Thiel, Fahl, Neau rack up Wisconsin Sprint Car Championships victories

By Jeff Pederson – Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) September 28, 2024 – Ben Schmidt of Plymouth put a bow on an Akright Auto Plymouth Dirt Track Racing and Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car championship season in fitting fashion by parking his No. 35 machine in victory lane to close out the 2024 campaign during the seventh annual Wisconsin Sprint Car Championships at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, September 28.

In the 30-lap Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series A-main, Scotty Thiel of Sheboygan rolled to victory in the annual IRA Rick Schmidt Memorial Race to seal his first career IRA championship.

John Fahl of Brown Deer used some late-race heroics to rack up a win in the 20-lap Autometer Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car A-main. Zach Raidart of Gurnee, Ill. sealed his first career Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car Series title.

Mike Neau of Pleasant Prairie secured the 20-lap IRA Lightning Sprints A-main victory and Mark Heinert of Waukesha racked up the 2024 IRA Lightning Sprints title.

After starting on the outside of the front row in the 25-lap PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car main event, Ben Schmidt emerged from a side-by-side duel with polesitter Shane Wenninger of Kewaskum, who was filling in behind the wheel of Bill Taylor’s No. 69 car, to seize the lead in turn one on lap 2.

Two laps later, the first of three caution flags was displayed for the slowing car of Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee in turn one. Schmidt controlled the restart and built up a solid cushion over Wenninger by lap 6.

As T.J. Smith of Greenville rocketed into second from the eighth starting spot on lap 11, two-time Eastern Wisconsin Stock Car Winged Super Modified champion Billy Kreutz of Kiel advanced to third from the fourth starting position.

With Schmidt closing in on the rear of the field, the second caution flag of the race appeared on lap 12 for the stalled car of Chris Larson of Franksville in turn one.

Following the restart, Kreutz springboarded into second and 13th starter Joseph Hintz of Burnett rode the high line of the well-manicured track surface into fifth.

The third and final caution of the race came one lap later when Chris Larson stopped again in turn four.

The final restart of the race found Smith battling back to seize the runner-up spot, while Hintz powered up into third. At the head of the pack, Schmidt sliced his way through dense lapped traffic in the final few laps to secure his fourth A-main triumph of the 2024 season, 25th career PDTR A-main victory and 46th career MSA main event win.

The victory helped Schmidt capture his second career PDTR and MSA 360 Sprint Car championship 13 years after winning both titles in 2011.

Smith had to settle for second, Wenninger was third, seventh starter Alex Pokorski of West Bend finished fourth and Kevin Karnitz of West Bend charged up from the 18th starting spot to place fifth.

“We had kind of an odd start to the year with the rainouts and curfew night,” Schmidt said. “We picked it up in the second half of the year. Since we put this team together in 2020, we’ve finished second every year we’ve run for points. Winning a championship is a great accomplishment for the guys on my crew. I have to thank them, my family and my sponsors for everything they do to help make this happen. This is awesome.”

In memory of late 360-410 Sprint Car and Winged Super Modified driver Brian Portschy, who passed away 11 years ago, the Portschy family contributed $50 to the fifth place finisher in the PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car A-main, which Kevin Karnitz claimed.

Outside front row starter Blake Nimee of Oswego, Ill. edged out polesitter Scotty Thiel to take the lead exiting turn four of the opening circuit. Nimee opened a significant gap over Thiel until the leaders caught the rear of the field on lap 7, which allowed Thiel to close the gap.

After the leading raced in lockstep formation for the next 10 laps, a red flag appeared on lap 17 when the No. 19 machine of Jett Mann of Goshen, Ind. flipped in turn four. Thiel used a strong restart to slip underneath Nimee and seize the top spot in turn three.

After three more green flag laps were completed, a caution flag was displayed when Joe B. Miller of Millersville, Mo. stopped in turn two on lap 20. Following the restart, Nimee attempted to wrestle the lead away from Thiel with a slide job in turn two. However, Thiel crossed Nimee over heading down the backstretch to maintain the top spot.

Thiel then bolted away from his fellow competitors to seal his initial IRA 410 Sprint Car Series championship with his fourth A-main victory of the 2024 campaign and 29th career IRA main event triumph.

Nimee wound up second, 2023 IRA champion Brenham Crouch of Lubbock, Texas moved up from the eighth starting spot to place third, 2021 and 2022 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car champion Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls took fourth after starting fifth and two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Danny Schlafer of Sussex placed fifth from the seventh starting position.

After the initial start was waved off due to a spin, fifth starter Jimmy Sivia of Winthrop Harbor, Ill. won a battle with polesitter John Fahl to take the initial lead along the outside groove in turn two on lap 2.

Second starter Allen Hafford of Beach Park, Ill. gained second on lap two before a caution flag was displayed to the field on lap four when Tom Eller of Pleasant Prairie stopped along the front stretch.

When the race resumed, Hafford worked the low line to challenge Sivia for the top spot on lap 11. However, Sivia fended off Hafford’s advances to retain the lead. Two laps later, Zach Raidart used the outside groove to secure second place on lap 13.

Raidart quickly moved in to pressure Sivia for the lead just before the two cars made contact in turn three on lap 16, which caused Raidart to spin and bring out the race’s third caution flag.

Following the restart on lap 16, Sivia felt pressure from outside second row challenger Tyler Kuxhouse of Antioch, Ill. Mirroring the incident between Raidart and Sivia two laps prior, the two drivers made contact in turn three sending Kuxhouse spinning to produce the fourth and final caution flag of the race on lap 18.

Following the final restart, Fahl unleashed his No. 0 along the cushion and vaulted his way past Sivia into the top spot exiting turn two on lap 19.

Fahl, who captured back-to-back PDTR Super Modified championships at The Plymouth Dirt Track in 2014 and 2015, rode on from there to secure his first Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car A-main victory of the 2024 season and second career Wisconsin wingLess Series A-main win.

Sivia placed second, seventh starter Bryce Andrews of Kenosha placed third, Tim Cox of Park City, Ill. wound up fourth after starting 12th and Ryan Zielski of Oconomowoc moved up from the 13th starting position to round out the top five.

Inside second row starter Jordan Funderburk of Wadsworth, Ill. outpowered second starter Mark Heinert to gain the lead in turn four of the opening lap. Funderburk held the top spot until he spun in turn four, which gave the lead to Heinert on lap 4.

Over the next 10 laps, seventh starter Mike Neau weaved his way through the pack to duel with Heinert for the top spot before seizing the lead in turn four on lap 15.

Neau cruised from there to nail down the A-main victory, eighth starter Chad Stouthamer of Big Bend finished third, newly crowned 2024 IRA Lightning Sprints champ Heinert placed fourth and Funderburk recovered from lap 4 spin to place fifth.

Kris Spitz of Salem won the 10-lap IRA 410 Sprint Car B-main and Josh Davidson of Racine racked up the victory in the 10-lap Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car B main.

Joe B. Miller earned the overall fast qualifier award in IRA 410 Sprint Car Series qualifying with a fast lap of 11.711 seconds.

T.J. Smith claimed overall fast time honors in PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car hot-lap-group qualifying in 12.649 seconds.

Chad Stouthamer of Big Bend seized the fast qualifier award in IRA Lightning Sprints qualifying with a lap of 13.389 seconds.

Longtime inspector and track worker Fred DeBlaey accepted the 2024 PDTR Dedication to Dirt Award during a pre-race presentation.

The 14^th and final event of the 2024 PDTR campaign, sponsored by Jensen Sales & Service, equaled the season-high car count at The Plymouth Dirt Track with 95 total entries, including 33 IRA 410 Sprint Cars, 25 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars, 22 Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Cars and 15 IRA Lightning Sprints.

The 2024 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Awards Ceremony will take place Saturday, Oct. 12 at Racers Hall in Plymouth at 7 p.m. The event honors the top three points finishers, along with the rookie of the year and most improved award winners in the PDTR Late Model, 360 Sprint Car, Grand National and B Mod divisions.

Off-season news and information about the 2025 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing season 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.

AKRIGHT AUTO PLYMOUTH DIRT TRACK RACING 360 SPRINT CARS

A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 35-Ben Schmidt [2]; 2. 69S-TJ Smith [8]; 3. 69-Shane Wenninger [1]; 4. 4-Alex Pokorski [7]; 5. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [18]; 6. 14J-Joseph Hintz [13]; 7. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [4]; 8. 2-Chris Clayton [16]; 9. 24-Scott Conger [3]; 10. 22B-Brandon Berth [17]; 11. 3-Justin Erickson [9]; 12. 30-Doug Wondra [21]; 13. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [5]; 14. 33M-Josh Bilicki [14]; 15. 11-Tony Wondra [19]; 16. 09-Clayton Rossmann [11]; 17. 55P-Brady Portschy [12]; 18. 53A-Spyder Akright [15]; 19. 52-Cody Schlafer [22]; 20. 29J-Ralph Johnson [23]; 21. 55S-Ryan Sawusch [24]; 22. 51-Chris Larson [10]; 23. 39K-Kurt Davis [6]; 24. 54-Randy Post [20]; 25. (DNS) 12P-JJ Pagel

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 09-Clayton Rossmann [1]; 2. 3-Justin Erickson [3]; 3. 51-Chris Larson [2]; 4. 14J-Joseph Hintz [5]; 5. 39K-Kurt Davis [4]; 6. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [6]; 7. 11-Tony Wondra [7]; 8. 29J-Ralph Johnson [9]; 9. 30-Doug Wondra [8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 24-Scott Conger [1]; 2. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [2]; 3. 4-Alex Pokorski [3]; 4. 69S-TJ Smith [4]; 5. 69-Shane Wenninger [5]; 6. 22B-Brandon Berth [7]; 7. 2-Chris Clayton [6]; 8. 52-Cody Schlafer [8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 33M-Josh Bilicki [1]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt [3]; 3. 55P-Brady Portschy [2]; 4. 53A-Spyder Akright [6]; 5. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [4]; 6. 54-Randy Post [5]; 7. 55S-Ryan Sawusch [8]; 8. (DNF) 12P-JJ Pagel [7]

Qualifying 1: 1. 39K-Kurt Davis, 12.674 [9]; 2. 3-Justin Erickson, 12.805 [6]; 3. 51-Chris Larson, 12.861 [2]; 4. 09-Clayton Rossmann, 12.911 [5]; 5. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 12.956 [8]; 6. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 12.997 [1]; 7. 11-Tony Wondra, 13.213 [7]; 8. 30-Doug Wondra, 13.273 [4]; 9. 29J-Ralph Johnson, 13.518 [3]

Qualifying 2: 1. 69S-TJ Smith, 12.649 [5]; 2. 4-Alex Pokorski, 12.663 [1]; 3. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 12.697 [6]; 4. 24-Scott Conger, 12.706 [2]; 5. 69-Shane Wenninger, 12.762 [3]; 6. 2-Chris Clayton, 12.907 [4]; 7. 22B-Brandon Berth, 12.928 [7]; 8. 52-Cody Schlafer, 13.319 [8]

Qualifying 3: 1. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 12.691 [7]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt, 12.735 [3]; 3. 55P-Brady Portschy, 12.954 [4]; 4. 33M-Josh Bilicki, 13.002 [5]; 5. 54-Randy Post, 13.246 [1]; 6. 53A-Spyder Akright, 13.297 [6]; 7. 12P-JJ Pagel, 13.421 [2]; 8. 55S-Ryan Sawusch, 14.670 [8]

BUMPER TO BUMPER INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION 410 SPRINT CARS

A-Main (30 Laps): 1. 73-Scotty Thiel [1]; 2. 79-Blake Nimee [2]; 3. 1-Brenham Crouch [8]; 4. 25T-Travis Arenz [5]; 5. 25-Danny Schlafer [7]; 6. 9K-Kyle Schuett [11]; 7. 17GP-Scott Bogucki [6]; 8. 3N-Jake Neuman [10]; 9. 2W-Scott Neitzel [18]; 10. 7A-Will Armitage [9]; 11. 50YR-Kelby Watt [17]; 12. 22-Riley Goodno [13]; 13. GR8-Logan Julien [15]; 14. 4K-Kris Spitz [21]; 15. 47-Todd King[19]; 16. 87A-Austin Hartmann[14]; 17. 99-Tyler Brabant; 18. 21H-Tim Haddy [20]; 19. 16C-Tylar Rankin [16]; 20. 68-Dave Uttech [12]; 21. 13-Van Gurley Jr [23]; 22. 51B-Joe B Miller [3]; 23. 96-Jake Blackhurst [4]; 24. 19J-Jett Mann [24]

B-Main (10 Laps): 1. 4K-Kris Spitz [5]; 2. 12-Corbin Gurley [1]; 3. 13-Van Gurley Jr [3]; 4. 19J-Jett Mann [4]; 5. 99-Tyler Brabant [7]; 6. 33B-Scott Broty [11]; 7. 14T-Tim Estenson [9]; 8. 16-Anthony Knierim [10]; 9. 43-Jereme Schroeder [8]; 10. G5-Gage Pulkrabek [12]; 11. 17-Dylan Winkel [2]; 12. 70W-Logan Wienke [13]; 13. 21-Will Gerrits [6]

Dash 1 (4 Laps): 1. 73-Scotty Thiel [1]; 2. 51B-Joe B Miller [3]; 3. 25T-Travis Arenz [2]; 4. 25-Danny Schlafer [4]; 5. 7A-Will Armitage [5]

Dash 2 (4 Laps): 1. 79-Blake Nimee [1]; 2. 96-Jake Blackhurst [2]; 3. 17GP-Scott Bogucki [3]; 4. 1-Brenham Crouch [5]; 5. 3N-Jake Neuman [4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 25T-Travis Arenz [3]; 2. 68-Dave Uttech [1]; 3. GR8-Logan Julien [2]; 4. 2W-Scott Neitzel [5]; 5. 51B-Joe B Miller [4]; 6. 13-Van Gurley Jr [7]; 7. 12-Corbin Gurley [6]; 8. 33B-Scott Broty [8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Brenham Crouch [1]; 2. 9K-Kyle Schuett [2]; 3. 3N-Jake Neuman [4]; 4. 96-Jake Blackhurst [3]; 5. 21H-Tim Haddy [5]; 6. 19J-Jett Mann [7]; 7. 43-Jereme Schroeder [8]; 8. 17-Dylan Winkel [6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 17GP-Scott Bogucki [2]; 2. 87A-Austin Hartmann [5]; 3. 79-Blake Nimee [4]; 4. 50YR-Kelby Watt [1]; 5. 7A-Will Armitage [3]; 6. 4K-Kris Spitz [7]; 7. 99-Tyler Brabant [6]; 8. G5-Gage Pulkrabek [8]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 73-Scotty Thiel [3]; 2. 22-Riley Goodno [1]; 3. 16C-Tylar Rankin [5]; 4. 25-Danny Schlafer [4]; 5. 47-Todd King [2]; 6. 21-Will Gerrits [7]; 7. 14T-Tim Estenson [9]; 8. 16-Anthony Knierim [6]; 9. 70W-Logan Wienke [8]

Qualifying: 1. 51B-Joe B Miller, 11.711 [9]; 2. 3N-Jake Neuman, 11.790 [7]; 3. 79-Blake Nimee, 11.829 [29]; 4. 25-Danny Schlafer, 11.843 [27]; 5. 25T-Travis Arenz, 11.854 [14]; 6. 96-Jake Blackhurst, 11.861 [12]; 7. 7A-Will Armitage, 11.908 [13]; 8. 73-Scotty Thiel, 11.914 [33]; 9. GR8-Logan Julien, 11.941 [28]; 10. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 12.012 [24]; 11. 17GP-Scott Bogucki, 12.040 [6]; 12. 47-Todd King, 12.048 [16]; 13. 68-Dave Uttech, 12.083 [17]; 14. 1-Brenham Crouch, 12.100 [25]; 15. 50YR-Kelby Watt, 12.103 [18]; 16. 22-Riley Goodno, 12.108 [21]; 17. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 12.111 [32]; 18. 21H-Tim Haddy, 12.115 [1]; 19. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 12.150 [2]; 20. 16C-Tylar Rankin, 12.216 [30]; 21. 12-Corbin Gurley, 12.313 [10]; 22. 17-Dylan Winkel, 12.343 [26]; 23. 99-Tyler Brabant, 12.359 [4]; 24. 16-Anthony Knierim, 12.366 [5]; 25. 13-Van Gurley Jr, 12.430 [19]; 26. 19J-Jett Mann, 12.465 [15]; 27. 4K-Kris Spitz, 12.530 [20]; 28. 21-Will Gerrits, 12.604 [23]; 29. 33B-Scott Broty, 12.694 [31]; 30. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 12.730 [8]; 31. G5-Gage Pulkrabek, 12.848 [3]; 32. 70W-Logan Wienke, 13.259 [22]; 33. (DNS) 14T-Tim Estenson

Hot Laps: 1. 25-Danny Schlafer, 11.642 [27]; 2. 73-Scotty Thiel, 11.735 [33]; 3. 51B-Joe B Miller, 11.751 [9]; 4. 16C-Tylar Rankin, 11.806 [30]; 5. GR8-Logan Julien, 11.919 [28]; 6. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 11.957 [32]; 7. 17GP-Scott Bogucki, 11.991 [6]; 8. 79-Blake Nimee, 12.019 [29]; 9. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 12.040 [24]; 10. 1-Brenham Crouch, 12.058 [25]; 11. 3N-Jake Neuman, 12.071 [7]; 12. 50YR-Kelby Watt, 12.105 [18]; 13. 47-Todd King, 12.114 [16]; 14. 25T-Travis Arenz, 12.120 [14]; 15. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 12.253 [2]; 16. 7A-Will Armitage, 12.264 [13]; 17. 22-Riley Goodno, 12.274 [21]; 18. 33B-Scott Broty, 12.374 [31]; 19. 13-Van Gurley Jr, 12.436 [19]; 20. 21-Will Gerrits, 12.450 [23]; 21. G5-Gage Pulkrabek, 12.488 [3]; 22. 17-Dylan Winkel, 12.499 [26]; 23. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 12.559 [8]; 24. 4K-Kris Spitz, 12.670 [20]; 25. 21H-Tim Haddy, 12.676 [1]; 26. 68-Dave Uttech 12.684 [17]; 27. 19J-Jett Mann, 12.727 [15]; 28. 99-Tyler Brabant, 12.825 [4]; 29. 16-Anthony Knierim, 13.022 [5]; 30. 70W-Logan Wienke, 13.726 [22]; 31. (DNS) 12-Corbin Gurley; 32. (DNS) 14T-Tim Estenson; 33. (DNS) 96-Jake Blackhurst

AUTOMETER WISCONSIN WINGLESS SPRINT CARS

A-Main (20 Laps): 1. 0-John Fahl [1]; 2. 91-Jimmy Sivia [5]; 3. 17-Bryce Andrews [7]; 4. 40-Tim Cox [12]; 5. 14Z-Ryan Zielski [13]; 6. 70H-Tate Hensley [9]; 7. 7-Trinity Uttech [8]; 8. 8-Parker Jones [14]; 9. 29J-Ralph Johnson [10]; 10. 50-Rusty Egan [18]; 11. 11-Austin Hansen [22]; 12. 23Z-Zach Raidart [6]; 13. 21T-Mitchell Reich [15]; 14. 44-Jordan Miklas [17]; 15. 57F-Tristan Furseth [3]; 16. 29OG-Tom Eller [16]; 17. 7D-Josh Davidson [11]; 18. 4G-George Gaertner III [19]; 19. 38-Allen Hafford [2]; 20. 711-Tyler Kuxhouse [4]; 21. 17M-Matt Rypel [20]; 22. (DNS) 99J-Seth Johnson

B-Main (10 Laps): 1. 7D-Josh Davidson [1]; 2. 40-Tim Cox [7]; 3. 14Z-Ryan Zielski [9]; 4. 8-Parker Jones [12]; 5. 21T-Mitchell Reich [8]; 6. 29OG-Tom Eller [4]; 7. 44-Jordan Miklas [11]; 8. 50-Rusty Egan [2]; 9. 4G-George Gaertner III [3]; 10. 17M-Matt Rypel [10]; 11. (DNS) 11-Austin Hansen; 12. (DNS) 99J-Seth Johnson

IRA LIGHTNING SPRINTS

A-Main (20 Laps): 1. 16-Mike Neau [7]; 2. 5S-Chad Stouthamer [8]; 3. 55H-Mark Heinert [2]; 4. 17-Jordan Funderburk [3]; 5. 18-Nick Petska [6]; 6. 22S-Brian Strane Jr [15]; 7. 63-Jacob Irwin [10]; 8. 74-Tim Brannam [4]; 9. 74M-Max Brannam [12]; 10. 13-Tucker Richards [9]; 11. 23-Dominick Swierad [14]; 12. 01-Ron Brannam [13]; 13. 6-Jeff Schmidt [11]; 14. (DNS) 11-Derek Fortier; 15. (DNS) 38-Johnson Ginder

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 17-Jordan Funderburk [1]; 2. 18-Nick Petska [3]; 3. 13-Tucker Richards [6]; 4. 5S-Chad Stouthamer [4]; 5. 11-Derek Fortier [5]; 6. 6-Jeff Schmidt [2]; 7. 01-Ron Brannam [7]; 8. (DNS) 22S-Brian Strane Jr

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 55H-Mark Heinert [1]; 2. 38-Johnson Ginder [3]; 3. 16-Mike Neau [4]; 4. 74-Tim Brannam [2]; 5. 63-Jacob Irwin [6]; 6. 74M-Max Brannam [5]; 7. 23-Dominick Swierad [7]

Qualifying: 1. 5S-Chad Stouthamer, 13.389 [10]; 2. 16-Mike Neau, 13.450 [11]; 3. 18-Nick Petska, 13.470 [12]; 4. 38-Johnson Ginder, 13.582 [3]; 5. 6-Jeff Schmidt, 13.611 [9]; 6. 74-Tim Brannam, 13.622 [15]; 7. 17-Jordan Funderburk, 13.732 [4]; 8. 55H-Mark Heinert, 13.840 [14]; 9. 11-Derek Fortier, 13.982 [1]; 10. 74M-Max Brannam, 14.101 [7]; 11. 13-Tucker Richards, 14.255 [6]; 12. 63-Jacob Irwin, 14.396 [2]; 13. 01-Ron Brannam, 14.471 [13]; 14. 23-Dominick Swierad, 15.120 [5]; 15. 22S-Brian Strane Jr [8]