by Jeff Pederson
Pedal Down Promotions
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) July 17, 2021 – The cream rose to the top as former Plymouth Dirt Track Racing division champions swept all four A-main races Saturday, July 17 at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis.
In the PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main, two-time division champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh notched his second 25-lap Kristine Hartmann Pleasantview Realty 360 Sprint Car A-main victory of the 2021 campaign.
Three-time and defending PDTR Late Model champion Justin Schmidt of Cleveland notched his second consecutive and fourth overall 25-lap Sheboygan’s County 93.7 Late Model A-main victory of the 2021 season.
Two-time PDTR Grand National champ Don Sorce Jr. of West Allis rolled to his first A-main triumph of 2021, while 2017 PDTR B Mod champion Justin Green of Sheboygan Falls made the most of a fill-in driving opportunity behind the wheel of Spencer Long’s 59s machine to earn the victory in the 25-lap B Mod main event.
Polesitter Will Gerrits of Waupun grabbed the lead in turn one of the opening lap of the 360 Sprint Car A main with 2018 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Justin Miller of Plymouth, who started second, and 2008 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Lance Fassbender of Burnett, who started fifth, moving into third.
The first of four caution flags appeared on lap 5 when Fassbender spun in turn three. On the restart, Brandon McMullen, who started seventh, used the outside groove to move into second on lap 6.
Five laps later, McMullen powered around Gerrits and into the top spot along the outside line of the wide, smooth and slick racing surface exiting turn four.
On lap 13, point leader Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls stalled in turn four to bring out the second caution flag. Another caution flag appeared on the ensuing restart as Chris Clayton of Waldo, Doug Wondra of Lomira and Tyler Brabant of Waupun collided along the backstretch.
McMullen controlled the next restart with Gerrits in second and 2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Ben Schmidt of Plymouth, who started ninth, in third.
The fourth and final caution flag was displayed on lap 14 when Justin Erickson of Plymouth, Blake Wondra of Fond du Lac and Tyler Brabant made contact in turn four.
Following the restart, Schmidt slipped past Gerrits into second, while McMullen bolted away from the field along the cushion. McMullen pulled away from the pack over the final 10 laps en route to his 22nd career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory and 32nd career Midwest Sprint Car Association main event win.
The victory pushed McMullen past Donny Goeden into sole possession of third place on the all-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main win list.
Schmidt placed second, 18th starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend charged up to finish third, Gerrits took fourth and Tim Haddy of Waupun worked his way up from his 13th starting spot to finish fifth.
After a false start, outside front row starter Jayme Zidar of Greenfield led the opening lap of the 25-lap Late Model A main before the first of seven caution flags appeared on lap 3 for an incident involving Dan White and Turk Letizia of Milwaukee.
On the restart, Charlie Schmidt of Oostburg, who started sixth, worked the outside groove to power into the lead exiting turn two. The second caution flag appeared on lap 4 for a spin involving Brian Gerber. Another caution flag was displayed on the restart when Jayme Zidar spun in turn two.
On the ensuing restart, Justin Schmidt, who started ninth, flexed his muscle along the high groove to power his way into third on lap 6. The race was slowed for the fourth time on lap 7 when Wayne Freimund stopped in turn four.
Justin Schmidt utilized the high line on the restart to seize second entering turn one on lap 8 before Wayne Freimund brought out another caution flag on lap 9 when he stalled in turn one.
Two more caution flags followed in quick succession as Donny Singer of Random Lake and Chad Ludwigson of Sheboygan Falls collided in turn four and Jim Schmidt of Cleveland hit the turn one wall.
Justin Schmidt turned it up following the final restart to challenge Charlie Schmidt for the lead beginning on lap 12. Slower traffic allowed Justin Schmidt to move within striking distance on lap 19 and four laps later, he powered into the lead in turn two in heavy lapped traffic.
Justin Schmidt pulled away over the final two laps to secure his 17th career PDTR Late Model A-main victory to break a tie with his father Jim and move into sole possession of third place on the all-time PDTR Late Model A-main victory list.
The win was also Justin Schmidt’s fourth in the last five PDTR Late Model A main events.
Justin Ritchie, who started fifth, finished second, Charlie Schmidt placed third, 2008 PDTR Late Model champion Billy Rezutek of Big Bend, who started seventh, placed fourth and fourth starter Turk Letizia recovered from an early-race incident to place fifth.
Steven Ruh of New Holstein, who started second, jumped into the lead in turn two of the opening lap of the 25-lap Grand National A main behind the wheel of the Bender Racing No. 89 machine before polesitter Luke Scholten of Oostburg gained the lead in turn four to lead the first lap.
Ruh battled back to seize the lead in turn two on lap 2 before Scholten again wrestled away the lead in turn four to take over the top spot. The first of three caution flags appeared on lap five when Derek Kaat of Howards Groove spun in turn two.
On the restart, Don Sorce Jr., who started sixth, seized second lap 9. Four laps later, Scholten made contact with the lapped car of Darren Meyer, which produced the second caution flag when Meyer spun in turn three on lap 13.
On the restart, Ruh batted back to assume the top spot along the high groove on lap 14 just behind the third and final caution flag came out for Ryan Falk in turn two.
After the final restart, Scholten and Ruh engaged in a heated side-by-side duel before Ruh surged ahead. Meanwhile, Sorce Jr. moved into second and quickly moved in to pressure Ruh for the top spot.
On lap 18, Sorce Jr. ducked low to take over the lead in turn four. Sorce Jr. went on to notch his 14th career PDTR Grand National A-main triumph. 2019 PDTR Grand National champion Tyler Kulow of Plymouth placed second after starting fifth, Ruh wound up third, seventh starter Donny Kulow of Elkhart Lake placed fourth and third starter Steven Weber of Plymouth rounded out the top five.
Jim Fischer of Oostburg grabbed the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap B Mod A main from his outside front row starting spot with third starter Justin Green sliding into second in Spencer Long’s 59s car.
On lap 2, Green shot underneath Fischer to take the lead in turn four. The first of three caution flags appeared on lap 3 when Phil Campanella of Sheboygan Falls spun in turn four.
On the restart, fourth starter Steve Lorier of Sheboygan moved into second while Shane Long of Sheboygan Falls, who started fifth, took third. As Green pulled out to a sizable lead at the front of the field, Lorier brought out the second caution flag when he slowed to a stop along the backstretch on lap 8.
Green drove away from the field on the ensuing restart while eighth starter Trevor Frank of Sheboygan seized third on lap 9. By lap 13, Green had built up a full-straightaway lead over Shane Long before the third and final caution flag was displayed on lap 16 for a spin in turn two involving Michael Strean of Sheboygan.
Frank used a strong restart to take over the second spot before setting his sights on Green. Frank was able to cut into Green’s advantage over the final nine laps, however, he was unable to wrestle the lead away from Green, who went on to notch his division-leading eighth career PDTR B Mod A-main victory.
Frank finished second, Shane Long took third, seventh starter Justin Bauer of Sheboygan Falls placed fourth and Rory Welch of Grafton charged from his 12th starting spot to finish fifth.
Brandon Berth of Cascade won the 15-lap 360 Sprint Car B Main.
The 12th PDTR program of the 2021 season, which was sponsored by Cupcake Wonders, drew 75 total cars, including 30 360 Sprint Cars, 18 Late Models, 16 B Mods and 11 Grand Nationals.
PDTR action is scheduled to resume on Saturday, July 24 with action in the 360 Sprint Car, Late Model, Grand National and B Mod divisions on Dave Deicher Tribute Night, which will also feature an appearance by the Vintage Modified division.
Spectator gates open at 4:30 p.m. with hot laps at 5:30 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m.
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, Lance Fassbender 2, Chris Clayton 3, Will Gerrits 4, Blake Wondra 5, Justin Erickson 6, Kurt Davis 7, Matt Rechek 8, Katelyn Krebsbach.
HEAT 2
1, Jack Vanderboom 2, Preston Ruh 3, Tyler Tischendorf 4, Alex Pokorski 5, Brandon Berth 6, Adam Miller 7, Scott Conger 8, Josh Teunissen.
HEAT 3
1, Bill Taylor 2, Tony Wondra 3, Tyler Brabant 4, Tim Haddy 5, Dylan Winkel 6, Tyler Davis 7, Tom Kreutz.
HEAT 4
1, Brandon McMullen 2, Travis Arenz 3, Ben Schmidt 4, Justin Miller 5, Kevin Karnitz 6, Doug Wondra 7, Austin Hartmann.
B MAIN
1, Brandon Berth 2, Kevin Karnitz 3, Kurt Davis 4, Justin Erickson 5, Doug Wondra 6, Matt Rechek 7, Tyler Davis 8, Scott Conger 9, Josh Teunissen 10, Austin Hartmann 11, Katelyn Krebsbach 12, Dylan Winkel 13, Adam Miller 14, Tom Kreutz.
A MAIN
1, Brandon McMullen 2, Ben Schmidt 3, Kevin Karnitz 4, Will Gerrits 5, Tim Haddy 6, Kurt Davis 7, Lance Fassbender 8, Jack Vanderboom 9, Justin Miller 10, Travis Arenz 11, Matt Rechek 12, Bill Taylor 13, Brandon Berth 14, Tyler Brabant 15, Justin Erickson 16, Alex Pokorski 17, Tyler Tischendorf 18, Tony Wondra 19, Blake Wondra 20, Preston Ruh 21, Chris Clayton 22, Doug Wondra.
SHEBOYGAN’S COUNTY B93.7 LATE MODELS
HEAT 1
1, Jim Schmidt 2, Billy Rezutek 3, Dan White 4, Justin Schmidt 5, Ron Stroika 6, Eric Michaels.
HEAT 2
1, Turk Letizia 2, Charlie Schmidt 3, Wayne Freimund 4, Donny Singer 5, Chad Ludwigson 6, Brian Konitzer.
HEAT 3
1, Jayme Zidar 2, Justin Ritchie 3, Justin Green 4, Sawyer Specht 5, Jake Van Engen 6, Brian Gerber.
A MAIN
1, Justin Schmidt 2, Justin Ritchie 3, Charlie Schmidt 4, Billy Rezutek 5, Turk Letizia 6, Justin Green 7, Jayme Zidar 8, Ron Stroika 9, Eric Michaels 10, Jake Van Engen 11, Dan White 12, Brian Konitzer 13, Donny Singer 14, Wayne Freimund 15, Jim Schmidt 16, Chad Ludwigson 17, Sawyer Specht 18, Brian Gerber.
OOSTBURG AUTOMOTIVE GRAND NATIONALS
HEAT 1’
1, Don Sorce Jr. 2, Steven Ruh 3, Dick Hed 4, Donny Kulow 5, Mavrick Ruh 6, Darren Meyer.
HEAT 2
1, Tyler Kulow, 2, Luke Scholten 3, Steven Weber 4, Derek Kaat 5, Ryan Falk.
A MAIN
1, Don Sorce Jr. 2, Tyler Kulow 3, Steven Ruh 4, Donny Kulow 5, Steven Weber 6, Dick Hed 7, Luke Scholten 8, Mavrick Ruh 9, Darren Meyer 10, Derek Kaat 11, Ryan Falk.
CELLCOM B MOD
HEAT 1
1, Craig Gessner 2, Donny Singer 3, Justin Bauer 4, Shane Long 5, Patrick Hanson 6, Jim Fischer 7, Gary Glander 8, Mark Hoeppner.
HEAT 2
1, Trevor Frank 2, Rick Kretschmann 3, Justin Green 4, Steven Lorier 5, Christopher Gilson 6, Rory Welch 7, Phil Campanella 8, Michael Strean.
A MAIN
1, Justin Green 2, Trevor Frank 3, Shane Long 4, Justin Bauer 5, Rory Welch 6, Mark Hoeppner 7, Donny Singer 8, Rick Kretschmann 9, Craig Gessner 10, Patrick Hanson 11, Gary Glander 12, Michael Strean 13, Jim Fischer 14, Steve Lorier 15, Christopher Gilson 16, Phil Campanella.
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