Scheffler crowned Dirt King, Schmidt tops 360 Sprints

By Jeff Pederson

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 28, 2026 – Jeff Richards of Montello took home the $2,067 top prize in claiming the Dirt Devil Grand National Series Scott Haupt Memorial, while Tyler Kulow of Plymouth nailed down the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Oostburg Automotive Grand National track title and Travis Schmidt of Cascade secured the Sheboygan Flooring B Mod championship in the 2026 season championship night for both divisions at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Friday, Aug. 28.

Two-time Akright Auto PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth racked up his eighth A-main win of the 2026 campaign at The Plymouth Dirt Track in the 25-lap division headliner.

Taylor Scheffler of Waukesha posted a flag-to-flag triumph in the 30-lap WABAM Dirt Kings Late Model Tour main event presented by Sheboygan’s Rock Station 106.5 The Buzz.

Aaron Streblow of Waupun jumped into the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap Dirt Devil Grand National Series main event with third starter Dan Schumacher of Germantown in tow.

On lap 3, a seven-car incident in turn one brought out the first of two caution laps. Following the restart, Jeff Richards, who started 10^th, moved in to challenge Schumacher for second.

After a spirited back-and-forth duel, Richards sneaked into second on lap 6. Two laps later, Luke Scholten stopped in turn three to draw the final caution flag of the race. Richards used the ensuing restart to challenge Streblow for the top spot.

Richards, who was making a rare Plymouth Dirt Track appearance, hounded Streblow over the better part of the next 13 laps before finally using the outside groove to power into the lead when Streblow got boxed in behind a slower car on lap 22.

Richards went on to secure his first career PDTR Grand National triumph, which was good for a $2,067 payout thanks to extra purse money contributed by Plymouth Dirt Track Racing, Suburban Motors Harley Davidson and Wayne’s Drive-In.

Streblow had to settle for second, Schumacher was third, Marshall Plate of Chilton placed fourth after starting sixth, and 2018 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Justin Miller of Plymouth recorded a fifth-place finish from the 11th starting spot.

Tyler Kulow placed 13^th to wrap up his second career PDTR Grand National title by 23 points over Jeff Muehlbauer of Elkhart Lake.

Outside front row starter Eric Wilke of Genesee jumped into the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap 360 Sprint Car main event as Ben Schmidt bolted up from the fourth starting slot to land second on lap 2.

Four laps later, Schmidt ripped off a slide job to sweep past Wilke in turn four. Schmidt quickly caught the back of the pack before the first caution flag of the race came out on lap 8 for the stopped car of Hayden Johnson in turn four.

Schmidt blasted away from the field on the ensuing restart to build up a full-straightaway cushion over Wilke by lap 13. Two laps later, Schmidt became entrenched in thick lapped traffic, which gave Wilke a chance to close in.

As Wilke worked hard to track down Schmidt along the preferred outside groove, polesitter Justin Erickson of Plymouth made it a three-car duel, sliding into second place in turn four on lap 21.

Erickson cut Schmidt’s lead over the next two laps as the leaders stayed mired in heavy traffic. However, the race at the front opened when the second caution flag appeared for a spin involving Frank Perko in turn two on lap 23.

Following a single-file restart, Schmidt gapped the field on the way to his eighth PDTR 360 Sprint Car win of the season, ninth Midwest Sprint Car Association victory of the 2026 campaign, 36^th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car victory and 61st career MSA triumph, which ws worth $1,000 as part of a boosted PDTR purse.

Erickson placed second, sixth starter Josh Walter of Plymouth placed third, Wilke wound up fourth, and PDTR 360 Sprint Car rookie Chad Stouthamer of Big Bend advanced from the eighth starting position to record a 360 Sprint Car career-best fifth-place finish.

Schmidt heads into the PDTR 360 Sprint Car season finale on Saturday, Sept. 26 with an insurmountable 141-point lead over T.J. Smith of Greenville at the top of the standings.

Brad Buckman of Kiel led the opening lap of the 25-lap B Mod A main before polesitter Ryan Pafford of Kiel took over the top spot on the second circuit. One lap later, third starter Chris Budzban of Luxemburg assumed second and quickly tracked down Pafford.

On lap 11, Budzban ducked under Pafford to make what proved to be the winning move in turn two. Former PDTR B Mod champion Justin Green of Sheboygan Falls tracked into third from the 10th starting spot on lap 12, and by lap 14 he became locked firmly into Budzban’s tire tracks.

Green attempted to nudge underneath Budzban on lap 20 to no avail before the second caution of the race came out on lap 22 for the stalled car of Brendan Ostrowski.

Following the restart, Green moved up to the middle lane to mount one final attempt to steal the victory from Budzban. Green made a big run on the final lap to challenge for the lead, but his spirited effort fell a car length short at the finish line.

Budzban recorded his second career PDTR B Mod main event victory in very limited starts at the track to collect a $500 check.

Green was a close second, Pafford took third, Travis Schmidt stormed up from the ninth starting spot to wrap up his second career PDTR B Mod track title with a fourth-place showing, and Colten Van Hierden of Waupun advanced from 11th at the start to round out the top five.

Schmidt, who won his first PDTR B Mod championship in 2024, picked up title number two by a 24-point margin over 2018 PDTR B Mod champion Tim Sheppard of Beaver Dam.

Taylor Scheffler, who claimed the 2025 PDTR Super Six Late Model championship, vaulted into the initial lead of the Complete Heat Treating 30-lap Dirt Kings Tour Late Model main event from the pole and third starter Nick Anvelink of Bonduel slotted into second.

Following two caution periods due to spins on laps 10 and 11, Scheffler was undeterred the rest of the way as he pulled out to a full straightaway lead over Anvelink en route to his 11^th career PDTR Late Model main event win and a $2,000 first-place prize.

Anvelink was second, Brett Swedberg of Shawano moved up from the sixth starting spot to take third, outside front row starter Turk Letizia of Milwaukee placed fourth, and fifth starter Gunner Frank of Montrose, Iowa claimed fifth.

Andover, Minn. native Carter Chevalier raced to victory in the 12-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main.

Matt Loehr of Mount Calvary captured the 12-lap Grand National B main.

Tyler Davis of Franklin secured overall fast qualifier honors in the 360 Sprint Car division with a quick lap of 12.390 seconds.

Taylor Scheffler was the Dirt Kings Late Model Tour overall fast qualifier with a lap of 13.284.

The 16th event of the 2026 PDTR campaign, which Racer’s Hall sponsored, attracted a field of 89 total cars, including 29 Grand Nationals, 25 360 Sprint Cars, 21 B Mods, and 14 Dirt Kings Late Models.

After taking a month off, the 2026 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing campaign will come to a close with the annual Wisconsin Sprint Car Championships on Saturday, Sept. 26, featuring the final points night of the season for the PDTR and MSA 360 Sprint Cars, Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Cars, Autometer Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Cars, and IRA Lightning Sprints.

Spectator gates open at 4:30 p.m. with “on track action” set to fire off at 5 p.m.

Weather information for all Plymouth Dirt Track Racing events will be posted on the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram pages, as well as the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing website – www.plymouthdtr.com.

The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds is located at 229 Fairview Drive in Plymouth, Wis.

For more information, visit www.plymouthdtr.com or check out Plymouth Dirt Track Racing on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

 

DIRT DEVIL OOSTBURG AUTOMOTIVE GRAND NATIONALS

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 10R-Jeff Richards [7]; 2. 38S-Aaron Streblow [2]; 3. 93S-Dan Schumacher [3]; 4. 19P-Marshall Plate [6]; 5. 15M-Justin Miller [11]; 6. 53B-Matt Urban [14]; 7. 11-Dylan May [4]; 8. 15-Derek Kaat [15]; 9. 5M-Jeff Muehlbauer [17]; 10. 16-Will Schumacher [9]; 11. 93-Mavrick Ruh [10]; 12. 42-Jason Juech [16]; 13. 24K-Tyler Kulow [13]; 14. 95-Donny Kulow [24]; 15. 52W-Jack Wiroll [18]; 16. 6-Dick Hed [23]; 17. 80-Luke Scholten [12]; 18. 53T-Tanner Lorenz [19]; 19. 54-Austin Yancey [22]; 20. 58-Dave Holm [5]; 21. 53W-Dustin Weiss [20]; 22. 82H-Matt Loehr [21]; 23. 8R-Jake Richards [8]; 24. 17X-Mark Kuhfuss [1]

B Main (12 Laps): 1. 82H-Matt Loehr[6]; 2. 54-Austin Yancey[4]; 3. 6-Dick Hed[2]; 4. 95-Donny Kulow[3]; 5. 3-Jim Wirtz[5]; 6. 97-Marc Miller[1]; 7. 41-Mark Haskins[7]; 8. (DNS) 77-Todd Stapleman; 9. (DNS) 13-Josh Pierce

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19P-Marshall Plate[3]; 2. 80-Luke Scholten[7]; 3. 93S-Dan Schumacher[2]; 4. 24K-Tyler Kulow[5]; 5. 5M-Jeff Muehlbauer[6]; 6. 97-Marc Miller[1]; 7. 95-Donny Kulow[4]; 8. 41-Mark Haskins[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Dylan May[2]; 2. 8R-Jake Richards[4]; 3. 17X-Mark Kuhfuss[1]; 4. 53B-Matt Urban[6]; 5. 52W-Jack Wiroll[5]; 6. 13-Josh Pierce[7]; 7. 54-Austin Yancey[3]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 15M-Justin Miller[5]; 2. 58-Dave Holm[2]; 3. 16-Will Schumacher[4]; 4. 15-Derek Kaat[6]; 5. 53T-Tanner Lorenz[3]; 6. 77-Todd Stapleman[7]; 7. 3-Jim Wirtz[1]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 38S-Aaron Streblow[1]; 2. 10R-Jeff Richards[3]; 3. 93-Mavrick Ruh[4]; 4. 42-Jason Juech[5]; 5. 53W-Dustin Weiss[6]; 6. 6-Dick Hed[2]; 7. 82H-Matt Loehr[7]

 

AKRIGHT AUTO PLYMOUTH DIRT TRACK RACING 360 SPRINT CARS

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 35-Ben Schmidt [4]; 2. 3-Justin Erickson [1]; 3. 67-Josh Walter [6]; 4. 24X-Eric Wilke [2]; 5. 5-Chad Stouthamer [8]; 6. 22B-Brandon Berth [10]; 7. 68T-Tyler Davis [14]; 8. 66-Donny Goeden [3]; 9. 59-Ethon Stear [7]; 10. 11-Tony Wondra [9]; 11. 69S-TJ Smith [20]; 12. 69-Bill Taylor [15]; 13. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl [13]; 14. 46-Steven Ruh [5]; 15. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [11]; 16. 15-Carter Chevalier [17]; 17. 12P-JJ Pagel [12]; 18. 14J-Joseph Hintz [22]; 19. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [21]; 20. 20W-Weston Finke [19]; 21. 44H-Hayden Johnson [18]; 22. 68P-Frank Perko [16]

B Main (12 Laps): 1. 15-Carter Chevalier[4]; 2. 44H-Hayden Johnson[2]; 3. 20W-Weston Finke[1]; 4. 69S-TJ Smith[3]; 5. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach[5]; 6. 14J-Joseph Hintz[6]; 7. 55P-Brady Portschy[9]; 8. 30-Blake Wondra[7]; 9. 55S-Ryan Sawusch[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 66-Donny Goeden[2]; 2. 11-Tony Wondra[1]; 3. 63K-Kevin Karnitz[3]; 4. 69-Bill Taylor[4]; 5. 20W-Weston Finke[6]; 6. 15-Carter Chevalier[7]; 7. (DNF) 55P-Brady Portschy[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 35-Ben Schmidt[2]; 2. 5-Chad Stouthamer[1]; 3. 59-Ethon Stear[4]; 4. 44H-Hayden Johnson[3]; 5. 69S-TJ Smith[5]; 6. 30-Blake Wondra[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Justin Erickson[1]; 2. 46-Steven Ruh[3]; 3. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl[2]; 4. 12P-JJ Pagel[5]; 5. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach[4]; 6. 14J-Joseph Hintz[6]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 24X-Eric Wilke[1]; 2. 67-Josh Walter[2]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth[3]; 4. 68T-Tyler Davis[4]; 5. 68P-Frank Perko[6]; 6. 55S-Ryan Sawusch[5]

Qualifying 1: 1. 69-Bill Taylor, 12.779[2]; 2. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 12.835[1]; 3. 66-Donny Goeden, 12.860[6]; 4. 11-Tony Wondra, 12.970[5]; 5. 55P-Brady Portschy, 13.190[3]; 6. 20W-Weston Finke, 13.271[4]; 7. 15-Carter Chevalier, 13.400[7]

Qualifying 2: 1. 59-Ethon Stear, 12.439[5]; 2. 44H-Hayden Johnson, 12.656[6]; 3. 35-Ben Schmidt, 12.687[1]; 4. 5-Chad Stouthamer, 12.723[2]; 5. 69S-TJ Smith, 12.755[4]; 6. 30-Blake Wondra, 13.183[3]

Qualifying 3: 1. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 12.663[1]; 2. 46-Steven Ruh, 12.804[4]; 3. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl, 12.808[3]; 4. 3-Justin Erickson, 12.835[2]; 5. 12P-JJ Pagel, 12.895[6]; 6. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 12.919[5]

Qualifying 4: 1. 68T-Tyler Davis, 12.390[6]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth, 12.477[4]; 3. 67-Josh Walter, 12.603[1]; 4. 24X-Eric Wilke, 12.643[3]; 5. 55S-Ryan Sawusch, 12.817[2]; 6. 68P-Frank Perko, 12.823[5]

 

SHEBOYGAN FLOORING B MODS

A Main (25 Laps): 1. X-Chris Budzban [3]; 2. 19J-Justin Green [10]; 3. 26P-Ryan Pafford [1]; 4. 3-Travis Schmidt [9]; 5. 66C-Colten Van Hierden [11]; 6. 59S-Spencer Long [6]; 7. 89-Logan Brass [12]; 8. 19-Parker Glander [7]; 9. 29S-Tim Sheppard [19]; 10. 2WZ-Aaron Butterbrodt [18]; 11. 67-Vince Jung [17]; 12. 66-Steve Lorier [21]; 13. 27L-Brendan Ostrowski [13]; 14. 12T-Tim Thrun [14]; 15. 73-Rory Welch [20]; 16. 17-Brandon Knepprath [15]; 17. (DNF) 85B-Kevin Braaksma [5]; 18. (DNF) 48-Matt Urban [8]; 19. (DNF) 68-Dan Jung [4]; 20. (DNF) 11B-Brad Buckman[2]; 21. (DNS) 69-Travis Kleindl

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Travis Schmidt[6]; 2. 59S-Spencer Long[3]; 3. 26P-Ryan Pafford[1]; 4. 68-Dan Jung[2]; 5. 27L-Brendan Ostrowski[4]; 6. (DNF) 69-Travis Kleindl[5]; 7. (DNF) 29S-Tim Sheppard[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Parker Glander[4]; 2. 11B-Brad Buckman[1]; 3. 19J-Justin Green[6]; 4. 89-Logan Brass[7]; 5. 12T-Tim Thrun[5]; 6. 67-Vince Jung[3]; 7. 73-Rory Welch[2]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. X-Chris Budzban[1]; 2. 85B-Kevin Braaksma[2]; 3. 48-Matt Urban[4]; 4. 66C-Colten Van Hierden[6]; 5. 17-Brandon Knepprath[3]; 6. 2WZ-Aaron Butterbrodt[7]; 7. 66-Steve Lorier[5]

 

WABAM DIRT KINGS LATE MODEL TOUR PRESENTED BY SHEBOYGAN’S ROCK STATION 106.5 THE BUZZ

Complete Heat Treating 30 (30 Laps): 1. 10S-Taylor Scheffler [1]; 2. 15-Nick Anvelink [3]; 3. 3-Brett Swedberg [6]; 4. D1-Turk Letizia [2]; 5. 21F-Gunner Frank [5]; 6. 97-Justin Schmidt [8]; 7. 51-Chris Oertel [9]; 8. 5-Lukas Postl [4]; 9. 56-Justin Ritchie [7]; 10. 55-Joe Bongiorno [10]; 11. (DNF) 33E-Chris Engels [12]; 12. (DNF) 21M-Shawn Miller [13]; 13. (DNF) 8R-Bill Rezutek [11]; 14. (DNS) 99S-Scott Specht

Autoworx Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. D1-Turk Letizia[1]; 2. 15-Nick Anvelink[2]; 3. 21F-Gunner Frank[3]; 4. 56-Justin Ritchie[4]; 5. 51-Chris Oertel[5]; 6. 8R-Bill Rezutek[6]; 7. 21M-Shawn Miller[7]

Klink Equipment Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 10S-Taylor Scheffler[1]; 2. 5-Lukas Postl[2]; 3. 3-Brett Swedberg[3]; 4. 97-Justin Schmidt[4]; 5. 55-Joe Bongiorno[5]; 6. 33E-Chris Engels[6]; 7. (DNF) 99S-Scott Specht[7]

Autoworx Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. D1-Turk Letizia, 13.352[6]; 2. 15-Nick Anvelink, 13.692[5]; 3. 21F-Gunner Frank, 13.750[4]; 4. 51-Chris Oertel, 13.761[1]; 5. 56-Justin Ritchie, 14.025[2]; 6. 21M-Shawn Miller, 14.171[3]; 7. 8R-Bill Rezutek, 14.568[7]

Klink Equipment Qualifying 2 (2 Laps): 1. 10S-Taylor Scheffler, 13.284[1]; 2. 5-Lukas Postl, 13.538[2]; 3. 99S-Scott Specht, 13.680[5]; 4. 97-Justin Schmidt, 13.704[3]; 5. 33E-Chris Engels, 14.266[4]; 6. 55-Joe Bongiorno, 14.858[6]; 7. (DNS) 3-Brett Swedberg