By Jeff Pederson-Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 14, 2021 – As the 2021 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing campaign took a turn down the home stretch, the on-track action was hot and heavy with point championships hanging in the balance in all four divisions at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, Aug. 14.

Two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion and current point leader Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh used a late-race charge in dense lapped traffic to notch his fourth A-main victory of the 2021 campaign in the 25-lap Kristine Hartmann Pleasantview Realty 360 Sprint Car main event.

Four-time PDTR Late Model champion Brad Mueller of Random Lake made a triumphant return from a wicked accident in his last appearance at The Plymouth Dirt Track on June 25 to notch his first victory of the 2021 PDTR season in the 25-lap Sheboygan’s Country B93.7 Late Model A main.

Luke Scholten of Oostburg posted a commanding flag-to-flag victory in the 25-lap Oostburg Automotive Grand National A main to post his second main event triumph of the 2021 PDTR season.

Sheboygan’s Trevor Frank notched his first career A-main victory in the 25-lap Cellcom B Mod A main.

Polesitter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend jumped into the lead on the drop of the green flag with outside front row starter Tyler Tischendorf of Waupaca taking second. On lap 3, Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls, who started fifth, seized second.

Two laps later, Arenz slipped past Karnitz to take over the top spot in turn four. Meanwhile, Brandon McMullen, who started 10^th, charged his way into third on lap nine just before the lone caution of the race appeared later on lap nine when Adam Miller of Plymouth spun in turn four.

On the restart, Karnitz used a big move to slide in front of Arenz and regain the lead in turn two with Tischendorf and McMullen in tow as Arenz fell back in the field along the cushion. On lap 14, McMullen worked the high groove to move past Tischendorf and gain second in the running order.

As the laps wound down, Karnitz caught the rear of the field on lap 21 with McMullen trailing close behind. On lap 24, Karnitz bobbled along the cushion in heavy lapped traffic, which allowed McMullen to take over the lead in turn four.

Arenz rebounded in the closing laps to assume second, while McMullen held on to secure his 24^th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory and 34^th career Midwest Sprint Car Association main event win.

The victory pushed McMullen past two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Danny Schlafer of Sussex into second place on the all-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory list and moved him just one win behind two-time PDTR 360 Sprint champ Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee, who currently sits atop the main event victory list with 25.

Arenz rallied to finish second, Tischendorf placed a career-best third, 13^th starter Tim Haddy of Waupun charged up through the field to finish fourth and Karnitz rounded out the top five.

Outside front row starter Jayme Zidar of Greenfield outpowered polesitter Justin Ritchie of New London to grab the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap Late Model A main with third starter Charlie Schmidt of Cedar Grove moving past Ritchie into second.

As Zidar led, Ritchie used the high groove of the smooth, two-groove track surface to take second from Schmidt on lap 8 just before the first of three caution flags appeared on lap 8 when Sawyer Specht of Sheboygan Falls spun into the infield in turn four.

On the restart, contact resulted in a five-car mishap along the frontstretch involving Justin Richie, Taylor Scheffler of Waukesha, Bill Edler of Howards Grove, Eric Michaels of Cleveland and Jake Van Engen of Howards Grove. Edler and Michaels could not continue, while the other drivers involved in the incident were able to restart the race.

In addition, the leading car of Zidar was sent to the rear of the field on the restart for his involvement in the incident.

When the race resumed, Charlie Schmidt paced the field before fourth starter Turk Letizia of Milwaukee dove low to seize the lead in turn two on lap nine. By lap 15, Letizia had bolted out to a full straightaway lead over Charlie Schmidt.

On lap 16, sixth starter Brad Mueller worked the high groove to move into third. Six laps later, the third caution flag of the event was displayed when Zidar stopped in turn four.

Following the restart, Mueller flexed his muscle in a big way along the high groove to pull even with the low-riding Letizia on lap 22. The two veteran drivers dueled side by side over the next three laps before Mueller surged ahead coming to the white flag.

Mueller fended off Letizia on the final lap to earn his 22^nd career PDTR Late Model A-main victory in his first appearance at The Plymouth Dirt Track since a vicious rollover accident while leading the Russ Scheffler Tribute Race on June 25.

Letizia finished second, three-time and defending champion and current Late Model point leader Justin Schmidt of Cleveland finished third after starting fifth, ninth starter Jim Schmidt of Cleveland wound up fourth and rookie Justin Green of Sheboygan Falls moved up from his 11^th starting spot to place fifth.

Justin Schmidt heads into the final Late Model points event of the 2021 PDTR season on Saturday, Aug. 21 with a 26-point lead over Turk Letizia and a 46-point cushion over Charlie Schmidt in his quest for a fourth consecutive division points title.

Polesitter Luke Scholten took the lead on the opening lap of the Grand National A main with second starter Steven Weber of Plymouth in tow. Scholten wasted no time in building up a full straightaway cushion over Weber by lap 6.

On lap 8, two-time PDTR Grand National champ Don Sorce Jr. of West Allis passed fifth starter Dick Hed of Plymouth to take over third, As Scholten raced out to a half-lap cushion over Weber, 2019 PDTR Grand National champion Tyler Kulow of Plymouth, who started eighth, moved into third on lap 7, following a side-by-side duel with Sorce Jr.

The lone caution of the race appeared on lap 24 when Steven Ruh of New Holstein spun the Bender Racing 89 car in turn one. On the restart, Scholten again pulled away from the field as Tyler Kulow dove low to slide into second on the final lap.

Scholten went on to notch his 15^th career PDTR Grand National A-main win to move into sole possession of second place on the division’s all-time main event victory list.

Kulow finished second, Weber wound up third, Sorce Jr. was fourth and Hed rounded out the top five.

After the first of six caution flags was displayed for a two-car incident in turn two on the initial start of the 25-lap B Mod A main, outside front row starter Donny Singer of Random Lake led the opening lap. On lap 2, third starter Brandon Knepprath of Boltonville moved past polesitter Patrick Hanson of Sheboygan Falls to take over second.

Following the second caution flag appeared for a one-car spin in turn two on lap 5, Singer continued to lead as fourth starter Justin Bauer of Sheboygan Falls advanced to second on lap 7.

Two laps later, Bauer closed in to challenge Singer for the top spot. On lap 10, Bauer pounced as he used the low line to assume the lead in turn three.

Two more caution flags were displayed on lap 2 for separate single-car incidents, which bunched up the field behind the lead car of Justin Bauer.

On lap 4, Trevor Frank, who started eighth, worked the high line to power around sixth starter Shane Long of Sheboygan Falls into second. One lap later, Frank pressured the low-riding Bauer along the outside groove.

The two drivers, who are also dueling for the PDTR B Mod points championship this year, battled side by side over the next three laps with Frank finally wrestling the top spot away from B Mod point leader Bauer in turn four on lap 18.

Two more cautions came out for single-car incidents on lap 20 and lap 23, but they did not deter Frank as he fended off Bauer to record his first career PDTR B Mod A main victory in his second season of racing action.

Bauer wound up second, Shane Long placed third, seventh starter Barry Maas of Cascade, who was making his first PDTR appearance of the 2021 season, placed fourth and ninth starter Spencer Long of Sheboygan Falls rounded out the top five.

Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee won the 15-lap PDTR 360 Sprint B main.

The 15^th PDTR program of the 2021 season, which was sponsored by JDL Automotive, drew 76 total cars, including 32 360 Sprint Cars, 17 Late Models, 16 B Mods and 11 Grand Nationals.

PDTR action featuring 360 Sprint Cars, Late Models, Grand Nationals and B Mods is scheduled to resume on Saturday, Aug. 21 with Autograph Night as the first 200 kids will receive free checkered flags and backpacks courtesy of Hopf Farms and Kids Night featuring a candy drop and glow stick giveaways.

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

The new book “70 Years of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing” by Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan and George Baumann of Waupun, covering every season of racing at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. from 1950 to 2020 will be available for purchase at every race during the 2021 PDTR season, as well as at the Sheboygan County Fair office during regular business hours and online at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.

KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS

HEAT 1

1, Bill Taylor 2, Dylan Winkel 3, Tim Haddy 4, Chris Clayton 5, Kurt Davis 6, Lance Fassbender 7, Matt Rechek 8, Katelyn Krebsbach.

HEAT 2

1, Jeremy Schultz 2, Brandon McMullen 3, Josh Teunissen 4, Brandon Berth 5, Chris Larson 6, Will Gerrits 7, Cole Possi 8, Austin Hartmann.

HEAT 3

1, Doug Wondra 2, Tyler Tischendorf 3, Justin Miller 4, Justin Erickson 5, Tyler Brabant 6, Adam Miller 7, Tyler Davis 8, Tommy Colburn (DNS).

HEAT 4

1, Alex Pokorski 2, Travis Arenz 3, Ben Schmidt 4, Kevin Karnitz 5, Preston Ruh 6, Scott Conger 7, Anthony Knierim 8, Blake Wondra.

B MAIN

1, Kurt Davis 2, Brandon Berth 3, Will Gerrits 4, Adam Miller 5, Lance Fassbender 6, Anthony Knierim 7, Chris Larson 8, Tyler Davis 9, Blake Wondra 10, Scott Conger 11, Matt Rechek 12, Preston Ruh 13, Cole Possi 14, Katelyn Krebsbach 15, Austin Hartmann 16, Tommy Colburn.

A MAIN

1, Brandon McMullen 2, Travis Arenz 3, Tyler Tischendorf 4, Tim Haddy 5, Kevin Karnitz 6, Bill Taylor 7, Chris Clayton 8, Jeremy Schultz 9, Ben Schmidt 10, Justin Erickson 11, Doug Wondra 13, Lance Fassbender 14, Will Gerrits 15, Dylan Winkel 16, Kurt Davis 17, Brandon Berth 18, Adam Miller 19, Alex Pokorski 20, Anthony Knierim 21, Josh Teunissen 22, Tyler Brabant.

SHEBOYGAN’S  COUNTRY B93.7 LATE MODELS

HEAT 1

1, Bill Edler 2, Joe Bongiorno 3, Jim Schmidt 4, Justin Schmidt 5, Justin Green 6, Sawyer Specht 7, Jake Van Engen 8, Donny Singer 9, Wayne Freimund.

HEAT 2

1, Taylor Scheffler 2, Brad Mueller 3, Charlie Schmidt 4, Turk Letizia 5, Justin Ritchie 6, Jayme Zidar 7, Billy Rezutek 8, Eric Michaels.

A MAIN

1, Brad Mueller 2, Turk Letizia 3, Justin Schmidt 4, Jim Schmidt 5, Justin Green 6, Jon Bongiorno 7, Justin Ritchie 8, Wayne Freimund 9, Jake Van Engen 10, Sawyer Specht 11, Donny Singer 12, Jayme Zidar 13, Charlie Schmidt 14, Taylor Scheffler 15, Bill Edler 16, Billy Rezutek 17, Eric Michaels.

OOSTBURG AUTOMOTIVE GRAND NATIONALS

HEAT 1

1, Jonathan Otte 2, Dick Hed 3, Mavrick Ruh 4, Derek Kaat 5, Steven Ruh 6, Andy Singer.

HEAT 2

1, Don Sorce Jr. 2, Tyler Kulow 3, Steven Weber 4, Luke Scholten 5, Donny Kulow.

A MAIN

1, Luke Scholten 2, Tyler Kulow 3, Steven Weber 4, Don Sorce Jr. 5, Dick Hed 6, Donny Kulow 7, Jonathan Otte 8, Mavrick Ruh 9, Derek Kaat 10, Andy Singer 11, Steven Ruh.

CELLCOM B MOD

HEAT 1

1, Barry Maas 2, Rick Kretschmann 3, Shane Long 4, Donny Singer 5, Gary Glander 6, Rory Welch 7, Jim Fischer 8, Christopher Gilson.

HEAT 2

1, Trevor Frank 2, Brandon Knepprath 3, Justin Bauer 4, Spencer Long 5, Patrick Hanson 6, Phil Campanella 7, Steven Lorier 8, Matthew Roehl.

A MAIN

1, Trevor Frank 2, Justin Bauer 3, Shane Long 4, Barry Maas 5, Spencer Long 6, Steve Lorier 7, Donny Singer 8, Rory Welch 9, Brandon Knepprath 10, Patrick Hanson 11, Gary Glander 12, Matthew Roehl 13, Rick Kretschmann 14, Phil Campanella 15, Jim Fischer 16, Christopher Gilson.

By Jeff Pederson-Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) July 31, 2021 – Three of the region’s premier open wheel series were front and center on the same track on the same night for the only time during the 2021 season as Plymouth Dirt Track Racing hosted the Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Cars, Plymouth Dirt Track Racing-Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Cars and Badger Midget Auto Racing Association at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, July 31.

In the 25^th annual 30-lap IRA Sprint Car Frank Filskov Memorial A main, Jordan Goldesberry of Springfield, Ill. claimed his first IRA main event victory of the 2021 season following a thrilling duel with two-time IRA champion Scotty Neitzel of Beaver Dam in the 410 Sprint Car headliner.

2011 PDTR and MSA 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth worked the outside groove and lapped traffic to perfection in the closing laps to secure his third 25-lap PDTR A-main victory of the 2021 campaign.

Two-time defending champion and current Badger Midgets point leader Chase McDermand of Springfield, Ill. racked up his fifth A-main victory of the 2021 season in the 25-lap main event.

Polesitter Josh Walter of Plymouth grabbed the lead on the drop of the green flag of the IRA Frank Filskov Memorial A main with third starter Scotty Neitzel in tow. As Walter rode the cushion of the wide, smooth and slick racing surface, Neitzel worked the low line to challenge for the lead beginning on lap 6.

Two laps later, Neitzel powered into the lead after Walter jumped the cushion in turn two. On lap 11, Neitzel caught the rear of the 20-car field and set forth on the task of weaving his way through lapped traffic.

On lap 14 the lone caution flag of the race appeared when IRA rookie Bailey Goldesberry of Springfield, Ill. spun in turn two.

On the restart, Blake Nimee of Oswego, Ill., who started fifth, pulled off a slide job to steal second from Walter. One lap later, Jordan Goldesberry, who started second, followed Nimee into third.

Nimee and Goldesberry then proceeded to engage in heated duel for second starting on lap 19 with Goldesberry eventually securing the position on lap 24. One lap later, Goldesberry utilized the inside lane to challenge the high-riding Neitzel for the lead.

On lap 16, Goldesberry pulled off a slide job entering turn three to secure the top spot from Neitzel. As Goldesberry opened up a lead while negotiating heavy lapped traffic, eighth starter Scotty Thiel of Sheboygan working the high line to vault his way into second.

Goldesberry held off Thiel’s late-race charge to wrap up his fifth career IRA A-main victory. Thiel finished second, Neitzel wound up third, Nimee placed fourth and 2016 IRA champion Jeremy Schultz of Beaver Dam, who started fourth, placed fifth.

“These races are tough to win and it feels good to get one tonight,” Goldesberry said. “We didn’t start off that good tonight, but we kept working on it throughout the night. I don’t think we were necessarily the best car out there in the beginning of the race, but we just got better and better and it all came together at the end.”

The initial start of the PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main was called back when point leader Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls stopped in turn two. After a complete restart, second-year driver Alex Pokorski of West Bend, who started on the pole, outpowered two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee, who started second, to lead the opening lap.

As Pokorski ran smooth laps along the low groove in the early stages of the race, Davis cut the gap to move within striking distance on lap 12. On lap 14, Pokorski caught the back of the field and encountered slower cars dueling side by side for position.

Meanwhile, seventh starter Ben Schmidt had moved his way into second and was quickly closing in on Pokorski for the lead. On lap 18, Schmidt used the outside groove to power around Pokorski and into the lead in turn two.

Two laps later, Davis ducked underneath Pokorski to secure second as Schmidt built up a full-straightaway cushion at the front of the field. Schmidt skillfully worked his way through lapped traffic over the final five laps to post his 13^th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory, 30^th career Midwest Sprint Car Association main event triumph and fourth overall Midwest Sprint Car Association A-main win of the 2021 season.

Davis placed second, fourth starter Bill Taylor of Boltonville finished third, Justin Erickson of Plymouth, who started fifth, took fourth and Pokorski secured a career-best fifth-place showing.

Outside front row starter Jack Routson of Waterman, Ill., who started second, jumped into the lead in turn one of the opening lap of the Badger Midgets A main.

By lap 5, Routson, who won the last Badger Midgets A main contested at The Plymouth Dirt Track in 2019, quickly bolted away to a half-lap lead over polesitter Ken Hanson of Vinton, Iowa.

On lap 9, seventh starter Chase McDermand secured second and set his sights on the leader. Six laps later, Routson began to negotiate heavy lapped traffic, which allowed McDermand to close the gap significantly.

On lap 20, McDermand began to hound Routson for the top spot in thick lapped traffic before using a high move in turn two on lap 22 to take over the lead. On lap 24, the lone caution flag of the race was displayed when Lamont Critchett of Demotte, Ind. stopped in turn two.

McDermand commanded the green, white, checkered flag restart to notch his fifth Badger Midgets A-main victory of the 2021 campaign. Routson had to settle for second, third starter Kyle Stark of of Marshall finished third, Cody Weisensel of Sun Prairie placed fourth after starting eighth and fifth starter Todd Kluever of Sun Prairie rounded out the top five.

In IRA 410 Sprint Car Series qualifying, Scotty Thiel broke his own track record, which he set earlier this season on July 1, with a lap of 11.047 seconds.

2008 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Lance Fassbender of Burnett won the 15-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main.

The 14^th PDTR program of the 2021 season, which was sponsored by Jensen Sales & Service, drew 75 total cars, including 28 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars, 25 Badger Midgets and 22 IRA 410 Sprint Cars.

PDTR action featuring 360 Sprint Cars, Late Models, Grand Nationals and B Mods is scheduled to resume on Saturday, Aug. 7 with Autograph Night as the first 200 kids will receive free checkered flags and backpacks courtesy of Hopf Farms.

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

The new book “70 Years of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing” by Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan and George Baumann of Waupun, covering every season of racing at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. from 1950 to 2020 will be available for purchase at every race during the 2021 PDTR season, as well as at the Sheboygan County Fair office during regular business hours and online at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.

BUMPER TO BUMPER INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION 410 SPRINT CARS

QUALIFYING

1, Scotty Thiel 11.047 2, Jake Blackhurst 11.279 3, Scotty Neitzel 11.338 4, Mike Reinke 11.382 5, Danny Schlafer 11.390 6, Jeremy Schultz 11.417 7, Blake Nimee 11.485 8, Jordan Goldesberry 11.523 9, Josh Walter 11.582 10, Russel Borland 11.601 11, Dave Uttech 11.659 12, Jack Vanderboom 11.665 13, Steve Meyer 11.683 14, Jereme Schroeder 11.702 15, Kris Spitz 11.829 16, Hunter Custer 12.020 17, Bailey Goldesberry 12.057 18, John Fahl 12.083 19, Scott Conger 12.659 20, Preston Ruh 13.151 21, Al Schlafer (No time) 22, Robbie Pribnow (No time).

HEAT 1

1, Blake Nimee 2, Russel Borland 3, Mike Reinke 4, Scotty Thiel 5, Steve Meyer 6, Hunter Custer 7, Scott Conger.

HEAT 2

1, Dave Uttech 2, Jordan Goldesberry 3, Jereme Schroeder 4, Jake Blackhurst 5, Danny Schlafer 6, Bailey Goldesberry 7, Preston Ruh.

HEAT 3

1, Scotty Neitzel 2, Jack Vanderboom 3, Kris Spitz 4, Jeremy Schultz 5, John Fahl 6, Josh Walter.

DASH 1

1, Josh Walter 2, Scotty Neitzel 3, Blake Nimee 4, Danny Schlafer 5, Mike Reinke.

DASH 2

1, Jordan Goldesberry 2, Jeremy Schultz 3, Jake Blackhurst 4, Scotty Thiel 5, Dave Uttech.

A MAIN

1, Jordan Goldesberry 2, Scotty Thiel 3, Scotty Neitzel 4, Blake Nimee 5, Jeremy Schultz 6, Russel Borland 7, Steve Meyer 8, Jake Blackhurst 9, Josh Walter 10, Danny Schlafer 11, Mike Reinke 12, Jeremy Schroeder 13, John Fahl 14, Preston Ruh 15, Dave Uttech 16, Kris Spitz 17, Hunter Custer 18, Jack Vanderboom 19, Scott Conger 20, Bailey Goldesberry – Al Schlafer (DNS), Robbie Pribnow (DNS).

KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS

HEAT 1

1, Tim Haddy 2, Tyler Davis 3, Bill Taylor 4, Doug Wondra 5, Tyler Tischendorf 6, Kevin Karnitz 7, Matt Rechek.

HEAT 2

1, Kurt Davis 2, Ben Schmidt 3, Tony Wondra 4, Brandon McMullen 5, Lance Fassbender 6, Tyler Brabant 7, Jack Vanderboom.

HEAT 3

1, Alex Pokorski 2, Brandon Berth 3, Chris Clayton 4, Adam Miller 5, Austin Hartmann 6, Dylan Winkel 7, Travis Arenz.

HEAT 4

1, Justin Erickson 2, Will Gerrits 3, Justin Miller 4, Josh Teunissen 5, Katelyn Krebsbach 6, Blake Wondra 7, Tristan Koenings.

B MAIN

1, Lance Fassbender 2, Adam Miller 3, Josh Teunissen 4, Kevin Karnitz 5, Travis Arenz 6, Tyler Brabant 7, Austin Hartmann 8, Blake Wondra 9, Jack Vanderboom 10, Dylan Winkel 11, Tristan Koenings 12, Matt Rechek.

A MAIN

1, Ben Schmidt 2, Kurt Davis 3, Bill Taylor 4, Justin Erickson 5, Alex Pokorski 6, Brandon McMullen 7, Chris Clayton 8, Justin Miller 9, Brandon Berth 10, Lance Fassbender 11, Will Gerrits 12, Tyler Davis 13, Doug Wondra 14, Tyler Tischendorf 15, Kevin Karnitz 16, Travis Arenz 17, Tim Haddy 18, Adam Miller 19, Tony Wondra 20, Josh Teunissen 21, Tyler Brabant 22, Katelyn Krebsbach.

BADGER MIDGET AUTO RACING ASSOCIATION

QUALIFYING

1, Adam Taylor  13.791 2, Chase McDermand 13.826 3, Zach Boden 13.914 4, Todd Kluever 14.186 5, Kevin Olson 14.215 6, Andy Baugh 14.261 7, Kyle Stark 14.317 8, Lamont Critchett 14.384 9, Jack Routson 14.393 10, Kyle Koch 14.502 11, Aaron Muhle 14.513 12, Ken Hanson 14.536 13, Cody Weisensel 14.542 14, Mike Stroik 14.710 15, Jeremy Douglas 14.719 16, Kevin Douglas 14.734 17, Jordan Nelson 14.914 18, Jim Fuerst 14.944 19, Jake Goeglein 14.986 20, Charlie Spoonmore 15.164 21, Charles Kunz 15.203 22, Shay Sassano 15.265 23, Harrison Kleven 15.277 24, Peter Dempsey 16.010 25, Matt Rechek 18.999.

NON-QUALIFIER

1, Charlie Spoonmore 2, Jim Fuerst 3, Shay Sassano 4, Jordan Nelson 5, Harrison Kleven 6, Peter Dempsey 7, Jake Goeglein 8, Charles Kunz 9, Matt Rechek.

HEAT 1

1, Todd Kluever 2, Andy Baugh 3, Ken Hanson 4, Kevin Douglas 5, Chas McDermand 6, Mike Stroik 7, Kyle Koch 8, Lamont Critchett.

HEAT 2

1, Jack Routson 2, Zach Boden 3, Cody Weisensel 4, Kyle Stark 5, Jeremy Douglas 6, Adam Taylor 7, Kevin Olson 8, Aaron Muhle.

A MAIN

1, Chase McDermand 2, Jack Routson 3, Kyle Stark 4, Cody Weisensel 5, Todd Kluever 6, Zach Boden 7, Jeremy Douglas 8, Adam Taylor 9, Kevin Douglas 10, Mike Stroik 11, Ken Hanson 12, Kevin Olson 13, Jim Fuerst 14, Andy Baugh 15, Kyle Koch 16, Jake Goeglein 17, Harrison Kleven 18, Peter Dempsey 19, Charlie Spoonmore 20, Jordan Nelson 21, Shay Sassano 22, Lamont Critchett 23, Charles Kunz – Matt Rechek (DNS), Aaron Muhle (DNS).

By Jeff Pederson, Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) July 24, 2021 – On a night honoring one of the most beloved former racers and flagmen in the 71-year history of The Plymouth Dirt Track, Plymouth Dirt Track Racing put on a show in every sense of the word highlighted by thrilling finishes, special tributes, impromptu reunions and a post-race party on Dave Deicher Tribute Night at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, July 24.

In the 360 Sprint Car A main, two-time PDTR division champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh collected his third overall and second consecutive Kristine Hartmann Pleasantview Realty 360 Sprint Car main event victory of the 2021 campaign.

Three-time and defending PDTR Late Model champion Justin Schmidt of Cleveland notched his third consecutive and fifth overall Sheboygan’s County 93.7 Late Model A-main victory of the 2021 season.

2019 PDTR Grand National champ Tyler Kulow of Plymouth earned his second A-main victory of the 2021 campaign in the Oostburg Automotive A main and Travis Schmidt of Plymouth notched his second Cellcom B Mod A main victory of the 2021 season.

Two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee grabbed the lead on the drop of the green flag on the opening lap of the special 26-lap A main run in honor the No. 26 that Deicher carried for many years on his Winged Super Modified.

On lap 5, outside front row starter Tyler Brabant of Waupun worked the outside groove of the wide, smooth and slick race surface to pressure Davis for the top spot. After Davis used the low line to pull away from Brabant, fourth starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend charged in to take over second in the running order on lap 11.

Four laps later, the lone caution flag of the race appeared on lap 15 when Brabant spun in turn two. Following the restart, Davis maintained the top spot with Karnitz in tow, while the seventh starting Brandon McMullen moved into third along the middle groove.

On lap 21, McMullen worked around Karnitz to take second and quickly closed the gap on Davis. With one lap to go, McMullen ducked under Davis along the inside groove exiting turn four on lap 25.

Davis battled back on the final lap to pull even with McMullen in turn one. The former champions dueled side by side to the finish with McMullen nipping Davis by a narrow margin to collect his 23rd career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory and 33rd overall Midwest Sprint Car Association main event win.

McMullen’s victory moved him into a tie for second place on the all-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory list with two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Danny Schlafer of Sussex.

Davis had to settle for second, Karnitz finished third, point leader Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls moved up from his 12th starting spot to finish fourth and third starter Tim Haddy of Waupun rounded out the top five.

Joe Bongiorno of Milwaukee bolted into the lead on the opening lap of the 26-lap Late Model A main from the pole position before the lone caution flag of the race appeared on lap 2 when Donny Singer of Random Lake and Chad Ludwigson of Sheboygan Falls got stuck together and stopped exiting turn four.

Following the restart, third starter Bill Edler of Howards Grove, who was making his debut behind the wheel of a Late Model, worked his way into second. On lap 5, seventh starter Taylor Scheffler of Waukesha began his charge to the front of the pack as he moved into fourth.

While Bongiorno built up a full straightaway cushion over Edler at the front of the field, Scheffler used the outside groove to power around sixth starter Charlie Schmidt of Cedar Grove into third on lap 11 and Edler into second on lap 12.

By lap 16, Scheffler had closed the gap on Bongiorno, while eighth starter Justin Schmidt worked his way into third.

As Bongiorno hit lapped traffic, Scheffler rode the high line into the lead in turn three on lap 19, while Justin Schmidt assumed second on lap 22.

One lap later, Schmidt cut the gap significantly on Scheffler before shooting into the lead with a low move in turn four on lap 24 in heavy lapped traffic. Scheffler powered back to the cushion to duel side-by-side with Justin Schmidt to the finish line.

However, it was not quite enough as Justin Schmidt held on to secure his 18th career PDTR A-main victory and fifth A-main victory at The Plymouth Dirt Track in the last six main event races.

Scheffler placed a close second, Bongiorno held on for a PDTR Late Model career-best third-place showing, Edler posted a career-best PDTR Late Model fourth-place-finish in his division debut and Charlie Schmidt rounded out the top five.

Polesitter Dick Hed of Plymouth took the lead in turn one of the opening lap of the 26-lap Grand National A main with third starter Tyler Kulow moving into second.

The first of four caution flags was displayed on lap 3 when Andy Singer spun in turn one. On lap later, Andy Singer spun again in turn three to bring out the second caution flag of the race.

On the restart, 2018 PDTR Grand National champ Matt Loehr of Dotyville worked up from the 11th starting spot to make it a three-way duel for the lead with Hed and two-time PDTR Grand National champion Don Sorce Jr. of West Allis, who started sixth.

However, Hed and Sorce Jr. made contact in turn three on lap 6 to send Sorce Jr. spinning in turn four, which brought out the third caution flag of the race. Hed and Sorce Jr. were each sent to the rear of the field following the incident.

Kulow controlled the restart, while Loehr moved in to challenge for the top spot on lap 9. Loehr closed up to within inches of Kulow’s bumper before rookie Mavrick Ruh of Sheboygan Falls spun in turn one to bring out the fourth and final caution flag of the race on lap 24.

Kulow held strong on the final single-file restart as he secured his 10th career PDTR Grand National A-main victory. Loehr finished second, fifth starter Luke Scholten of Oostburg placed third, Donny Kulow of Elkhart Lake, who started seventh, finished fourth and Sorce Jr. rallied from his lap 6 incident to place fifth.

After a spin involving Donny Singer brought out the first of five caution flags to negate the initial start, outside front row starter Kyle Odekirk of Plymouth outdueled polesitter Justin Bauer of Sheboygan Falls to grab the lead on lap 2.

The second caution flag appeared on lap 2 when Phil Campanella of Sheboygan Falls spun in turn three. After the restart, Odekirk held down the top spot as Bauer held second and fourth starter Trevor Frank of Sheboygan moved into third.

The third caution was displayed when rookie Vince Jung spun in turn four on lap 6 right before the fourth caution flag appeared when two-time PDTR B Mod champion Tim Warner of Fond du Lac hit the turn two wall.

On the restart, 10th starter Travis Schmidt began to make his presence felt as he maneuvered his way into third. As Odekirk remained in front by a full straightaway, Schmidt assumed second with a high move past Bauer in turn four on lap 14.

Meanwhile, Odekirk held a commanding full straightaway lead on lap 15. On lap 19, Frank worked past Bauer to take over third on lap 20. Just as Odekirk appeared headed to the victory, Schmidt caught a break when Matthew Roehl spun in turn four to bring out the fifth and final caution flag.

Following a single-file restart, Schmidt drove hard along the low groove to slip underneath Odekirk in turn four on lap 25 and held on over the final circuit to earn his fifth career PDTR A-main victory.

Odekirk placed second, Frank wound up third, Bauer finished fourth and seventh starter Gary Glander of Sheboygan Falls rounded out the top five.

Charlie Bergdorf was victorious in the special 12-lap Vintage Modified A main.

Adam Miller of Plymouth captured the 15-lap 360 Sprint Car B main.

As a special tribute to Dave Deicher, who served as a flagman at The Plymouth Dirt Track from 1989 through 2020 and passed away in May 2021, several former flagmen at The Plymouth Dirt Track were on hand during a special pre-race ceremony to honor Deicher and to share in trading off flagging duties for heat race action.

Among the former and current Plymouth flagmen on hand in Deicher’s memory were Bill Krueger, Larry Palm, Roger Mueller, Eric Mueller, Bill Lubach and Steve Crass.

After the racing program, PDTR and the Deicher family sponsored a post-race party featuring free pizza and beer for those in attendance.

The 13h PDTR program of the 2021 season, which was sponsored by Butch and Blondie Hafemann, drew 86 total cars, including 25 360 Sprint Cars, 23 B Mods, 14 Late Models, 12 Grand Nationals and 12 Vintage Modifieds.

PDTR action is scheduled to resume on Saturday, July 31 with a special all-open wheel  event featuring the Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series, the PDTR 360 Sprint Cars and Badger Midgets.

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

The new book “70 Years of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing” by Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan and George Baumann of Waupun, covering every season of racing at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. from 1950 to 2020 will be available for purchase at every race during the 2021 PDTR season, as well as at the Sheboygan County Fair office during regular business hours and online at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.

KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS

HEAT 1
1, Kevin Karnitz 2, Chris Clayton 3, Lance Fassbender 4, Will Gerrits 5, Travis Arenz 6, Justin Miller 7, Austin Hartmann 8, Bill Taylor.

HEAT 2
1, Tim Haddy 2, Kurt Davis 3, Josh Teunissen 4, Alex Pokorski 5, Cole Possi 6, Preston Ruh 7, Katelyn Krebsbach 8, Ben Schmidt.

HEAT 3
1, Tyler Brabant 2, Justin Erickson 3, Jack Vanderboom 4, Brandon McMullen 5, Steve Meyer 6, Doug Wondra 7, Tyler Tischendorf 8, Chris Larson.

HEAT 4

B MAIN
1, Adam Miller 2, Tyler Tischendorf 3, Doug Wondra 4, Justin Miller 5, Katelyn Krebsbach 6, Bill Taylor 7, Ben Schmidt 8, Austin Hartmann 9, Chris Larson.

A MAIN
1, Brandon McMullen 2, Kurt Davis 3, Kevin Karnitz 4, Travis Arenz 5, Tim Haddy 6, Justin Erickson 7, Jack Vanderboom 8, Chris Clayton 9, Alex Pokorski 10, Ben Schmidt 11, Will Gerrits 12, Lance Fassbender 13, Justin Miller 14, Preston Ruh 15, Steve Meyer 16, Cole Possi 17, Adam Miller 18, Bill Taylor 19, Tyler Tischendorf 20, Tyler Brabant 21, Josh Teunissen 22, Katelyn Krebsbach, Doug Wondra (DNS).

SHEBOYGAN’S COUNTY B93.7 LATE MODELS

HEAT 1
1, Justin Schmidt 2, Jayme Zidar 3, Turk Letizia 4, Justin Green 5, Brian Konitzer 6, Chad Ludwigson 7, Donny Singer.

HEAT 2
1, Tayler Scheffler 2, Charlie Schmidt 3, Joe Bongiorno 4, Bill Edler 5, Sawyer Specht 6, Jake Van Engen 7, Jim Schmidt.

A MAIN
1, Justin Schmidt 2, Taylor Scheffler 3, Jon Bongiorno 4, Bill Edler 5, Charlie Schmidt 6, Justin Green 7, Turk Letizia 8, Jayme Zidar 9, Jim Schmidt 10, Brian Konitzer 11, Sawyer Specht 12, Jake Van Engen 13, Donny Singer 14, Chad Ludwigson.

OOSTBURG AUTOMOTIVE GRAND NATIONALS

HEAT 1’
1, Luke Scholten 2, Tyler Kulow 3, Donny Kulow 4, Darren Meyer 5, Mavrick Ruh 6, Matt Loehr.

HEAT 2
1, Steven Weber 2, Derek Kaat 3, Dick Hed 4, Don Sorce Jr. 5, Andy Singer 6, Kirby Post.

A MAIN
1, Tyler Kulow 2, Matt Loehr 3, Luke Scholten 4, Donny Kulow 5, Don Sorce Jr. 6, Dick Hed 7, Derek Kaat 8, Darren Meyer 9, Mavrick Ruh 10, Andy Singer 11, Kirby Post 12, Steven Weber.

CELLCOM B MOD

HEAT 1
1, Jonathan Hitsman 2, Travis Schmidt 3, Kyle Odekirk 4, Phil Campanella 5, Patrick Hanson 6, Donny Singer 7, Vince Jung 8, Shane Long.

HEAT 2
1, Steve Lorier 2, Brandon Knepprath 3, Justin Bauer 4, Spencer Long 5, Mathew Roehl 6, Brendan Ostrowski 7, Michael Strean 8, Andy Welter.

HEAT 3
1, Tim Warner 2, Trevor Frank 3, Gary Glander 4, Rory Welch 5, Mark Hoeppner 6, Jim Fischer 7, Craig Gessner.

A MAIN
1, Travis Schmidt 2, Kyle Odekirk 3, Trevor Frank 4, Justin Bauer 5, Gary Glander 6, Andy Welter 7, Brandon Knepprath 8, Mark Hoeppner 9, Steve Lorier 10, Rory Welch 11, Spencer Long 12, Brendan Ostrowski 13, Donny Singer 14, Matthew Roehl 15, Patrick Hanson 16, Shane Long 17, Vince Jung 18, Phil Campanella 19, Craig Gessner 20, Tim Warner 21, Jonathan Hitsman 21, Jim Fischer (DNS) 22, Michael Strean (DNS).

By Jeff Pederson-Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) July 17, 2021 – The cream rose to the top as former Plymouth Dirt Track Racing division champions swept all four A-main races Saturday, July 17 at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis.

In the PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main, two-time division champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh notched his second 25-lap Kristine Hartmann Pleasantview Realty 360 Sprint Car A-main victory of the 2021 campaign.

Three-time and defending PDTR Late Model champion Justin Schmidt of Cleveland notched his second consecutive and fourth overall 25-lap Sheboygan’s County 93.7 Late Model A-main victory of the 2021 season.

Two-time PDTR Grand National champ Don Sorce Jr. of West Allis rolled to his first A-main triumph of 2021, while 2017 PDTR B Mod champion Justin Green of Sheboygan Falls made the most of a fill-in driving opportunity behind the wheel of Spencer Long’s 59s machine to earn the victory in the 25-lap B Mod main event.

Polesitter Will Gerrits of Waupun grabbed the lead in turn one of the opening lap of the 360 Sprint Car A main with 2018 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Justin Miller of Plymouth, who started second, and 2008 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Lance Fassbender of Burnett, who started fifth, moving into third.

The first of four caution flags appeared on lap 5 when Fassbender spun in turn three. On the restart, Brandon McMullen, who started seventh, used the outside groove to move into second on lap 6.

Five laps later, McMullen powered around Gerrits and into the top spot along the outside line of the wide, smooth and slick racing surface exiting turn four.

On lap 13, point leader Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls stalled in turn four to bring out the second caution flag. Another caution flag appeared on the ensuing restart as Chris Clayton of Waldo, Doug Wondra of Lomira and Tyler Brabant of Waupun collided along the backstretch.

McMullen controlled the next restart with Gerrits in second and 2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Ben Schmidt of Plymouth, who started ninth, in third.

The fourth and final caution flag was displayed on lap 14 when Justin Erickson of Plymouth, Blake Wondra of Fond du Lac and Tyler Brabant made contact in turn four.

Following the restart, Schmidt slipped past Gerrits into second, while McMullen bolted away from the field along the cushion. McMullen pulled away from the pack over the final 10 laps en route to his 22^nd career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory and 32^nd career Midwest Sprint Car Association main event win.

The victory pushed McMullen past Donny Goeden into sole possession of third place on the all-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main win list.

Schmidt placed second, 18^th starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend charged up to finish third, Gerrits took fourth and Tim Haddy of Waupun worked his way up from his 13^th starting spot to finish fifth.

After a false start, outside front row starter Jayme Zidar of Greenfield led the opening lap of the 25-lap Late Model A main before the first of seven caution flags appeared on lap 3 for an incident involving Dan White and Turk Letizia of Milwaukee.

On the restart, Charlie Schmidt of Oostburg, who started sixth, worked the outside groove to power into the lead exiting turn two. The second caution flag appeared on lap 4 for a spin involving Brian Gerber. Another caution flag was displayed on the restart when Jayme Zidar spun in turn two.

On the ensuing restart, Justin Schmidt, who started ninth, flexed his muscle along the high groove to power his way into third on lap 6. The race was slowed for the fourth time on lap 7 when Wayne Freimund stopped in turn four.

Justin Schmidt utilized the high line on the restart to seize second entering turn one on lap 8 before Wayne Freimund brought out another caution flag on lap 9 when he stalled in turn one.

Two more caution flags followed in quick succession as Donny Singer of Random Lake and Chad Ludwigson of Sheboygan Falls collided in turn four and Jim Schmidt of Cleveland hit the turn one wall.

Justin Schmidt turned it up following the final restart to challenge Charlie Schmidt for the lead beginning on lap 12. Slower traffic allowed Justin Schmidt to move within striking distance on lap 19 and four laps later, he powered into the lead in turn two in heavy lapped traffic.

Justin Schmidt pulled away over the final two laps to secure his 17^th career PDTR Late Model A-main victory to break a tie with his father Jim and move into sole possession of third place on the all-time PDTR Late Model A-main victory list.

The win was also Justin Schmidt’s fourth in the last five PDTR Late Model A main events.

Justin Ritchie, who started fifth, finished second, Charlie Schmidt placed third, 2008 PDTR Late Model champion Billy Rezutek of Big Bend, who started seventh, placed fourth and fourth starter Turk Letizia recovered from an early-race incident to place fifth.

Steven Ruh of New Holstein, who started second, jumped into the lead in turn two of the opening lap of the 25-lap Grand National A main behind the wheel of the Bender Racing No. 89 machine before polesitter Luke Scholten of Oostburg gained the lead in turn four to lead the first lap.

Ruh battled back to seize the lead in turn two on lap 2 before Scholten again wrestled away the lead in turn four to take over the top spot. The first of three caution flags appeared on lap five when Derek Kaat of Howards Groove spun in turn two.

On the restart, Don Sorce Jr., who started sixth, seized second lap 9. Four laps later, Scholten made contact with the lapped car of Darren Meyer, which produced the second caution flag when Meyer spun in turn three on lap 13.

On the restart, Ruh batted back to assume the top spot along the high groove on lap 14 just behind the third and final caution flag came out for Ryan Falk in turn two.

After the final restart, Scholten and Ruh engaged in a heated side-by-side duel before Ruh surged ahead. Meanwhile, Sorce Jr. moved into second and quickly moved in to pressure Ruh for the top spot.

On lap 18, Sorce Jr. ducked low to take over the lead in turn four. Sorce Jr. went on to notch his 14^th career PDTR Grand National A-main triumph. 2019 PDTR Grand National champion Tyler Kulow of Plymouth placed second after starting fifth, Ruh wound up third, seventh starter Donny Kulow of Elkhart Lake placed fourth and third starter Steven Weber of Plymouth rounded out the top five.

Jim Fischer of Oostburg grabbed the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap B Mod A main from his outside front row starting spot with third starter Justin Green sliding into second in Spencer Long’s 59s car.

On lap 2, Green shot underneath Fischer to take the lead in turn four. The first of three caution flags appeared on lap 3 when Phil Campanella of Sheboygan Falls spun in turn four.

On the restart, fourth starter Steve Lorier of Sheboygan moved into second while Shane Long of Sheboygan Falls, who started fifth, took third. As Green pulled out to a sizable lead at the front of the field, Lorier brought out the second caution flag when he slowed to a stop along the backstretch on lap 8.

Green drove away from the field on the ensuing restart while eighth starter Trevor Frank of Sheboygan seized third on lap 9. By lap 13, Green had built up a full-straightaway lead over Shane Long before the third and final caution flag was displayed on lap 16 for a spin in turn two involving Michael Strean of Sheboygan.

Frank used a strong restart to take over the second spot before setting his sights on Green. Frank was able to cut into Green’s advantage over the final nine laps, however, he was unable to wrestle the lead away from Green, who went on to notch his division-leading eighth career PDTR B Mod A-main victory.

Frank finished second, Shane Long took third, seventh starter Justin Bauer of Sheboygan Falls placed fourth and Rory Welch of Grafton charged from his 12^th starting spot to finish fifth.

Brandon Berth of Cascade won the 15-lap 360 Sprint Car B Main.

The 12^th PDTR program of the 2021 season, which was sponsored by Cupcake Wonders, drew 75 total cars, including 30 360 Sprint Cars, 18 Late Models, 16 B Mods and 11 Grand Nationals.

PDTR action is scheduled to resume on Saturday, July 24 with action in the 360 Sprint Car, Late Model, Grand National and B Mod divisions on Dave Deicher Tribute Night, which will also feature an appearance by the Vintage Modified division.

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

The new book “70 Years of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing” by Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan and George Baumann of Waupun, covering every season of racing at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. from 1950 to 2020 will be available for purchase at every race during the 2021 PDTR season, as well as at the Sheboygan County Fair office during regular business hours and online at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.

KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS

HEAT 1

1, Lance Fassbender 2, Chris Clayton 3, Will Gerrits 4, Blake Wondra 5, Justin Erickson 6, Kurt Davis 7, Matt Rechek 8, Katelyn Krebsbach.

HEAT 2

1, Jack Vanderboom 2, Preston Ruh 3, Tyler Tischendorf 4, Alex Pokorski 5, Brandon Berth 6, Adam Miller 7, Scott Conger 8, Josh Teunissen.

HEAT 3

1, Bill Taylor 2, Tony Wondra 3, Tyler Brabant 4, Tim Haddy 5, Dylan Winkel 6, Tyler Davis 7, Tom Kreutz.

HEAT 4

1, Brandon McMullen 2, Travis Arenz 3, Ben Schmidt 4, Justin Miller 5, Kevin Karnitz 6, Doug Wondra 7, Austin Hartmann.

B MAIN

1, Brandon Berth 2, Kevin Karnitz 3, Kurt Davis 4, Justin Erickson 5, Doug Wondra 6, Matt Rechek 7, Tyler Davis 8, Scott Conger 9, Josh Teunissen 10, Austin Hartmann 11, Katelyn Krebsbach 12, Dylan Winkel 13, Adam Miller 14, Tom Kreutz.

A MAIN

1, Brandon McMullen 2, Ben Schmidt 3, Kevin Karnitz 4, Will Gerrits 5, Tim Haddy 6, Kurt Davis 7, Lance Fassbender 8, Jack Vanderboom 9, Justin Miller 10, Travis Arenz 11, Matt Rechek 12, Bill Taylor 13, Brandon Berth 14, Tyler Brabant 15, Justin Erickson 16, Alex Pokorski 17, Tyler Tischendorf 18, Tony Wondra 19, Blake Wondra 20, Preston Ruh 21, Chris Clayton 22, Doug Wondra.

SHEBOYGAN’S COUNTY B93.7 LATE MODELS

HEAT 1

1, Jim Schmidt 2, Billy Rezutek 3, Dan White 4, Justin Schmidt 5, Ron Stroika 6, Eric Michaels.

HEAT 2

1, Turk Letizia 2, Charlie Schmidt 3, Wayne Freimund 4, Donny Singer 5, Chad Ludwigson 6, Brian Konitzer.

HEAT 3

1, Jayme Zidar 2, Justin Ritchie 3, Justin Green 4, Sawyer Specht 5, Jake Van Engen 6, Brian Gerber.

A MAIN

1, Justin Schmidt 2, Justin Ritchie 3, Charlie Schmidt 4, Billy Rezutek 5, Turk Letizia 6, Justin Green 7, Jayme Zidar 8, Ron Stroika 9, Eric Michaels 10, Jake Van Engen 11, Dan White 12, Brian Konitzer 13, Donny Singer 14, Wayne Freimund 15, Jim Schmidt 16, Chad Ludwigson 17, Sawyer Specht 18, Brian Gerber.

OOSTBURG AUTOMOTIVE GRAND NATIONALS

HEAT 1’

1, Don Sorce Jr. 2, Steven Ruh 3, Dick Hed 4, Donny Kulow 5, Mavrick Ruh 6, Darren Meyer.

HEAT 2

1, Tyler Kulow, 2, Luke Scholten 3, Steven Weber 4, Derek Kaat 5, Ryan Falk.

A MAIN

1, Don Sorce Jr. 2, Tyler Kulow 3, Steven Ruh 4, Donny Kulow 5, Steven Weber 6, Dick Hed 7, Luke Scholten 8, Mavrick Ruh 9, Darren Meyer 10, Derek Kaat 11, Ryan Falk.

CELLCOM B MOD

HEAT 1

1, Craig Gessner 2, Donny Singer 3, Justin Bauer 4, Shane Long 5, Patrick Hanson 6, Jim Fischer 7, Gary Glander 8, Mark Hoeppner.

HEAT 2

1, Trevor Frank 2, Rick Kretschmann 3, Justin Green 4, Steven Lorier 5, Christopher Gilson 6, Rory Welch 7, Phil Campanella 8, Michael Strean.

A MAIN

1, Justin Green 2, Trevor Frank 3, Shane Long 4, Justin Bauer 5, Rory Welch 6, Mark Hoeppner 7, Donny Singer 8, Rick Kretschmann 9, Craig Gessner 10, Patrick Hanson 11, Gary Glander 12, Michael Strean 13, Jim Fischer 14, Steve Lorier 15, Christopher Gilson 16, Phil Campanella.

By Jeff Pederson-Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) July 10, 2021 – As the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing season eclipsed the half-way point, three drivers added to their 2021 A-main victory tallies, while another visited victory lane for the first time this year in main-event competition at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, July 10.

In the PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main, Waupun’s Will Gerrits earned his first 25-lap Kristine Hartmann Pleasantview Realty 360 Sprint Car A-main victory of the 2021 campaign.

Three-time and defending PDTR Late Model champion Justin Schmidt of Cleveland notched his third 25-lap Sheboygan’s County 93.7 Late Model A-main victory of 2021.

2018 PDTR Grand National champion Matt Loehr of Dotyville claimed his second 25-lap Oostburg Automotive Grand National main-event win of the 2021 season, while Jonathan Hitsman of Sheboygan rolled to his second Cellcom B Mod A-main triumph of the year.

On the drop of the green flag of the 25-lap 360 Sprint Car A main, 2008 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Lance Fassbender of Burnett jumped into the lead from the pole position.

On lap 2, lone caution flag of the race appeared when PDTR 360 Sprint Car rookie Matt Rechek of Beaver Dam spun on the backstretch after making contact with Alex Pokorski of West Bend. Rechek was done for the night, while Pokorski went to the work area for repairs before returning to restart at the rear of the field.

Fassbender controlled the restart as Will Gerrits worked the high line to move up to second from his sixth starting spot on lap 3. Meanwhile, ninth starter Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls also rode the high groove of the smooth and slick track surface to seize third on lap 4.

On lap 6, Gerrits powered around Fassbender to take over the top spot exiting turn four, while Arenz slipped into second one lap later. As Arenz tested the high, middle and low lines in an attempt to close the gap on Gerrits, the leaders caught the rear of the field on lap 15.

Three laps later, Arenz moved in to challenge Gerrits for the lead with a daring low move in turn two. However, Gerrits successfully fended off Arenz’s spirited charge to maintain the top spot.

On lap 20, Arenz nearly lost control as his car spun sideways along the outside groove in turn four, which allowed the low-riding Fassbender to regain second. Meanwhile, out in front of the field, Gerrits skillfully maneuvered through lapped traffic to nail down his third career PDTR and Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car A-main victory.

Fassbender held on to finish second, Arenz was third, fourth starter Jack Vanderboom of Dousman took fourth and second starter Tyler Tischendorf of Waupaca rounded out the top five.

Justin Schmidt used his outside front row starting spot to outpower Late Model rookie Justin Green of Sheboygan Falls, who started on the pole, to grab the lead in turn one of the opening lap of the 25-lap PDTR Late Model A main.

The first of two caution flags appeared on lap 2 when 2016 PDTR Late Model champ Tim Buhler of Greenbush made contract with the turn four wall.

Schmidt bolted out into the lead on the restarter with Green and seventh starter Justin Ritchie of New London in tow. The second and final caution flag flew on lap 10 when Jayme Zidar of Greenfield spun in turn one.

On the restart, Schmidt bolted away again while Ritchie moved past Green into second and fifth starter Charlie Schmidt of Cedar Grove claimed third in the running order.

Justin Schmidt held firm control of the lead along the extreme inside groove of the third-mile clay oval until he got hung up behind a slower car for several laps, which allowed Ritchie to cut the gap significantly.

Ritchie closed to within striking distance on lap 22 before Schmidt maneuvered around the lapped car and extended his lead over the final three laps en route to his 16^th career PDTR Late Model A-main win.

Ritchie had to settle for second, Green posted a career-best third place showing, Charlie Schmidt placed fourth and Turk Letizia of Milwaukee, who started eighth, finished fifth.

Polesitter Steven Weber of Plymouth grabbed the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap PDTR B Mod A main, while second starter Dick Hed of Plymouth and Matt Loehr, who started sixth, dueled for second in the early going.

Loehr moved into second on lap 2 before setting his sights firmly on the lead. On lap 3, Loehr used the high line to shoot past Weber into the lead in turn four.

Five laps later, 2019 PDTR Grand National champ Tyler Kulow of Plymouth moved up from his eighth starting spot to take second.

The first of two caution flags appeared on lap 8 when Derek Kaat of Plymouth spun in turn one. On the restart, two-time PDTR Grand National champ Don Sorce Jr. of West Allis used the high groove to move past Kulow into second from his seventh starting spot.

Kulow battled back to mount a spirited duel with the high-riding Sorce Jr. for the runner-up spot starting on lap 10 before the second and final caution flag appeared on lap 13 for a debris.

Kulow and Sorce Jr. reengaged in their heated duel for second following the restart as the tandem moved in to pressure Loehr for the season over the final 12 circuits.

In the closing laps, Loehr held strong to secure his eighth career PDTR Grand National A-main victory. Sorce Jr. finished second, Tyler Kulow placed third, Donny Kulow of Elkhart Lake, who started fifth, placed fourth and 10^th starter Luke Scholten of Oostburg rounded out the top five.

Steve Lorier of Sheboygan Falls jumped into the lead of the 25-lap PDTR B Mod A main from the pole as Boltonville’s Brandon Knepprath, who started second, dueled with Grafton’s Rory Welch, who started third, for the runner-up spot.

Just as sixth starter Jonathan Hitsman was making his presence felt at the front of the field, the first of seven caution flags appeared on lap 4 for debris. Another caution flag was displayed on the ensuing restart for a five-car incident in turn two.

On the restart, Lorier maintained control of the lead as Welch and fifth starter Shane Long of Sheboygan Falls dueled for second starting on lap 4. The third caution flag was thrown on lap 6 for a two-car incident in turn four.

Following the restart, Hitsman made his march to the front primarily utilizing the outside groove. Hitsman worked his way into third on lap 8 before moving into second lap 11 and eventually powering around Lorier and into the lead on lap 14 exiting turn four.

After the fourth caution flag appeared on lap 17 for a two-car incident, Hitsman bolted out to a full-straightaway lead while ninth starter Gary Glander of Sheboygan Falls moved into second.

The fifth caution flag came out on lap 21 for a single-car spin and on the restart it was Spencer Long of Sheboygan Falls, who started 16^th, who was turning heads and he seized second on lap 21.

The sixth caution period appeared on lap 22, which set up a battle between Spencer Long and Glander for second in the closing laps.

However, no one had anything for Hitsman as he pulled away to notch his second career PDTR B Mod A-main victory in a race that was flagged as complete following the seventh caution flag of the race for a single-car spin on the 25^th and final lap.

Glander finished second, Spencer Long was third, Shane Long placed fourth and eighth starter Rick Kretschmann of Sheboygan Falls placed fifth.

Adam Miller of Plymouth won the 15-lap 360 Sprint Car B main.

The 11^th PDTR program of the 2021 season, which was sponsored by Jensen Sales and Service, drew 71 total cars, including 31 360 Sprint Cars, 17 B Mods, 13 Late Models and 10 Grand Nationals.

PDTR action is scheduled to resume on Saturday, July 17 with action in the 360 Sprint Car, Late Model, Grand National and B Mod divisions.

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

The new book “70 Years of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing” by Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan and George Baumann of Waupun, covering every season of racing at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. from 1950 to 2020 will be available for purchase at every race during the 2021 PDTR season, as well as at the Sheboygan County Fair office during regular business hours and online at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.

KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS

HEAT 1

1, Travis Arenz 2, Tyler Tischendorf 3, Kevin Karnitz 4, Kurt Davis 5, Chris Clayton 6, Austin Hartmann 7, Chris Larson 8, Nick Daywalt (DNS).

HEAT 2

1, Matt Rechek 2, Justin Miller 3, Will Gerrits 4, Josh Teunissen 5, Tim Haddy 6, Ben Schmidt 7, Tyler Brabant 8, Cole Possi.

HEAT 3

1, Brandon McMullen 2, Lance Fassbender 3, Tony Wondra 4, Justin Erickson 5, Blake Wondra 6, Tom Kreutz 7, Katelyn Krebsbach 8, Dylan Winkel.

HEAT 4

1, Alex Pokorski 2, Jack Vanderboom 3, Doug Wondra 4, Bill Taylor 5, Adam Miller 6, Tyler Davis 7, Preston Ruh.

B MAIN

1, Adam Miller 2, Ben Schmidt 3, Tyler Davis 4, Justin Erickson 5, Josh Teunissen 6, Chris Clayton 7, Austin Hartmann 8, Tyler Brabant 9, Preston Ruh 10, Katelyn Krebsbach 11, Tom Kreutz 12, Chris Larson 13, Dylan Winkel 14, Cole Possi 15, Nick Daywalt (DNS).

A MAIN

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

SHEBOYGAN’S COUNTY B93.7 LATE MODELS

HEAT 1

1, Turk Letizia 2, Justin Ritchie 3, Justin Green 4, Ron Stroika 5, Jayme Zidar 6, Chad Ludwigson 7, Donny Singer.

HEAT 2

1, Jim Schimdt 2, Charlie Schmidt 3, Tim Buhler 4, Justin Schmidt 5, Sawyer Specht 6, Jake Van Engen.

A MAIN

1, Justin Schmidt 2, Justin Ritchie 3, Justin Green 4, Charlie Schmidt 5, Turk Letizia 6, Ron Stroika 7, Jim Schmidt 8, Jake Van Engen 9, Chad Ludwigson 10, Sawyer Specht 11, Donny Singer 12, Jayme Zidar 13, Tim Buhler.

OOSTBURG AUTOMOTIVE GRAND NATIONALS

HEAT 1’

1, Tyler Kulow 2, Donny Kulow 3, Derek Kaat 4, Dylan Struve 5, Mavrick Ruh.

HEAT 2

1, Don Sorce Jr. 2, Matt Loehr 3, Dick Hed 4, Steven Weber 5, Luke Scholten.

A MAIN

1, Matt Loehr 2, Don Sorce Jr. 3, Tyler Kulow 4, Donny Kulow 5, Luke Scholten 6, Steven Weber 7, Derek Kaat 8, Dick Hed 9, Mavrick Ruh 10, Dylan Struve.

CELLCOM B MOD

HEAT 1

1, Jonathan Hitsman 2, Trevor Frank 3, Steve Lorier 4, Donny Singer 5, Brandon Knepprath 6, Jim Fischer 7, Patrick Hanson 8, Craig Gessner 9, Phil Campanella.

HEAT 2

1, Rick Kretschmann 2, Justin Bauer 3, Shane Long 4, Rory Welch 5, Gary Glander 6, Matthew Roehl 7, Glen Blanke 8, Spencer Long.

A MAIN

1, Jonathan Hitsman 2, Gary Glander 3, Spencer Long 4, Shane Long 5, Rick Kretschmann 6, Trevor Frank 7, Rory Welch 8, Justin Bauer 9, Donny Singer 10, Brandon Knepprath 11, Matthew Roehl 12, Steve Lorier 13, Patrick Hanson 14, Craig Gessner 15, Jim Fischer 16, Phil Campanella 17, Glen Blanke.

Arenz storms to fourth PDTR 360 Sprint Car victory of 2021

By Jeff Pederson-Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) July 1, 2021 – Nearly one month after claiming his first career FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions Presented by Mobil 1 A-main victory at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis., 10-time Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series champion Bill Balog of Hartland continued his winning ways at the third-mile clay oval by bagging the special 30-lap Road America NASCAR Weekend Kickoff IRA main event before a huge crowd of spectators on Thursday, July 1.

In the 25-lap Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Kristine Hartmann Pleasantview Realty 360 Sprint Car A main, point leader Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls rolled to his fourth PDTR A-main victory of the 2021 season.

After the initial start of the 30-lap IRA A main was erased when Mike Reinke of Howards Grove spun in turn three, visiting NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Briscoe of Mitchell, Ind. bolted into the lead from the pole position with Bill Balog, who started fifth, sliding into second.

Briscoe, who was making his first Winged Sprint Car start since 2018, caught the rear of the field on lap 5, which allowed Balog to close the gap significantly. On lap 6, Balog swept past Briscoe in heavy lapped traffic to take over the lead in turn three.

The second of eight yellow/red flag periods appeared on lap 8 when Briscoe spun Paul May’s 71M car in turn 3 before being collected by Scotty Thiel of Sheboygan, who had been running third.

Following the restart, two-time IRA champion Scotty Neitzel of Beaver Dam, who started fourth, charged in to briefly pressure Balog for the lead as the leaders weaved their way through slower traffic.

On lap 14, 2018 IRA champion Jake Blackhurst of Hanna City, Ill., who started seventh, worked past Neitzel to seize second. A red flag was displayed on lap 15 when Russel Borland of Kewaskum flipped along the back stretch.

Shortly after, Briscoe brought out another caution flag when he spun in turn two on lap 16. On the restart, Danny Schlafer of Sussex slowed to a stop in turn four to bring out the fifth stoppage of the race.

After the restart, Blackhurst turned up the heat to close in on Balog in lapped traffic on lap 20. However, Blackhurst’s progress was slowed by three more caution flags over the next five laps for the stalled car of Scotty Neitzel on lap 22, an infield tire on the track on lap 24 and a flip involving Dave Uttech of Kenosha in turn two on lap 24.

Uttech’s flip prompted an open red period to allow pit crews to add fuel to help each team get their cars to the end of the lengthy race.

When the race resumed, Balog flexed his muscle once again to pull away from Blackhurst over the final six laps en route to his 132^nd career IRA A-main victory, fifth overall A-main win of the 2021 campaign, third IRA main event victory of the season and fourth straight main event victory at The Plymouth Dirt Track.

Blackhurst had to settle for second, 2016 IRA champ Jeremy Schultz of Beaver Dam finished third after starting ninth, Jordan Goldesberry of Springfield, Ill. placed fourth after starting eighth and 14^th starter Josh Schneiderman of West Burlington, Iowa rounded out the top five.

Outside front row starter Adam Miller of Plymouth grabbed the lead on the drop of the green field of the 25-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main with fourth starter Jack Vanderboom of Dousman following in second.

As Miller paced the field, the first of three caution flags appeared on lap 5 when Justin Erickson of Plymouth and Tony Wondra of Campbellsport collided in turn two.

Following the restart, 2018 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Justin Miller of Plymouth moved in from his sixth starting spot to pressure his brother, Adam, for the lead on lap 7. Adam fended off Justin in the battle of the Miller brothers to maintain the top spot before Travis Arenz, who started ninth, began to make his presence felt at the front of the field.

After moving into third on lap 14 on the lightning fast track surface, Arenz worked around Justin Miller to take second on lap 15.

One lap later, Arenz powered past Adam Miller and into the lead exiting turn four and quickly built up a sizeable cushion. The second caution flag appeared on lap 18 when Will Gerrits of Waupun stopped in turn four.

Arenz bolted away from the pack on the restart and held a half-lap lead when Austin Hartmann of Sheboygan Falls flipped on the back stretch on lap 24 to bring out a red flag and set up a green-white-checkered flag finish.

On the restart, Arenz again wired the field as he pulled away from Adam Miller to notch his eighth career PDTR 360 Sprint Car main event win, 18^th career Midwest Sprint Car Association A-main victory and fourth feature victory of the 2021 season at The Plymouth Dirt Track.

Adam Miller placed second, two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee, who started third, finished third, Justin Miller was fourth and two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh finished fifth after starting eighth.

Tony Wondra captured the 15-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main.

In time trials, Scotty Thiel set a new track record with a lap of 11.300 to earn the IRA fast qualifier award.

Chase Briscoe and Scotty Thiel earned IRA dash victories.

The all-Sprint Car event, which was sponsored by Jensen Sales and Service, drew a total of 54 Sprint Cars, including 24 IRA 410 Sprint Cars and 30 PDTR 360 Sprint Cars.

PDTR action is scheduled to resume on Saturday, July 10 with action in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car, Late Model, Grand National and B Mod divisions.

Grandstand gates open at 4:30 p.m. with hot laps at 5:30 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m.

As an addition to last week’s race report, four new race track records were set in PDTR action on Friday, June 25.

Lance Fassbender of Burnett set a new 15-lap 360 Sprint Car B main track record with a time of three minutes and 12 seconds. Justin Schmidt of Cleveland established a new 12-lap Late Model B main track record in two minutes and 40 seconds.

Brad Mueller of Random Lake tied Waukesha’s Taylor Scheffler for the 10-lap Late Model heat race track record in two minutes and 12 seconds, while Tim Sheppard of Beaver Dam and Craig Gessner of Beechwood tied Nick Schultz of Beaver Dam by completing 10-lap B Mod heat races in a track record time of two minutes and 32 seconds.

The new book “70 Years of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing” by Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan and George Baumann of Waupun, covering every season of racing at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. from 1950 to 2020 will be available for purchase at every race during the 2021 PDTR season, as well as at the Sheboygan County Fair office during regular business hours and online at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.

BUMPER TO BUMPER INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION 410 SPRINT CARS

Qualifying

1, Scotty Thiel 11.300 2, Dave Uttech 11.589 3, Bill Balog 11.590 4, Jake Blackhurst 11.619 5, Chase Briscoe 11.630 6, Scott Neitzel 11.649 7, Mike Reinke 11.718 8, Jordan Goldesberry 11.730 9, Kyle Schuett 11.735 10, Jeremy Schultz 11.809 11, Kris Spitz 11.897 12, Robbie Pribnow 11.898 13, Josh Schneiderman 11.946 14, Josh Walter 11.978 15, Hunter Custer 11.978 16, Danny Schlafer 11.983 17, Jack Berger 12.039 18, Russel Borland 12.054 19, Wayne Modjeski 12.115 20, John Fahl 12.306 21, Andy Rein 12.411 22, Ben Schmidt 12.464 23, Scott Conger 12.524 24, Jordan Paulsen 12.581.

HEAT 1

1, Jeremy Schultz 2, Mike Reinke 3, Scotty Thiel 4, Jake Blackhurst 5, Josh Schneiderman 6, Danny Schlafer 7, Wayne Modjeski 8, Ben Schmidt.

HEAT 2

1, Jordan Goldesberry 2, Chase Briscoe 3, Kris Spitz 4, Josh Walter 5, Dave Uttech 6, Jack Berger 7, Scott Conger 8, John Fahl.

HEAT 3

1, Bill Balog 2, Robbie Pribnow 3, Scotty Neitzel 4, Russel Borland 5, Hunter Custer 6, Jordan Paulsen 7, Andy Rein 8, Kyle Schuett.

DASH 1

1, Chase Briscoe 2, Mike Reinke 3, Bill Balog 4, Jake Blackhurst 5, Jeremy Schultz.

DASH 2

1, Scotty Thiel 2, Scotty Neitzel 3, Dave Uttech 4, Jordan Goldesberry 5, Kris Spitz.

A MAIN

1, Bill Balog 2, Jake Blackhurst 3, Jeremy Schultz 4, Jordan Goldesberry 5, Josh Schneiderman 6, Josh Walter 7, Scotty Thiel 8, Mike Reinke 9, Robbie Pribnow 10, Kris Spitz 11, Wayne Modjeski 12, Jordan Paulsen 13, Hunter Custer 14, John Fahl 15, Ben Schmidt 16, Dave Uttech 17, Scotty Neitzel 18, Andy Rein 19, Chase Briscoe 20, Danny Schlafer 21, Scott Conger 22, Russel Borland 23, Jack Berger 24, Kyle Schuett (DNS).

 

KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS

HEAT 1

1, Tom Kreutz 2, Chris Larson 3, Tyler Tischendorf 4, Brandon McMullen 5, Kevin Karnitz 6, Bill Taylor 7, Alex Pokorski 8, Josh Teunissen.

HEAT 2

1, Jack Vanderboom 2, Tim Haddy 3, Ben Schmidt 4, Travis Arenz 5, Tony Wondra 6, Chris Clayton 7, Blake Wondra 8, Cole Possi.

HEAT 3

1, Kurt Davis 2, Austin Hartmann 3, Will Gerrits 4, Nick Daywalt 5, Justin Erickson 6, Brandon Berth 7, Dylan Winkel.

HEAT 4

1, Adam Miller 2, Matt Rechek 3, Justin Miller 4, Tyler Brabant 5, Lance Fassbender 6, Preston Ruh 7, Katelyn Krebsbach.

B MAIN

1, Tony Wondra 2, Lance Fassbender 3, Brandon Berth 4, Justin Erickson 5, Kevin Karnitz 6, Alex Pokorski 7, Chris Clayton 8, Bill Taylor 9, Blake Wondra 10, Preston Ruh 11, Josh Teunissen 12, Cole Possi 13, Dylan Winkel 14, Katelyn Krebsbach.

A MAIN

1, Travis Arenz 2, Adam Miller 3, Kurt Davis 4, Justin Miller 5, Brandon McMullen 6, Jack Vanderboom 7, Lance Fassbender 8, Ben Schmidt 9, Brandon Berth 10, Tim Haddy 11, Alex Pokorski 12, Tyler Brabant 13, Kevin Karnitz 14, Matt Rechek 15, Tyler Tischendorf 16, Tony Wondra 17, Chris Larson 18, Tom Kreutz 19, Austin Hartmann 20, Nick Daywalt 21, Will Gerrits 22, Justin Erickson.

Arenz, Sorce, Schmidt notch PDTR A-main wins

By Jeff Pederson-Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) June 25, 2021 – On a night when Plymouth Dirt Track Racing honored its winningest driver, Ron Berna of Abrams scored his very first PDTR Late Model main event win in the fourth and final 30-lap Russ Scheffler Tribute Night Presented by KSI Construction Late Model A main at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Friday, June 25.

Berna’s initial PDTR Late Model A-main victory was worth a cool $2,874 in honor of Scheffler, who raced the No. 74 Late Model with PDTR for 12 years, while earning 92 overall race victories and 45 A-main wins, which both still stand as PDTR records far surpassing any other driver in all four regular divisions. Scheffler, who last competed at the Plymouth Dirt Track in 2016 and earned the PDTR Late Model championship in 2007, passed away in September 2017 at the age of 54.

In the PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main, point leader Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls continued his recent hot streak by storming to his third PDTR Kristine Hartmann Pleasantview Realty 360 Sprint Car main event win and sixth overall Midwest Sprint Car Association A-main triumph of the 2021 season in the 25-lap headliner.

Will Sorce of Franklin earned his third Oostburg Automotive 25-lap Grand National A-main triumph in just his fourth Plymouth start of the 2021 campaign and Waldo’s Travis Schmidt claimed his first Cellcom B Mod A-main victory of the 2021 PDTR season.

After an aborted initial start during which a spin by Jayme Zidar of Greenfield triggered contact with Adam Janke of Bear Creek, Jim Schmidt of Cleveland and Taylor Scheffler of Waukesha, Ron Berna jumped into the lead on the opening lap from his outside front row starting spot.

By lap five, Berna had built up a half-straightaway lead over polesitter Tom Naeyaert of Shawano on the lightning fast and narrow racing surface.

On lap 8, Berna caught the rear of the field and began to work his way through slower traffic. Two laps later, four-time PDTR Late Model champion Brad Mueller of Random Lake, who started third, slipped past Naeyaert to take over second in the running order.

On lap 12, Mueller moved in to pressure Berna for the top spot in heavy lapped traffic. After hounding Berna for four laps, Mueller pounced on lap 16 to seize the lead entering turn one.

Mueller began to pull away from Berna in dense lapped traffic before disaster struck on lap 19 when Mueller made contact with a lapped car along the backstretch, which sent his car into a series of hard flips before coming to rest against the turn three wall. Despite the severity of the incident, Mueller emerged from his battered machine uninjured.

On the restart, fifth starter Nick Anvelink of Navarino moved in to mount a challenge for the top spot before a caution flag appeared on lap 21 for a two-car incident involving Adam Janke and Kyle Raddant of Shawano.

Anvelink stayed glued to the low groove to again challenge Berna for the lead following the final restart. However, Berna held strong to fend off Anvelink’s advances and pull away over the final three laps en route to his first career PDTR Sheboygan’s County B93.7 Late Model A-main victory in the final running of the Russ Scheffler Tribute Race.

Anvelink had to settle for second, seventh starter Justin Ritchie of New London placed third, fourth starter Jayme Zidar wound up fourth and Naeyaert rounded out the top five in an attrition-filled race that saw just nine of the 20 starters complete the full 30 laps.

“In lapped traffic, I kind of lost my groove for a while and feel asleep a bit I guess and Brad [Mueller] got by,” Berna said in victory lane. “Then Brad rolled, which was really bad. I hope he is okay. When we started up again, I got up on the wheel and turned some good laps and it turned out well for us.”

Outside front row starter Blake Wondra of Fond du Lac grabbed the lead of the 25-lap 360 Sprint Car A main on the opening lap and paced the field for the first four circuits.

On lap five, third starter Travis Arenz powered in to seize the top spot from Wondra in turn four. Arenz wasted no time in throttling the field as he built up a half-lap cushion before he entered lapped traffic on lap 11.

On lap 14, Adam Miller of Plymouth, who was running second after starting fourth, flipped his machine in turn two to bring out the red flag, which turned out to be the only stoppage of the race. Miller was able to emerge from his car without serious injury.

Arenz lined up for the restart with five lapped cars placed between his machine and the second-place car of polesitter Justin Erickson of Plymouth. With an ample cushion to work with, Arenz bolted away from the field to again run away and hide from the pack.

On lap 16, two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh, who started 10^th, moved into second and began to trim away at Arenz’s lead. However, Arenz continued to set a frantic pace at the front of the field over the final 10 laps en route to his seventh career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory and 17^th career Midwest Sprint Car Association main-event triumph.

McMullen finished second, 2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth finished third after starting sixth, two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee finished fourth after starting ninth and Erickson rounded out the top five.

Outside front row starter Luke Scholten of Oostburg jumped out to the early lead in the 25-lap Grand National main event with fourth starter Will Sorce sliding into second.

The first of two caution flags appeared on lap 3 when Collin Skindzelewski of West Allis spun in turn four. Following the restart, Sorce made his presence felt as he powered in to pressure Scholten for the lead.

The second and final caution flag was displayed on lap 7 for a spin involving Jacob Falk of Fond du Lac. Sorce flexed his muscle on the ensuing restart before slipping past Scholten to assume the lead on lap 11.

By lap 20, Sorce had built up a full straightaway cushion over Scholten as he went on to post his fourth career PDTR Grand National A-main victory, including his third win in four starts at The Plymouth Dirt Track this year.

Scholten finished second, seventh starter Chad Espen of West Bend finished third, Derek Kaat of Plymouth, who started 10^th, finished fourth and 2018 PDTR Grand National champ Matt Loehr of Dotyville, who started eighth, rounded out the top five.

Travis Schmidt, who started third, worked his way past front row starters Michael Gilson of Manitowoc and Dustin Wudstrack of Tigerton to seize the lead in turn one of the opening lap of the 25-lap B Mod A main.

The first of three caution flags was thrown on lap 2 for debris along the front strech. On the restart, Schmidt took control again as sixth starter Nick Schultz of Beaver Dam powered into second and began to close in on the leader.

By lap 13, Schmidt and Schultz began to work their way through slower traffic before the second caution flag flew on lap 14 for a spin in turn four involving Phil Campanella of Sheboygan Falls.

Another third caution flag was displayed on lap 16 for a four-car incident in turn four before Schmidt again showed his strength following the final restart.

Schmidt went on to post his fourth career PDTR B Mod A-main victory as Schultz wound up second. Fourth starter Kyle Odekirk of Plymouth finished third, Gary Glander of Sheboygan Falls placed fourth after starting ninth and seventh starter Brian Wieland of Sheboygan Falls rounded out the top five.

Three-time and defending PDTR Late Model champion Justin Schmidt of Cleveland won the 12-lap Late Model B main and 2005 PDTR Late Model champ Scott Specht of Sheboygan Falls returned to action at Plymouth after a lengthy absence to win the five-lap Late Model non-qualifiers dash.

2008 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Lance Fassbender of Burnett won the 15-lap 360 Sprint Car B main.

The ninth PDTR program of the 2021 season, which was sponsored by KSI Construction and Cellcom, drew 89 total cars, including 29 360 Sprint Cars, 26 Late Models, 18 B Mods and 16 Grand Nationals.

PDTR action is scheduled to resume on Thursday, July 1 with a special all-Sprint Car program featuring a $5,000-to-win Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Cars, along with the PDTR 360 Sprint Car.

NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Briscoe will compete with the IRA Sprint Car Series in the NASCAR Kickoff event that will be held in conjunction with the NASCAR Cup Series weekend at nearby Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. July 2-4.

The new book “70 Years of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing” by Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan and George Baumann of Waupun, covering every season of racing at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. from 1950 to 2020 will be available for purchase at every race during the 2021 PDTR season, as well as at the Sheboygan County Fair office during regular business hours and online at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.

SHEBOYGAN’S COUNTY B93.7 LATE MODELS

HEAT 1

1, Tom Naeyaert 2, Adam Janke 3, Justin Green 4, Ron Stroika 5, Tim Buhler 6, Jim Schmidt 7, Lukas Postl 8, Jake Van Engen 9, Brett Swedberg.

HEAT 2

1, Ron Berna 2, Jayme Zidar 3, Troy Springborn 4, Justin Ritchie 5, Turk Letizia 6, Chris Engels 7, Taylor Scheffler 8, Chad Ludwigson 9, Joe Bongiorno.

HEAT 3

1, Brad Mueller 2, Joel Bennett 3, Nick Anvelink 4, Charlie Schmidt 5, Scott Specht 6, Justin Schmidt 7, Kyle Raddant 8, Billy Rezutek 9, Donny Singer.

B MAIN

1, Justin Schmidt 2, Taylor Scheffler 3, Kyle Raddant 4, Lukas Postl 5, Scott Specht 6, Jake Van Engen 7, Donny Singer 8, Billy Rezutek 9, Brett Swedberg (DNS) 10, Chad Ludwigson (DNS) 11, Joe Bongiorno (DNS).

NON-QUALIFIERS DASH

1, Scott Specht 2, Jake Van Engen 3, Donny Singer 4, Billy Rezutek.

A MAIN

1, Ron Berna 2, Nick Anvelink 3, Justin Ritchie 4, Jayme Zidar 5, Tom Naeyaert 6, Justin Schmidt 7, Troy Springborn 8, Turk Letizia 9, Ron Stroika 10, Justin Green 11, Charlie Schmidt 12, Tim Buhler 13, Kyle Raddant 14, Adam Janke 15, Brad Mueller 16, Jim Schmidt 17, Joel Bennett 18, Lukas Postl 19, Chris Engels 20, Taylor Scheffler.

KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS

HEAT 1

1, Travis Arenz 2, Ben Schmidt 3, Tyler Brabant 4, Bill Taylor 5, Tyler Davis 6, Scott Conger 7, Paul Pokorski 8, Tom Kreutz.

HEAT 2

1, Kevin Karnitz 2, Kurt Davis 3, Brandon McMullen 4, Will Gerrits 5, Tony Wondra 6, Preston Ruh 7, Tyler Tischendorf.

HEAT 3

1, Adam Miller 2, Doug Wondra 3, Tim Haddy 4, Brandon Berth 5, Lance Fassbender 6, Justin Miller 7, Chris Clayton.

HEAT 4

1, Blake Wondra 2, Justin Erickson 3, Jack Vanderboom 4, Austin Hartmann 5, Dylan Winkel 6, Katelyn Krebsbach 7, Jordan Paulsen.

B MAIN

1, Lance Fassbender 2, Brandon Berth 3, Preston Ruh 4, Justin Miller 5, Chris Clayton 6, Paul Pokorski 7, Katelyn Krebsbach 8, Scott Conger 9, Tyler Tischendorf 10, Tom Kreutz 11, Jordan Paulsen 12, Dylan Winkel 13, Doug Wondra (DNS).

A MAIN

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

OOSTBURG AUTOMOTIVE GRAND NATIONALS 

HEAT 1

1, Nick Schumacher 2, Chad Espen 3, Seth Westimayer 4, Nicholas Goeman 5, Matt Loehr 6, Steven Weber 7, Maverick Ruh 8, Jacob Falk.

HEAT 2

1, Kyle Caswell 2, Will Sorce 3, Marc Caswell 4, Luke Scholten 5, Alex Lester 6, Derek Kaat 7, Collin Skindzelewski 8, Randy Post.

A MAIN

1, Will Sorce 2, Luke Scholten 3, Chad Espen 4, Derek Kaat 5, Matt Loehr 6, Alex Lester 7, Steven Weber 8, Collin Skindzelewski 9, Seth Westimayer 10, Marc Caswell 11, Kyle Caswell 12, Randy Post 13, Nick Schumacher 14, Jacob Falk 15, Maverick Ruh 16, Nicholas Goeman (DNS).

CELLCOM B MOD

HEAT 1

1, Tim Sheppard 2, Nick Schultz 3, Gary Glander 4, Travis Schmidt 5, Dustin Wudstrack 6, Rory Welch 7, Michael Gilson 8, Andy Singer 9, Michael Bailey.

HEAT 2

1, Craig Gessner 2, Rick Kretschmann 3, Brian Wieland 4, Kyle Odekirk 5, Ryan Mech 6, Brendan Ostrowski 7, Phil Campanella 8, Jerry Duggan 9, Patrick Hanson.

A MAIN

1, Travis Schmidt 2, Nick Schultz 3, Kyle Odekirk 4, Gary Glander 5, Brian Wieland 6, Rick Kretschmann 7, Tim Sheppard 8, Dustin Wudstrack 9, Craig Gessner 10, Jerry Duggan 11, Michael Bailey 12, Andy Singer 13, Phil Campanella 14, Patrick Hanson 15, Ryan Mech 16, Brandon Ostrowski 17, Michael Gilson, Rory Welch (DQ).