By Jeff Pederson
Pedal Down Promotions
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) June 24, 2023 – On a night dedicated to reflecting on the life of late 360 Sprint driver Cole Possi, three repeat A-main winners returned to victory lane and a new name joined the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing main event victory list Saturday, June 24 at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis.
Prior to the start of the racing program, the members of the Possi Racing team, including family and friends, who for many years traveled regularly from Upper Michigan to compete in the 360 Sprint Car division at The Plymouth Dirt Track, gathered in front of the grandstand to remember Cole, who passed away in March, with Cole’s Last Lap ceremony. In addition, Cole’s father Earl, who notched six PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victories during his racing career, strapped into the seat of Cole’s No. 39 car to compete in the 360 Sprint Car portion of the racing program in his memory.
2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth earned his second straight Akright Auto PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory of the 2023 season in the 25-lap main event.
In the 25-lap Oostburg Automotive Grand National main event, Will Sorce of Franklin collected his second A-main victory of the 2023 campaign.
Two-time PDTR B Mod champ Tim Warner of Malone executed a thrilling last lap, final corner pass to notch his third PDTR Next Step Insurance B Mod A-main victory of the 2023 campaign in the 25-lap A main.
Austin Winkel of Sheboygan Falls racked up his first career A-main victory at The Plymouth Dirt Track in the 25-lap 106.5 The Buzz Wisconsin Racing Legends Dirt Series headliner
In the 25-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main, rookie T.J. Haddy of Waupun used his outside front row starting position to vault past polesitter Alex Pokorski of West Bend and grab the lead on the opening lap.
On lap 2, the first of four caution flags appeared when rookie Ryan Sawusch of Lake Villa, Ill. spun in turn four. Following the restart Ben Schmidt, who started third, vaulted past Pokorski into second in turn two before using the low groove to seize the top spot from Haddy exiting turn four.
Pokorski ducked low to work his way past Haddy into second in turn one on lap 4 before the caution flag appeared on lap 5 when Haddy spun into the turn four wall to bring out the second caution of the race.
On lap 6, fourth starter Brandon Berth of Cascade used the high line to power past the low riding Pokorski into second. One lap later, the third caution flag was displayed to the field when Chris Larson of Franksville collided with the turn four wall.
The restart saw Pokorski work the high groove to vault his way into second as Schmidt pulled away to build a solid lead cushion. The 24-year veteran was closing in on the rear of the field when the fourth caution flag came out on lap 11 for Sawusch’s second spin of the race in turn three.
Berth used the preferred outer lane to take second from Pokorski in turn two as Schmidt again bolted away from his pursuers. The 2011 Midwest Sprint Car Association champion caught slower traffic on lap 15 and two laps later Pokorski regained second when Berth washed up high along the undulating cushion.
Two-time Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh, who started ninth, moved into third on lap 18. Pokorski began to reel in Schmidt as the leader wound their way through lapped traffic.
However, the fourth-year driver fell just short at the finish line as Schmidt collected his second straight and third overall PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory and fourth MSA main event triumph of the 2023 season, along with his 18th career PDTR and 36th career MSA 360 Sprint Car A-main win.
“I raced against Earl [Possi] for a lot of years and I raced with Cole [Possi] for several years too,” Schmidt said. “This wins means a lot. I want to thank the Possi Family for coming and doing this event tonight in Cole’s memory, the fans for coming out to support us, the sponsors on this car and my crew for giving me a great car every night.”
Pokorski placed second, McMullen was third, rookie Logan Julien of Oconomowoc, who started fifth, placed fourth and Berth rounded out the top five.
As an extra Cole’s Last Lap event bonus, third place A-main finisher Brandon McMullen and ninth place finisher Justin Erickson of Plymouth each picked up $139 dollars courtesy of Goeden Auto Body. Also, rookie Tristan Koenings of Van Dyne collected $339 courtesy of Shufflebotham Tree Service in Cole Possi’s memory.
In the 25-lap Grand National main event, outside front row starter Donny Kulow of Plymouth grabbed the lead on the opening lap with 2019 PDTR Grand National champion Tyler Kulow of Sheboygan, who started fourth, moving into second.
Tyler Kulow moved in to challenge Donny Kulow for the lead on lap 3 before seizing the top spot along the high groove in turn two on lap 4. Meanwhile, Will Sorce, who started third, moved past Donny Kulow into second lap 8 and quickly set his sights on the lead.
After racing in close quarters with Tyler Kulow for the top spot for several laps, Sorce swept into the lead with a high move in turn one on lap 12. As Sorce pulled away from Tyler Kulow, the lone caution flag of the event appeared on lap 19 when Don Singer of Waldo and Dick Hed of Plymouth collided and spun in turn four.
Sorce controlled the restart and maintained the top spot over the final six laps en route to his sixth career PDTR Grand National A-main triumph.
Tyler Kulow placed second, fifth starter Steven Weber of Plymouth took third, Donny Kulow wound up fourth and six-time overall Plymouth Dirt Track Super Stock and Grand National champion Brian Gilles of Plymouth placed fifth after starting 12th.
Hunter Larson of Oshkosh jumped into the lead of the 25-lap B Mod A main from the pole position with outside front row starter Jesse Cullen of Chilton in tow. On lap five, Tim Warner, who started fifth, worked the high groove to pass third starter Steve Lorier of Sheboygan for third in turn three.
Three laps later, Cullen closed in to pressure Larson for the lead before Warner worked his way in to make it a three-way battle for the top spot on lap 16. As the leaders encountered lapped traffic, Cullen attempted a high move to pull even with Larson on lap 19. However, Larson fended off the challenge to retain the top spot.
On lap 21, Warner seized second from Cullen before pounding the cushion to challenge Larson on lap 23. During the final lap, Warner unleashed a big run along the outer groove, while Larson was stuck behind slower traffic down low, to steal the victory in turn four and nip Larson at the checkered flag.
The crowd-pleasing final corner victory in the caution-free race was Warner’s division-leading 10th career PDTR B Mod A-main triumph.
Larson had to settle for second, Lorier took third, Cascade’s Barry Maas, who started third, finished fourth and sixth starter Travis Schmidt of Plymouth wound up fifth.
Polesitter Kim Clover of Waupun led the opening lap of the 20-lap Wisconsin Legends Racing Dirt Series before the first of two caution flags came out on lap 2 for a spin involving Hayden Schmuhl of Beaver Dam.
On the restart, Austin Winkel moved into second along the outside line. Winkel quickly closed in on Clover before shooting past Clover into the lead with a low move in turn three on lap 5.
Winkel then built up a half-lap lead over eighth starter Ryan Sullivan of Waupun on lap 12. The second and final caution slowed the pace on lap 14 when Matt Gritt of Plymouth spun in turn four.
Winkel again bolted away from the field on the way to his first career Legends A-main triumph in the second Wisconsin Legends Racing Dirt Series A main to ever be contested at The Plymouth Dirt Track.
Sullivan finished second, Dallas Ross of Reeseville, who started third, placed third, Mike Mueller of Waupun took fourth after starting fourth and seventh starter Eric Blumer of Sun Prairie rounded out the top five.
Logan Julien earned fast qualifier accolades in the PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car division with a top lap of 12.853 seconds.
The seventh event of the 2023 PDTR campaign, which was sponsored by Mayer Automotive, drew a total of 76 cars, including 22 360 Sprint Cars, 19 B Mods, 19 Wisconsin Dirt Racing Legends Series cars and 16 Grand Nationals.
The next race program at The Plymouth Dirt Track on Saturday, July 1 will feature an all-open wheel event, including the third 2023 appearance of the Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series, along with the PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars and IRA Lightning Sprints.
Grandstand gates open at 4:30 p.m., hot laps are set at 5:30 p.m. with qualifying and racing to follow.
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 [3]; 2. 4-Alex Pokorski [1]; 3. 98-Brandon McMullen [9]; 4. 85J-Logan Julien [5]; 5. 22B-Brandon Berth [4]; 6. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [16]; 7. 69-Bill Taylor [7]; 8. 69S-TJ Smith [11]; 9. 3-Justin Erickson [8]; 10. 7-Lance Fassbender [6]; 11. 66T-Tristan Koenings [14]; 12. 20-Robbie Pribnow [12]; 13. 12P-JJ Pagel [19]; 14. 53A-Paul Pokorski [10]; 15. 11-Tony Wondra [17]; 16. 54-Randy Post [20]; 17. 21H-TJ Haddy [2]; 18. 38-Jordan Miklas [21]; 19. 53-Shane Wenninger [13]; 20. 39-Earl Possi [18]; 21. 55S-Ryan Sawusch [22]; 22. 51-Chris Larson [15]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 69-Bill Taylor [2]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt [1]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth [4]; 4. 53-Shane Wenninger [3]; 5. 51-Chris Larson [5]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra [6]; 7. 12P-JJ Pagel [7]; 8. 55S-Ryan Sawusch [8]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 7-Lance Fassbender [2]; 2. 4-Alex Pokorski [1]; 3. 98-Brandon McMullen [3]; 4. 53A-Paul Pokorski [4]; 5. 69S-TJ Smith [6]; 6. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [7]; 7. 54-Randy Post [5]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 3-Justin Erickson [2]; 2. 21H-TJ Haddy [1]; 3. 85J-Logan Julien[4]; 4. 20-Robbie Pribnow [3]; 5. 66T-Tristan Koenings [5]; 6. 39-Earl Possi [6]; 7. 38-Jordan Miklas [7]
Qualifying 1 (5 Laps): 1. 22B-Brandon Berth, 13.294 [6]; 2. 53-Shane Wenninger, 13.345 [3]; 3. 69-Bill Taylor, 13.370 [7]; 4. 35-Ben Schmidt, 13.424 [4]; 5. 51-Chris Larson, 13.509 [5]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra, 13.528 [2]; 7. 12P-JJ Pagel, 13.918 [1]; 8. 55S-Ryan Sawusch, 13.918 [8]
Qualifying 2 (5 Laps): 1. 53A-Paul Pokorski, 12.913 [5]; 2. 98-Brandon McMullen, 13.060 [1]; 3. 7-Lance Fassbender, 13.105 [7]; 4. 4-Alex Pokorski, 13.132 [6]; 5. 54-Randy Post, 13.526 [2]; 6. 69S-TJ Smith, 13.528 [3]; 7. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 13.579 [4]
Qualifying 3 (5 Laps): 1. 85J-Logan Julien, 12.853 [5]; 2. 20-Robbie Pribnow 12.896 [2]; 3. 3-Justin Erickson, 12.910 [6]; 4. 21H-TJ Haddy, 12.973 [4]; 5. 66T-Tristan Koenings, 13.163 [1]; 6. 39-Earl Possi, 13.257 [3]; 7. 38-Jordan Miklas, 14.947 [7]
OOSTBURG AUTOMOTIVE GRAND NATIONALS
A Main: 1. 14X-Will Sorce [3]; 2. 24K-Tyler Kulow [4]; 3. 34-Steven Weber [5]; 4. 95-Donny Kulow [2]; 5. 89-Brian Gilles [12]; 6. 72E-Chad Espen [6]; 7. 53W-Dustin Weiss [10]; 8. 7A-Todd Ascherien [8]; 9. 54-Matt Yancey [13]; 10. 14-Seth Westimayer [7]; 11. 6-Dick Hed [11]; 12. 23-Scott Kafka [9]; 13. 55-Don Singer [1]; 14. 5C-Collin Skindzeleski [14]; 15. 03-Timothy Warner [16]; 16. (DNS) E85-Justin Pearson
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 72E-Chad Espen [2]; 2. 14X-Will Sorce [1]; 3. 24K-Tyler Kulow [4]; 4. 53W-Dustin Weiss [3]; 5. 7A-Todd Ascherien [6]; 6. 89-Brian Gilles [5]; 7. 54-Matt Yancey [7]; 8. 5C-Collin Skindzeleski [8]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 34-Steven Weber [2]; 2. 95-Donny Kulow [1]; 3. 55-Don Singer [3]; 4. 14-Seth Westimayer [4]; 5. 23-Scott Kafka [6]; 6. 6-Dick Hed [7]; 7. 03-Timothy Warner [8]; 8. (DNF) E85-Justin Pearson [5]
NEXT STEP INSURANCE B MODS
A Main: 1. 03W-Tim Warner [5]; 2. 9L-Hunter Larson [1]; 3. 66-Steve Lorier [4]; 4. 22M-Barry Maas [3]; 5. 3-Travis Schmidt [6]; 6. 17S-Shane Long [7]; 7. 73-Rory Welch [13]; 8. 29S-Tim Sheppard [9]; 9. 84-Mark Hoeppner [14]; 10. 9R-Matthew Roehl [11]; 11. 17-Brandon Knepprath [10]; 12. 19-Parker Glander [15]; 13. 59S-Spencer Long [8]; 14. 8-Jesse Cullen [2]; 15. 54-Michael Strean [16]; 16. 70JR-Jason Schilling [12]; 17. 19B-Jimmy Berkevich [18]; 18. (DNS) 25-Jim Fischer; 19. (DNS) 62-James Rautmann
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 03W-Tim Warner [5]; 2. 3-Travis Schmidt [1]; 3. 59S-Spencer Long [3]; 4. 29S-Tim Sheppard [4]; 5. 9R-Matthew Roehl [6]; 6. 54-Michael Strean [2]; 7. (DNS) 62-James Rautmann
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 19B-Jimmy Berkevich [2]; 2. 22M-Barry Maas [4]; 3. 17-Brandon Knepprath [1]; 4. 17S-Shane Long [6]; 5. 70JR-Jason Schilling [5]; 6. 25-Jim Fischer [3]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 66-Steve Lorier [2]; 2. 8-Jesse Cullen [3]; 3. 9L-Hunter Larson [4]; 4. 84-Mark Hoeppner [1]; 5. 73-Rory Welch [5]; 6. 19-Parker Glander [6]
106.5 THE BUZZ WISCONSIN LEGENDS RACING DIRT SERIES
A Main (20 Laps): 1. 88-Austin Winkel [6]; 2. 43S-Ryan Sullivan [8]; 3. 87-Dallas Ross [3]; 4. 95M-Mike Mueller [4]; 5. 6E-Eric Blumer [7]; 6. 5G-Matt Gritt [11]; 7. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl [2]; 8. 117-Adam Zellmer [5]; 9. 51-Tim Franz [14]; 10. 7F-Lilly Fassbender [12]; 11. 27B-Brandon Breitkreutz [16]; 12. 7A-Brady Ascherien [17]; 13. 1K-Kim Clover [1]; 14. 76W-Mark Wellman [13]; 15. 44M-Jordan Miklas [15]; 16. 52K-Kacey Korsmo [10]; 17. (DNS) 8W-Michael Weber; 18. (DNS) 64M-Griffin McGrath; 19. (DQ) 19J-Nick Johnson [9]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 6E-Eric Blumer [6]; 2. 52K-Kacey Korsmo [5]; 3. 43S-Ryan Sullivan [3]; 4. 87-Dallas Ross [4]; 5. 5G-Matt Gritt [1]; 6. 7F-Lilly Fassbender [2]; 7. 27B-Brandon Breitkreutz [7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Austin Winkel [4]; 2. 8W-Michael Weber [6]; 3. 1K-Kim Clover [3]; 4. 7A-Brady Ascherien [1]; 5. 64M-Griffin McGrath [5]; 6. 51-Tim Franz [2]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl [2]; 2. 95M-Mike Mueller [3]; 3. 117-Adam Zellmer [4]; 4. 19J-Nick Johnson [6]; 5. 76W-Mark Wellman [1]; 6. 44M-Jordan Miklas [5]
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