by Jeff Pederson
Pedal Down Promotions
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) July 24, 2021 – On a night honoring one of the most beloved former racers and flagmen in the 71-year history of The Plymouth Dirt Track, Plymouth Dirt Track Racing put on a show in every sense of the word highlighted by thrilling finishes, special tributes, impromptu reunions and a post-race party on Dave Deicher Tribute Night at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, July 24.
In the 360 Sprint Car A main, two-time PDTR division champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh collected his third overall and second consecutive Kristine Hartmann Pleasantview Realty 360 Sprint Car main event victory of the 2021 campaign.
Three-time and defending PDTR Late Model champion Justin Schmidt of Cleveland notched his third consecutive and fifth overall Sheboygan’s County 93.7 Late Model A-main victory of the 2021 season.
2019 PDTR Grand National champ Tyler Kulow of Plymouth earned his second A-main victory of the 2021 campaign in the Oostburg Automotive A main and Travis Schmidt of Plymouth notched his second Cellcom B Mod A main victory of the 2021 season.
Two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee grabbed the lead on the drop of the green flag on the opening lap of the special 26-lap A main run in honor the No. 26 that Deicher carried for many years on his Winged Super Modified.
On lap 5, outside front row starter Tyler Brabant of Waupun worked the outside groove of the wide, smooth and slick race surface to pressure Davis for the top spot. After Davis used the low line to pull away from Brabant, fourth starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend charged in to take over second in the running order on lap 11.
Four laps later, the lone caution flag of the race appeared on lap 15 when Brabant spun in turn two. Following the restart, Davis maintained the top spot with Karnitz in tow, while the seventh starting Brandon McMullen moved into third along the middle groove.
On lap 21, McMullen worked around Karnitz to take second and quickly closed the gap on Davis. With one lap to go, McMullen ducked under Davis along the inside groove exiting turn four on lap 25.
Davis battled back on the final lap to pull even with McMullen in turn one. The former champions dueled side by side to the finish with McMullen nipping Davis by a narrow margin to collect his 23rd career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory and 33rd overall Midwest Sprint Car Association main event win.
McMullen’s victory moved him into a tie for second place on the all-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory list with two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Danny Schlafer of Sussex.
Davis had to settle for second, Karnitz finished third, point leader Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls moved up from his 12th starting spot to finish fourth and third starter Tim Haddy of Waupun rounded out the top five.
Joe Bongiorno of Milwaukee bolted into the lead on the opening lap of the 26-lap Late Model A main from the pole position before the lone caution flag of the race appeared on lap 2 when Donny Singer of Random Lake and Chad Ludwigson of Sheboygan Falls got stuck together and stopped exiting turn four.
Following the restart, third starter Bill Edler of Howards Grove, who was making his debut behind the wheel of a Late Model, worked his way into second. On lap 5, seventh starter Taylor Scheffler of Waukesha began his charge to the front of the pack as he moved into fourth.
While Bongiorno built up a full straightaway cushion over Edler at the front of the field, Scheffler used the outside groove to power around sixth starter Charlie Schmidt of Cedar Grove into third on lap 11 and Edler into second on lap 12.
By lap 16, Scheffler had closed the gap on Bongiorno, while eighth starter Justin Schmidt worked his way into third.
As Bongiorno hit lapped traffic, Scheffler rode the high line into the lead in turn three on lap 19, while Justin Schmidt assumed second on lap 22.
One lap later, Schmidt cut the gap significantly on Scheffler before shooting into the lead with a low move in turn four on lap 24 in heavy lapped traffic. Scheffler powered back to the cushion to duel side-by-side with Justin Schmidt to the finish line.
However, it was not quite enough as Justin Schmidt held on to secure his 18th career PDTR A-main victory and fifth A-main victory at The Plymouth Dirt Track in the last six main event races.
Scheffler placed a close second, Bongiorno held on for a PDTR Late Model career-best third-place showing, Edler posted a career-best PDTR Late Model fourth-place-finish in his division debut and Charlie Schmidt rounded out the top five.
Polesitter Dick Hed of Plymouth took the lead in turn one of the opening lap of the 26-lap Grand National A main with third starter Tyler Kulow moving into second.
The first of four caution flags was displayed on lap 3 when Andy Singer spun in turn one. On lap later, Andy Singer spun again in turn three to bring out the second caution flag of the race.
On the restart, 2018 PDTR Grand National champ Matt Loehr of Dotyville worked up from the 11th starting spot to make it a three-way duel for the lead with Hed and two-time PDTR Grand National champion Don Sorce Jr. of West Allis, who started sixth.
However, Hed and Sorce Jr. made contact in turn three on lap 6 to send Sorce Jr. spinning in turn four, which brought out the third caution flag of the race. Hed and Sorce Jr. were each sent to the rear of the field following the incident.
Kulow controlled the restart, while Loehr moved in to challenge for the top spot on lap 9. Loehr closed up to within inches of Kulow’s bumper before rookie Mavrick Ruh of Sheboygan Falls spun in turn one to bring out the fourth and final caution flag of the race on lap 24.
Kulow held strong on the final single-file restart as he secured his 10th career PDTR Grand National A-main victory. Loehr finished second, fifth starter Luke Scholten of Oostburg placed third, Donny Kulow of Elkhart Lake, who started seventh, finished fourth and Sorce Jr. rallied from his lap 6 incident to place fifth.
After a spin involving Donny Singer brought out the first of five caution flags to negate the initial start, outside front row starter Kyle Odekirk of Plymouth outdueled polesitter Justin Bauer of Sheboygan Falls to grab the lead on lap 2.
The second caution flag appeared on lap 2 when Phil Campanella of Sheboygan Falls spun in turn three. After the restart, Odekirk held down the top spot as Bauer held second and fourth starter Trevor Frank of Sheboygan moved into third.
The third caution was displayed when rookie Vince Jung spun in turn four on lap 6 right before the fourth caution flag appeared when two-time PDTR B Mod champion Tim Warner of Fond du Lac hit the turn two wall.
On the restart, 10th starter Travis Schmidt began to make his presence felt as he maneuvered his way into third. As Odekirk remained in front by a full straightaway, Schmidt assumed second with a high move past Bauer in turn four on lap 14.
Meanwhile, Odekirk held a commanding full straightaway lead on lap 15. On lap 19, Frank worked past Bauer to take over third on lap 20. Just as Odekirk appeared headed to the victory, Schmidt caught a break when Matthew Roehl spun in turn four to bring out the fifth and final caution flag.
Following a single-file restart, Schmidt drove hard along the low groove to slip underneath Odekirk in turn four on lap 25 and held on over the final circuit to earn his fifth career PDTR A-main victory.
Odekirk placed second, Frank wound up third, Bauer finished fourth and seventh starter Gary Glander of Sheboygan Falls rounded out the top five.
Charlie Bergdorf was victorious in the special 12-lap Vintage Modified A main.
Adam Miller of Plymouth captured the 15-lap 360 Sprint Car B main.
As a special tribute to Dave Deicher, who served as a flagman at The Plymouth Dirt Track from 1989 through 2020 and passed away in May 2021, several former flagmen at The Plymouth Dirt Track were on hand during a special pre-race ceremony to honor Deicher and to share in trading off flagging duties for heat race action.
Among the former and current Plymouth flagmen on hand in Deicher’s memory were Bill Krueger, Larry Palm, Roger Mueller, Eric Mueller, Bill Lubach and Steve Crass.
After the racing program, PDTR and the Deicher family sponsored a post-race party featuring free pizza and beer for those in attendance.
The 13h PDTR program of the 2021 season, which was sponsored by Butch and Blondie Hafemann, drew 86 total cars, including 25 360 Sprint Cars, 23 B Mods, 14 Late Models, 12 Grand Nationals and 12 Vintage Modifieds.
PDTR action is scheduled to resume on Saturday, July 31 with a special all-open wheel event featuring the Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series, the PDTR 360 Sprint Cars and Badger Midgets.
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, Kevin Karnitz 2, Chris Clayton 3, Lance Fassbender 4, Will Gerrits 5, Travis Arenz 6, Justin Miller 7, Austin Hartmann 8, Bill Taylor.
HEAT 2
1, Tim Haddy 2, Kurt Davis 3, Josh Teunissen 4, Alex Pokorski 5, Cole Possi 6, Preston Ruh 7, Katelyn Krebsbach 8, Ben Schmidt.
HEAT 3
1, Tyler Brabant 2, Justin Erickson 3, Jack Vanderboom 4, Brandon McMullen 5, Steve Meyer 6, Doug Wondra 7, Tyler Tischendorf 8, Chris Larson.
HEAT 4
B MAIN
1, Adam Miller 2, Tyler Tischendorf 3, Doug Wondra 4, Justin Miller 5, Katelyn Krebsbach 6, Bill Taylor 7, Ben Schmidt 8, Austin Hartmann 9, Chris Larson.
A MAIN
1, Brandon McMullen 2, Kurt Davis 3, Kevin Karnitz 4, Travis Arenz 5, Tim Haddy 6, Justin Erickson 7, Jack Vanderboom 8, Chris Clayton 9, Alex Pokorski 10, Ben Schmidt 11, Will Gerrits 12, Lance Fassbender 13, Justin Miller 14, Preston Ruh 15, Steve Meyer 16, Cole Possi 17, Adam Miller 18, Bill Taylor 19, Tyler Tischendorf 20, Tyler Brabant 21, Josh Teunissen 22, Katelyn Krebsbach, Doug Wondra (DNS).
SHEBOYGAN’S COUNTY B93.7 LATE MODELS
HEAT 1
1, Justin Schmidt 2, Jayme Zidar 3, Turk Letizia 4, Justin Green 5, Brian Konitzer 6, Chad Ludwigson 7, Donny Singer.
HEAT 2
1, Tayler Scheffler 2, Charlie Schmidt 3, Joe Bongiorno 4, Bill Edler 5, Sawyer Specht 6, Jake Van Engen 7, Jim Schmidt.
A MAIN
1, Justin Schmidt 2, Taylor Scheffler 3, Jon Bongiorno 4, Bill Edler 5, Charlie Schmidt 6, Justin Green 7, Turk Letizia 8, Jayme Zidar 9, Jim Schmidt 10, Brian Konitzer 11, Sawyer Specht 12, Jake Van Engen 13, Donny Singer 14, Chad Ludwigson.
OOSTBURG AUTOMOTIVE GRAND NATIONALS
HEAT 1’
1, Luke Scholten 2, Tyler Kulow 3, Donny Kulow 4, Darren Meyer 5, Mavrick Ruh 6, Matt Loehr.
HEAT 2
1, Steven Weber 2, Derek Kaat 3, Dick Hed 4, Don Sorce Jr. 5, Andy Singer 6, Kirby Post.
A MAIN
1, Tyler Kulow 2, Matt Loehr 3, Luke Scholten 4, Donny Kulow 5, Don Sorce Jr. 6, Dick Hed 7, Derek Kaat 8, Darren Meyer 9, Mavrick Ruh 10, Andy Singer 11, Kirby Post 12, Steven Weber.
CELLCOM B MOD
HEAT 1
1, Jonathan Hitsman 2, Travis Schmidt 3, Kyle Odekirk 4, Phil Campanella 5, Patrick Hanson 6, Donny Singer 7, Vince Jung 8, Shane Long.
HEAT 2
1, Steve Lorier 2, Brandon Knepprath 3, Justin Bauer 4, Spencer Long 5, Mathew Roehl 6, Brendan Ostrowski 7, Michael Strean 8, Andy Welter.
HEAT 3
1, Tim Warner 2, Trevor Frank 3, Gary Glander 4, Rory Welch 5, Mark Hoeppner 6, Jim Fischer 7, Craig Gessner.
A MAIN
1, Travis Schmidt 2, Kyle Odekirk 3, Trevor Frank 4, Justin Bauer 5, Gary Glander 6, Andy Welter 7, Brandon Knepprath 8, Mark Hoeppner 9, Steve Lorier 10, Rory Welch 11, Spencer Long 12, Brendan Ostrowski 13, Donny Singer 14, Matthew Roehl 15, Patrick Hanson 16, Shane Long 17, Vince Jung 18, Phil Campanella 19, Craig Gessner 20, Tim Warner 21, Jonathan Hitsman 21, Jim Fischer (DNS) 22, Michael Strean (DNS).
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