McMullen wraps up second PDTR 360 Sprint Car crown

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) September 26, 2020 – On a night when Sprint Cars were king, four champions were crowned in five different open wheel touring series during the Wisconsin Sprint Car Championships at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, Sept. 26.

In the headlining Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series, Bill Balog of Hartland captured his 12^th IRA A-main victory of the year in the 30-lap main event en route to nailing down his record 10^th IRA title.

Will Gerrits of Waupun led flag to flag to earn his first Plymouth Dirt Track Racing-Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car main event victory of the 2020 season.

In addition, Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh secured his second Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car championship, while also claiming his fourth Midwest Sprint Car Association crown.

Tim Cox of Park City, Ill. notched his first A-main victory of the season in the 20-lap Wisconsin Wingless Sprint Car Series main event, while Jimmy Sivia of Winthrop Harbor, Ill. earned his first career AutoMeter Wisconsin Wingless Sprint Car championship.

C.J. Malueg of Johnsburg, Ill. earned the 20-lap IRA Lightning Sprints A-main victory in a photo finish on the way to the 2020 IRA Lightning Sprints title.

The initial start of the 30-lap IRA 410 Sprint Car Series A main was aborted when Todd Daun of Pleasant Prairie stopped near the turn two wall to bring out the first of six caution flags.

Following a complete restart, Bill Balog jumped out to the lead from the pole position  with third starter Scotty Thiel of Sheboygan surging into second along the low groove.

The second caution was displayed on lap 2 when Hunter Custer of Chippewa Falls stopped in turn four. Following the restart, Balog held strong at the front of the field with Thiel in tow before the lead duo hit lapped traffic on lap 5, which provided Thiel with an opportunity to pounce.

On lap 6, Thiel ducked low to pull even with Balog. The two Sprint Car standouts dueled side by side over the next two circuits before Thiel surged into the lead in turn four on lap 8.

The third caution flag appeared on lap 11 when Robbie Pribnow of Lomira stopped along the frontstretch. Thiel pulled away from Balog on the restart before traffic again made things interesting beginning on lap 15.

One lap later, Balog used the outside groove to power around Thiel into the lead on lap 16. On the next circuit, Jordan Goldesberrry of Springfield, Ill. spun in turn one before collecting Kris Spitz of Salem.

Balog controlled the ensuing restart before the fifth caution flew on lap 22 when Blake Nimee of Oswego, Ill. stopped in turn three on lap 22. On the ensuing restart, Balog again powered away to a full-straightaway advantage on lap 25.

As Balog hit lapped traffic one final time, Balog closed the gap dramatically on lap 28. With Thiel gaining quickly on Balog entering the final two turns, Scott Biertzer of West Bend slowed in turn three, which caused Kris Spitz to spin just in front of Thiel, who was collected in the incident to bring out the sixth caution of the race.

Thiel was able to continue in the race at the rear of the field in a green-white-checkered flag finish. Balog powered away from former IRA champion Jake Blackburst of Hanna City, Ill. on the restart and held onto post is 12^th IRA A-main victory of the season, record a season sweep of the three 2020 IRA A-main events at Plymouth and rack up his 125^th career IRA A-main triumph.

“We had a great battle with Scotty [Thiel] for a while there,” Balog said. “Then the spin happened on the last lap with Scotty. After that, I think Jake [Blackhurst] was behind us. I didn’t know how close Blackhurst was during the lap few laps. I was a little worried because I bobbled and jumped the cushion at the end.”

Blackhurst, who started fourth, came home a strong second.

“It’s great to have this car turned around and consistently running toward the front now,” Blackhurst said. “Congratulations to Bill and his team on the victory and championship. Man, he is good.”

Mike Reinke of Howards Grove finished third in the Bob Hood 10W entry, after starting sixth.

“It looked like we were going to be a fourth or fifth-place car tonight,” Reinke said. “We were not as fast as the top three guys in open air then some things happened near the end that ended up putting us on the podium. I’m happy with a podium finish to close out the year. This will help in building some momentum into the offseason and into 2021.”

Outside front row starter Joey Moughan of Springfield, Ill. finished fourth and former IRA champion Jeremy Schultz of Beaver Dam placed fifth after starting 11^th.

Outside front row starter Will Gerrits grabbed the lead of the 25-lap PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car A main with polesitter Chris Clayton of Waldo sliding into second. By lap 5, Gerrits had bolted out to a full straightaway lead over Clayton.

On lap 10, 2011 PDTR and MSA champion Ben Schmidt of Howards Grove moved in from his sixth starting spot to work around Clayton for second on lap 10.

The leaders hit lapped traffic on lap 13 before Travis Arenz of Sheboygan used a slide job to clear Schmidt and take second in turn two on lap 14. Schmidt battled back to regain second lap 16. However, Arenz regained the spot in turn three on lap 17.

Arenz was closing rapidly on Gerrits for the lead in dense lapped traffic before the lone caution flag of the race was displayed on lap 17 when 2018 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Justin Miller of Plymouth spun in turn two.

Following the restart, Gerrits again opened up a sizable gap when Arenz and Schmidt dueled back and forth for second with Arenz eventually maintaining the spot on lap 18.

Arenz worked the high groove throughout the majority of the final seven circuits, but was unable to reel in Gerrits, who secured his first A-main victory of the 2020 season and his second career PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car A-main victory.

“This certainly makes up for the god-awful year we’ve had,” Gerrits said. “I have to thank everyone in the pits that helps out on this car.”

Arenz finished second, Schmidt placed third, third starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend ended up fourth and Clayton rounded out the top five.

Vince Bartolotta of Muskego grabbed the lead of the 20-lap Wisconsin Wingless Sprint Car A main from the pole with outside front row starter Tim Cox settling into second.

On lap 6, Ryan Marshall of Kansasville, who started fifth, moved in to challenge the high-riding Cox along the high groove, but Cox prevailed before moving in to pressure Bartolotta for the top spot on lap 8.

One lap later, Cox powered around Bartolotta along the outside groove to seize the top spot. On lap 11, Marshall slipped underneath Bartolotta to take over second before the first of two caution flags was displayed on lap 16 when Chris Klemko of Bristol, who entered the race with a 10-point lead over Jimmy Sivia in the chase for the 2020 Wisconsin Wingless Sprint Car Series title, had nowhere to go and was collected after Jake Kouba of Minneapolis, Minn. spun along the frontstretch.

The incident effectively dashed Klemko’s championship hopes as he was forced to restart the race at the rear of the field.

On lap 18, Marshall moved in to pressure Cox for the lead along the inside groove before 11^th starter Nathan Crane of Waukegan assumed third from Marshall on lap 19.

The second caution of the race was then displayed on lap 19 when Brian Strane of Paris spun in turn two. On the restart, third starter Derek Crane of Waukegan, Ill. moved in to assume second as Cox cruised to his first Wisconsin Wingless Sprint Car Series A-main victory of the 2020 season.

Derek Crane finished second, Nathan Crane was third, Marshall wound up fourth and Rusty Egan of Burlington finished fifth after starting 12^th.

“It took us the whole summer to get here,” Cox said. “We crashed badly and missed a few races. I turned 60 this year and it is great to get a win. I want to say ‘congratulations’ to Jimmy Sivia on the championship.”

Sivia was delighted to earn his first career AutoMeter Wisconsin Wingless Sprint Car Series title under the IRA banner.

“I’m feeling a lot of emotions right now,” Sivia said. “I have grown up traveling around with the IRA and now it feels great that now I can call myself an IRA champion.”

In the 20-lap IRA Lightning Sprints A main, Mark Heinert of Oak Creek took the lead from the outside front row starting position. The first of three cautions was displayed on lap 8 when Chris Quillman of Delevan stopped near the turn three pit exit.

Following the restart, the fourth starting C.J. Malueg moved into second from his third starting spot.

After two more caution flags, the table was set for a thrilling finish. On lap 18, Malueg powered in to challenge Heinert.

On the final circuit, Malueg used a huge run of off turn four to pull even with Heinert as the two drivers dueled to the checkered flag with Malueg prevailing at the finish line by four one-thousands of a second.

Heinert placed second, Ron Brannam of Barrington, Ill. finished third after starting fifth, 10^th starter Nick Petska of Spring Grove, Ill. took fourth and polesitter Jeff Schmidt of Slinger placed fifth.

Jake Blackhurst turned the fastest IRA 410 Sprint Car Series qualifying lap of the evening by touring the third-mile clay oval in 11.932 seconds.

The IRA B main went to Blake Ninmee. Blake Wondra of Fond du Lac won the MSA B main. Jim Wehrman of Kansasville captured the Wisconsin Wingless B main.

The all-Sprint Car program, which featured a total of 105 cars, included 29 IRA 410 Sprint Cars and 31 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars, 28 Wisconsin Wingless Sprint Cars and 17 IRA Lightning Sprints.

Collins State Bank and RC Custom Design were the trophy sponsors for the evening.

Plymouth Dirt Track Racing will honor 2020 division champions Brandon McMullen (360 Sprint Car), Justin Schmidt (Late Model), Aaron Stolp (Grand National) and Tim Warner (B Mod), while also giving out special recognition, during the annual PDTR Awards Presentation at Racers Hall in Plymouth on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 6 p.m.

There is no charge to attend the event and those that attend may order food off the menu if they desire.

Awards include trophies for the top three in points in each division, rookie of year, most improved and the Dedication to Dirt Award.

BUMPER TO BUMPER INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION 410 SPRINT CARS

QUALIFYING

1, Jake Blackhurst 11.932 2, Scotty Thiel 11.944 3, Scott Biertzer 11.984 4, Bill Balog 12.029 5, Mike Reinke 12.061 6, Scotty Neitzel 12.063 7, Joey Moughan 12.087 8, Austin Deblauw 12.095 9, Jeremy Schultz 12.135 10, Kyle Schuett 12.146 11, Dave Uttech 12.156 12, Josh Walter 12.176 13, Sean Rayhall 12.190 14, Danny Schlafer 12.237 15, Russel Borland 12.258 16, Hunter Custer 12.262 17, Blake Nimee 12.261 18, Todd King 12.278 19, Jordan Goldesberry 12.278 20, John Fahl 12.349 21, Robbie Pribnow 12.358 22, Kurt Davis 12.361 23, Todd Daun 12.389 24, Jack Routson 12.406 25, Jereme Schroeder 12.485 26, Scott Uttech 12.529 27, Kris Spitz 12.530 28, Bailey Goldesberry 12.582 29, Travis Arenz 12.716.

HEAT 1

1, Bill Balog 2, Kyle Schuett 3, Joey Moughan 4, Jake Blackhurst 5, Sean Rayhall 6, Jordan Goldesberry 7, Blake Nimee 8, Jereme Schroeder 9, Kurt Davis 10, Baily Goldesberry.

HEAT 2

1, Dave Uttech 2, Mike Reinke 3, Scotty Thiel 4, Danny Schlafer 5, Austin Deblauw 6, Travis Arenz 7, John Fahl 8, Scott Uttech 9, Hunter Custer 10, Todd Daun.

HEAT 3

1, Josh Walter 2, Jeremy Schultz 3, Scotty Neitzel 4, Russel Borland 5, Scott Biertzer 6, Robbie Pribnow 7, Jack Routson 8, Kris Spitz 9, Todd King

DASH 1

1, Bill Balog 2, Scotty Thiel 3, Josh Walter 4, Dave Uttech 5, Scott Biertzer.

DASH 2

1, Joey Moughan 2, Jake Blackhurst 3, Mike Reinke 4, Scotty Neitzel 5, Austin Deblauw.

B MAIN

1, Blake Nimee 2, Hunter Custer 3, John Fahl 4, Jack Routson 5, Todd Daun 6, Kris Spitz 7, Jereme Schroeder 8, Kurt Davis 9, Scott Uttech 10, Todd King 11, Bailey Goldesberry.

A MAIN

1, Bill Balog 2, Jake Blackhurst 3, Mike Reinke 4, Joey Moughan 5, Jeremy Schultz 6, Scotty Neitzel 7, Travis Arenz 8, Josh Walter 9, Russel Borland 10, Austin Deblauw 11, John Fahl 12, Robbie Pribnow 13, Jordan Goldesberry 14, Kyle Schuett 15, Sean Rayhall 16, Scotty Thiel 17, Kris Spitz 18, Dave Uttech 19, Jereme Schroeder 20, Hunter Custer 21, Scott Biertzer 22, Blake Nimee 23, Jack Routson 24, Todd Daun.

KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS

HEAT 1

1, Scott Conger 2, Kurt Davis 3, Tyler Brabant 4, Blake Wondra 5, Justin Erickson 6, Paul Pokorski 7, Bill Taylor 8, Chris Larson.

HEAT 2

1, Ben Schmidt 2, Kevin Karnitz 3, Brandon Berth 4, Lance Fassbender 5, Tyler Davis 6, Shane Wenninger 7, Tony Wondra 8, Brady Portschy.

HEAT 3

1, Justin Miller 2, Travis Arenz 3, Anthony Knierim 4, Brandon McMullen 5, Tim Haddy 6, Preston Ruh 7, Josh Teunissen 8, Ken Schmick.

HEAT 4

1, Jack Vanderboom 2, Chris Clayton 3, Alex Pokorski 4, Will Gerrits 5, Doug Wondra 6, Tyler Tischendorf 7, Austin Hartmann.

B MAIN

1, Blake Wondra 2, Shane Wenninger 3, Doug Wondra 4, Lance Fassbender 5, Tyler Davis 6, Paul Pokorski 7, Preston Ruh 8, Tony Wondra 9, Josh Teunissen 10, Austin Hartmann 11, Chris Larson 12, Ken Schmick 13, Brady Portschy 14, Bill Taylor 15, Tyler Tischendorf.

A MAIN

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

AUTOMETER WISCONSIN WINGLESS SPRINT CAR SERIES

HEAT 1

1, Nathan Crane 2, Zach Hansen 3, Jake Kouba 4, Dennis Spitz 5, Tommy Colburn 6, Jim Wehrman 7, Shawn Swim 8, Paul Shaffer 9, George Gaertner III.

HEAT 2

1, Rusty Egan 2, Chris Dodd 3, T.J. Smith 4, William Huck 5, Tom Eller 6, Seth Johnson 7, Clayton Rossmann 8, George Gaertner Jr. 9, Daniel Walldan.

B MAIN

1, Jim Wehrman 2, George Gaertner Jr. 3, Georg Gaertner III 4, Seth Johnson 5, Shawn Swim 6, Paul Shaffer 7, Clayton Rossman 8, Daniel Walldan.

A MAIN

1, Tim Cox 2, Derek Crane 3, Nathan Crane 4, Ryan Marshall 5, Rusty Egan 6, Chris Dodd 7, Allen Hafford 8, Vince Bartolotta 9, T.J. Smith 10, Jimmy Sivia 11, Natalie Klemko 12, Dennis Spitz 13, Tommy Colburn 14, Jordan Paulsen 15, Zach Hansen 16, George Gaertner Jr. 17, Jim Wehrman 18, Chris Klemko 19, William Huck 20, Seth Johnson 21, Tom Eller 22, Brian Strane 23, Jake Kouba 24, George Gaertner III.

INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION LIGHTNING SPRINTS

QUALIFYING

1, Ion Stear 14.020 2, Ron Brannam 14,077 3, C.J. Malueg 14.155 4, Mike Neau 14.173 5, Mike Heinert 14.289 6, Jeff Schmidt 14.362 7, Nick Petska 14.426 8, Josh Rehberg 14.597 9, Shawn McGill 14.727 10, Bob Jeziorski 14.882 11, Mike Unger 14.887 12, Jonathan Smith 15.070 13, 15.080 14, Phil Brannam 15.126 15, Chris Quillman 15.415 16, Andrew Kiedrowski 15.503 17, Carl Sturt.

HEAT 1

1, Nick Petska 2, Mark Heinert 3, C.J. Malueg 4, Ion Stear 5, Shawn McGill 6, Mike Unger 7, Max Brannam, 8, Chris Quillman 9, Carl Sturt.

HEAT 2

1, Jeff Schmidt 2, Josh Rehberg 3, Ron Brannam 4, Mike Neau 5, Bob Jeziorski 6, Andrew Kiedrowski 7, Jonathan Smith 8, Phil Brannam.

A MAIN

1, C.J. Malueg 2, Mark Heinert 3, Ron Brannam 4, Mike Neau 5, Nick Petska 6, Jeff Schmidt 7, Bob Jeziorski 8, Mike Unger 9, Shawn McGill 10, Max Brannam 11, Andrew Kiedrowski 12, Jonathan Smith 13, Car; Sturt 14, Ion Stear 15, Chris Quillman 16, Josh Rehberg – Phil Brannam (DNS).

By Jeff Pederson-Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) September 5, 2020 – As multiple-time champions and the clear-cut favorites to add another title to their resumes in their respective divisions in 2020, nine-time Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association champion Bill Balog of Hartland and 2017 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing and three-time Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh put their considerable driving prowess on full display by picking up A-main victories, during an all-Sprint Car program at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, Sept. 5.

In the 30-lap IRA 410 Sprint Series headliner, Balog outdueled Josh Schneiderman of West Burlington, Iowa in the closing laps to claim his 10^th IRA A-main victory of the 2020 season.

McMullen snuck past early race leader Will Gerrits of Waupun at the mid-way point to claim his third PDTR A-main victory of the 2020 campaign and sixth overall MSA main event win of the 2020 campaign.

Balog started on the pole of the 30-lap IRA main event and quickly outpowered outside front row starter Scotty Thiel of Sheboygan to lead the opening circuit. On lap 3, Joey Moughan of Springfield, Ill., who started fifth, dipped under the high-riding Thiel to take second.

On lap 6, Balog began to negotiate heavy lapped traffic on the multi-groove track surface, which allowed Moughan to close the gap slightly. On lap 8, Schneiderman, who started seventh, dove low to take third from Thiel before passing Moughan for second on lap 12.

Two laps later, 11^th starter Travis Arenz of Sheboygan, who was making his 410 Sprint Car debut driving for Ozzie Motorsports, flipped in turn four after clipping an infield tire. Arenz was uninjured, but unable to return to the race.

On the restart, Balog pulled away from Schneiderman before Moughan got sideways in turn four and collected Thiel, which resulted in both drivers flipping their machines hard on lap 15. Both drivers were uninjured, but done for the night.

Balog felt pressure from Schneiderman following the ensuing restart with Schneiderman closing the gap along the low groove, while Balog rode the cushion.

The race was slowed for the third time on lap 19 when a yellow flag was displayed for former IRA champion Jack Blackhurst of Hanna City, Ill., who stopped in turn four.

On the restart, Schneiderman stayed dedicated to the inside line, while Balog moved up high. On lap 23, Schneiderman used a big run along the low groove to wrestle the lead away from Balog exiting turn four.

Schneiderman maintained the top spot over the next six laps when lapped traffic became a factor. On lap 29, Balog dove low in turn three to sneak past Schneiderman in dense lapped traffic.

Sixth starter Scott Biertzer of West Bend followed Balog into second on lap 29 with Schneiderman dropping to third.

Balog then cruised over the final lap en route to his 10^th IRA victory of the 2020 season, second IRA triumph of the season at The Plymouth Dirt Track and 123^rd career IRA A-main victory.

Biertzer recorded a strong second-place finish, Schneiderman placed third, 15^th starter Jordan Goldesberry of Springfield, Ill. finished fourth and Mike Reinke of Howards Grove, who started fourth, placed fifth.

In victory lane, Balog was thankful to have the opportunity to regain the lead, after losing the top spot to Schneiderman with just seven laps to go.

“I think I went upstairs too early, but I felt I was slowing down on the bottom too long,’ Balog said. “The track was good and you really had to drive your car to find the right groove. I’m happy to get this win because for a while there it looked like we were going to get beat.”

Biertzer was thrilled with his second-place run.

“It feels awesome to be here with a second-place result tonight,” Biertzer said. “I have to thank my crew for giving me a good car as well as all my sponsors for their support. We couldn’t be here without them.”

Knoxville Raceway regular Schneiderman, who was making his first career appearance at The Plymouth Dirt Track, was dejected in victory lane, after falling from first to third in the span of two laps.

“I’m pretty disgusted with the result,” Schneiderman said. “I’m upset at myself. Bill is a great race car driver, but we came here to win. My crew worked hard to give us the chance to win after we encountered motor problems last night at Dodge County.”

In the 25-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car headliner, polesitter Will Gerrits of Waupun jumped into the lead on the drop of the green flag, while third starter Brandon McMullen snuck under 2018 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Justin Miller of Plymouth, who started on the outside of the front row.

The first of two cautions came out on lap 3 when Blake Wondra of Fond du Lac spun in turn four. Gerrits bolted away from McMullen on the restart and held a solid cushion until lap 7 when Plymouth’s Adam Miller flipped in turn four.

Gerrits commanded the ensuing restart as the leaders began to work their way through lapped traffic on lap 10. Two laps later, McMullen dove low to slip past Gerrits for the top spot in turn four on lap 12.

McMullen held his own along the preferred inside lane around the increasingly one-groove racing surface. On lap 24, Justin Miller worked past Gerrits to take over second with two laps to go.

McMullen pulled away in the waning laps to notch his 20th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main triumph and his 29^th career MSA A main victory.

Justin Miller placed second, Gerrits wound up third, 2008 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Lance Fassbender, who started fourth, finished fourth and Jack Vanderboom of Dousman charged up from the 11^th starting spot to place fifth.

Ryan Ruhl of Coldwater, Mich. was the fastest IRA qualifier with a lap of 11.767 seconds around the third-mile clay oval. Sean Rayhall of Woodstock, Ga. won the 15-lap IRA B main.

Kevin Karnitz of West Bend claimed the 15-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main.

The all-Sprint Car program, which featured a total of 59 cars, included 30 IRA 410 Sprint Cars and 29 PDTR 360 Sprint Cars. Cupcake Wonders was the trophy sponsor for the evening.

The next event at The Plymouth Dirt Track will take place next Saturday, Sept. 12 with the PDTR 360 Sprint Cars, Grand Nationals and B Mods, along with a special appearance from the Badger Midgets. The Sept. 12 event will be the final points event of the season for the PDTR 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.

For all remaining 2020 PDTR races, Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan will have his new book “RPM – The Golden Era of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing” for sale under the grandstand for $10.

A portion of the money collected from the sale of the book will be donated to Plymouth Dirt Track Racing.

BUMPER TO BUMPER INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION

QUALIFYING

1, Ryan Ruhl 11.767, 2, Joey Moughan 11.777, 3, Bill Balog 11.813, 4, Mike Reinke 11.991, 5, Scotty Thiel 12.018, 6, Scott Biertzer 12.095, 7, Kyle Schuett 12.146, 8, Jake Blackhurst 12.151, 9, Scotty Neitzel 12.195, 10, Travis Arenz 12.216, 11, Danny Schlafer 12.236, 12, Josh Schneiderman, 12.257 13, Russel Borland 12.299, 14, Scott Uttech 12.317, 15, Jeremy Schultz 12.343, 16, Jordan Goldesberry 12.356, 17, Robbie Pribnow 12.372, 18, Dave Uttech 12.398,19, Sean Rayhall, 20, Johnny Fahl 12.486, 21, Jereme Schroeder 12.577, 22, Kris Spitz 12.609, 23, Hunter Custer 12.630, 24, Dan McCarron 12.660, 25, Bailey Goldesberry 12.667, 26, Jack Routson 12.703, 27, Wayne Modjeski 12.811, 28, Bryce Schmitt 13.050, 29, Kevin Seidler 12.314 30, Blake Nimee (DQ).

HEAT 1

1, Kyle Schuett 2, Travis Arenz 3, Mike Reinke 4, Russel Borland 5, Jordan Goldesberry 6, Ryan Ruhl 7, Sean Rayhall 8, Bailey Goldesberry 9, Kris Spitz 10, Bryce Schmitt.

HEAT 2

1, Danny Schlafer 2, Scotty Thiel 3, Jake Blackhurst 4, Joey Moughan 5, Rrobbie Pribnow 6, Jack Routson 7, Johnny Fahl 8, Hunter Custer 9, Scott Uttech 10, Kevin Seidler.

HEAT 3

1, Josh Schneiderman 2, Scott Biertzer 3, Scotty Neitzel 4, Bill Balog 5, Jeremy Schultz 6, Jereme Schroeder 7, Dan McCarron 8, Wayne Modjeski 9, Blake Nimee 10, Dave Uttech.

DASH 1

1, Bill Balog 2, Ryan Ruhl 3, Joey Moughan 4, Josh Schneiderman 5, Kyle Schuett.

DASH 2

1, Scotty Thiel 2, Mike Reinke 3, Scott Biertzer 4, Jake Blackhurst 5, Danny Schlafer (DNS).

B MAIN

1, Sean Rayhall 2, Blake Nimee 3, Dan McCarron 4, Dave Uttech 5, Wayne Modjeski 6, Johnny Fahl 7, Hunter Custer 8, Kris Spitz 9, Bailey Goldesberry 10, Bryce Schmitt 11, Scott Uttech.

A MAIN

1, Bill Balog 2, Scott Biertzer 3, Josh Schneiderman 4, Jordan Goldesberry 5, Mike Reinke 6, Russel Borland 7, Ryan Ruhl 8, Robbie Pribnow 9, Scotty Neitzel 10, Wayne Modjeski 11, Dan McCarron 12, Jack Routson 13, Sean Rayhall 14, Kyle Schuett 15, Dave Uttech 16, Jeremy Schultz 17, Blake Nimee 18, Johnny Fahl 19, Jeremy Schroder 20, Jake Blackhurst 21, Joey Moughan 22, Scotty Thiel 23, Travis Arenz 24, Danny Schlafer.

KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS

HEAT 1

1, Bill Taylor 2, Lance Fassbender 3, Anthony Knierim 4, Chris Larson 5, Blake Wondra 6, Tim Haddy 7, Scott Conger 8, Brady Portschy.

HEAT 2

1, Justin Miller 2, Ben Schmidt 3, Adam Miller 4, Kurt Davis 5, Doug Wondra 6, Austin Hartmann 7, Mike MacFarlane.

HEAT 3

1, Will Gerrits 2, Brandon McMullen 3, Jack Vanderboom 4, Tyler Davis 5, Nich Melis 6, Preston Ruh 7, Josh Teunissen.

HEAT 4

1, Tyler Brabant 2, Tony Wondra 3, Justin Erickson 4, Brandon Berth 5, Kevin Karnitz 6, Shane Wenninger 7, Paul Pokorski.

B MAIN

1, Kevin Karnitz 2, Tim Haddy 3, Blake Wondra 4, Shane Wenninger 5, Scott Conger 6, Paul Pokorski 7, Josh Teunissen 8, Preston Ruh 9, Austin Hartmann 10, Chris Larson 11, Tyler Davis 12, Brady Portschy 13, Mike MacFarlane.

A MAIN

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

 

By Jeff Pederson-Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 27, 2020 – After dodging surrounding rain showers throughout the day and early evening, the third annual Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Russ Scheffler Tribute Night program began on a promising note with a season-high total of 101 cars checked into the pit area in four divisions, including a stellar field of 30 Late Models, on Thursday, Aug. 27 at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis.

However, the rain finally hit the third-mile clay oval at the conclusion of the Late Model non-qualifiers race to wash out the remainder of the program, including all four A-main events on an evening honoring the late Russ Scheffler, who stands as the winningest driver in PDTR history with 92 overall race victories, including 45 Late Model A-main triumphs.

The event was considered a complete program as all heat races and two of the three scheduled B main races, as well as the Late Model non-qualifiers race were contested before the rain came.

Russ Scheffler Tribute Night Late Model heat race winners were Tony Peterson of Big Bend, Brett Swedberg of Shawano, Justin Reed of Camp Point, Ill. and Tom Naeyaert of Shawano.

Kristine Hartmann Pleasant View Realty 360 Sprint Car heat race winners were Doug Wondra of Lomira, Scott Conger of Eagle, Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee and Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh.

Klips N Tips Grand National heat race winners included Chad Espen of West Bend and Nick Schumacher of Eagle. Cellcom B Mod heat race winners were Jason Schilling of Greenfield, Will Garceau of Mishicot and Travis Schmidt of Waldo.

Jim Schmidt of Cleveland captured the 15-lap Late Model B main and Lance Fassbender of Burnett won the 15-lap 360 Sprint Car B main.

Greg Cantrell of DeKalb, Ill. won the 5-lap Late Model non-qualifiers race.

The 11th PDTR racing program of the 2020 season, which was sponsored by KSI Supply and Cupcake Wonders, drew a total of 101 cars, including 30 Late Models, 29 360 Sprint Cars, 17 Grand Nationals and 25 B Mods.

PDTR action is scheduled to resume on Friday, Aug. 28 with the Dirt Kings Late Model Tour returns for the Mueller Sales and Service 30 presented by Specht Electric and Communications. The evening also includes a full points program for the PDTR 360 Sprint Cars, as well as non-points programs for the Grand National and B Mod divisions.

Grandstand gates open at 4:30 p.m. with racing at 6:30 p.m.

On Saturday, Sept. 5, PDTR will host the Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series, along with the PDTR 360 Sprint Cars.

Grandstand gates open at 4:30 p.m. with racing at 6 p.m.

For all remaining 2020 PDTR races, Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan will have his new book “RPM – The Golden Era of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing” for sale under the grandstand for $10.

A portion of the money collected from the sale of the book will be donated to Plymouth Dirt Track Racing.

 

RUSS SCHEFFLER TRIBUTE NIGHT LATE MODELS

HEAT 1

1, Tony Peterson 2, Justin Ritchie 3, Aaron Wickersheim 4, Kyle Raddant 5, Chris Engels 6, Adam Janke 7, Jake Van Engen 8, Justin Green.

HEAT 2

1, Brett Swedberg 2, Tim Buhler 3, Brad Mueller 4, Jim Schmidt 5, Derek Janke 6, Billy Rezutek 7, Chad Ludwigson 8, Zack Kessler.

HEAT 3

1, Justin Reed 2, Justin Schmidt 3, Charlie Schmidt 4, Mike Mullen 5, Ron Berna 6, Greg Cantrell 7, Mark Rose.

HEAT 4

1, Tom Naeyeart 2, Nick Anvelink 3, Taylor Scheffler 4, Turk Letizia 5, Joel Bennett 6, Jim Letizia 7, Kevin Baldry.

B MAIN

1, Jim Schmidt 2, Ron Berna 3, Chris Engels 4, Joel Bennett 5, Billy Rezutek 6, Kevin Baldry 7, Greg Cantrell 8, Jim Letizia 9, Adam Janke 10, Chad Ludwigson 11, Zack Kessler 12, Justin Green 13, Jake Van Engen 14, Mark Rose (DNS).

NON-QUALIFIERS RACE

1, Greg Cantrell 2, Kevin Baldry 3, Jim Letizia 4, Adam Janke 5, Zack Kessler 6, Chad Ludwigson 7, Jake Van Engen.

A MAIN

Rained out

KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS

HEAT 1

1, Doug Wondra 2, Justin Erickson 3, Bill Taylor 4, Will Gerrits 5, Nich Melis 6, Lance Fassbender 7, Blake Wondra 8, Preston Ruh.

HEAT 2

1, Scott Conger 2, Tyler Davis 3, Kevin Karnitz 4, Adam Miller 5, Paul Pokorski 6, Tony Wondra 7, Austin Hartmann.

HEAT 3

1, Kurt Davis 2, Tyler Brabant 3, Tim Haddy 4, Brandon Berth 5, Ben Schmidt 6, Shane Wenninger 7, Chris Clayton.

HEAT 4

1, Brandon McMullen 2, Tyler Tischendorf 3, Anthony Knierim 4, Justin Miller 5, Travis Arenz 6, Jack Vanderboom 7, Sean Rayhall (DNS).

B MAIN

1, Lance Fassbender 2, Travis Arenz 3, Nich Melis 4, Justin Miller 5, Paul Pokorski 6, Shane Wenninger 7, Tony Wondra 8, Jack Vanderboom 9, Blake Wondra 10, Austin Hartmann 11, Chris Clayton 12, Preston Ruh 13, Sean Rayhall (DNS).

A MAIN

Rained out

KLIPS N TIPS GRAND NATIONAL

HEAT 1

1, Chad Espen 2, Don Sorce Jr. 3, Derek Kaat 4, Dick Hed 5, Tyler Kulow 6, Dylan May 7, Luke Scholten 8, Steven Weber 9, Matt Yancey.

HEAT 2

1, Nick Schumacher 2, Aaron Stolp 3, Steven Wirtz 4, Brett Sievert 5, Paul Todd 6, J.J. Pagel 7, David Holm 8, Donny Kulow.

A MAIN

Rained out

CELLCOM B MOD

HEAT 1

1, Jason Schilling 2, Matthew Roehl 3, Trevor Frank 4, Andy Singer 5, Tim Lange 6, Phil Campanella 7, Conrad Kaufert 8, Barry Maas 9, Jonathan Hitsman.

HEAT 2

1, Will Garceau 2, Elijah Koenig 3, Justin Bauer 4, Brendan Ostrowski 5, Brandon Knepprath 6, Patrick Hanson 7, Ryan Mech 8, Rory Welch.

HEAT 3

1, Travis Schmidt 2, Steve Lorier 3, Jesse Cullen 4, Tim Warner 5, Kyle Odekirk 6, Brady Harshbarger 7, Gary Glander 8, Brian Wieland.

B MAIN

Rained out

A MAIN

Rained out

Justin Schmidt secures third straight PDTR Late Model title

By Jeff Pederson-Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 22, 2020 – The 10^th Plymouth Dirt Track Racing program of the 2020 season featured a little bit of everything on Saturday, Aug. 22 at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis, including a newly crowned three-time repeat Late Model champion, a first-time B Mod A-main winner, a photo finish in the Grand National main event and the first A-main victory of the year for a former Sprint Car champion plagued by bad luck for much of the 2020 season.

In the 25-lap Kristine Hartmann Pleasant View Realty 360 Sprint Car A main, 2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Ben Schmidt of Howards Grove got his incident-plagued 2020 season back on track by notching his first A-main victory of the 2020 season. Justin Schmidt of Cleveland tallied his third 25-lap A-main victory of the season to clinch his third straight PDTR Gasroots Project Late Model title by a slim two-point margin over Turk Letizia of Waukesha. PDTR Klips N Tips Grand National point leader Aaron Stolp of Milwaukee pulled off a last lap pass to post his third 25-lap A-main win of the season by just .03 seconds. Brian Wieland of Sheboygan Falls collected his first career PDTR Cellcom B Mod A-main victory in the 25-lap A main.

In the 25-lap 360 Sprint Car A main, Ben Schmidt vaulted into the lead in the first turn of the opening lap from the pole position as outside front row starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend settled into second.

By lap 4, Schmidt had opened up a full straightaway cushion over Karnitz on the slick and smooth track surface. Three laps later, Schmidt began to work his way through heavy lapped traffic, which allowed Karnitz to close the gap.

On lap 13, the first of two caution flags appeared when Waupun’s Tim Haddy spun in turn two. Schmidt again bolted out to a commanding lead on the restart utilizing the preferred outside groove. By lap 21, Schmidt had again built up a full-straightaway lead as point leader Travis Arenz of Sheboygan, who started 12^th, and 2017 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh, who started seventh, traded slide jobs for fifth on lap 22.

The second and final caution appeared on lap 24 when Anthony Knierim of Franksville spun in turn four to set up a single-file green, white, checkered flag finish. On the restart, Schmidt again charged away from Karnitz, while Arenz made a daring move to sweep past two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee, who started fifth, and Shane Wenninger of Kewaskum, who started fourth, to move from fifth to third on the final lap.

Schmidt, who suffered a series of motor failures and a hard crash at Beaver Dam Raceway early in the season, pulled away to secure his 10^th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory and 26^th career Midwest Sprint Car Association main event triumph.

Karnitz finished second, Arenz placed third, Wenninger was fourth and Davis rounded out the top five.

The 25-lap PDTR Late Model points season-ending A-main got off to a rough start when rookie Justin Green of Sheboygan Falls, who started second, spun in turn two on the opening lap to bring out the first of two caution flags.

Following a complete restart, third starter Joe Bongiorno of Milwaukee grabbed the lead in turn one, while fifth starter Charlie Schmidt of Oostburg slipped into second. On lap 4, Schmidt ducked under Bongiorno to take over the top spot in turn three.

One lap later, Schmidt spun into the infield in turn two, which gave the lead back to Bongiorno. On lap 6, the battle for the lead really heated up when 2016 PDTR Late Model champion Tim Buhler of Greenbush, who started seventh, fourth starter Justin Ritchie of New London and Justin Schmidt, who started eighth, bolted in to challenge Bongiorno for the top spot.

Using the high groove, Justin Schmidt emerged from a wild four-wide duel to take over the top spot in turn four on lap 6 with Ritchie moving into second. Four laps later, the second and final caution flag appeared on lap 10 when 2008 PDTR Late Model champ Billy Rezutek of Big Bend spun in turn two.

On the restart, Schmidt pulled away from Ritchie while ninth starter Turk Letizia of Waukesha, who came into the race with a four-point lead over Schmidt in the chase for the PDTR Late Model title, moved past four-time PDTR Late Model champion Brad Mueller of Random Lake, who started 10^th, to take fourth on lap 12.

Schmidt cruised over the final 10 laps to secure his 13^th career PDTR Late Model A-main victory and wrap up his third consecutive track title by two points over Letizia. Ritchie placed second, Buhler was third, Letizia placed fourth and Mueller rounded out the top five.

Two-time PDTR Grand National champion Don Sorce Jr. of West Allis took the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap Grand National A main from the pole with second starter Jonathan Otte of Cedar Grove seizing second.

The first of three caution flags appeared on lap 5 when Derek Kaat of Plymouth stopped in turn three. On the restart, Sorce Jr. pulled away, while third starter Dick Hed of Plymouth and fourth starter Luke Scholten of Oostburg dueled side by side for second before Scholten assumed the runner-up spot on lap 7.

The second caution appeared on lap 8 when Dylan Struve of Plymouth spun in turn two. Following the restart, Aaron Stolp charged in from his seventh starting spot to move into fourth on lap 10 along the cushion. Three laps later Stolp worked around Hed to take third and three laps later, he rode the high groove past Scholten for second.

The third and final caution was displayed on lap 18 when Josh Pierce of Fredonia spun in turn two. On the restart, Stolp worked the high groove to perfection to pressure Sorce Jr. for the top spot. The high-riding Stolp pulled even with the low-riding Sorce Jr. on lap 20 and the two dueled side by side over the final five laps to set up a thrilling finish.

On the final lap, Stolp pounded the cushion and used a huge run off of turn four to nip Sorce. Jr. at the finish line by just .03 seconds en route to his third career PDTR Grand National A-main victory. Sorce. Jr. had to settle for second, Scholten placed third, fifth starter Steven Weber of Plymouth finished fourth and defending PDTR Grand National champ Tyler Kulow of Plymouth placed fifth after starting ninth.

After an incident involving Barry Maas of Cascade, Spencer Long of Sheboygan Falls, Will Garceau of Mishicot and Conrad Kaufert of Random Lake on the initial start, polesitter Brian Wieland grabbed the lead on the drop of the green flag with outside front row starter Steve Lorier of Sheboygan sliding into second.

On lap 2, fourth starter Jesse Cullen of Chilton moved in second while 10^th starter Jason Schilling of Greenfield rode the high groove into fourth on lap 3 before moving into third on lap 4.

By lap 9, Wieland had built up a half-straightaway cushion at the front of the field. Two laps later, the second caution appeared on lap 11 when Rory Welch of Grafton spun against the frontstrech wall.

On the restart, Will Garceau and Jonathan Hitsman of Plymouth spun in turn two. Lorier battled back to take second lap 12, while Waldo’s Travis Schmidt, who started sixth, worked the high line into third on the following lap before taking second from Lorier on lap 13.

On lap 19, rookie Trevor Frank of Sheboygan, who started third, flexed his muscle to work underneath Schmidt into second. Five laps later, defending PDTR B Mod champ and current point leader Tim Warner of Fond du Lac moved up from his 12^th starting spot to take third with a nifty move in turn four.

Wieland remained smooth at the front of the field in the final circuits on the way to his first career PDTR B Mod victory in flag-to-flag fashion. Frank recorded a career-best second-place finish, Warner placed third, Schmidt wound up fourth and Jerry Duggan of Manitowoc worked his way up from his ninth starting spot to take fifth.

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

The 10th PDTR racing program of the 2020 season, which was sponsored by the city of Sheboygan Falls Fire Department, drew a total of 82 cars, including 28 PDTR 360 Sprint Cars, 15 Late Models, 15 Grand Nationals and 24 B Mods.

PDTR action will resume on Thursday, Aug. 27 with the third annual Russ Scheffler Tribute Night event featuring an added purse for the Late Model division, including a full points night for the PDTR 360 Sprint Car, Grand National and B Mod divisions.

On Friday, Aug. 28, PDTR will host the Dirt Kings Late Model Tour for the Mueller Sales and Service 30. The evening also includes a full points program for the PDTR 360 Sprint Cars, as well as non-points programs for the 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 6:30 p.m. on both nights.

For all remaining 2020 PDTR races, Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan will have his new book “RPM – The Golden Era of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing” for sale under the grandstand.

A portion of the money collected from the sale of the book will be donated to Plymouth Dirt Track Racing.

 

KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS

HEAT 1

1, Shane Wenninger 2, Kurt Davis 3, Bill Taylor 4, Lance Fassbender 5, Tyler Davis 6, Austin Hartmann 7, Kevin Seidler.

HEAT 2

1, Justin Erickson 2, Doug Wondra 3, Brandon McMullen 4, Travis Arenz 5, Brandon Berth 6, Scott Conger 7, Tony Wondra.

HEAT 3

1, Kevin Karnitz 2, Chris Clayton 3, Justin Miller 4, Anthony Knierim 5, Preston Ruh 6, Will Gerrits 7, Blake Wondra.

HEAT 4

1, Ben Schmidt 2, Tyler Tischendorf 3, Tim Haddy 4, Tyler Brabant 5, Jack Vanderboom 6, Adam Miller 7, Josh Teunissen.

B MAIN

1, Lance Fassbender 2, Will Gerrits 3, Adam Miller 4, Tyler Davis 5, Tony Wondra 6, Scott Conger 7, Austin Hartmann 8, Blake Wondra 9, Josh Teunissen 10, Kevin Seidler 11, Preston Ruh 12, Brandon Berth.

A MAIN

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

 

GASROOT PROJECT LATE MODELS

HEAT 1

1, Tim Buhler 2, Justin Schmidt 3, Justin Ritchie 4, Charlie Schmidt 5, Joe Bongiorno 6, Chad Ludwigson 7, Sawyer Specht 8, Jim Schmidt.

HEAT 2

1, Turk Letizia 2, Brad Mueller 3, Billy Rezutek 4, Justin Green 5, Jim Letizia 6, Donny Singer 7, Eric Michaels.

A MAIN’

1, Justin Schmidt 2, Justin Ritchie 3, Tim Buhler 4, Turk Letizia 5, Brad Mueller 6, Joe Bongiorno 7, Jim Schmidt 8, Charlie Schmidt 9, Billy Rezutek 10, Justin Green 11, Jim Letizia 12, Chad Ludwigson 13, Sawyer Specht 14, Eric Michaels 15, Donny Singer.

 

KLIPS N TIPS GRAND NATIONAL

HEAT 1

1, Jonathan Otte 2, Matt Yancey 3, Steven Weber 4, Aaron Stolp 5, Darryl Traber 6, Tyler Kulow 7, Donny Kulow 8, Eric Lingford.

HEAT 2

1, Luke Scholten 2, Dick Hed 3, Don Sorce Jr. 4, Josh Pierce 5, Brad Weiss 6, Dylan Struve 7, Derek Kaat.

A MAIN

1, Aaron Stolp 2, Don Sorce Jr. 3, Luke Scholten 4, Steven Weber 5, Tyler Kulow 6, Dick Hed 7, Brad Weiss 8, Matt Yancey 9, Jonathan Otte 10, Darryl Traber 11, Donny Kulow 12, Eric Lingford 13, Dylan Struve 14, Josh Pierce 15, Derek Kaat.

CELLCOM B MOD

HEAT 1

1, Jason Schilling 2, Steve Lorier 3, Spencer Long 4, Gary Glander 5, Rory Welch 6, Matthew Roehl 7, Patrick Hanson 8, Donny Singer.

HEAT 2

1, Travis Schmidt 2, Jesse Cullen 3, Barry Maas 4, Tim Warner 5, Brian Wieland 6, James Rautmann 7, Brandon Knepprath 8, Will Garceau.

HEAT 3

1, Shane Long 2, Trevor Frank 3, Jerry Duggan 4, Jonathan Hitsman 5, Brendan Ostrowski 6, Phil Campanella 7, Conrad Kaufert 8, Jim Fischer.

A MAIN

1, Brian Wieland 2, Trevor Frank 3, Tim Warner 4, Travis Schmidt 5, Jerry Duggan 6, Gary Glander 7, Jason Schilling 8, Steve Lorier 9, Brandon Knepprath 10, James Rautmann 11, Shane Long 12, Brendan Ostrowski 13, Jonathan Hitsman 14, Donny Singer 15, Will Garceau 16, Rory Welch 17, Patrick Hanson 18, Phil Campanella 19, Jesse Cullen 20, Matthew Roehl 21, Jim Fischer 22 Conrad Kaufert 23, Barry Maas 24, Spencer Long.

By Jeff Pederson-Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 15, 2020 – The second night of a Plymouth Dirt Track Racing doubleheader weekend saw some familiar faces park their machines in A-main victory lane Saturday, Aug. 15 at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis.

PDTR 360 Sprint Car point leader Travis Arenz of Sheboygan notched his third 25-lap A-main victory of the 2020 season. Two-time defending PDTR Late Model champ Justin Schmidt of Cleveland notched his second 25-lap main event win of the season. Defending PDTR Grand National champion Tyler Kulow of Plymouth collected his first main event win of 2020, while defending PDTR B Mod champ Tim Warner of Fond du Lac claimed his third A-main triumph of the 2020 campaign.

In the 25-lap PDTR Sprint Car headliner, 28-year veteran Tony Wondra of Campbellsport jumped out to the early lead from the pole position while 2017 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh grabbed second on the opening lap.

On lap 6, McMullen ventured up the high groove of the dry slick racing surface to wrestle the top spot away from Wondra. Two laps later, Arenz who started fifth, dove under Wondra to take second.

As the leaders encountered lapped traffic on lap 14, Arenz rapidly closed the gap on McMullen before pouncing with a low move in turn one on lap 15 to take the top spot from the high-riding McMullen.

Once in front, Arenz extended his lead steadily, while skillfully maneuvering his way through lapped traffic to collect his fourth career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory, 10^th career Midwest Sprint Car Association main event triumph and third A-main win of the 2020 season in the non-stop, caution-free race.

McMullen had to settle for second, outside front row starter Justin Erickson of Plymouth finished third, 2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Howards Grove, who started eighth, placed fourth and Wondra rounded out the top five.

PDTR Late Model point leader Turk Letizia of Waukesha grabbed the lead of the 25-lap A main from the pole on the opening circuit with 2016 PDTR Late Model champion and second starter Tim Buhler of Greenbush second and fourth starter Mark Rose of Dorchester in third.

The lone caution flag of the race appeared on lap 3 after rookie Sawyer Specht of Sheboygan Falls spun in turn three. On the restart, Justin Schmidt moved up from his third starting spot to challenge Rose for third.

Schmidt secured the third spot on lap 4, while Justin Reed of Camp Point, Ill., who started sixth, followed in fourth on lap 6. As the laps wound down with Letizia still leading, Schmidt hit his stride using the high groove to power around Buhler into second on lap 21 in heavy lapped traffic.

With Letizia boxed in behind the slower car of Ted Dolhun Sr. of Franklin on lap 22, Schmidt worked the high line past Letizia into the lead. Once in the lead, Schmidt continued to deal with dense lapped traffic, which allowed Buhler to close slightly over the final circuits.

However, Schmidt held on to notch his 12^th career PDTR Late Model A-main victory. Buhler placed second, Letizia finished third, Reed wound up fourth and fifth starter Taylor Scheffler of Waukesha was fifth.

Polesitter Tyler Kulow and outside front row starter Brad Weiss of West Bend dueled side-by-side for the lead during the first two laps of the 25-lap PDTR Grand National A main before Kulow finally surged ahead around the inside groove exiting turn four on lap 2.

On lap 5, fourth starter Luke Scholten of Oostburg and two-time PDTR Grand National champion Don Sorce Jr. of West Allis battled for third in close quarters before Sorce Jr. gained the top with a high move in turn two on lap 7.

Four laps later, eighth starter Aaron Stolp of Milwaukee slipped into third, while Sorce Jr. cut the lead cap on Kulow on lap 16. On lap 23, Stolp took second and pushed hard for the lead over the final two seconds.

Kulow held on to secure his eighth PDTR Grand National A-main victory by a slim one-car length margin over the hard-charging Stolp, who placed second. Sorce Jr. finished third, third starter Steven Weber of Plymouth placed fourth and 81-year-old Dick Hed of Plymouth, who started sixth, finished fifth in the non-stop race.

Polesitter Brandon Knepprath of Kewaskum led the first four laps of the 25-lap B Mod A main before defending PDTR B mod champion Tim Warner of Fond du Lac moved in from his sixth starting spot to pressure Knepprath from the top spot.

On lap 5, Warner worked the high groove to bolt past the low-riding Knepprath in turn four. With Warner in the lead, the action was hot and heavy behind him as eighth starter Barry Maas of Cascade, Brendon Ostrowski of Milwaukee, who starter second, and Justin Bauer of Sheboygan Falls, who started fourth, waged a three-wide duel for third on lap 8.

Bauer emerged with the third position along the inside line before the first of four caution flags appeared on lap 9 for a spin in turn three involving rookie Trevor Frank of Sheboygan.

On the restart, Bauer vaulted his way into second with the high-riding Maas following into third. The second caution was displayed on lap 15 when rookie Jim Fischer of Oostburg spun in turn four.

Bauer and Maas engaged in a spirited battle for second starting on lap 15, which lasted for most of the remainder of the race with Bauer working the low groove and Maas riding the outside lane.

Two more caution flags appeared on lap 18 for a spin involving Phil Campanella of Sheboygan Falls and Rory Welch of Grafton on lap 21.

With less than five laps to go, the final restart the lined up single file per PDTR rules with Bauer surging ahead of Maas for second on lap 21. As the laps wound down, Bauer cut the gap on Warner.  However, Warner proved to be too tough as he cruised to his sixth career PDTR B Mod A-main victory.

Bauer placed second, Maas wound up third, Knepprath took fourth and seventh starter Steve Lorier of Sheboygan placed fifth.

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

The ninth PDTR racing program of the 2020 season, which was sponsored by Hidden Dreams Livestock, drew a total of 74 cars, including 30 PDTR 360 Sprint Cars, 15 Late Models, 14 Grand Nationals and 15 B Mods.

PDTR will resume on Saturday, Aug. 22 with 360 Sprint Car, Late Model, Grand National and B Mod action at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis.

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

For all remaining 2020 PDTR races, Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan Falls will have his new book “RPM – The Golden Era of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing” for sale under the grandstand.

A portion of the money collected from the sale of the book will be donated to Plymouth Dirt Track Racing.

 

KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS

HEAT 1

1, Tyler Tischendorf 2, Tony Wondra 3, Justin Erickson 4, Brandon Berth 5, Josh Teunissen 6, Paul Pokorski 7, Doug Wondra 8, Jordan Paulsen.

HEAT 2

1, Brandon McMullen 2, Kurt Davis 3, Travis Arenz 4, Anthony Knierim 5, Blake Wondra 6, Chris Clayton 7, Scott Conger 8, Andy Glewen.

HEAT 3

1, Jack Vanderboom 2, Nick Daywalt 3, Tyler Brabant 4, Kevin Karnitz 5, Justin Miller 6, Bill Taylor 7, Chris Larson.

HEAT 4

1, Ben Schmidt 2, Tim Haddy 3, Lance Fassbender 4, Adam Miller 5, Preston Ruh 6, Austin Hartmann 7, Mike MacFarlane.

B MAIN

1, Adam Miller 2, Blake Wondra 3, Paul Pokorski 4, Chris Clayton 5, Josh Teunissen 6, Bill Taylor 7, Preston Ruh 8, Scott Conger 9, Jordan Paulsen 10, Chris Larson 11, Doug Wondra 12, Mike MacFarlane 13, Austin Hartmann 14, Andy Glewen.

A MAIN

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

 

GASROOT PROJECT LATE MODELS

HEAT 1

1, Justin Reed 2, Tim Buhler 3, Justin Schmidt 4, Charlie Schmidt 5, Eric Michaels 6, Jim Schmidt 7, Donny Singer 8, Sawyer Specht.

HEAT 2

1, Taylor Scheffler 2, Turk Letizia 3, Mark Rose 4, Jim Letizia 5, Ted Dolhun Sr. 6, Justin Green 7, Chad Ludwigson.

A MAIN’

1, Justin Schmidt 2, Tim Buhler 3, Turk Letizia 4, Justin Reed 5, Taylor Scheffler 6, Mark Rose 7, Jim Schmidt 8, Charlie Schmidt, 9, Justin Green 10, Jim Letizia 11, Eric Michaels 12, Ted Dolhun Sr. 13, Chad Ludwigson 14, Sawyer Specht 15, Donny Singer

 

KLIPS N TIPS GRAND NATIONAL

HEAT 1

1, Aaron Stolp 2, Luke Scholten 3, Tyler Kulow 4, Brad Weiss 5, Donny Kulow 6, Paul Perronne 7, Derek Kaat.

HEAT 2

1, Don Sorce Jr. 2, Dick Hed 3, Steven Weber 4, Jeff Muehlbauer 5, Eric Lingford 6, Darryl Traber 7, Joe Brenner.

A MAIN

1, Tyler Kulow 2, Aaron Stolp 3, Don Sorce Jr. 4, Steven Weber 5, Dick Hed 6, Luke Scholten 7, Brad Weiss 8, Donny Kulow 9, Darryl Traber 10, Eric Lingford 11, Paul Perronne 12, Jeff Muehlbauer 13, Derek Kaat 15, Joe Brenner.

 

CELLCOM B MOD

HEAT 1

1, Craig Gessner 2, Barry Maas 3, Justin Bauer 4, Brandon Knepprath 5, Brendan Ostrowski 6, Trevor Fank 7, Jonathan Hitsman 8, Rory Welch.

HEAT 2

1, Tim Warner 2, Steve Lorier 3, Patrick Hanson 4, Jim Fischer 5, Gary Glander 6, Donny Singer 7, Phil Campanella.

A MAIN

1, Tim Warner 2, Justin Bauer 3, Barry Maas 4, Brandon Knepprath 5, Steve Lorier 6, Gary Glander 7, Jonathan Histman 8, Trevor Frank 9, Craig Gessner 10, Donny Singer 11, Jim Fischer 12, Phil Campanella 13, Patrick Hanson 14, Rory Welch 15, Brendon Ostrowski.

Scholten, Schmidt earn first PDTR A-main wins of 2020

By Jeff Pederson-Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 14, 2020 – Jesse Glenz of Fall Creek, the hottest Dirt Late Model driver in Western Wisconsin, made the long trek to the eastern side of the state pay off to the tune of a $4,200 pay day as he claimed his first Dirt Kings Late Model Tour A-main victory and fifth main event win of the 2020 campaign in an eventful third annual Diamond 42 headliner at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Friday, Aug. 14.

In other non-points PDTR action, Luke Scholten of Oostburg steered the Bender Racing No. 89 car to his first main event victory of the 2020 season in the 25-lap Klips N Tips Grand National A main, while Travis Schmidt of Waldo notched is initial A-main victory of the season in the 25-lap Cellcom B Mod main event.

In a rare appearance at The Plymouth Dirt Track, Jesse Glenz, who started second, bolted into the lead of the 42-lap Diamond 42 Dirt Kings Late Model Tour A-main event along the high groove on the opening lap, while third starter Mike Mullen of Seymour ducked low to assume second on the initial circuit.

The first of sixth cautions appeared on lap 3 when Zack Kessler of Plymouth spun in turn two. Following the restart, sixth starter Justin Reed of Camp Point, Ill. rode the high groove of the fast and tacky racing surface into third place on lap 4 before the second caution appeared on lap 5 for a spin involving Joe Bongiorno of Milwaukee and Ron Berna of Abrams in turn four.

On the restart, Reed used a high move to power his way past Mullen into second on lap 5 before Mullen battled back to regain the runner-up spot along the low groove on lap 9. Meanwhile, Glenz pulled away to a solid lead before lapped traffic made things very interesting starting on lap 16 when Mullen dove low to pull even with Glenz in heavy lapped traffic.

One lap later, the high-riding Reed joined in to make it a three-way duel for the top spot as moved into second lap 18 and powered around Glenz into the lead on lap 19. On lap 20, Mullen briefly grabbed the top spot down low before Reed battled back to regain the lead on lap 21.

On lap 28, two-time and defending PDTR Late Model champion Justin Schmidt of Cleveland, who started 11^th, worked his way into fourth along the outside groove. On lap 29, 2014 PDTR Late Model champ Mitch McGrath of Waukesha moved into fourth just as Schmidt moved around Glenz into second.

The third caution appeared on lap 30 when McGrath made contact with Glenz, which sent Glenz spinning in turn three. However, Dirt Kings officials ruled the caution to be inadvertent as Glenz did not stop on the track and both drivers maintained their spots in the running order.

On the restart, Glenz regained second, while McGrath moved into third as Schmidt dropped back after hitting the turn two wall. Just as Glenz was trimming the gap on Reed the fourth caution appeared on lap 37 when Dirt Kings point leader Brett Swedberg of Shawano spun in turn four.

Glenz changed his line to work the middle and high groove of the multi-groove track on the restart to work his way around Reed into the lead in turn two on lap 38. Glenz then pulled away from the rest of the pack as McGrath moved into third on lap 39.

One lap later, the fifth caution appeared when Reed spun in turn two after contact with McGrath as the two battled for second. On the restart, the sixth and final caution flag was displayed when four-time PDTR Late Model track champion Brad Mueller of Random Lake spun in turn two.

On the restart, McGrath moved into second, while three-time Dirt Kings Late Model Tour champion Nick Anvelink of Navarino, who started ninth, made his presence felt by moving into third and challenging McGrath for the runner-up spot.

On the final circuit, McGrath and Anvelink collided while dueling for second, which sent Anvelink into the turn two tire barrier, while McGrath was disqualified from the race for rough driving and subsequently issued a suspension from all Dirt Kings Tour events for the remainder of the 2020 season due to his conduct throughout the program.

Glenz pulled away over the final two laps to notch his first career Dirt Kings Late Model Tour victory, second career PDTR Late Model A-main victory, third straight main event triumph and fifth overall A-main win of 2020.

“I’m super stoked to be in victory lane at Plymouth as it has been a few years since our last victory here,” Glenz said. “Justin Reed was kind of hugging the bottom on that restart and I tried rolling through the middle and then worked up to the top to get by him. I’m super happy with this victory.”

Schmidt placed a strong second after starting in the middle of the pack.

“That caution with about 12 to go hurt us,” Schmidt said. “We were really going pretty good before that. I didn’t really know exactly where I was running for a while until I looked at the scoreboard and saw myself second. This was a really good run for us. We’ve kind of struggled over the past few weeks, so it feels good to get a good finish tonight.”

Ritchie worked his way up from his 13^th starting spot to place third.

“It was pretty hairy out there with a lot of guys making some crazy moves,” Ritchie said. “I hope it was a good show for the fans because it was really something to watch from my seat.”

Ron Berna, who started 22^nd, recovered from an early race spin to finish fourth and fourth starter Taylor Scheffler of Waukesha placed fifth in the Diamond 42, which was run in honor of Late Model driver “Diamond” Jim Letizia’s 42^nd year in racing.

Defending PDTR Grand National champion Tyler Kulow of Plymouth jumped out to the lead of the 25-lap Grand National A main from the pole as fourth starter Luke Scholten worked the high groove into second on the opening lap.

On lap 7, Scholten closed in to challenge Kulow for the top spot along the low groove. Kulow and Scholten dueled side by side for multiple laps until Scholten finally surged ahead in turn four on lap 14.

The lone caution flag of the race appeared on lap 21 when Donny Singer of Waldo and Steven Wirtz of Milwaukee stopped in turn four.

Scholten used a strong restart to pull away from Kulow over the final four laps en route to his 13^th career PDTR Grand National A-main victory to move into a tie for second place on the division’s all-time main event win list with two-time PDTR Grand National champ Don Sorce Jr. of West Allis.

Roger Lee of Wind Lake placed third after starting sixth, seventh starter Donny Kulow of Elkhart Lake finished fourth and 2008 PDTR Grand National champ Matt Yancey of Sheboygan placed fifth after starting fifth.

Tim Lange of Dousman led the opening circuit of the 25-lap B Mod A main from the second starting spot. On lap 4, polesitter Donny Singer of Waldo moved in to challenge Lange for the top spot. Two laps later, Singer assumed the top spot in turn one just as fourth starter Justin Bauer of Sheboygan Falls moved into second and sixth starter Barry Maas of Cascade moved into third.

On lap 11, Maas powered around Bauer to claim second and moved in to pressure Singer for the top spot on lap 13 before the first of two caution flags appeared on lap 13 when Bauer spun in turn two.

On the restart, eighth starter Travis Schmidt ducked low to work underneath Maas into second on lap 15. Five laps later, Schmidt snuck under Singer for the lead as Maas also got around Singer into second on lap 20.

The final caution flag appeared on lap 22 when Steve Lorier of Sheboygan spun in turn two. On the restart, Schmidt pulled away from Maas to claim his third career PDTR B Mod A-main victory by a three-car length margin over Maas, who finished second. Singer held on to take third, third starter Brandon Knepprath of Kewaskum placed fourth and Bauer recovered from his lap 13 spin to place fifth.

Jim Schmidt of Cleveland won the first 12-lap Dirt Kings Late Model B main, while Joel Bennett won the second 12-lap Dirt Kings Late Model B main.

The event attracted a total of 56 cars, including 34 Dirt Kings/PDTR Late Models, 11 Grand Nationals and 11 B mods.

Main event trophies were sponsored by Recognition Race Products.

For all remaining 2020 PDTR races, Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan Falls will have his new book “RPM – The Golden Era of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing” for sale under the grandstand.

A portion of the money collected from the sale of the book will be donated to Plymouth Dirt Track Racing.

 

DISCOUNT SHOP TOWELS DIRT KINGS LATE MODEL TOUR DIAMOND 42

PRO POWER RACING ENGINES HEAT 1

1, Jesse Glenz 2, Paul Parker 3, Justin Schmidt 4, Troy Springborn 5, Joe Bongiorno 6, Ron Berna 7, Tim Buhler 8, Brett Swedberg 9, Lukas Postl.

MUELLER’S SALES AND SERVICE HEAT 2

1, Taylor Scheffler 2, Brad Mueller 3, Justin Reed 4, Kevin Eder 5, Chris Engels 6, Justin Green 7, Derek Janke 8, Kyle Raddant 9, Joel Willman.

WEHRS MACHINE AND RACING PRODUCTS HEAT 3

1, Mike Mullen 2, Aaron Wickersheim 3, Zack Kessler 4, Joel Bennett 5, Jim Schmidt 6, Ron Stroika 7, Mitch McGrath 8, Buddy Hanestad.

DISCOUNTSHOPTOWELS.COM HEAT 4

1, Rick Hanestad 2, Nick Anvelink 3, Justin Ritchie 4, Mark Rose 5, Turk Letizia 6, Tom Naeyaert 7, Charlie Schmidt 8, Jim Letizia.

KIRKPATRICK LAW OFFICE B MAIN 1

1, Jim Schmidt 2, Chris Engels 3, Ron Berna 4, Tom Naeyaert 5, Charlie Schmidt 6, Lukas Postl 7, Derek Janke.

KIRKPATRICK LAW OFFICE B MAIN 2

1, Joel Bennett 2, Mitch McGrath 3, Turk Letizia 4, Tim Buhler 5, Brett Swedberg 6, Ron Stroika 7, Jim Letizia 8, Justin Green.

A MAIN

1, Jesse Glenz 2, Justin Schmidt 3, Justin Ritchie 4, Taylor Scheffler 5, Ron Berna 6, Troy Springborn 7, Paul Parker 8, Aaron Wickersheim 9, Jim Schmidt 10, Nick Anvelink 11, Joel Bennett 12, Joe Bongiorno 13, Turk Letizia 14, Justin Reed 15, Brad Mueller 16, Kevin Eder 17, Brett Swedberg 18, Mike Mullen 19, Mark Rose 20, Chris Engels 21, Rick Hanestad 22, Zack Kessler 23, Mitch McGrath.

 

KLIPS N CLIPS GRAND NATIONAL

Heat 1

1, Luke Scholten 2, Tyler Kulow 3, Matt Yancey 4, Donny Kulow 5, Donny Singer 6, Paul Perronne.

Heat 2

1, Steven Wirtz 2, Daryl Traber 3, Roger Lee 4, Dave Holm 5, Matt Schlehlein.

A Main

1, Luke Scholten 2, Tyler Kulow 3, Roger Lee 4, Donny Kulow 5, Matt Yancey 6, Daryl Traber 7, Steven Wirtz 8, Donny Singer 9, Dave Holm 10, Paul Perronne 11, Matt Schlehlein (DNS).

CELLCOM B MOD

Heat 1

1, Barry Maas 2, Jason Schilling 3, Brandon Knepprath 4, Tim Lange 5, Donny Singer 6, Jim Fischer

Heat 2

1, Travis Schmidt 2, Steve Lorier 3, Justin Bauer 4, Brian Wieland 5, Rory Welch

A Main

1, Travis Schmidt 2, Barry Maas 3, Donny Singer 4, Brandon Knepprath 5, Justin Bauer 6, Jim Fischer 7, Brian Wieland 8, Steve Lorier 9, Tim Lange 10, Jason Schilling 11, Rory Welch.

 

By Jeff Pederson-Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 8, 2020 – The second night of a jam-packed seven-race August schedule featured plenty of close competition in producing 2020 repeat winners in three of the four Plymouth Dirt Track Racing A-main events at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, Aug. 8.

In the 25-lap Kristine Hartmann Pleasant View Realty 360 Sprint Car main event, 2017 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh claimed his second A-main victory of the season at Plymouth. Waukesha’s Taylor Scheffler picked up his second 25-lap Gasroots Project Late Model A main triumph of the 2020 campaign. Two-time PDTR Grand National champion Don Sorce Jr. of West Allis scored his first A-main victory of the 2020 season in the 25-lap Klips N Tips Grand National main event. In the 25-lap Cellcom B Mod A main, defending PDTR B Mod champion Tim Warner of Fond du Lac secured his second main event victory of the 2020 campaign.

In the Sprint Car A main, polesitter Tyler Davis of South Milwaukee jumped out to the lead on lap 1 before a red flag was displayed on lap 2 when outside front row starter Tyler Tischendorf of Waupaca spun in turn two and collected rookie Austin Hartmann of Plymouth, who flipped his machine. The incident forced Hartmann to retire from the event, while Tischendorf was able to continue.

On the ensuing restart attempt, Tim Haddy of Waupun spun in turn two and collected Bill Taylor of Kewaskum and Tischendorf. Both Haddy and Taylor were unable to continue in the race.

When the race resumed, 2018 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Justin Miller of Plymouth worked past Davis to assume the lead in turn two on lap 3. Meanwhile, third starter Brandon McMullen moved past Davis into second on lap 6 and quickly set his sets on the leader.

Three laps later, McMullen rode the high groove to perfection on the lightning fast and tacky track surface to sweep around Miller into the lead. One lap later on lap 10, the third caution flag was displayed when Tyler Davis spun in turn two at the same time as rookie Alex Pokorski of West Bend spun to a stop in turn four.

On the ensuing restart, Miller and current PDTR 360 Sprint Car point leader Travis Arenz of Sheboygan, who started sixth, collided before Miller stopped in turn one with suspension damage to bring out the fourth caution flag.

The damage was enough to force Miller out of the race while Arenz was sent to the rear of the field for his involvement in the yellow flag incident. Seventh starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend made his presence felt on the restart has he moved into second while 19^th starter Nich Melis of Plymouth worked his way into third on lap 12.

McMullen began to catch the rear of the field on lap 17, which he sliced through expertly to extend his lead over Karnitz. On lap 20, Tyler Davis spun on the frontstretch before Alex Pokorski made hard contact with Davis to bring out a red flag for the fifth and final stoppage of the race. Both drivers emerged from the heavy impact uninjured, but were done for the night.

McMullen again pulled away on the final restart and cruised over the final five laps to his 19^th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory and 27^th Midwest Sprint Car Association main event triumph of his career by a full-straightaway margin. Karnitz finished second, 2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Ben Schmidt of Howards Grove finished third after starting 12^th, Melis placed fourth and Arenz rebounded from restarting 17^th following a lap 10 collision with Justin Miller to place fifth.

Outside front row starter Taylor Scheffler, who was steering the 15s car formerly raced by his father, Rick Scheffler, outdueled 2016 PDTR Late Model champ Tim Buhler of Greenbush, who started second, to grab the lead of the 25-lap Late Model A main in turn four of the opening lap.

Scheffler extended his lead over Buhler in the early stages of the race before the first of two caution flags was displayed on lap 8 for debris on the frontstretch from Sheboygan Falls rookie driver Chad Ludwigson’s car.

Two laps later, another caution was displayed when Charlie Schmidt of Cedar Grove spun in turn two. On the restart, Scheffler again pulled away while fifth starter Turk Letizia of Milwaukee and sixth starter Justin Ritchie of New London waged a heated duel for fourth place. Following a six-lap, side-by-side battle, Ritchie finally secured the fourth-place position from Letizia.

Scheffler hit lapped traffic on lap 17, which he negotiated successfully over the final eight laps en route to his fifth career PDTR Late Model A-main victory. Buhler held on for second, fourth starter Jim Schmidt of Cleveland placed third, Ritchie finished fourth and Turk Letizia rounded out the top five.

In the 25-lap Grand National A main, Don Sorce Jr. used the high groove to outduel defending PDTR Grand National champion Tyler Kulow of Plymouth, who started on the pole, to take the top spot in turn two on the opening lap.

As Sorce Jr. held down the top spot, third starter Aaron Stolp of Milwaukee moved into third on lap six before passing Kulow for second four laps later. On lap 14, Stolp bolted in to pressure the low riding Sorce Jr. for the lead along the outside groove.

The lone caution of the race appeared on lap 15 when Darryl Traber spun in turn four. On the restart, Kulow battled back along the outside groove to regain second on lap 16.

Four laps later, sixth starter Steven Weber of Plymouth used a low move to work past Stolp before tracking down Kulow for second on the final lap. At the front of the field, it was all Sorce Jr. has he rolled to his 13^th career PDTR Grand National A-main victory to move into sole possession of second place on the division’s main event win list.

Weber finished second, Stolp placed third, Kulow was fourth and 81-year-old Dick Hed of Plymouth wound up fifth after starting seventh.

Outside front row starter James Rautmann of Howards Grove led the opening two laps of the 25-lap B Mod A main before third starter Kyle Odekirk of Plymouth moved in to take over the top spot on lap 3.

The first of two caution flags was displayed on lap 5 when Brandon Knepprath of Kewaskum, Patrick Hanson of Sheboygan Falls and Kassi Krause of Chilton spun in turn two. Following the restart, sixth starter Brian Wieland of Sheboygan Falls moved in to challenge Odekirk for the top spot along the inside groove.

Two laps later, fifth starter Jason Schilling of Greenfield, 10^th starter Travis Arenz, who was subbing for Cascade’s Barry Maas, and Chilton’s Jesse Cullen, who started 12^th, battled three wide for third place with Arenz securing the position.

On lap 12, Wieland made contact with Odekirk as the two drivers were dueling for the lead. However, Odekirk was able to maintain control of the top spot before the second and final caution flag came out on lap 14 when Justin Bauer of Sheboygan Falls stopped on the frontstretch.

On the restart, Tim Warner moved in from his seventh starting spot to take over second along the high groove. One lap later, Warner pulled even with the low riding Odekirk. After dueling with Odekirk side-by-side for two laps, Warner finally surged ahead in turn four on lap 17.

Once out front, Warner pulled away to notch his fifth career PDTR B Mod A main victory by a half-straightaway margin. Odekirk placed second, Arenz was third, Cullen placed fourth and Wieland rounded out the top five.

Rookie Alex Pokorski claimed his first career 360 Sprint Car race victory in the 15-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main.

The eighth PDTR racing program of the 2020 season, which was sponsored by Cellcom, drew a total of 82 cars, including 30 PDTR 360 Sprint Cars, 17 Late Models, 14 Grand Nationals and 21 B Mods.

Next weekend will feature a doubleheader at the Plymouth Dirt Track with the Dirt Kings Late Model Tour Diamond 42 scheduled for Friday, Aug. 14 featuring a first-place payout of $4,200. The PDTR Grand National and B Mod divisions will also run a non-points program with hot laps scheduled at 5:30 p.m. with racing to follow at 6 p.m.

One night later, the PDTR 360 Sprint Car, Late Model, Grand National and B Mod divisions will be in action on Saturday, Aug. 15 at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis.

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

For all remaining 2020 PDTR races, Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan Falls will have his new book “RPM – The Golden Era of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing” for sale under the grandstand.

A portion of the money collected from the sale of the book will be donated to Plymouth Dirt Track Racing.

 

KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS

HEAT 1

1, Travis Arenz 2, Justin Miller 3, Nick Daywalt 4, Doug Wondra 5, Alex Pokorski 6, Brandon Berth 7, Scott Armstrong 8, Shane Wenninger.

HEAT 2

1, Tyler Davis 2, Scott Conger 3, Tyler Tischendorf 4, Bill Taylor 5, Preston Ruh 6, Kevin Seidler 7, Tyler Brabant 8, Lance Fassbender.

HEAT 3

1, Kevin Karnitz 2, Austin Hartmann 3, Tony Wondra 4, Will Gerrits 5, Josh Teunissen 6, Justin Erickson 7, Chris Clayton.

HEAT 4

1, Brandon McMullen 2, Kurt Davis 3, Ben Schmidt 4, Tim Haddy 5, Anthony Knierim 6, Nich Melis 7, Blake Wondra.

B MAIN

1, Alex Pokorski 2, Brandon Berth 3, Nich Melis 4, Anthony Knierim 5, Bill Taylor 6, Josh Teunissen 7, Justin Erickson 8, Blake Wondra 9, Tyler Brabant 10, Kevin Seidler 11, Lance Fassbender 12, Chris Clayton 13, Scott Armstrong 14, Shane Wenninger (DNS).

A MAIN

1, Brandon McMullen 2, Kevin Karnitz 3, Ben Schmidt 4, Nich Melis 5, Travis Arenz 6, Kurt Davis 7, Brandon Berth 8, Nick Daywalt 9, Will Gerrits 10, Anthony Knierim 11, Scott Conger 12, Preston Ruh 13, Tony Wondra 14, Doug Wondra 15, Josh Teunissen 16, Tyler Davis, 17, Alex Pokorski 18, Justin Miller 19, Tyler Tischendorf 20, Austin Hartmann 21, Tim Haddy 22, Bill Taylor.

 

GASROOT PROJECT LATE MODELS

HEAT 1

1, Jim Schmidt 2, Tony Peterson 3, Brad Mueller 4, Justin Schmidt 5, Taylor Scheffler 6, Joe Bongiorno 7, Justin Green 8, Chad Ludwigson 9, Donny Singer.

HEAT 2

1, Justin Ritchie 2, Turk Letizia 3, Jim Letizia 4, Tim Buhler 5, Charlie Schmidt 6, Jake Van Engen 7, Sawyer Specht 8, Billy Rezutek (DNS).

A MAIN’

1, Taylor Scheffler 2, Tim Buhler 3, Jim Schmidt 4, Justin Ritchie 5, Turk Letizia 6, Brad Muller 7, Justin Schmidt 8, Joe Bongiorno 9, Justin Green 10, Jim Letizia 11, Billy Rezutek 12, Charlie Schmidt 13, Tony Peterson 14, Donny Singer 15, Chad Ludwigson 16, Sawyer Specht 17, Jake Van Engen (DNS).

 

KLIPS N TIPS GRAND NATIONAL

HEAT 1

1, Dick Hed 2, Derek Kaat 3, Luke Scholten 4, Aaron Stolp 5, Donny Kulow 6, Matt Schlehlein 7, Dylan Struve.

HEAT 2

1, Steven Weber 2, Jeff Muehlbauer 3, Don Sorce Jr. 4, Tyler Kulow 5, Brad Weiss 6, Darryl Traber 7, Paul Perronne.

A MAIN

1, Don Sorce Jr. 2, Steven Weber 3, Aaron Stolp 4, Tyler Kulow 5, Dick Hed 6, Luke Scholten 7, Jeff Muehlbauer 8, Donny Kulow 9, Darryl Traber 10, Brad Weiss 11, Matt Schlehlein 12, Paul Perronne 13, Derek Kaat 14, Dylan Struve (DNS).

CELLCOM B MOD

HEAT 1

1, Craig Gessner 2, Brian Weiland 3, Steve Lorier 4, Donny Singer 5, Trevor Frank 6, Kassi Krause 7, Rory Welch.

HEAT 2

1, Jason Schilling 2, James Rautmann 3, Kyle Odekirk 4, Jesse Cullen 5, Gary Glander 6, Brendan Ostrowski 7, Brandon Knepprath.

HEAT 3

1, Travis Arenz 2, Tim Sheppard 3, Tim Warner 4, Justin Bauer 5, Jonathan Hitsman 6, Patrick Hanson 7, Jim Fischer.

A MAIN

1, Tim Warner 2, Kyle Odekirk 3, Travis Arenz 4, Jesse Cullen 5, Brian Wieland 6, Tim Sheppard 7, Donny Singer 8, Gary Glander 9, Steve Lorier 10, Brendan Ostrowski 11, James Rautmann 12, Rory Welch 13, Kassi Krause 14, Brandon Knepprath 15, Jason Schilling 16, Justin Bauer 17, Craig Gessner 18, Trevor Frank 19, Jonathan Hitsmann 20, Patrick Hanson 21, Jim Fischer (DNS).