klemko 9, Jason Young 10, Tom Eller 11, Mike Burba.

QUALIFIER 2

1, Ralph Johnson 2, Dennis Spitz 3, Josh Davidson 4, Dave Wallace 5, Trinity Uttech 6, Derek Crane 7, Ellie Hensley 8, Seth Johnson 9, Tom Brown 10, Tyler Davis. 11, Preston Ruh.

B MAIN

1, Derek Crane 2, William Huck 3, Ellie Hensley 4, Craig Lager 5, Jason Young 6, Preston Ruh 7, Mike Burba 8, Seth Johnson 9, Tom Eller 10, Tom Brown 11, Natalie Klemko 12, Tyler Davis

A MAIN

1, Ryan Zielski 2, Rusty Egan 3, Clayton Rossmann 4, Allen Hafford 5, Chris Klemko 6, Tim Cox 7, Eric Wilke 8, Derek Crane 9, John Fahl 10, Jake Kouba 11, C.J. Malueg 12, Greg Alt 13, Bryce Andrews 14, Mike Sullivan 15, Ellie Hensley 16, Ralph Johnson 17, Trinity Uttech 18, Dave Wallace 19, Craig Lager 20, William Huck 21, Josh Davidson 22, Jimmy Sivia 23, Ryan Marshall 24, Dennis Spitz.

 

INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION LIGHTNING SPRINTS

QUALIFYING

1, John Kirk 13.383 2, Mike Neau 13.467 3, Derek Fortier 13.650 4, Mark Heinert 13.675 5, Ron Brannam 13.963 6, Jeff Schmidt 14.008 7, Tim Brannam 14.018 8, Max Brannam 14.153 9, Xander York 14.362 10, Grant Harvey 14.630 11, David Powers 14.724 12, Ron Curasi 14.939 13, Jordan Funderburk 15.510 14, Shawn Steinpas 15.932 15, Carl Sturt 16.310 16, Jacob Sturt 18.676 17, Chris Quillman (no time).

HEAT 1

1, Derek Fortier 2, John Kirk 3, Ron Brannam 4, Xander York 5, Chris Quillman 6, David Powers 7, Jordan Funderburk 8, Carl Sturt 9, Tim Brannam.

HEAT 2

1, Mark Heinert 2, Mike Neau 3, Jeff Schmidt 4, Max Brannam 5, Ron Curasi 6, Shawn Steinpas 7, Grant Harvey 8, Jacob Sturt.

A MAIN

1, Mark Heinert 2, Mike Neau 3, Derek Fortier 4, John Kirk 5, Tim Brannam 6, Jeff Schmidt 7, Max Brannam 8, Ron Brannam 9, Chris Quillman 10, David Powers 11, Xander York 12, Ron Curasi 13, Shawn Steinpas 14, Grant Harvey 15, Jacob Sturt 16, Jordan Funderburk.