by Jeff Pederson
Pedal Down Promotions
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) June 19, 2021 – Three drivers took their first trip to Kunes RV victory lane of the 2021 season, while a three-time and defending track champion returned to the winner’s circle for the second straight week, as Plymouth Dirt Track Racing staged its eighth consecutive program of the 2021 campaign at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, June 19.
After a two-year absence, Kevin Karnitz of West Bend returned to victory lane in the 25-lap Kristine Hartmann Pleasantview Realty 360 Sprint Car main event.
Following a string of early-season struggles, three-time and defending PDTR Late Model champion Justin Schmidt of Cleveland continued to recapture his title-winning form by notching his second consecutive 25-lap Sheboygan’s Country B93.7 Late Model main event victory of 2021.
22-year veteran Luke Scholten of Oostburg snapped a two-year winless drought by claiming the 25-lap Oostburg Automotive Grand National A-main, while Beaver Dam’s Elijah Koenig made a rare PDTR appearance count by storming to victory in the time-shortened, incident-plagued 21-lap Cellcom B Mod A main.
In the 25-lap 360 Sprint Car A main, a red flag and caution flag flew before the first lap of the race was completed. The red flag appeared on the initial start when Nick Daywalt of Hubertus flipped exiting turn two on the opening lap.
On the ensuing start attempt, 2018 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Justin Miller of Plymouth got sideways while running second in turn four and collected two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh. McMullen retired from the race with heavy front-end damage, while Miller was able to continue.
When the race finally got underway, Kevin Karnitz bolted into the lead from the pole position with Justin Miller, who started second, falling into second in the running order.
By lap 6, Karnitz had built up a full straightaway lead over Miller. Three laps later Karnitz encountered heavy lapped traffic. However, Karnitz dispatched the slower cars in quick order to maintain a solid cushion over the field.
On lap 20, Tyler Tischendorf of Waupaca and Scott Conger of Eagle collided in turn four, which also collected Justin Miller and 2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt, who started sixth and was running fifth. Schmidt was able to continue after going to the work area, while Miller was done for the night.
Following the single-file restart, Karnitz was firmly in control as he pulled away from seventh starter Will Gerrits of Waupun, who was running second.
Karnitz went on to notch his fifth career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory and seventh Midwest Sprint Car Association main event triumph, while notching his first victory at Plymouth since June 1, 2019.
Gerrits finished second, 16th starter Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls charged up to finish third, 13th starter Brandon Berth of Cascade placed fourth and Tyler Brabant of Waupun, who started third, rounded out the top five.
Outside front row starter Charlie Schmidt of Cedar Grove jumped into the lead on the drop of the green field of the 25-lap Late Model A main with fourth starter Joe Bongiorno of Milwaukee following in second and four-time PDTR Late Model champion Brad Mueller of Random Lake, who started sixth, moving into third in his second appearance of the 2021 season with PDTR.
As Schmidt paced the field, the lone caution of the event appeared on lap 9 when Justin Ritchie of New London stopped in turn four on lap 9. On the restart, Mueller used the preferred outside groove to power around Bongiorno into second.
On lap 12, Mueller moved in to pressure Schmidt for the lead along the fast and often treacherous cushion. While Schmidt held Mueller at bay, 2016 PDTR Late Model champion Tim Buhler of Greenbush ducked low to briefly take third after starting fifth on lap 19.
One lap later, third starter Justin Schmidt following suit along in the inside line to duck under Buhler to secure third on lap 20 and second in lap 21. On lap 22, Justin Schmidt surged past Charlie Schmidt into the lead in turn one with Mueller in tow as the leader worked through slower traffic.
Justin Schmidt held on over the final three laps to wrap up his 15th career PDTR Late Model A-main victory. Mueller placed second, Charlie Schmidt finished third, Buhler wound up fourth and Bongiorno rounded out the top five.
Luke Scholten started the accident-marred 25-lap Grand National A main from the pole and quickly took over the top spot on the opening lap with second starter Dick Hed of Plymouth following in second.
The first of four caution flags appeared on lap 3 for a two-car incident in turn four. On the restart, Dustin Weiss of Iron Ridge, who started fourth, worked the outside groove to challenge Hed for second.
The second caution flag appeared on lap 6 when Steven Weber of Plymouth spun on lap 6. Dustin Weiss followed off a nifty high move on the restart to secure second on lap 7.
The third caution was displayed on lap 9 for a four-car incident in turn four. On the restart, Hed and Weiss continued to mount an epic duel for the runner-up spot. The fourth and final caution came out for a single-car spin on lap 12.
Weiss bolted around Hed on the restart before moving in to pressure Scholten for the lead. However, Scholten proved to be too strong as he fended off Weiss’ advances to notch his 14th career PDTR Grand National A-main victory to move into second on the all-time PDTR Grand National A-main victory list. It was Scholten first PDTR Grand National A-main win since July 29, 2019.
Weiss placed second, Nick Schumacher of Eagle placed third after starting 10th, two-time PDTR Grand National champion Don Sorce Jr. of West Allis finished fourth after starting ninth and fifth starter Donny Kulow of Elkhart Lake finished fifth.
Justin Bauer of Sheboygan Falls jumped into the lead on the drop of the green flag of the time shortened 21-lap B Mod A main from the pole.
The first of six caution flags appeared on lap four when Nick Schultz of Beaver Dam spun in turn four. Following the restart, fifth starter Elijah Koenig of Beaver Dam charged up to challenge Bauer for the top spot.
On lap 9, Koenig surged past Bauer and into the lead along the high groove. By lap 12, Koenig had already built up a full straightaway cushion over Bauer.
The final 13 laps of the race featured Koenig pulling away from the field in between stoppages in the racing action for four additional caution flags.
Koenig held a healthy lead over Bauer when the sixth and final caution flag was displayed on lap 22 to bring the race to an early end due to the time limit. Koenig earned his second career PDTR B Mod A-main victory, while Bauer placed second, 10th starter Spencer Long of Sheboygan Falls finished third, Mark Hoeppner of Rubicon, who started second, placed fourth and fourth starter Rick Kretschmann of Sheboygan Falls rounded out the top five.
Bill Taylor of Boltonville won the first 15-lap 360 Sprint Car B main.
The eighth PDTR program of the 2021 season, which was sponsored by Frank Motorsports Professional Services, drew 81 total cars, including 29 360 Sprint Cars, 20 B Mods, 15 Late Models and 17 Grand Nationals.
PDTR action is scheduled to resume on Friday, June 25 with the final edition of the Russ Scheffler Tribute Race honoring the winningest driver in PDTR history.
Racing is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. with action in the 360 Sprint Car, Late Model, Grand National and B Mod divisions.
The new book “70 Years of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing” by Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan and George Baumann of Waupun, covering every season of racing at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. from 1950 to 2020 will be available for purchase at every race during the 2021 PDTR season, as well as at the Sheboygan County Fair office during regular business hours and online at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.
KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS
HEAT 1
1, Jack Vanderboom 2, Blake Wondra 3, Jordan Paulsen 4, Kevin Karnitz 5, Nick Daywalt 6, Justin Erickson 7, Alex Pokorski 8, Adam Miller.
HEAT 2
1, Tyler Brabant 2, Brandon McMullen 3, Scott Conger 4, Tony Wondra 5, Tim Haddy 6, Chris Clayton 7, Doug Wondra.
HEAT 3
1, Ben Schmidt 2, Lance Fassbender 3, Tyler Tischendorf 4, Brandon Berth 5, Katelyn Krebsbach 6, Josh Teunissen 7, Dylan Winkel.
HEAT 4
1, Justin Miller 2, Will Gerrits 3, Preston Ruh 4, Bill Taylor 5, Travis Arenz 6, Matt Rechek 7, Cole Possi.
B MAIN
1, Bill Taylor 2, Nick Daywalt 3, Chris Clayton 4, Tim Haddy 5, Alex Pokorski 6, Adam Miller 7, Matt Rechek 8, Katelyn Krebsbach 9, Dylan Winkel 10, Cole Possi 11, Justin Erickson 12, Josh Teunissen 13, Doug Wondra.
A MAIN
1, Kevin Karnitz 2, Will Gerrits 3, Travis Arenz 4, Brandon Berth 5, Tyler Brabant 6, Lance Fassbender 7, Jack Vanderboom 8, Jordan Paulsen 9, Bill Taylor 10, Adam Miller 11, Alex Pokorski 12, Ben Schmidt 13, Tony Wondra 14, Tyler Tischendorf 15, Chris Clayton 16, Tim Haddy 17, Preston Ruh 18, Scott Conger 19, Justin Miller 20, Blake Wondra 21, Brandon McMullen 22, Nick Daywalt.
SHEBOYGAN’S COUNTY B93.7 LATE MODELS
HEAT 1
1, Turk Letizia 2, Justin Schmidt 3, Justin Green 4, Joe Bongiorno 5, Eric Michaels 6, Sawyer Specht 7, Jake Van Engen 8, Billy Rezutek (DNS).
HEAT 2
1, Tim Buhler 2, Charlie Schmidt 3, Chris Engels 4, Brad Mueller 5, Justin Ritchie 6, Jim Schmidt 7, Donny Singer.
A MAIN
1, Justin Schmidt 2, Brad Mueller 3, Charlie Schmidt 4, Tim Buhler 5, Joe Bongiorno 6, Chris Engels 7, Billy Rezutek 8, Justin Green 9, Jim Schmidt 10, Jake Van Engen 11, Sawyer Specht 12, Eric Michaels 13, Justin Ritchie 14, Donny Singer 15, Turk Letizia.
OOSTBURG AUTOMOTIVE GRAND NATIONALS
HEAT 1
1, Brad Weiss 2, Dustin Weiss 3, Luke Scholten 4, Dick Hed 5, Don Sorce Jr. 6, Maverick Ruh 7, Jacob Falk 8, Chad Espen 9, Dylan Struve
HEAT 2
1, Donny Kulow 2, Derek Kaat 3, Matt Yancey 4, Tyler Kulow 5, Nick Schumacher 6, Steven Weber 7, J.J. Pagel 8, Jason Schilling.
A MAIN
1 Luke Scholten 2, Dustin Weiss 3, Nick Schumacher 4, Don Sorce Jr. 5, Donny Kulow 6, Tyler Kulow 7, Dick Hed 8, Chad Espen 9, Steven Weber 10, Maverick Ruh 12, Jacob Falk 13, Brad Weiss 14, Derek Kaat 15, Matt Yancey 16, Jason Schilling 17, J.J. Pagel 18, Dylan Struve (DNS).
CELLCOM B MOD
HEAT 1
1, Trevor Frank 2, Nick Schultz 3, Phil Campanella 4, Justin Bauer 5, Shane Long 6, Christopher Gilson 7, Brady Harshbarger.
HEAT 2
1, Matthew Roehl 2, Tim Thrun 3, Rick Kretschmann 4, Donny Singer 5, Patrick Hanson 6, Michael Strean 7, Rory Welch.
HEAT 3
1, Elijah Koenig 2, Mark Hoeppner 3, Gary Glander 4, Spencer Long 5, Brendan Ostrowski 6, Steve Lorier.
A MAIN
1, Elijah Koenig 2, Justin Bauer 3, Spencer Long 4, Mark Hoeppner 5, Rick Kretschmann 6, Shane Long 7, Nick Schultz 8, Patrick Hanson 9, Phil Campanella 10, Rory Welch 11, Trevor Frank 12, Tim Thrun 13, Brendan Ostrowski 14, Steve Lorier 15, Gary Glander 16, Donny Singer 17, Matthew Roehl 18, Christopher Gilson 19, Michael Strean (DNS) 20, Brady Harshbarger (DNS).
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