By Jeff Pederson – Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS, Plymouth, Wis.) August 11, 2018 – A photo finish and two first-time winners highlighted A-main racing action in Plymouth Dirt Track Racing action at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, Aug. 11.

Despite a brief rain shower which hit the track in the late afternoon hours, racing went on as scheduled with a fast and wide surface greeting all competitors and providing for some hotly contested racing action throughout the evening.

In the 25-lap Richard’s of Dunbar 360 Sprint Car headliner, two-time PDTR champion Danny Schlafer of Sussex held off a late charge from 2017 PDTR champ Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh by a just a few feet to claim a photo-finish victory. Cleveland’s Justin Schmidt rolled to his fourth 25-lap Gasroots Project Late Model A-main triumph of the 2018 campaign. Dan Sorce of West Allis claimed his first Klips & Tips Grand National A-main victory of the season. Marcus Hoeppner of Hartford earned his first career Cellcom B Mod A-main triumph and Matt Peterson made the long trip from Escanaba, Mich. pay off with is first career 15-lap Kristine Hartmann Pleasant View Realty Micro Sprint A-main win.

Schlafer started the Sprint Car A main event from the pole flanked by West Bend’s Paul Pokorski on the outside of the front row. Shortly after the initial drop of the green flag, Ben Schmidt of Howards Grove jumped the cushion and flipped his machine in turn one. He emerged uninjured.

Following a complete restart, Schlafer bolted out to the lead along the inside line while Pokorski settled into second along the high groove. On lap 2, the caution flag was displayed for a spin in turn four involved Dick Kaiser of Milwaukee and Shane Wenninger of Kewaskum.

When the race resumed, third starter Justin Miller of Plymouth ducked low to power past Pokorski into the runner-up spot on lap 5 before McMullen, who started ninth, worked past eight starter and 2010 PDTR Sprint Car champion and point leader Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee to gain the fourth spot on lap 8.

Schlafer encountered slow traffic on lap 11, which allowed Miller to cut the gap significantly. On lap 12, the low-riding Miller pulled ahead of Schlafer briefly. However, the hard-charging Schlafer battled back to regain the top spot on the following lap along the outside groove.

Meanwhile, McMullen was continuing his march to the front of the pack as he worked under Pokorski to seize third place with a low move on lap 12. By lap 18, Schlafer had built up a half-straightaway cushion over Miller. The third caution flag of the race then appeared on lap 19 for a spin in turn four involving Al Schlafer of Sussex and Shane Wenninger.

Following the restart, McMullen powered in to pass Miller for second on lap 20 and quickly set his sights on Schlafer as the laps wound down. McMullen utilized the extreme low line to gain on Schlafer, who held tight to the cushion over the final six circuits, to move into position to challenge for the lead.

On the final lap, McMullen pulled even with Schlafer in turn two. However, Schlafer got a big run in turns three and four to maintain the top spot heading to the finish line where he nipped McMullen by a few feet to notch his second PDTR A-main victory of the 2018 season, 21^st PDTR Sprint Car A-main win of his career to tie Donny Goeden for the all-time lead in the 360 Sprint Car division at Plymouth and 50^th career Midwest Sprint Car Association A-main triumph.

McMullen had to settle for second, Pokorski gained two spots over the final six laps to finish third, Miller was fourth and 10^th starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend placed fifth.

The Late Model A-main featured plenty of action as four different drivers exchange the top spot during the action-packed race. Milwaukee’s Turk Letizia jumped out to the early lead before a two-car spin in turn four slowed the pace on the opening lap.

On lap 2, 2016 PDTR Late Model champ Tim Buhler of Greenbush used the high groove to pressure Letizia for the lead. One lap later, sixth starter Jim Schmidt of Cleveland joined in to duel three wide with Letizia and Buhler for the lead in turn four with Buhler emerging on top and Jim Schmidt slipping into second.

After the second caution flag of the race was displayed for debris in turn one on lap 3, Buhler built up a half-straightaway cushion over Jim Schmidt and Justin Schmidt, who started third.

As Buhler encountered lapped traffic on lap 18, Jim and Justin Schmidt cut the gap substantially before disaster struck for Buhler when he spun in turn two while attempting to move past a slower car to bring out the third caution of the race.

Jim Schmidt inherited the lead with his son Justin Schmidt in tow in second on the restart. Justin Schmidt dove low in turn one on lap 18 to assume the top spot while four-time PDTR Late Model champ and current point leader Brad Mueller of Random Lake charged in to make it a three-way battle along the high groove.

On lap 21, Mueller gained second in turn three while Justin Schmidt held strong at the front of the field en route to his fourth PDTR Late Model A-main triumph of 2018 and his ninth career main event victory at Plymouth.

Mueller was second, Jim Schmidt placed third, Buhler battled back from his spin to finish fourth and Letizia placed fifth.

On the drop of the green flag of the Grand National A-main, 78-year-old Dick Hed of Plymouth bolted up from his inside second row starting spot to lead the opening circuit.

On lap 2, fourth starter Dan Sorce moved into second before a caution for a spin in turn four slowed the pace on lap 3. Polesitter Jess Muehlbauer worked past Sorce for second on the ensuing restart and the two drivers dueled for several laps before Sorce secured the position.

The second of four caution flags appeared on lap 12 when Derek Kaat of Plymouth spun in turn four. On the restart, Sorce used the high groove to challenge Hed for the top spot and on lap 14, Sorce surged into the lead in turn two before another caution appeared on lap 15 for the stalled machine of Plymouth’s Justin Erickson in turn three.

Sorce, who captured the 2006 PDTR Late Model championship, then proceeded to pull away over the next five laps before the fourth and final caution was displayed for Kaat’s stalled car in turn two on lap 20. On the final restart, eighth starter Tyler Kulow of Plymouth moved in to pressure Hed for second along the high groove, but the cagey veteran held strong to retain the spot.

Sorce went to post his eighth career PDTR Grand National A-main victory. Hed was second, Kulow placed third, Donny Kulow of Elkhart Lake finished fourth after starting second and Kurt Davis placed fifth after starting sixth.

Polesitter Jess Jakubowski and Marcus Hoeppner led the field to the green flag in the B Mod main event. Jakubowski and Hoeppner dueled side by side over the first four circuits before Hoeppner surged ahead in turn one on lap 5 while third starter Gary Glander of Sheboygan Falls and fourth starter and current point leader Tim Sheppard of Beaver Dam followed in second and third respectively.

The first of three caution flags flew on lap 12 when Jakubowski and Justin Bauer of Sheboygan Falls collided in turn four. On the restart, Hoeppner retained the top spot while Glander and Sheppard battled for second for multiple laps. On lap 15, Glander gained second along the low line before the second caution appeared for a two-car incident involving Phil Campanella of Sheboygan Falls and Andy Singer in turn two.

On the restart, Sheppard seized second and began to close on Hoeppner by lap 18. After the third caution of the race slowed the field on lap 20, Hoeppner again pulled away while Sheppard and Glander resumed their duel for second.

On lap 21, Sheppard finally gained second for good with a high move in turn four. Hoeppner held strong over the final four laps to seal his first career PDTR B Mod A-main triumph.

Sheppard placed second, Glander was third, fifth starter Cody Eickberg of Plymouth placed fourth and 11^th starter Travis Schmidt of Plymouth charged up to place fifth.

Matt Peterson placed opening lap of the Micro Sprint A main from the pole. Peterson’s strong run was slowed on three occasions for caution flags on lap 4, 5 and 10.

On lap 7, seventh starter Dave Collins of Madison wrestled second away from Jack Vanderboom of Dousman, who started sixth. However, Peterson proved to be too much for the field as he claimed his first career PDTR Micro Sprint A-main victory.

Collins placed second, Vanderboom was third and point leader Preston Ruh of Elkhart Lake recovered from a spin on lap 4 to finish fourth.

The PDTR program, which was sponsored by the city of Sheboygan Falls Fire Department, featured 80 cars, including 21 Sprint Cars, 20 B Mods, 19 Grand Nationals, 12 Late Models and eight Micro Sprints.

The next PDTR program will take place on Saturday, Aug. 18 featuring the first annual Ken Markwardt Memorial Race with added purse money for A-main winners and an appearance from the Badgerland Vintage Modifieds. Hot laps begin at 5:30 p.m. with racing to follow at 6 p.m.

The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth is located at 229 Fairview Drive in Plymouth. For more information, visit www.plymouthdtr.com or check out Plymouth Dirt Track Racing on Facebook.

Pedal Down Promotions is a full-service public relations and media services company devoted to helping clients effectively communicate with targeted audiences through a diverse array of promotional strategies and methods, including 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.