By Jeff Pederson
Pedal Down Promotions
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 26, 2022 – Twenty four years after turning his first competitive laps at The Plymouth Dirt Track, persistence paid off for veteran Oostburg racer Luke Scholten, as he earned his first career track championship in the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Grand National division during the recently completed 2022 points season.
Scholten put together an incredibly consistent 2022 campaign, as he racked up a total of six race victories in eight nights, including two A-main triumphs and four heat race wins, while finishing in the top three in all seven points paying PDTR Grand National A-main events to finish 32 points ahead of 2019 PDTR Grand National champion Tyler Kulow of Plymouth in the chase for the 2022 PDTR Grand National title.
Scholten’s 2022 statistical box score was further highlighted by a stirring old-school charge from the 19th starting spot to record a third-place showing in the PDTR Grand National A main on June 18.
“Winning a track championship is something that is long overdue,” Scholten said. “What made the difference this year was getting consistent top-three finishes in the seven A mains that we got in, along with six total heat race and feature wins in eight nights.”
Over the course of the past 24 years, the lifelong Oostburg resident has been a weekly fixture at the third-mile clay oval at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth.
“I drove Jon Walvoord’s car in 1998 a few times and liked it,” Scholten said. “Then I bought his car after that season and started on my own. I’ve kept his No. 80 on the car ever since.
“My first season of full-time competition was in the Eastern Wisconsin Stock Car Super Stock division at Plymouth in 1999,” he said. “I’ve been a pretty regular competitor year in and year out at Plymouth since the late 1990s.”
Although a championship had eluded him prior to the 2022 season, Scholten has been a perennial front runner in the EWSC Super Stock and PDTR Grand National ranks compiling 21 career A-main victories over the span of 24 years.
Scholten’s 17 PDTR Grand National main event triumphs rank him second on The Plymouth Dirt Track’s all-time Grand National A-main victory list, seven behind Brad Lubach, who has tallied a division-leading 24 wins.
“Along with getting the PDTR Grand National championship this season, my career highlights include winning the Chilton Fall Invitational in 2019 and having close to 100 overall race wins in my career,” Scholten said.
Even though he might be one most experienced drivers in the PDTR pit area, the excitement of driving a race car as never waned for Scholten.
“What I enjoy most about racing is the thrill and the rush,” Scholten said. “I like not worrying or thinking about anything else at that moment other than the race, putting on a good show for the fans, as well as the excitement and support of my wife and kids each and every week.”
Scholten’s pit crew members include Erich Roethel, Jason Roe and Nate Ruh, along with his wife, Alison, and children, Madison and Brooke.
The sponsors of Scholten’s racing team are Gibbsville Cheese, Optimum Crush, K & K Material Handling, Kim’s 5 Corners Tavern, Harter’s Lakeside Disposal, Equipment Depot, G & F Overhead Doors, Service One Transportation, VanDerVart Concrete Products, Waldo Oil, The Doo-Crew, Auto Plus Auto Parts and Scotty Landscape Supply.
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Despite going without an A-main victory and sustaining a broken ankle in an accident during the July 16 main event, Justin Schmidt of Cleveland earned a Plymouth Dirt Track record fifth-consecutive track title in the 2022 PDTR Late Model division. Schmidt’s fifth overall track championship moved him into a tie with former Winged Super Modified and 360 Sprint Car champion Donny Goeden of Kewaskum for third place on the all-time Plymouth track championships list, one behind Ken Markwardt and Brian Gilles, who each have six track championships, and four in back of Gary Laack, who stands at the top of the list with nine track titles.
In his first full season of competition at The Plymouth Dirt Track, former asphalt racing standout Andy Welter of Hartford claimed his first PDTR track championship in the B Mod division, to go along with a pair of track titles at Slinger Speedway in the Thunderstock division in 2011 and the Area Sportsman division in 2016.
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PDTR action resumes Friday, Aug. 26 with the Dirt Kings Late Model Tour highlighting the five-division program with a full points program for the PDTR 360 Sprint Car division and a guest appearance from the Wisconsin Dirt Racing Legends. The Grand National and B Mods will also be on the card competing in a non-points event, with the B Mod event featuring an extra payout courtesy of the Travis Schmidt Racing Team, B Mod fan Tom Ott and several other area businesses, including $1,700 to win the B Mod A main.
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The twice postponed Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Junior Fan Appreciation Night is now set to take place Friday, Aug. 26 with prize drawings, giveaways and special activities geared to kids 15 and under. Prizes include a kids battery powered Jeep donated by Neumann Plumbing & Heating, Nintendo Switch Lite with pouch and games donated by Larry Boedecker Family, Fondy Sports Park certificate, Kelly’s Creamery certificate and gas card donated by Dave & Brenda Mohs, a Sharper Image drone and assorted games donated by Luedke Auctions and a bike donated by Kim’s 5 Corners among others. Each kid in attendance will also receive a coupon for a free hot dog and soda with a coin and candy drop set to take place courtesy of Vander Vaart Concrete.
Spectator gates open at 4:30 p.m. with PDTR 360 Sprint Car qualifying slated for 6 p.m. and racing set to begin at 6:30 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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