Schumacher, Lorier, Petska score Plymouth Dirt Track Racing A-main victories

By Jeff Pederson – Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 3, 2024 – Youth trumped experience as 14-year-old Plymouth Dirt Track Racing-Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car rookie Joseph Hintz of Burnett edged 60-year-old open-wheel racing veteran and five-time track champion Donny Goeden of Kewaskum to claim his first career 25-lap Akright Auto Plymouth Dirt Track Racing – Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car A-main victory at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, Aug. 3.

Nick Schumacher of Eagle made a rare appearance at The Plymouth Dirt Track well worth it with a wire-to-wire win in the 25-lap Oostburg Automotive Grand National main event.

Steve Lorier of Sheboygan notched his first main event triumph of the 2024 campaign in the 25-lap Sheboygan Flooring B Mod A-main.

Nick Petska of Spring Grove, Ill. claimed the victory in the 15-lap 106.5 The Buzz IRA Lightning Sprints main event.

Outside front row starter Justin Erickson of Plymouth outpowered polesitter Hayden Johnson of Campbellsport to grab the lead on the opening lap of the PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car main event.

On lap 2, three-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Donny Goeden rode the outside groove to move into second before vaulting past Erickson into the lead one lap later.

Meanwhile, fifth starter Joseph Hintz engaged in a spirited duel with third starter T.J. Smith of Greenville for the third spot on lap 4. Four laps later, Goeden caught the back of the field and sliced his way through slower traffic.

The first of two race stoppages appeared on lap 11 when Bill Taylor of Boltonville spun in turn three. On the restart, Hintz shot into second along the inside groove and quickly moved in to challenge the high-riding Goeden on the smooth, multi-groove racing surface.

The first-year 360 Sprint Car driver reeled in Goeden on lap 15 to mount a challenge for the top spot. Hintz hit his marks along the inside lane with precision to take over the top spot on lap 17 before impressively extending his lead to a full straightaway on lap 21.

With Hintz comfortably leading the pack, a red flag was displayed when Smith flipped in turn two on the white-flag lap. Hintz maintained the top spot along the low groove on the green-white-checkered flag restart and held off a final charge from Goeden along the cushion to secure his first career PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint A-main victory in just his sixth career 360 Sprint Car start.

Goeden, who began his racing career in the Eastern Wisconsin Stock Winged Super Modified division at Plymouth in 1985, had to settle for second, two-time PDTR and five-time MSA champion Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee placed third after starting seventh, Erickson placed fourth and sixth starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend placed fifth.

With his victory, Hintz became the sixth different driver to claim a win in the nine MSA 360 Sprint Car main events contested during the 2024 campaign.

Nick Schumacher used his pole starting position to seize the lead from the start of the 25-lap Grand National headliner with 2022 PDTR Grand National champion Luke Scholten, who started fourth, sliding into second. On lap 9, Scholten bolted in to briefly challenge Schumacher for the lead on the tacky and smooth track surface.

However, Schumacher maintained the top spot and was building up a solid lead when the lone caution flag of the race appeared on lap 12 after Dustin Weiss of Iron Ridge and 2018 PDTR Grand National champ Tyler Kulow of Plymouth collided in turn four.

On the restart, Schumacher pulled away from Scholten and led the remainder of the event en route to his third career PDTR Grand National A-main victory and his first A-main triumph of the 2024 campaign.

Scholten placed second, Jeff Muehlbauer of Elkhart Lake, who started fifth, placed third, 2023 PDTR Grand National co-champion Will Sorce of Franklin took fourth after starting 11th, and two-time Grand National and six-time Plymouth track champion Brian Gilles of Plymouth charged up from the ninth starting spot to place fifth.

David Paskiewicz of Wind Lake grabbed the lead of the 25-lap B Mod A-main from the pole on the opening lap. On lap 2, third starter Spencer Long of Sheboygan Falls took over the second spot and moved into pressure Paskiewicz for the top spot.

A pair of back-to-back caution flags bunched the field on lap 7, which allowed seventh starter Steve Lorier to move in to hound Long for the lead starting on lap 9. However, Long fended off his advances until lap 20 when a slower car boxed in Long along the low groove, while Lorier rode the top of the track to snatch the lead away from Long in turn two on lap 23.

Lorier held on the rest of the way to notch his fifth career and first PDTR B Mod main event of the 2024 season.

Long took second, eighth starter Travis Schmidt of Plymouth placed third, 2022 PDTR B Mod champion Andy Welter of Cedarburg finished fourth after starting fifth and Barrett Hummelmeier of Beaver Dam bounced back after hitting the turn three wall on lap 7 to place fifth.

The start of the 20-lap IRA Lightning Sprints main event got off to a rough start when polesitter Brian Strane, Jr. of Paris, who came into the event as the series points leader and winner of all five 2024 IRA Lightning Sprints A-main races, hit an infield tire and flipped in turn two on the opening lap.

With Strane Jr. out of the race, Nick Petska moved up from his original third starting spot to the pole position when the race began. Petska then proceeded to open up a full straightaway cushion over Mark Heinert of Waukesha, who started fifth.

The second and final yellow flag appeared on lap two for the spinning car Max Brannam on lap 16 to set up a four-lap dash to the finish following a single-file restart.

Petska proved to be too strong for his challengers to overcome in the closing laps on the way to his first IRA Lightning Sprint A-main triumph of the 2024 campaign.

Heinert placed second, fourth starter Mike Neau of Pleasant Prairie took third, Tim Brannam of Holiday Hills, Ill, who started second, finished fourth and Ron Brannam of Holiday Hills, Ill. tallied a fifth place showing after starting ninth.

Scott Conger of Eagle claimed the overall PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car fast qualifier award with a quick lap of 13.101 seconds.

Mike Neau was the top qualifier in the IRA Lightning Sprints division with a lap of 13.966 seconds.

The ninth event of the 2024 PDTR campaign, which was sponsored by Pit Stop Pizza, drew 72 total entries, including 25 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars, 17 B Mods, 15 Grand Nationals and 15 IRA Lightning Sprints.

The program also included a coin and candy drop sponsored by VanDerVart Concrete and a coloring contest featuring prizes donated by Plymouth Dirt Track Racing, Donna Bader and Pedal Down Promotions.

The next PDTR racing program on Saturday, Aug. 10 features the finale of the 2024 106.5 The Buzz Seubert Calf Ranches Super Six Late Model Series with the 2024 champion set to be crowned.

Five-time PDTR Late Model champion Brad Mueller of Random Lake heads into the season-capping race with a four-point cushion over Taylor Scheffler and a 14-point lead over Justin Ritchie of New London.

The PDTR 360 Sprint Cars, Grand Nationals and B Mods will also be in action.

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

The 2024 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Awards Ceremony is set to take place Saturday, Oct. 12 at Racers Hall in Plymouth at 7 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.

AKRIGHT AUTO PLYMOUTH DIRT TRACK RACING 360 SPRINT CARS

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 14J-Joseph Hintz [5]; 2. 27G-Donny Goeden [4]; 3. 39K-Kurt Davis [7]; 4. 3-Justin Erickson [2]; 5. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [6]; 6. 35-Ben Schmidt [8]; 7. 22B-Brandon Berth [10]; 8. 09-Clayton Rossmann [11]; 9. 4-Paul Pokorski [17]; 10. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [12]; 11. 12P-JJ Pagel [9]; 12. 30-Shane Wenninger [18]; 13. 11-Tony Wondra [14]; 14. 24-Scott Conger [16]; 15. 33M-Josh Bilicki [21]; 16. 69-Bill Taylor [13]; 17. 46-Steven Ruh [22]; 18. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [20]; 19. 44-Hayden Johnson [1]; 20. 55P-Brady Portschy [15]; 21. 69S-TJ Smith [3]; 22. 66T-Tristan Koenings [19]

B Main (12 Laps): 1. 24-Scott Conger [1]; 2. 4-Paul Pokorski [2]; 3. 30-Shane Wenninger [4]; 4. 66T-Tristan Koenings [5]; 5. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [9]; 6. 33M-Josh Bilicki [8]; 7. 46-Steven Ruh [6]; 8. 53A-Spyder Akright [7]; 9. (DNF) 21H-TJ Haddy [3]; 10. (DNS) 51-Chris Larson

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 39K-Kurt Davis [1]; 2. 12P-JJ Pagel [2]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth [3]; 4. 27G-Donny Goeden [5]; 5. 44-Hayden Johnson [6]; 6. 24-Scott Conger [4]; 7. 30-Shane Wenninger [8]; 8. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [9]; 9. 21H-TJ Haddy [7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 35-Ben Schmidt [4]; 2. 69S-TJ Smith [1]; 3. 14J-Joseph Hintz [2]; 4. 09-Clayton Rossmann [6]; 5. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [3]; 6. 4-Paul Pokorski [5]; 7. 66T-Tristan Koenings [7]; 8. 46-Steven Ruh [8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Justin Erickson [2]; 2. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [1]; 3. 69-Bill Taylor [4]; 4. 11-Tony Wondra [5]; 5. 55P-Brady Portschy [7]; 6. (DNF) 51-Chris Larson [3]; 7. (DNF) 53A-Spyder Akright [6]; 8. (DNS) 33M-Josh Bilicki

Qualifying 1: 1. 24-Scott Conger, 13.101 [8]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth, 13.108 [2]; 3. 12P-JJ Pagel, 13.174 [7]; 4. 39K-Kurt Davis, 13.270 [4]; 5. 27G-Donny Goeden, 13.377 [5]; 6. 44-Hayden Johnson, 13.491 [9]; 7. 21H-TJ Haddy, 13.515 [3]; 8. 30-Shane Wenninger, 13.616 [6]; 9. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [1]

Qualifying 2: 1. 35-Ben Schmidt, 13.238 [2]; 2. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 13.341 [4]; 3. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 13.362 [1]; 4. 69S-TJ Smith, 13.378 [3]; 5. 4-Paul Pokorski, 13.407 [5]; 6. 09-Clayton Rossmann, 13.550 [7]; 7. 66T-Tristan Koenings, 13.832 [6]; 8. 46-Steven Ruh, 14.289 [8]

Qualifying 3: 1. 51-Chris Larson, 13.377 [2]; 2. 3-Justin Erickson, 13.421 [8]; 3. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 13.603 [3]; 4. 33M-Josh Bilicki, 13.604 [4]; 5. 69-Bill Taylor, 13.976 [5]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra, 14.029 [7]; 7. 55P-Brady Portschy, 14.125 [6]; 8. 53A-Spyder Akright, 14.133 [1]

OOSTBURG AUTOMOTIVE GRAND NATIONALS

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 47-Nick Schumacher [1]; 2. 80-Luke Scholten [4]; 3. 5M-Jeff Muehlbauer [5]; 4. 14X-Will Sorce [11]; 5. 89-Brian Gilles [9]; 6. 53B-Brad Weiss [7]; 7. 23-Scott Kafka [3]; 8. 34-Steven Weber [12]; 9. 95-Donny Kulow [14]; 10. 5R-Nate Ruh [15]; 11. 6-Dick Hed [6]; 12. 35-Jared Weiss [2]; 13. 15-Derek Kaat [13]; 14. 24K-Tyler Kulow [8]; 15. 53W-Dustin Weiss [10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 47-Nick Schumacher [1]; 2. 5M-Jeff Muehlbauer [3]; 3. 23-Scott Kafka [2]; 4. 6-Dick Hed [5]; 5. 24K-Tyler Kulow [7]; 6. 14X-Will Sorce [8]; 7. 15-Derek Kaat [6]; 8. 5R-Nate Ruh [4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 80-Luke Scholten [2]; 2. 53B-Brad Weiss [5]; 3. 35-Jared Weiss [1]; 4. 53W-Dustin Weiss [7]; 5. 89-Brian Gilles [6]; 6. 34-Steven Weber [3]; 7. 95-Donny Kulow [4]

SHEBOYGAN FLOORING B MODS

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 66-Steve Lorier [7]; 2. 59S-Spencer Long [3]; 3. 3-Travis Schmidt [8]; 4. 32Z-Andy Welter [5]; 5. 33H-Barrett Hummelmeier [10]; 6. 17-Brandon Knepprath [6]; 7. 26-David Paskiewicz [1]; 8. 9-Hunter Larson [14]; 9. 73-Rory Welch [4]; 10. 96-Brian Konitzer [11]; 11. 117B-Tom Barnharst [15]; 12. 27L-Brendan Ostrowski [13]; 13. 31W-Kelan Wolfe [16]; 14. 19-Parker Glander [2]; 15. 6Z-Jim Zdroik [9]; 16. 18Z-Geoff Zdroik [12]; 17. 3Z-Austin Zdroik [17]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 66-Steve Lorier [4]; 2. 3-Travis Schmidt [5]; 3. 96-Brian Konitzer [6]; 4. 73-Rory Welch [3]; 5. 27L-Brendan Ostrowski [1]; 6. 117B-Tom Barnharst [2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 18Z-Geoff Zdroik [6]; 2. 19-Parker Glander [2]; 3. 32Z-Andy Welter [3]; 4. 6Z-Jim Zdroik [5]; 5. 9-Hunter Larson [4]; 6. 31W-Kelan Wolfe [1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 33H-Barrett Hummelmeier [5]; 2. 59S-Spencer Long [2]; 3. 26-David Paskiewicz [1]; 4. 17-Brandon Knepprath [3]; 5. (DNS) 3Z-Austin Zdroik

106.5 THE BUZZ LIGHTNING SPRINTS

A Main (20 Laps): 1. 18-Nick Petska [3]; 2. 55H-Mark Heinert [5]; 3. 16-Mike Neau [4]; 4. 74-Tim Brannam [2]; 5. 01-Ron Brannam [9]; 6. 5S-Chad Stouthamer [13]; 7. 14-Nate Kirchner [7]; 8. 9-John Kirk [6]; 9. 17-Jordan Funderburk [11]; 10. 74M-Max Brannam [8]; 11. 6-Jeff Schmidt [12]; 12. 63-Jacob Irwin [10]; 13. 13-Tucker Richards [14]; 14. 23-Dominick Swierad [15]; 15. (DNF) 22S-Brian Strane Jr [1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 74-Tim Brannam [3]; 2. 14-Nate Kirchner [1]; 3. 01-Ron Brannam [5]; 4. 55H-Mark Heinert [2]; 5. 16-Mike Neau [4]; 6. 6-Jeff Schmidt [6]; 7. 13-Tucker Richards [7]; 8. 23-Dominick Swierad [8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Nick Petska [4]; 2. 74M-Max Brannam [1]; 3. 22S-Brian Strane Jr  [3]; 4. 9-John Kirk [2]; 5. 63-Jacob Irwin [6]; 6. 5S-Chad Stouthamer [7]; 7. 17-Jordan Funderburk [5]

Qualifying 1: 1. 16-Mike Neau, 13.966 [5]; 2. 18-Nick Petska, 14.116 [8]; 3. 74-Tim Brannam, 14.134 [9]; 4. 22S-Brian Strane Jr, 14.335 [3]; 5. 55H-Mark Heinert, 14.348 [7]; 6. 9-John Kirk, 14.365 [12]; 7. 14-Nate Kirchner, 14.386 [6]; 8. 74M-Max Brannam, 14.542 [15]; 9. 01-Ron Brannam, 14.606 [2]; 10. 17-Jordan Funderburk, 14.636 [13]; 11. 6-Jeff Schmidt, 14.654 [4]; 12. 63-Jacob Irwin, 14.665 [1]; 13. 13-Tucker Richards, 14.721 [10]; 14. 5S-Chad Stouthamer, 14.929 [14]; 15. 23-Dominick Swierad, 15.135 [11]