By Jeff Pederson – Pedal Down Promotions
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) July 10, 2018 – Paul Pokorski and his Pokorski Motorsports team completed a successful doubleheader weekend of Midwest Sprint Car Association action by racking up a pair of impressive top-10 showings.
On Friday, July 13, Pokorski posted a season-best runner-up finish in the MSA portion of the Harry Neitzel Tribute event at the Dodge County Fairgrounds in Beaver Dam, Wis. and came back on Saturday, July 14 to post a sixth-place finish in a Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car Mid-Season Championship race at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis.
Before a standing room-only crowd at the big half-mile track at the Dodge County Fairgrounds for an event also featuring the Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Cars and Dirt Kings Late Models, 23 MSA Sprint Cars checked into the pit area for the second annual Harry Neitzel Tribute Night.
After starting on the outside of the front row in the second MSA eight-lap heat race, Pokorski outpowered polesitter Adam Miller to take the lead in turn one of the opening circuit.
Pokorski survived a pair of caution flags for the stalled machines of Bill Taylor and Ben Schmidt to post his first heat race victory of the 2018 season and 55th overall race triumph of his MSA career.
The 2014 MSA Masters Series champion rolled off for the 20-lap MSA A main from the seventh starting spot and was running inside the top 10 when a five-car incident set off by the flipping car of Al Schlafer in turn three brought out a red flag on lap 3.
After restarting in the seventh spot, Pokorski bolted around Emily Portschy and Travis Arenz to move into the top five. The caution flag was displayed on lap 11 for the stalled machine of Tim Haddy to set up a nine-lap sprint to the finish.
Pokorski restarted in the third position and quickly moved past Justin Miller to assume the runner-up spot on lap 12.
Over the final eight laps, Pokorski found his comfort zone along the high groove on the lightning fast “horsepower half mile” to reel in leader Kevin Karnitz. As the laps wound down, Pokorski was closing quickly. However, Pokorski’s bid for victory came up four car lengths short at the finish as he had to settle for a season-best second-place finish behind Karnitz.
“The car was the most comfortable car I have ever had at Dodge County,” Pokorski said. “We tried a couple new things to get it to that point, so I was pretty happy with the result.”
The doubleheader weekend of action continued at The Plymouth Dirt Track on Saturday, July 7 as 20 PDTR Sprint Cars checked in for the Mid-Season Championship Night of racing at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds.
Pokorski started second in the heat PDTR Sprint Car heat race and wasted no time making a low move on polesitter Tony Wondra in turn four to take the lead on the opening lap. By lap 6, Pokorski had built up a full straightaway advantage over Wondra on the dry, slick racing surface.
The 26-year open-wheel racing veteran cruised the rest of the way to notch his second heat race victory of the weekend.
After lining up sixth in the extended 30-lap Mid-Season Championship Sprint Car A main, Pokorski was running in the eighth position when the second of two caution flags appeared on lap 10 for a spin involving Danny Schlafer and Chris Clayton in turn three.
On the restart, Pokorski ducked low on the predominantly one-lane track to slip past Shane Wenninger on lap 21 and Kenjay Fiedler on lap 23 to secure sixth in the running order.
As the track started to lay rubber along the low line, Pokorski maintained the sixth spot the rest of the way en route to his seventh top-10 A-main showing of the 2018 campaign.
“Saturday night at Plymouth found us facing some very different track conditions,” Pokorski said. “It was not my favorite kind of track for sure. The car was reasonably good, but we still need to do better for the next time we have those conditions.”
On Saturday, July 14, the Pokorski Motorsports team will return to The Plymouth Dirt Track for Autograph Night. Grandstands open at 4:30 p.m. with hot laps at 5:30 p.m. and racing slated to begin at 6 p.m.
After the races, the team encourages fans to visit the No. 4 Sprint Car pit area for autographs, treats and gifts courtesy of Pokorski Motorsports.
The Pokorski Motorsports sponsors for the 2018 season include: Quest Engineering Inc., 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, Tisler Salvage Inc., Allied Bearing Corporation 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 – Quest Engineering Inc.
Pokorski Motorsports will like to welcome Quest Engineering of Richfield, Wis. as a new sponsor for the 2018 racing season.
Quest Engineering focuses solely on full overlay cabinetry and complimenting custom products, including kitchen, bath, closets, garage, entertainment and commercial casework projects.
Quest’s skilled team of customer advocates, product specialists, engineers, production managers and operations team rely on a continuous improvement philosophy to pave the road to success.
Founded as a contract wood products fabricator in West Bend by brothers Chris and Todd Lefeber in 2001, Quest operated on mostly manual machines until adding CNC equipment and parametric engineering software to its repertoire in 2006.
In late 2008, Quest Engineering made the move from a direct sales to a dealer sales model with an increased focus on its capacity as a manufacturer. Quest moved from its original facility in West Bend to a newly renovated production facility in Richfield in fall 2012.
In May 2015, working with equipment, software, and special service vendors, Quest expanded with the addition of a second manufacturing plant. Housing a flexible casework production cell, a custom fabrication cell and a small warehouse, a new facility in Jackson was opened, featuring a design center and showroom.
“We spent time working on new sponsorship for this year and we are very excited to have Quest Engineering on board with us for 2018,” Pokorski said. “Quest is a local manufacturer of quality cabinets and we encourage our fans to check out their line of products.”
Pokorski Motorsports invites you to contact Quest Engineering Inc. by phone at 262-334-4949 or by visiting www.questcabinets.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.
2018 Pokorski Motorsports Upcoming Schedule
Saturday, July 14 – Plymouth Dirt Track, Plymouth, Wis.
Saturday, July 21 – Plymouth Dirt Track, Plymouth, Wis.
Saturday, July 28 – Plymouth Dirt Track, Plymouth, Wis.
Saturday, August 4 – Plymouth Dirt Track, Plymouth, Wis.
2018 Pokorski Motorsports By The Numbers
Total Events – 12
MSA events – 11
IRA events – 1
A Main Victories – 0
Top Five A Main Finishes – 2
Top 10 A Main Finishes – 7
Heat Race Victories – 2