Arenz dominates IRA 410 Sprint Car main event

Heinert earns IRA Lightning Sprints triumph

By Jeff Pederson – Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) May 17, 2025 – In a rare appearance in the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car division, Scotty Thiel of Sheboygan fended off an inspired effort from second-year driver Brady Portschy of Plymouth to claim the victory in the 25-lap Akright Auto-MMW Industrial Supply 360 Sprint Car A main at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, May 17.

Two-time Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car champion Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls scored a convincing flag-to-flag victory in the 30-lap Scott Semmelmann Memorial Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car main event.

Mark Heinert of Waukesha led all 20 laps to score the win in the 20-lap Interstate Racing Association Lightning Sprints A main.

Polesitter Bill Taylor of Boltonville grabbed the lead along the low groove on the opening lap of the 25-lap PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car main event. At the same time, outside front row starter and 2024 IRA champ Scotty Thiel worked the cushion in second.

On lap 3, two-time and defending PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth stopped along the backstretch to bring out the first of two caution flags. After a trip to the work area, Schmidt returned to restart at the rear of the field.

Following the restart, fourth starter Brady Portschy worked his way into third while Thiel used the high line to pressure Taylor for the top spot. On lap 9, Thiel used the outer groove to surge ahead exiting turn two.

Thiel pulled away from Taylor over the ensuing five laps before the second caution flag flew for the stalled car of 2008 PDTR champion Lance Fassbender of Burnett on lap 14.

On the restart, Portschy slipped past Taylor to seize second with two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Kurt Davis, who started ninth, following in third.

Two laps later, Portschy utilized the low groove to pull even with the high-riding Thiel. After catching the rear of the field on lap 17, Thiel skillfully sliced his way through slower traffic to build up a half-straightaway advantage over the final eight laps on the way to his fifth career PDTR and 15th career MSA A-main victory.

Portschy posted a career-best second place finish, Davis wound up third, sixth starter Billy Kreutz of Kiel placed fourth and Fassbender, who started 13th, bounced back after stopping on lap 14 to round out the top five.

“I was committed to the top and Brady [Portschy] ran a good race using the bottom,” Thiel said. “I was waiting for him to get to where I needed to change my line. I got a little nervous, but it worked out. I have to thank Randy Sippel for putting this car together. It ran great.”

Travis Arenz took the lead on the initial circuit of the 30-lap IRA Scott Semmelmann Memorial main event with outside front row starter Scotty Broty of Lonsdale, Minn. following in second.

Broty moved to within striking distance on lap 10 before the first of two caution flags was displayed for the slowing car of Waupaca’s Tyler Tischendorf on lap 11.

Following the restart, Arenz powered away from the rest of the field along the cushion as Thiel, who started fifth, worked his way into second. Arenz had built up a huge half-lap 2.5-second lead over Thiel when Max Guilford of Auckland, New Zealand drew the final caution flag when his machine stopped in turn four on lap 23.

Arenz again proved to be the class of the field when the race resumed as he bolted away to earn his second career IRA A-main victory. It was Arenz’s first main event victory since claiming his initial IRA win at The Plymouth Dirt Track on July 1, 2023.

Seven starter Blake Nimee of Yorkville, Ill. used a last lap pass to take second, Thiel wound up third, Kelby Watt of Adel, Iowa took fourth after starting sixth and 2012 Knoxville Nationals champion Tim Shaffer of Aliquippa, Pa., who started third, rallied from a first-lap encounter with the infield tires to finish fifth.

Outside front row starter Mark Heinert of Waukesha surged into the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap IRA Lightning Sprints A main. Third starter Nick Petska of Spring Grove, Ill. moved in to challenge Heinert for the top spot on lap 12.

However, Heinert fended off Petska’s bid to pull away to the victory. Brian Strane Jr., who started fourth, slipped past Petska in the closing laps to take second, Petska was third, Tucker Richards of Bristol advanced from the ninth starting position to finish fourth and sixth starter Chad Stouthamer of Big Bend rounded out the top five.

Zach Daum of Pocahontas, Ill. posted the victory in the 12-lap IRA B main.

Brandon Berth of Cascade captured the 12-lap PDTR-MSA B main.

Kyle Schuett of Philo, Ill. earned the fast qualifier award in the IRA 410 Sprint Car division in 11.224 seconds.

Brandon Berth claimed fast qualifier honors in the PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car division with a lap of 12.367.

The third event of the 2025 PDTR campaign, sponsored by Jensen Sales & Service, included 71 total entries, including 32 IRA 410 Sprint Cars, 27 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars and 12 IRA Lightning Sprints.

After taking the Memorial Day weekend off, the next PDTR racing program on Saturday, May 31 is autograph night with kids receiving a free checkered. The night will feature the second appearance of the Seubert Calf Ranches Super Six Late Model Series.

The PDTR Akright Auto 360 Sprint Cars, Oostburg Automotive Grand Nationals and Sheboygan Flooring B Mods will also be featured.

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

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. 39S-Scotty Thiel [2]; 2. 55P-Brady Portschy [4]; 3. 6K-Kurt Davis [9]; 4. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [6]; 5. 7-Lance Fassbender [13]; 6. 14J-Joseph Hintz [11]; 7. 69-Bill Taylor [1]; 8. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [12]; 9. 09-Clayton Rossmann [19]; 10. 57-Tristan Furseth [3]; 11. 51-Chris Larson [14]; 12. 3-Justin Erickson  [20]; 13. 22B-Brandon Berth [17]; 14. 2-Chris Clayton [21]; 15. 24X-Eric Wilke [10]; 16. 1-Ben Schmidt [15]; 17. 68T-Tyler Davis [7]; 18. 10V-Nathan Crane [22]; 19. 69S-TJ Smith [8]; 20. 46-Steven Ruh [18]; 21. 33M-Josh Bilicki [16]; 22. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [5]

B Main (12 Laps): 1. 22B-Brandon Berth[2]; 2. 46-Steven Ruh[1]; 3. 09-Clayton Rossmann[3]; 4. 3-Justin Erickson[6]; 5. 2-Christopher Clayton[7]; 6. 10V-Nathan Crane[9]; 7. 11-Tony Wondra[4]; 8. 12P-JJ Pagel[5]; 9. 30-Doug Wondra[8]; 10. 9C-Cole Stella[11]; 11. 7B-Nick Guernsey[10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach[1]; 2. 39S-Scotty Thiel[2]; 3. 14J-Joseph Hintz[3]; 4. 6K-Kurt Davis[6]; 5. 22B-Brandon Berth[4]; 6. 3-Justin Erickson[5]; 7. 2-Christopher Clayton[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 55P-Brady Portschy[1]; 2. 57-Tristan Furseth[3]; 3. 1-Ben Schmidt[2]; 4. 7-Lance Fassbender[5]; 5. 09-Clayton Rossmann[4]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra[6]; 7. 30-Doug Wondra[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 69S-TJ Smith[2]; 2. 3BK-Billy Kreutz[4]; 3. 63K-Kevin Karnitz[3]; 4. 51-Chris Larson[5]; 5. 10V-Nathan Crane[1]; 6. 9C-Cole Stella[7]; 7. (DNF) 7B-Nick Guernsey[6]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 68T-Tyler Davis[2]; 2. 24X-Eric Wilke[1]; 3. 69-Bill Taylor[4]; 4. 33M-Josh Bilicki[3]; 5. 46-Steven Ruh[5]; 6. 12P-JJ Pagel[6]

Qualifying 1: 1. 22B-Brandon Berth, 12.671[2]; 2. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 12.683[4]; 3. 39S-Scotty Thiel, 12.731[6]; 4. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 12.789[5]; 5. 3-Justin Erickson, 12.807[7]; 6. 6K-Kurt Davis, 13.005[1]; 7. 2-Chris Clayton, 13.026 [3]

Qualifying 2: 1. 09-Clayton Rossmann, 12.689[7]; 2. 57-Tristan Furseth, 12.724[1]; 3. 1-Ben Schmidt, 12.821[4]; 4. 55P-Brady Portschy, 12.917[6]; 5. 7-Lance Fassbender, 12.948[2]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra, 12.958[3]; 7. 30-Doug Wondra, 13.062[5]

Qualifying 3: 1. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 12.705[6]; 2. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 12.888[3]; 3. 69S-TJ Smith, 13.076[4]; 4. 10V-Nathan Crane, 13.179[1]; 5. 51-Chris Larson, 13.185[2]; 6. 7B-Nick Guernsey, 13.413[5]; 7. 9C-Cole Stella, 13.437[7]

Qualifying 4: 1. 69-Bill Taylor, 12.935[1]; 2. 33M-Josh Bilicki, 13.160[5]; 3. 68T-Tyler Davis, 13.192[4]; 4. 24X-Eric Wilke, 13.238[3]; 5. 46-Steven Ruh, 13.275[2]; 6. 12P-JJ Pagel, 13.548[6]

BUMPER TO BUMPER INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION 410 SPRINT CARS

A Main (30 Laps): 1. 25T-Travis Arenz [1]; 2. 79-Blake Nimee [7]; 3. 51-Scotty Thiel [5]; 4. 1K-Kelby Watt [6]; 5. 17GP-Tim Shaffer [3]; 6. 33-Scott Broty [2]; 7. 3N-Jake Neuman [13]; 8. 85J-Logan Julien [4]; 9. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [16]; 10. 9K-Kyle Schuett [8]; 11. 34-Sterling Cling [9]; 12. 9-Tommy Colburn [11]; 13. 16C-Max Guilford [20]; 14. 5D-Zach Daum [21]; 15. 96-Jake Blackhurst [10]; 16. 2W-Scott Neitzel [14]; 17. 25-Danny Schlafer [22]; 18. 12-Corbin Gurley [19]; 19. 4K-Kris Spitz [18]; 20. 10V-Matt VanderVere [17]; 21. 16TH-Kevin Newton [12]; 22. 21H-TJ Haddy [24]; 23. GR8-Will Gerrits [23]; 24. (DNF) 26-Tyler Tischendorf [15]

B Main (12 Laps): 1. 5D-Zach Daum[4]; 2. 25-Danny Schlafer[1]; 3. GR8-Will Gerrits[5]; 4. 21H-TJ Haddy[2]; 5. 4-Alex Pokorski[7]; 6. 87A-Austin Hartmann[9]; 7. 3BK-Billy Kreutz[3]; 8. 99-Tyler Brabant[6]; 9. 4D-Cruz Dickerson[10]; 10. 3B-Shelby Bosie[8]; 11. 24-Scott Conger[11]; 12. (DNS) 70W-Logan Wienke

Dash 1 (4 Laps): 1. 25T-Travis Arenz[1]; 2. 17GP-Tim Shaffer[2]; 3. 51-Scotty Thiel[5]; 4. 79-Blake Nimee[4]; 5. 34-Sterling Cling[3]

Dash 2 (4 Laps): 1. 33-Scott Broty[3]; 2. 85J-Logan Julien[2]; 3. 1K-Kelby Watt[5]; 4. 9K-Kyle Schuett[1]; 5. 96-Jake Blackhurst[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 85J-Logan Julien[1]; 2. 9-Tommy Colburn[2]; 3. 9K-Kyle Schuett[4]; 4. 79-Blake Nimee[3]; 5. 4K-Kris Spitz[5]; 6. GR8-Will Gerrits[7]; 7. 4-Alex Pokorski[6]; 8. 4D-Cruz Dickerson[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1K-Kelby Watt[1]; 2. 51-Scotty Thiel[4]; 3. 2W-Scott Neitzel[6]; 4. 26-Tyler Tischendorf[2]; 5. 33-Scott Broty[3]; 6. 3BK-Billy Kreutz[5]; 7. 3B-Shelby Bosie[7]; 8. 24-Scott Conger[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 96-Jake Blackhurst[2]; 2. 25T-Travis Arenz[4]; 3. 34-Sterling Cling[3]; 4. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[6]; 5. 16C-Max Guilford[7]; 6. 5D-Zach Daum[5]; 7. 87A-Austin Hartmann[8]; 8. 21H-TJ Haddy[1]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 17GP-Tim Shaffer[2]; 2. 16TH-Kevin Newton[1]; 3. 3N-Jake Neuman[3]; 4. 10V-Matt VanderVere[6]; 5. 12-Corbin Gurley[5]; 6. 99-Tyler Brabant[7]; 7. 25-Danny Schlafer[4]; 8. (DNS) 70W-Logan Wienke

Qualifying: 1. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 11.224[5]; 2. 51-Scotty Thiel, 11.318[8]; 3. 25T-Travis Arenz, 11.367[18]; 4. 25-Danny Schlafer, 11.376[10]; 5. 79-Blake Nimee, 11.499[16]; 6. 33-Scott Broty, 11.503[6]; 7. 34-Sterling Cling, 11.517[28]; 8. 3N-Jake Neuman, 11.532[19]; 9. 9-Tommy Colburn, 11.561[13]; 10. 26-Tyler Tischendorf, 11.562[11]; 11. 96-Jake Blackhurst, 11.568[23]; 12. 17GP-Tim Shaffer, 11.579[29]; 13. 85J-Logan Julien, 11.584[3]; 14. 1K-Kelby Watt, 11.636[21]; 15. 21H-TJ Haddy, 11.658[12]; 16. 16TH-Kevin Newton, 11.792[14]; 17. 4K-Kris Spitz, 11.801[7]; 18. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 11.804[22]; 19. 5D-Zach Daum, 11.828[31]; 20. 12-Corbin Gurley, 11.837[15]; 21. 4-Alex Pokorski, 11.875[27]; 22. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 11.880[24]; 23. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 11.940[26]; 24. 10V-Matt VanderVere, 11.945[20]; 25. GR8-Will Gerrits, 12.016[32]; 26. 3B-Shelby Bosie, 12.017[4]; 27. 16C-Max Guilford, 12.041[30]; 28. 99-Tyler Brabant, 12.064[1]; 29. 4D-Cruz Dickerson, 12.067[25]; 30. 24-Scott Conger, 12.190 [17]; 31. (DNF) 87A-Austin Hartmann 32. (DNF) 70W-Logan Wienke

INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION LIGHTNING SPRINTS

A Main (20 Laps): 1. 55-Mark Heinert [2]; 2. 22S-Brian Strane Jr. [4]; 3. 18-Nick Petska [3]; 4. 13-Tucker Richards [9]; 5. 5S-Chad Stouthamer [6]; 6. 74-Tim Brannam [1]; 7. 11-Derek Fortier [5]; 8. 18Q-Chris Quillman [7]; 9. 63-Jacob Irwin [10]; 10. 74M-Max Brannam [12]; 11. 01-Ron Brannam [8]; 12. (DNF) 11S-Colin Sivia [11]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 55-Mark Heinert [3]; 2. 22S-Brian Strane Jr[4]; 3. 11-Derek Fortier[2]; 4. 5S-Chad Stouthamer[1]; 5. 01-Ron Brannam[5]; 6. 74M-Max Brannam[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Nick Petska[4]; 2. 18Q-Chris Quillman[1]; 3. 13-Tucker Richards[5]; 4. 74-Tim Brannam[3]; 5. 63-Jacob Irwin[6]; 6. 11S-Colin Sivia[2]

Qualifying: 1. 22S-Brian Strane Jr, 12.919[12]; 2. 18-Nick Petska, 13.019[10]; 3. 55-Mark Heinert, 13.263[2]; 4. 74-Tim Brannam, 13.401[7]; 5. 11-Derek Fortier, 13.482[9]; 6. 11S-Colin Sivia, 13.526[11]; 7. 5S-Chad Stouthamer, 13.585[6]; 8. 18Q-Chris Quillman, 13.640[8]; 9. 01-Ron Brannam, 13.764[1]; 10. 13-Tucker Richards, 13.791[5]; 11. 74M-Max Brannam, 13.851[3]; 12. 63-Jacob Irwin, 14.372[4]