by Jeff Pederson
Pedal Down Promotions
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) June 17, 2023 – Two former track champions joined two first-time Plymouth Dirt Track Racing winners in victory lane in PDTR A-main competition at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, June 17.
Ben Schmidt of Plymouth, who claimed the 2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car championship, secured his second Akright Auto PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory of the 2023 season in the 25-lap main event.
Sun Prairie’s Brandon Waelti racked up his first career A-main victory at The Plymouth Dirt Track in the 25-lap 106.5 The Buzz Badger Midget headliner
In the 25-lap Oostburg Automotive 25-lap Grand National main event, Justin Pearson of Horicon posted his first career PDTR A-main triumph.
Two-time PDTR B Mod champ Tim Warner of Malone nailed down his second PDTR Next Step Insurance B Mod A-main victory of the 2023 campaign in the 25-lap A main.
In the 25-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main, outside front row starter Alex Pokorski of West Bend bolted into the lead along the high groove with 2021 and 2022 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls, who started on the pole, settling into second.
The first of four caution flags appeared on lap 2 when rookie Hayden Johnson of Campbellsport stopped in turn four.
On the ensuing restart, the second caution flag flew when Spyder Akright of Sheboygan Falls, Tommy Colburn of New Berlin and Bill Taylor of Boltonville spun in turn two.
Another caution flag was displayed to the field on the next restart when Arenz and Pokorski collided in turn two after Arenz attempted a slide job, which resulted in Arenz’s car spinning to a stop before Campbellsport’s Tony Wondra, who had been running third, was collected in the incident.
After the third restart of the race, Ben Schmidt, who started sixth, pulled off a slide job to slip past rookie Logan Julien of Oconomowoc, who started fifth, and assumed the runner-up spot as Pokorski held down the lead.
The fourth and final caution flag of the event appeared on lap 5 when Colburn stopped in turn four.
Following a single-file restart, Schmidt wrestled the top spot away from Pokorski with a low move in turn four on lap 6. Meanwhile, Pokorski began to feel pressure from two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Brandon McMullen, who started 10th beginning on lap 8.
The cushion-pounding Pokorski and the low-riding McMullen dueled side by side and back and forth over the next 10 laps as the leaders weaved their way through slower traffic.
On lap 18, McMullen finally surged into the runner-up spot along the low groove. Schmidt skillfully worked his way through lapped traffic over the final seven laps to secure his 17th career PDTR, 35th career Midwest Sprint Car Association and third overall MSA 360 Sprint Car A-main triumph of the 2023 season.
“It is awesome to get this win,” Schmidt said. “This car is a dream to drive and I can’t thank my crew enough for what they do.”
McMullen finished second, Pokorski wound up third, Julien took fourth and PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car rookie T.J. Smith of Greenville placed fifth after starting ninth.
Polesitter Eric Blumer of Sun Prairie outpowered Matt Recheck of Beaver Dam to surge into the lead on the drop of the green flag from his outside front row starting spot in the 25-lap Badger Midget A main.
On lap 3, Adam Taylor of Wheatefield, Ind., who started eighth, used the outside groove to take over second. One lap later, Taylor bolted past Blumer into the lead along the front stretch.
As Taylor extended his lead at the front of the field, ninth starter Brandon Waelti worked his way into second on lap 9 along the high groove in turn two.
By lap 13, Taylor had built up a full straightaway cushion over Waelti as the leaders maneuvered their way through the rear of the field. The lone caution flag of the race appeared on lap 22 when Parker Jones of Blue Mounds stopped in turn four and Jace Sparks of Crystal Lake, Ill. stalled along the back stretch.
Following the restart, Waelti unreeled off a slide job to take over the top spot in turn two before Taylor attempted to regain the lead with a slide job of his own in turn four. However, Waelti was able to execute a crossover move to maintain the lead.
Waelti held on over the final two laps to secure his third Badger Midget A-main victory of the 2023 season and his first career main event triumph at The Plymouth Dirt Track.
“The track was really racey,” Waelti said. “I’ve only been here a couple of times, but it was a lot of fun tonight. Adam Taylor got a really good job and was way ahead, so that caution near the end really helped us. Hopefully, the fans had a great time watching the race tonight.”
Taylor finished second, Todd Kluever of Sun Prairie finished third after starting 10th, 11th starter Cody Weisensel of Sun Prairie placed fourth and Blumer rounded out the top five.
In the 25-lap PDTR Grand National A main, 83-year-old Dick Hed of Plymouth, who started on the pole, grabbed the lead on the opening lap. The first of three caution flags was displayed on lap 4 when Don Singer of Waldo spun in turn two.
On the restart, the second caution flag came out when Noah Wachowiacz of West Allis spun in turn two. Following a single-file restart, third starter Dustin Weiss of Iron Ridge ducked under Hed to assume the lead in turn one.
After the third and final caution flag appeared on lap 13 for an incident involving Josh Pierce of Fredonia and Scott Kafka of Cleveland, Weiss maintained the lead while eighth starter Justin Pearson began to mount his charge to the front along the high line.
Two laps after seventh starter Nick Schumacher of Eagle seized second, Pearson powered into third on lap 19 before surging past Schumacher into second on lap 20. Following a brief side-by-side duel with Weiss, Pearson grabbed the lead with a high move in turn two on lap 23.
Pearson went on to post his first career PDTR Grand National A-main victory, Schumacher finished second, Weiss was third, Hed wound up fourth and fourth starter Donny Kulow of Plymouth rounded out the top five.
Polesitter Travis Schmidt of Plymouth grabbed the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap B Mod main event before two-time PDTR B Mod champion Tim Warner, who started fourth, moved in second in turn four.
On lap 7, second starter Jonathon Baumann of Sheboygan worked the outside lane to challenge Warner for second. One lap later, Warner charged along the inside groove to power past Schmidt into the lead in turn two with Baumann following into second.
The first of five caution flags appeared on lap 13 when Colten Van Hierden of Waupun spun in turn four. Another caution appeared on the next two restart attempts when Spencer Long of Sheboygan Falls spun in turn two and Hunter Larson of Oshkosh and Jim Fischer collided in turn three.
Following the restart, Warner pulled out to a half-straightaway cushion over Baumann on lap 15. Two laps later, sixth starter Jeff Steenbergen of Johnson Creek inched past Baumann into second.
The fourth caution flag appeared on lap 19 when Rory Welch of Grafton spun in turn two on lap 19. The fifth caution came out two laps later when Spencer Long spun in turn four.
Steenbergen hounded Warner over the final four laps but was unable to unseat Warner from the top spot. Warner went on to claim his second PDTR B Mod A-main victory of the 2023 season, while moving to sole possession of the top spot on the all-time PDTR B Mod main event victory list with his ninth career A main triumph.
Steenbergen finished second, Baumann placed third, third starter Steve Lorier of Sheboygan finished fourth and Shane Long of Sheboygan Falls, who started eighth, placed fifth .
Katelyn Krebsbach of Cascade was the top qualifier in the PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car division with a fast lap of 12.943 seconds.
Todd Kluever earned Badger Midgets fast qualifier honors with a lap of 13.665 seconds around the third mile semi-banked clay oval.
The sixth event of the 2023 PDTR campaign, which was sponsored by JosFo Electric, drew a total of 85 cars, including 25 360 Sprint Cars, 20 Badger Midgets, 20 Grand Nationals and 20 B Mods.
The next race program at The Plymouth Dirt Track on Saturday, June 24 will feature the first 2023 appearance from the Wisconsin Legends Racing Dirt Series along with the PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars, Grand Nationals and B Mods.
Grandstand gates open at 4:30 p.m. with qualifying set at 5:30 p.m. and racing scheduled 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, Twitter and Instagram.
AKRIGHT AUTO PLYMOUTH DIRT TRACK RACING 360 SPRINT CARS
A Main (25 Laps): 1. 35-Ben Schmidt [6]; 2. 98-Brandon McMullen [10]; 3. 4-Alex Pokorski [2]; 4. 85J-Logan Julien [5]; 5. 69S-TJ Smith [9]; 6. 30-Doug Wondra [14]; 7. 22B-Brandon Berth [7]; 8. 54-Randy Post [11]; 9. 2-Chris Clayton [20]; 10. 51-Chris Larson [18]; 11. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [21]; 12. 7-Lance Fassbender [23]; 13. 66T-Tristan Koenings [13]; 14. 69-Bill Taylor [3]; 15. 54G-Scott Grissom [16]; 16. 12P-JJ Page l[22]; 17. 21H-TJ Haddy [19]; 18. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [17]; 19. 53-Shane Wenninger [8]; 20. 1-Tommy Colburn [15]; 21. 25T-Travis Arenz [1]; 22. 11-Tony Wondra [4]; 23. 53A-Spyder Akright [12]; 24. 44-Hayden Johnson [24]; 25. (DNS) 3-Justin Erickson
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 35-Ben Schmidt [3]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth [2]; 3. 25T-Travis Arenz [5]; 4. 54-Randy Post [6]; 5. 44-Hayden Johnson [9]; 6. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [1]; 7. 54G-Scott Grissom [7]; 8. 21H-TJ Haddy [8]; 9. (DNF) 7-Lance Fassbender [4]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 11-Tony Wondra [2]; 2. 85J-Logan Julien [5]; 3. 69S-TJ Smith [4]; 4. 98-Brandon McMullen [6]; 5. 1-Tommy Colburn [3]; 6. 12P-JJ Pagel [1]; 7. 30-Doug Wondra [8]; 8. 2-Chris Clayton [7]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 69-Bill Taylor [2]; 2. 4-Alex Pokorski [3]; 3. 53A-Spyder Akright [1]; 4. 53-Shane Wenninger [7]; 5. 66T-Tristan Koenings [5]; 6. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [4]; 7. 51-Chris Larson [6]; 8. (DNS) 3-Justin Erickson
Qualifying 1 (5 Laps): 1. 7-Lance Fassbender, 13.706 [8]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt, 13.811 [1]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth, 14.005 [4]; 4. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 14.263 [3]; 5. 25T-Travis Arenz, 14.294 [2]; 6. 54-Randy Post, 14.342 [7]; 7. 44-Hayden Johnson, 14.442 [9]; 8. 54G-Scott Grissom, 14.645 [5]; 9. 21H-TJ Haddy, 14.833 [6]
Qualifying 2 (5 Laps): 1. 69S-TJ Smith, 13.389 [7]; 2. 1-Tommy Colburn, 13.430 [4]; 3. 11-Tony Wondra, 13.569 [2]; 4. 12P-JJ Pagel, 13.573 [6]; 5. 85J-Logan Julien, 13.612 [3]; 6. 98-Brandon McMullen, 13.616 [5]; 7. 2-Christopher Clayton, 13.834 [1]; 8. 30-Doug Wondra, 13.848 [8]
Qualifying 3 (5 Laps): 1. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 12.943 [4]; 2. 4-Alex Pokorski, 13.114 [3]; 3. 69-Bill Taylor, 13.225 [2]; 4. 53A-Spyder Akright, 13.231 [1]; 5. 53-Shane Wenninger, 13.250 [8]; 6. 66T-Tristan Koenings, 13.524 [5]; 7. 51-Chris Larson, 13.536 [6]; 8. (DNF) 3-Justin Erickson, 13.892 [7]
106.5 THE BUZZ BADGER MIDGET SERIES
Advance Fastening Supply A Main (25 Laps): 1. 3W-Brandon Waelti [9]; 2. 5X-Adam Taylor [8]; 3. 55-Todd Kluever [10]; 4. 20-Cody Weisensel [11]; 5. 68-Eric Blumer [1]; 6. 38-Matt Rechek [2]; 7. 19E-Daltyn England [12]; 8. 15C-RJ Corson [5]; 9. 29-Harrison Kleven [14]; 10. 9S-Mike Stroik [7]; 11. 59-Kyle Koch [3]; 12. 98-Jordan Nelson [4]; 13. 45-Trey Weishoff [19]; 14. 53M-Miles Doherty [16]; 15. 28-Jim Fuerst [18]; 16. 17-Nick Kilian [20]; 17. 41-Parker Jones [6]; 18. 40-Jace Sparks [17]; 19. 2-Kyle Stark [15]; 20. 1W-Robby Wirth [13]
Simpson Race Products Simpson Race Products Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 5X-Adam Taylor [7]; 2. 41-Parker Jones [5]; 3. 38-Matt Rechek [1]; 4. 55-Todd Kluever [8]; 5. 15C-RJ Corson [3]; 6. 19E-Daltyn England [6]; 7. 29-Harrison Kleven [2]; 8. 53M-Miles Doherty [4]; 9. 28-Jim Fuerst [9]; 10. 17-Nick Kilian [10]
Auto Meter Auto Meter Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 3W-Brandon Waelti [8]; 2. 68-Eric Blumer [1]; 3. 59-Kyle Koch [2]; 4. 9S-Mike Stroik [7]; 5. 98-Jordan Nelson [3]; 6. 20-Cody Weisensel [5]; 7. 1W-Robby Wirth [9]; 8. 2-Kyle Stark [6]; 9. (DNF) 40-Jace Sparks [4]; 10. (DNS) 45-Trey Weishoff
Schoenfeld Headers Schoenfeld Headers Qualifying (3 Laps): 1. 55-Todd Kluever, 13.665 [5]; 2. 3W-Brandon Waelti, 13.833 [13]; 3. 5X-Adam Taylor, 13.899 [18]; 4. 9S-Mike Stroik, 14.064 [6]; 5. 19E-Daltyn England, 14.075 [9]; 6. 2-Kyle Stark, 14.115 [14]; 7. 41-Parker Jones, 14.237 [4]; 8. 20-Cody Weisensel, 14.318 [8]; 9. 53M-Miles Doherty, 14.369 [17]; 10. 40-Jace Sparks, 14.527 [7]; 11. 15C-RJ Corson, 14.532 [11]; 12. 98-Jordan Nelson, 14.543 [20]; 13. 29-Harrison Kleven, 14.644 [12]; 14. 59-Kyle Koch, 14.767 [10]; 15. 38-Matt Rechek, 14.782 [19]; 16. 68-Eric Blumer, 15.191 [3]; 17. 1W-Robby Wirth, 15.193 [1]; 18. 28-Jim Fuerst, 15.595 [16]; 19. 45-Trey Weishoff, 15.976 [2]; 20. 17-Nick Kilian, 16.445 [15]
OOSTBURG AUTOMOTIVE GRAND NATIONALS
A Main (25 Laps): 1. E85-Justin Pearson [8]; 2. 47-Nick Schumacher [7]; 3. 53W-Dustin Weiss [3]; 4. 6-Dick Hed [1]; 5. 95-Donny Kulow [4]; 6. 89-Brian Gilles [14]; 7. 24K-Tyler Kulow [11]; 8. 54-Matt Yancey [2]; 9. 80-Luke Scholten [10]; 10. 16-Will Schumacher [9]; 11. 72E-Chad Espen [13]; 12. 5C-Collin Skindzeleski [16]; 13. 55-Don Singer [17]; 14. 187-Noah Wachowiacz [19]; 15. 23-Scott Kafka [15]; 16. 22-Randy Dent [18]; 17. 34-Steven Weber [5]; 18. 13-Josh Pierce [6]; 19. 6B-Vince Bartolotta [12]; 20. (DNS) 14X-Will Sorce
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 47-Nick Schumacher [1]; 2. 54-Matt Yancey [2]; 3. 95-Donny Kulow [5]; 4. 80-Luke Scholten [7]; 5. 72E-Chad Espen [6]; 6. 5C-Collin Skindzeleski [3]; 7. 55-Don Singer [4]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 13-Josh Pierce [1]; 2. 6-Dick Hed [2]; 3. 53W-Dustin Weiss [5]; 4. 24K-Tyler Kulow [7]; 5. 89-Brian Gilles [6]; 6. 14X-Will Sorce [4]; 7. 187-Noah Wachowiacz [3]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. E85-Justin Pearson [3]; 2. 16-Will Schumacher [2]; 3. 34-Steven Weber [6]; 4. 6B-Vince Bartolotta [4]; 5. 23-Scott Kafka [5]; 6. 22-Randy Dent [1]
NEXT STEP INSURANCE B MODS
A Main (25 Laps): 1. 03W-Tim Warner [4]; 2. 62-Jeff Steenbergen [6]; 3. 70-Jonathon Baumann [2]; 4. 66-Steve Lorier [3]; 5. 17S-Shane Long [8]; 6. 3-Travis Schmidt [1]; 7. 29S-Tim Sheppard [9]; 8. 22M-Barry Maas [12]; 9. 66C-Colten Van Hierden [14]; 10. 17-Brandon Knepprath [13]; 11. 73-Rory Welch [11]; 12. 84-Mark Hoeppner [10]; 13. 19-Parker Glander [18]; 14. 12D-Chris Gilson [20]; 15. 59S-Spencer Long [15]; 16. 28-Rob Szemborski [19]; 17. 9L-Hunter Larson [5]; 18. 25-Jim Fischer [16]; 19. 12T-Tim Thrun [17]; 20. (DQ) 1K-Elijah Koenig [7]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 9L-Hunter Larson [1]; 2. 3-Travis Schmidt [3]; 3. 66-Steve Lorier [6]; 4. 17-Brandon Knepprath [2]; 5. 59S-Spencer Long [4]; 6. 66C-Colten Van Hierden [7]; 7. 12T-Tim Thrun [5]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 03W-Tim Warner [1]; 2. 1K-Elijah Koenig [2]; 3. 29S-Tim Sheppard [3]; 4. 84-Mark Hoeppner [4]; 5. 22M-Barry Maas [6]; 6. 25-Jim Fischer [5]; 7. 12D-Chris Gilson [7]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 62-Jeff Steenbergen [3]; 2. 17S-Shane Long [1]; 3. 70-Jonathon Baumann [6]; 4. 73-Rory Welch [4]; 5. (DNF) 28-Rob Szemborski [2]; 6. (DNF) 19-Parker Glander [5]
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