By Jeff Pederson – Pedal Down Promotions
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) June 13, 2017 – The first doubleheader weekend of the 2017 Midwest Sprint Car Association schedule yielded decidedly mixed results for Paul Pokorski and his Pokorski Motorsports team Saturday, June 10 at The Plymouth Dirt Track and Sunday, June 11 at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie.
The team pulled into the pit area at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth on Saturday night riding the momentum of an A-main victory in the team’s most recent race on Saturday, May 27.
Back behind the wheel of his 2016 Maxim for the first time since an opening night accident on May 6 sidelined the team’s primary car for two races, Pokorski lined up eighth in the first PDTR Sprint Car heat race.
The West Bend racer wasted no time in gaining some valuable passing points as he bolted past Justin Miller and Chris Clayton to slide into sixth place on the opening lap. Searching for traction on the increasing dry, slick track surface, Pokorski moved into fifth place with a nifty pass of Ryan Mayr on lap 7.
The 25th-year driver was closing rapidly on the fourth-place car of Josh Walter when the checkered flag fell with Pokorski finishing in fifth.
After starting 12th in the extended 30-lap Brian Portschy Memorial Race, Pokorski got caught up in an eight-car incident triggered when race leader Al Schlafer spun in turn two on lap 6.
Pokorski went to the pits to get the car checked over before returning to the track in the 19th position. From there, the 2014 Midwest Sprint Car Association Masters Series champion put on a driving clinic working his way steadily through the field using a variety of well-executed passes on the slick surface.
Pokorski used a slide job on lap 20 to slip past PDTR Sprint Car points leader Tim Haddy and gain fourth place.
With the majority of the field stuck to the high groove, Pokorski held his position along the outside line to finish fourth behind Jim Melis in third, Kurt Davis in second and race winner Brandon McMullen.
It was Pokorski’s third top-five A-main finish in four events and capped a huge charge from 19th in the running order on lap 6.
“The car was good on Saturday night, but I thought it could have been a little bit better,” Pokorski said. “I think everybody was fighting the race track a little bit, so nobody was perfectly happy with their car.
“I thought we may have sustained some possible front-end damage that I may not have been aware of during the incident in turn one and two, and that’s why I came in and had the crew check it out,” he said. “Overall, I was happy with our result on Saturday night.”
On Sunday night at Angell Park, Pokorski’s fortunes were not nearly as good. After starting eighth in the first Sprint Car heat race, Pokorski passed Ryan Mayr and John Krebsbach in turn one to assume sixth place on the opening lap.
Despite slowing a bit in the closing laps of the 10-lap race, Pokorski held on to post a sixth-place finish, which earned him a 13th place starting spot in the A-main event.
However, the team was forced to scratch from the main event when an engine issue was detected. Despite efforts to fix the problem, the team was unable to return to the track.
“On Sunday night, the car was running fine in hot laps and for the first couple laps of the heat race,” Pokorski said. “I heard the engine tone change, the RPM dropped and the motor got lazy about halfway through the race. I thought we may have an intake gasket or head gasket problem.”
The team had planned to send out the motor for repairs and prepare the backup J&J for competition this Saturday night at Plymouth. However, an interesting discovery in the shop on Monday caused those plans to change.
“We found that a piece in the fuel injection system had come apart,” Pokorski said. “It was very odd to say the least. We already had the engine out of the car when we found the problem. We fixed the issue, put the engine back in and started up the car. We will have the Maxim ready to go again for this Saturday night’s race at Plymouth.”
This Saturday, June 17, Pokorski Motorsports will compete with the PDTR 360 Sprint Cars at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth. The event will also feature the Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series. The PDTR B Mod division is also on the card.
Spectator gates will open at 4:30 p.m. with hot laps scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
The Pokorski Motorsports sponsors for the 2017 season include: Acme Armature Works Inc., Goeden’s Auto Body, Goodwin Racing Engines, Jens, Reinbold & Pfeffer Family Funeral Services & Crematory, Kettle Moraine Landscaping, Novak’s Service Center, Pedal Down Promotions, Christel Sign, Tisler Salvage Inc. and The Cawley Company.
For more information on Pokorski Motorsports, check out Pokorski Motorsports on Facebook or visit www.pedaldownpromotions.com.
Pokorski Motorsports Sponsor Showcase – Acme Armature Works Inc.
Pokorski Motorsports will like to welcome Acme Armature Works Inc. of Sheboygan as a new sponsor for the 2017 racing season
Acme Armature Works Inc. debuted last September when Chad Bahrs purchased Sheboygan Armature Works. Located at 2727 North 21st St. in Sheboygan, Acme Armature Works specializes in electrical and servo motor repair and sales for industrial and commercial customers.
Bahrs, who resides in Elkhart Lake with his wife Jamie and three children, describes Acme Armature Works as a one-stop electrical apparatus service shop.
“We specialize in all types of electric motors, spindles, servo motors, and electro-mechanical devices for industrial, commercial and agricultural customers,” Bahrs said. “We are a factory-authorized warranty service center for a wide range of manufactures. We also offer value-added services such as an in-house machine shop, computerized precision dynamic balancing, vibration analysis, predictive/preventative maintenance, welding and light fabricating.”
When it comes to diagnosing problems, providing proper repair analysis and delivering top-notch service for servo motors, Acme’s repair team boasts over 100 years of combined experience working with a wide selection of complex motor systems.
“We specialize in fast, accurate repair, rewind and re-manufacture of all brands of servo motors,” Bahrs said. “During our repair process, every encoder or all feedback devices are checked for proper signals and alignment.”
Acme Armature Works is PDTA (Power Transmission Distributors Association) and EASA (Electrical Apparatus Service Association) certified. In addition, Acme recently earned the Recommended Practice for the Repair of Rotating Electrical Apparatus (ANSI/EASA AR100-2015) accreditation.
Bahrs says Acme’s ability to provide unique in-shop services sets it apart among its competition.
“I think the fact that we do balancing, machine work and welding in our shop sets us apart,” Bahrs said. “We have the ability to do blower wheel balancing, provide a wide range of machine work and weld cast iron, which you don’t see in every other shop.”
Acme Armature Works also sells many makes and models of electric and servo motors.
Pokorski Motorsports invites you to contact Acme Armature Works Inc. via email at info@acmearmature.com, by calling the 24-hour service line at 920-452-3389 or visiting www.acmearmature.com.
Pedal Down Promotions is a full-service public relations and media services company devoted to helping its clients effectively communicate with targeted audiences through press releases, newsletters, profile and feature articles, website and social media content development, printed media, editing and layout, graphic design and book publishing services.
For more information on Pedal Down Promotions, email pedaldownpromotions@gmail.com, visit www.pedaldownpromotions.com or call 920-323-7970.
2017 Pokorski Motorsports Upcoming Schedule
Saturday, June 17 – Plymouth Dirt Track Racing (MSA)
Friday, June 23 – Spring Lake Speedway in Unity, Wisconsin (MSA)
Saturday, June 24 – Plymouth Dirt Track Racing (MSA)
Saturday, July 1 – Plymouth Dirt Track Racing (MSA)
2017 Pokorski Motorsports By The Numbers
Total Events – 5
MSA events – 5
IRA events – 0
A-Main Victories – 1
Top Five A-Main Finishes – 3
Top 10 A-Main Finishes – 3
Heat Race Victories – 0