By Jeff Pederson
Pedal Down Promotions
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) July 22, 2022 – In his third season behind the wheel of a Dirt Late Model, Sawyer Specht of Sheboygan Falls heads into the stretch run of the 2022 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing campaign with a focus on consistency and solid finishes, during the final five scheduled Late Model events of the year at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis.
Through the first six full nights of PDTR Late Model competition during the 2022 campaign, Specht stands seventh in the point standings, 59 points behind points leader Joe Bongiorno, with a season-best sixth-place A-main finish to his credit on May 14.
Specht has been around the sport of Dirt Track Racing from a young age as his father, Scott, was a long-time competitor in the Limited Late Model and Late Model divisions at Plymouth, while claiming a PDTR Late Model title in 2005. In addition, Specht’s uncle, Brad Mueller, has earned four PDTR Late Model division titles at The Plymouth Dirt Track.
“I’ve been interested in racing from a young age with my dad racing my whole childhood,” Specht said. “Once I became older and was going to races with my dad, he decided we should get a car and give it a shot.”
Hoping directly into a high-powered Dirt Late Model car with no prior racing experience, Specht fared quite well in a crowded field of first-year Late Model competitors during the 2020 PDTR campaign.
“This is my third year racing and during my first year in 2020, I won rookie of the year in the Late Model division at Plymouth,” Specht said.
With a strong support system behind him, Specht enjoys the experience of competing weekly in the PDTR Late Model ranks.
“The thing I enjoy most about racing is the adrenaline rush while on the track and the atmosphere of being in the pits with all the drivers and fans,” Specht said.
During the 2022 season, Specht has spread his wings a bit to compete in several Dirt Kings Tour Late Model events throughout the state of Wisconsin.
“Racing with the Dirt Kings Tour is always fun,” Specht said. “Jason Shultz puts together a good tour at some great tracks. With that, we get to experience racing other tracks we usually wouldn’t race at and with tougher competition from different parts of the state that we usually don’t get to race with.”
Looking ahead to the rest of the 2022 campaign, Plymouth has his eye on a strong finish to the PDTR season, while mixing in a few Dirt Kings Tour events for good measure.
“For the remainder of the season, I’m mostly going to be running Plymouth and most of the Dirt Kings races,” Specht said. “As for goals, I’m just looking to see improvement and get more comfortable in my car.”
The pit crew members for the Sawyer Specht Racing team are Scott Specht, Steve Klahn, Dylan Thiel, Shaun Jens, Cayden Carpenter and Isaiah DeSmidt.
The Specht’s sponsors for the 2022 campaign include Specht Electric, Baumann Excavating, Bowl Dog Woodturning, Mueller’s Sales and Service, Clint Koene Masonry, Mission Bell Dairy and BMRE Electrick Carts.
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A hard impact driver’s-side impact during a three-car incident exiting turn two in the early stages of last Saturday’s PDTR Late Model A main left four-time and defending PDTR Late Model champion Justin Schmidt of Cleveland with a broken ankle and, as of Thursday, July 21, an unclear racing status for the immediate future.
“I checked up for another car and got turned sideways,” Schmidt said. “The majority of the field was able to avoid me, but evidently one car could not. He hit me almost square in the driver’s compartment, caved in the cockpit, shoved the tin against the clutch pedal and the clutch pedal against the brake pedal, ultimately breaking my ankle.
“On Wednesday, I had surgery to repair it,” he said. “At this point, I’m still undecided what the immediate racing future looks like.”
With four scheduled PDTR Late Model points races remaining in the 2022 season, Schmidt currently sits in a three-way tie for second place with Bill Edler and Turk Letizia, three points behind points leader Joe Bongiorno of Milwaukee.
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This Saturday, July 23 will feature the inaugural Plymouth Wall of Fame induction with 10 drivers, four track workers and three racing families honored among the Class of 2022 inductees.
The inaugural Plymouth Racing Wall of Fame Class of 2022 includes drivers Dick Berth, Etchie Biertzer, Buck Carman, Willie Goeden, Wayne Goetsch, Dick Hed, Bill Johnson II, Carl Kulow, Ken Markwardt and Ken Steffen.
Dedication to Racing honorees include Eddie Foy, Bill Hoftiezer and Karen and Donny Ruh. Inductees in the Racing Families category are the Goetsch, Laack and Schulz families.
The new Plymouth Racing Wall of Fame display will be unveiled and inductees will be recognized during a ceremony at intermission of the racing program.
Spectator gates open at 4:30 p.m. with qualifying slated for 5:30 p.m. and racing set to begin at 6 p.m.
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.
Pedal Down Promotions is a full-service public relations and media services company devoted to helping clients effectively communicate with targeted audiences through a diverse array of promotional strategies and methods, including press releases, newsletters, profile and feature articles, website and social media content development, printed media, editing and layout, graphic design and book publishing services.
For more information on Pedal Down Promotions, email pedaldownpromotions@gmail.com, visit www.pedaldownpromotions.com or call 920-323-7970.
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