(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) May 28, 2022 – With the arrival of Memorial Day signaling the unofficial start of summer, the final weekend of May typically follows suit in triggering when the racing season kicks into high gear in the state of Wisconsin.
Although the temperatures again stayed on the cool side and a late afternoon shower swept over the track, a host of competitors checked into The Plymouth Dirt Track for their first night of action of the 2022 season at the third-mile clay oval at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, May 28.
In the 25-lap Kristine Hartmann Pleasant View Realty A main, defending PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls cruised to his third Plymouth Dirt Track Racing main event triumph of the 2022 campaign. Justin Ritchie of New London came out on top in the thrilling back-and-forth 25-lap Sheboygan’s Country B93.7 Late Model A main. 2017 PDTR Grand National champ Matt Loehr of Dotyville notched his second Oostburg Automotive Grand National A-main triumph of the 2022 season, while Travis Schmidt of Waldo claimed the victory in the 25-lap Next Step Insurance B Mod A main in his first outing of the 2022 season at The Plymouth Dirt Track.
The initial start of the 360 Sprint Car A main was negated when Nick Daywalt of Slinger and 2018 PDTR champion Justin Miller of Plymouth made hard contact along the front stretch to bring out the first of the event’s two caution flags.
Polesitter Blake Wondra of Fond du Lac grabbed the lead on the opening lap and passed the first three laps before outside front row starter Tony Wondra of Campbellsport road the high groove to sweep into the lead in turn two on lap four.
On lap 12, 2008 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Lance Fassbender of Burnett worked the high line to pressure Blake Wondra for the runner-up spot the two drivers continued to duel for the position as the leaders began to weave their way through slower traffic on the fast and challenging third-mile clay oval track surface.
On lap 16, Arenz, who started eighth, surged past Fassbender and Blake Wondra along the outside line and quickly closed the gap on the leader. Two laps later, Arenz secured the lead from Tony Wondra and began to open up a solid cushion before the second and final caution flag appeared on lap 22 when Alex Pokorski of West Bend spun in turn three and was collected by Fassbender, who was forced to retire from the race, while Pokorski restarted at the rear of the field.
Following a single-file restart with less than five laps remaining, Arenz bolted out to a commanding lead over Tony Wondra en route to his 13th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main win, 25th career Midwest Sprint Car Association main event triumph and third A-main victory in four outings at The Plymouth Dirt Track this year.
Two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh, charged from his 18th starting spot to finish a strong second, Tony Wondra finished third, Blake Wondra placed fourth and sixth starter Brandon Berth of Cascade rounded out the top five.
Outside front row starter Turk Letizia of Milwaukee bolted into the lead on the drop of the green flag of the 25-lap Late Model A main. On lap 4, four-time defending PDTR Late Model champ Justin Schmidt of Cleveland, who started sixth, dove low to pressure the high-riding Letizia for the lead.
On lap 5, the first of two caution flags appeared when Sawyer Specht of Sheboygan Falls spun in turn two. Following the restart, Justin Ritchie, who started eighth, moved into third with four-time PDTR Late Model champ Brad Mueller of Random Lake following into fourth from his fifth starting spot.
With the high-riding Letizia continuing to fend off the low-running Schmidt for the lead, the second and final caution was displayed on lap 11 for debris. On the restart, Ritchie flexed his muscle to utilize the high line to challenge Schmidt for second.
However, Schmidt battled back to surge ahead of Ritchie and move in to pressure Letizia for the lead once again as the top three drivers dueled in very tight quarters for the remainder of the race.
Letizia and Schmidt waged a heated back-and-forth, side-by-side battle over the ensuing six laps before Letizia finally surged ahead. However, it was Ritchie’s turn next as he bolted up to the high groove to seize second from Schmidt on lap 19. Three laps later, Ritchie dove underneath Letizia to seize the top spot on lap 22.
Letizia crossed under to the low groove to challenge Ritchie on the next lap, but Ritchie proved to be too strong as he held on over the final two laps to secure his fifth career PDTR Late Model A-main victory and his first Late Model victory of the 2022 season at The Plymouth Dirt Track.
Letizia had to settle for second, Justin Schmidt took third, 11th starter Jim Schmidt of Cleveland placed fourth and Mueller rounded out the top five.
Visiting driver Nick Schumacher of Eagle seized the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap Grand National A-main from his outside front row starting spot with third starter Matt Loehr sliding into second.
On lap 3, Loehr dove underneath Schumacher in turn four to take over the top spot. By lap 10, Loehr had built up a full straightaway cushion over Schumacher.
Three laps later, Luke Scholten of Oostburg, who started eighth, worked his way into third before the first of two caution flags appeared on lap 14 when Plymouth Dirt Track newcomer Joshua Koslowski of Chilton spun in turn two. On the restart, Scholten moved in to pressure Schumacher for second along the outside groove. However, Schumacher successfully fended off Scholten’s advances.
Meanwhile, Loehr remained in control at the front of the pack before the second and final caution flag waved on lap 22 when Koslowski spun again in turn two. After a single-file restart, Loehr bolted away from the field on the way to his 11th career PDTR Grand National A-main victory, which moved him into fifth place on the all-time PDTR Grand National victory list, and his second main event triumph of the 2022 season at Plymouth.
Schumacher placed second, Scholten finished third, 2019 PDTR Grand National champion Tyler Kulow of Plymouth placed fourth after starting ninth and octogenarian Dick Hed of Plymouth finished fifth, after starting fifth, in his first appearance of the season at The Plymouth Dirt Track.
Polesitter Shane Long of Sheboygan Falls grabbed the lead of the 25-lap B Mod A main on the opening lap with outside front row starter Andy Welter of Hartford following in second.
On lap 2, 2018 PDTR B Mod champion Tim Sheppard of Beaver Dam moved up to challenge Welter for second before the first of two caution flags was displayed on lap four when Spencer Long of Sheboygan Falls stalled in turn one.
Following the restart, Sheppard and Welter continued their heated duel for second before fourth starter Travis Schmidt slipped past Welter to take over third. When the leaders caught the reader of the field on lap 15, Sheppard cut the gap on Shane Long significantly.
The second and final caution flag came out on lap 20 when Steve Lorier of Sheboygan spun in turn three. On the restart, Schmidt came to life in a big way to shoot back Sheppard into second on lap 21 along the high groove.
On the following lap, Schmidt, who was making his first appearance of the 2022 season at The Plymouth Dirt Track, bolted around Shane Long to take the lead.
Schmidt maintained the top spot over the final three circuits en route to his sixth career PDTR B Mod A-main victory to move into a tie for second on the all-time PDTR B Mod A-main wins list.
Shane Long had to settle for second, Welter finished third, Sheppard placed fourth and fifth starter James Rautmann of Howards Grove placed fifth.
Alex Pokorski was victorious in the 12-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main.
2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth was the overall fastest qualifier in the group qualifying session with a lap of 12.283 seconds.
A total of 18 drivers made their 2022 season debut at The Plymouth Dirt Track with a total of 73 drivers on hand for the Military Night Memorial Day weekend event, which was sponsored by Pedal Down Promotions, including 27 360 Sprint Cars, 12 Late Models, 16 Grand Nationals and 18 B Mods.
The PDTR program on Saturday, June 4 will again feature 360 Sprint Cars, Late Models, Grand Nationals and B Mods, as well as the first-ever appearance of the Wisconsin Legends Racing Dirt Series at The Plymouth Dirt Track.
The trophy sponsor for the racing program on Saturday, June 4 is Pit Stop Pizza.
Spectator gates open at 4:30 p.m. with 360 Sprint Car hot laps/group qualifying at 5:30 p.m. and racing to begin at 6 p.m.
The new book “Racing Recollections – Plymouth Racetrack Fans & Drivers 1950-2021” by Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan, George Baumann of Waupun and Verla Peichl of Sheboygan Falls will be available for purchase at every race during the 2022 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.
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.
KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANT VIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS
QUALIFYING
1, Ben Schmidt 12.283 2, Lance Fassbender 12.327 3, Anthony Knierim 12.464 4, Justin Miller 12.500 5, Nick Daywalt 12.573 6, Tim Haddy 12.581 7, Brandon McMullen 12.595 8, Will Gerrits 12.597 9, Tony Wondra 12.603 10, Brandon Berth 12.614 11, Chris Clayton 12.615 12, Mike Yurmanovich 13, Doug Wondra 12.690 14, Chris Larson 12.692 15, Dylan Winkel 12.733 16, Paul Pokorski 12.791 17, Blake Wondra 12.813 18, Bill Taylor 12.848 19, Justin Erickson 12.887 20, Alex Pokorski 12.896 21, Katelyn Krebsbach 12.899 22, Preston Ruh 12.958 23, Andy Rein 12.974 24, J.J. Pagel 13.845 25, Randy Post 14.610 26, Kevin Seidler no time 27, Travis Arenz no time.
HEAT 1
1, Nick Daywalt 2, Doug Wondra 3, Ben Schmidt 4, Anthony Knierim 5, Bill Taylor 6, Paul Pokorski 7, Justin Erickson.
HEAT 2
1, Lance Fassbender 2, Tony Wondra 3, Justin Miller 4, Chris Clayton 5, Chris Larson 6, Mike Yurmanovich 7, Randy Post.
HEAT 3
1, Travis Arenz 2, Dylan Winkel 3, Tim Haddy 4, Alex Pokorski 5, Will Gerrits 6, J.J. Pagel 7, Kevin Seidler.
HEAT 4
1, Brandon Berth 2, Blake Wondra 3, Andy Rein 4, Katelyn Krebsbach 5, Preston Ruh 6, Brandon McMullen.
B MAIN
1, Alex Pokorski 2, Brandon McMullen 3, Paul Pokorski 4, Will Gerrits 5, Justin Erickson 6, Katleyn Krebsbach 7, Mike Yurmanovich 8, J.J. Pagel 9, Chris Clayton 10, Randy Post 11, Kevin Seidler.
A MAIN
1, Travis Arenz 2, Brandon McMullen 3, Tony Wondra 4, Blake Wondra 5, Brandon Berth 6, Andy Rein 7, Will Gerrits 8, Dylan Winkel 9, Ben Schmidt 10, Doug Wondra 11, Bill Taylor 12, Paul Pokorski 13, Chris Larson 14, Anthony Knierim 15, Preston Ruh 16, Justin Erickson 17, Alex Pokorski 18, Lance Fassbender 19, Tim Haddy 20, Katelyn Krebsbach 21, Nick Daywalt 22, Justin Miller.
SHEBOYGAN’S COUNTRY B93.7 LATE MODELS
HEAT 1
1, Charlie Schmidt 2, Bill Edler 3, Justin Schmidt 4, Jon Bongiorno 5, Turk Letizia 6, Jim Schmidt.
HEAT 2
1, Justin Ritchie 2, Taylor Scheffler 3, Brad Mueller 4, Kevin Baldry 5, Sawyer Specht 6, Chad Ludwigson.
A MAIN
1, Justin Ritchie 2, Turk Letizia 3, Justin Schmidt 4, Jim Schmidt 5, Brad Mueller 6, Joe Bongiorno 7, Taylor Scheffler 8, Kevin Baldry 9, Bill Edler 10, Charlie Schmidt 11, Chad Ludwigson 12, Sawyer Specht.
OOSTBURG AUTOMOTIVE GRAND NATIONALS
HEAT 1
1, Luke Scholten 2, Matt Yancey 3, Dick Hed 4, Nick Schumacher 5, Mavrick Ruh 6, Joshua Koslowski 7, Robert Horcos 8, Donny Kulow.
HEAT 2
1, Chad Espen 2, Jeff Muehlbauer 3, Tyler Kulow 4, Matt Loehr 5, Steven Weber 6, Brad Weiss 7, Derek Kaat 8, Josh Pierce (DNS).
A MAIN
1, Matt Loehr 2, Nick Schumacher 3, Luke Scholten 4, Tyler Kulow 5, Dick Hed 6, Brad Weiss 7, Mavrick Ruh 8, Matt Yancey 9, Chad Espen 10, Steven Weber 11, Josh Pierce 12, Donny Kulow 13, Joshua Koslowski 14, Jeff Muehlbauer 15, Derek Kaat 16, Robert Horcos.
NEXT STEP INSURANCE B MODS
HEAT 1
1, James Rautmann 2, Andy Welter 3, Rory Welch 4, Brandon Knepprath 5, Patrick Hanson 6, Jonathan Hitsman.
HEAT 2
1, Travis Schmidt 2, Shane Long 3, Spencer Long 4, Mark Hoeppner 5, Craig Gessner 6, Brendan Ostrowski.
HEAT 3
1, Tim Sheppard 2, Jonathan Baumann 3, Brian Konitzer 4, Gary Glander 5, Steve Lorier 6, Michael Strean.
A MAIN
1, Travis Schmidt 2, Shane Long 3, Andy Welter 4, Tim Sheppard 5, James Rautmann 6, Jonathan Baumann 7, Jonathan Hitsman 8, Brendan Ostrowski 9, Brandon Knepparth 10, Brian Konitzer 11, Steve Lorier 12, Craig Gessner 13, Patrick Hansen 14, Mark Hoeppner 15, Rory Welch 16, Spencer Long 17, Gary Gander 18, Michael Strean.
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