By Jeff Pederson
Pedal Down Promotions
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) July 1, 2023 – Former Plymouth Dirt Track and Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint car champion, Ben Schmidt of Plymouth added another stellar entry to his impressive 2023 main event victory tally by turning in his third straight and fifth overall 25-lap Akright Auto Plymouth Dirt Track Racing and Midwest Sprint Car Association A-main victory, during the Scott Semmelmann Memorial Saturday, July 1 at The Plymouth Dirt Track.
In the 30-lap Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car series A main, 2021 and 2022 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing and Midwest Sprint Car Association champion Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls collected his first career IRA and 410 Sprint Car A-main victory in fitting fashion on his home track where he has done the bulk of his racing and winning over the course of his 16-year career.
Mark Heinert of Oak Creek earned his fourth A-main victory of the 2023 campaign in the 20-lap IRA Lightning Sprints A-main event.
Ben Schmidt, who started second, outpowered rookie polesitter T.J. Haddy of Waupun to grab the lead in turn one of the opening lap of the PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car A main with Haddy and 14-year-old rookie Logan Julien of Oconomowoc, who started fourth, trailing in second and third respectively.
On lap 2, two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh moved past third starter Alex Pokorski of West Bend to assume fourth.
The red flag appeared later on lap 2 when rookie Ryan Sawusch of Lake Villa, Ill. flipped and hit the wall in turn two. On the restart, Schmidt into the lead while Julien worked past Haddy to gain second.
Schmidt, who captured the 2011 PDTR and MSA 360 Sprint Car championships, caught the rear of the field on lap 8 before McMullen swept past Julien to take over second on lap 10. One lap later, the caution flag appeared when Tommy Colburn of New Berlin stopped on the backstretch.
Another caution flag was displayed when Haddy spun in turn one. Following the final restart, Schmidt pulled away from the field before finding himself dealing with lapped traffic again on lap 20.
As the leaders wound their way through dense slower traffic, McMullen worked the inside lane of the lightning fast and undulating track surface to duck under Schmidt briefly on the final lap. However, Schmidt held strong en route to his third straight and fifth overall MSA 360 Sprint Car A-main victory of the 2023 season, 19th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car main event win and 37th overall career MSA 360 Sprint Car triumph.
“We had another fast track tonight and to get another win is just unbelievable,” Schmidt said. “The crew does a great job week after week setting the car up so nice for me to drive.”
McMullen wound up second, Julien earned a PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car career-best third place showing, Robbie Pribnow of Lomira placed fourth after starting fifth and eighth starter Shane Wenninger of Kewaskum rounded out the top five.
After J.J. Hickle spun in turn three shortly after the initial start, outside front row starter Danny Schlafer of Sussex grabbed the lead on the opening lap of the 30-lap IRA Scott Semmelmann Memorial 410 Sprint Car A main, followed by polesitter Caden Englehart of Terre Haute, Ind. in second and sixth starter Travis Arenz in third.
On lap 3, Arenz and eighth starter Mike Reinke of Howards Grove engaged in a heated back and forth duel for third in the running order before Arenz rode the low line to finally secure the spot on lap 5.
Schlafer hit lapped traffic on lap 7, which allowed Englehart to cut into the lead on lap 9 as the leaders negotiated a myriad of slower cars. On lap 12, the second caution flag was displayed when Blake Nimee of Oswego, Ill. spun in turn four.
After the restart, Schlafer maintained the top spot with Englehart in pursuit. However, Englehart’s evening came to an abrupt end on lap 16 when he made contact with the turn four wall before stopping on the front stretch to bring out the third caution flag of the event.
When the race resumed, Arenz held tight to the low line while Schlafer continued to ride the cushion. Arenz’s race-long dedication to the bottom of the third-mile clay oval proved to pay dividends when he reeled in the high riding Schlafer and ducked into the lead in turn one on lap 19.
The pace slowed again on lap 19 when Todd Daun of Pleasant Prairie spun in turn three to bring out the fourth caution. On lap 22, two-time IRA champion Scotty Neitzel worked the low line to slip past Schlafer into second on lap 22.
With Arenz setting sail in front of the pack, 12th starter and current IRA point leader Brenham Crouch of Lubbock, Texas entered into a battle with Neitzel for second before the fifth and final caution of the race was displayed on lap 27 when Blake Nimee spun again in turn two.
Arenz again controlled the last restart of the race and pulled away from Neitzel to notch his first career IRA 410 Sprint Car Series A-main victory and 37th overall main event triumph at the 73-year-old Plymouth Dirt Track facility covering four different divisions (Outlaw Compact 4-Cylinder, B Mod, 360 Sprint Car and 410 Sprint Car).
“This win means a lot,” Arenz said. “From 4-Cylinders to Sport Mods to 360s to now 410s, we’ve been able to find success and get to victory lane at Plymouth. When I was growing up, all I ever wanted to do was race at Plymouth. It feels great to get one here in a 410 Sprint Car.”
Crouch finished second, Schlafer wound up third, Reinke placed fourth and ninth starter Russel Borland of Kewaskum rounded out the top five.
Polesitter Max Brannam of Holiday Hills, Ill. grabbed the lead on the opening lap of the 20-lap IRA Lightning Sprints A main with fourth starter John Kirk of Johnsburg, Ill. in tow in second.
On lap 4, Kirk used the outside lane to seize the top spot from Brannam. One lap later, Mark Heinert moved in to pressure Brannam for second before gaining the runner-up spot in turn one on lap 7. Heinert gradually reeled in Kirk before pulling off what proved to be the winning move to take the lead in turn one lap 10.
With Heinert commanding the point, seventh starter Mike Neau of Pleasant Prairie moved in to take second in the closing lap. Meanwhile, Heinert went on to secure his fourth IRA Sprints A-main victory of the 2023 campaign in the caution-free race.
Neau placed second, Kirk wound up third, Max Brannam was fourth and third starter Ron Brannam of Barrington, Ill. placed fifth.
Ben Schmidt earned fast qualifier accolades in the PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car division with a top lap of 12.202 seconds.
J.J. Hickle of Quilcene, Wash. collected IRA 410 Sprint Car fast qualifier accolades with a lap of 11.458 seconds.
The eighth event of the 2023 PDTR campaign, which was sponsored by Jensen Sales and Service and included bonus money from Professional Plating for heat race and A main winners in all three divisions, drew a total of 70 cars, including 25 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars, 28 IRA 410 Sprint Cars and 17 IRA Lightning Sprints.
The next race program at The Plymouth Dirt Track on Saturday, July 8 will feature the second appearance of the 2023 season 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 at 5:30 p.m. and racing 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 [2]; 2. 98-Brandon McMullen [6]; 3. 85J-Logan Julien [4]; 4. 30-Robbie Pribnow [5]; 5. 53-Shane Wenninger [8]; 6. 4-Alex Pokorski [3]; 7. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [7]; 8. 6K-Kurt Davis [10]; 9. 69S-TJ Smith [9]; 10. 7-Lance Fassbender [12]; 11. 22B-Brandon Berth [17]; 12. 3-Justin Erickson [13]; 13. 2-Chris Clayton [14]; 14. 11-Tony Wondra [19]; 15. 69-Bill Taylor [18]; 16. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [11]; 17. 12P-JJ Pagel [20]; 18. 66T-Tristan Koenings [15]; 19. 54-Randy Post [22]; 20. 21H-TJ Haddy [1]; 21. 51-Ellie Hensley [25]; 22. 1-Tommy Colburn [16]; 23. 55S-Ryan Sawusch [21]; 24. (DNS) 53A-Paul Pokorski; 25. (DNS) 92-Kevin Seidler
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 98-Brandon McMullen [1]; 2. 30-Robbie Pribnow [3]; 3. 35-Ben Schmidt [4]; 4. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [5]; 5. 2-Chris Clayton [6]; 6. 51-Ellie Hensley [9]; 7. 53A-Paul Pokorski [2]; 8. 55S-Ryan Sawusch [7]; 9. (DNS) 92-Kevin Seidler
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 53-Shane Wenninger [2]; 2. 21H-TJ Haddy [1]; 3. 6K-Kurt Davis [3]; 4. 7-Lance Fassbender [4]; 5. 3-Justin Erickson [6]; 6. 22B-Brandon Berth [5]; 7. 69-Bill Taylor [7]; 8. 12P-JJ Pagel [8]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [2]; 2. 85J-Logan Julien [3]; 3. 4-Alex Pokorski [4]; 4. 66T-Tristan Koenings [1]; 5. 69S-TJ Smith [8]; 6. 1-Tommy Colburn [5]; 7. 11-Tony Wondra [6]; 8. 54-Randy Post [7]
Qualifying 1: 1. 35-Ben Schmidt, 12.202 [7]; 2. 30-Robbie Pribnow, 12.427 [1]; 3. 53A-Paul Pokorski, 12.455 [3]; 4. 98-Brandon McMullen, 12.477 [5]; 5. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 12.650 [2]; 6. 2-Chris Clayton, 12.843 [6]; 7. 51-Ellie Hensley, 14.238 [9]; 8. 55S-Ryan Sawusch, 14.831 [8]; 9. (DNS) 92-Kevin Seidler
Qualifying 2: 1. 7-Lance Fassbender, 12.422 [3]; 2. 6K-Kurt Davis, 12.427 [5]; 3. 53-Shane Wenninger, 12.485 [2]; 4. 21H-TJ Haddy, 12.551 [8]; 5. 22B-Brandon Berth, 12.704 [6]; 6. 3-Justin Erickson, 12.759 [1]; 7. 69-Bill Taylor, 12.789 [4]; 8. 12P-JJ Pagel, 13.274 [7]
Qualifying 3: 1. 4-Alex Pokorski, 12.412 [1]; 2. 85J-Logan Julien, 12.459 [7]; 3. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 12.529 [5]; 4. 66T-Tristan Koenings, 12.564 [6]; 5. 1-Tommy Colburn, 12.590 [4]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra, 12.744 [2]; 7. 54-Randy Post, 12.880 [8]; 8. 69S-TJ Smith, 12.892 [3]
BUMPER TO BUMPER INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION 410 SPRINT CARS
A Main (30 Laps): 1. 25T-Travis Arenz [6]; 2. 1-Brenham Crouch [12]; 3. 25-Danny Schlafer [2]; 4. 10W-Mike Reinke [8]; 5. 23-Russel Borland [9]; 6. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [13]; 7. U2-Jack Vanderboom [11]; 8. 50-JJ Hickle [4]; 9. 9K-Kyle Schuett [7]; 10. 3N-Jake Neuman [19]; 11. 26-Tyler Tischendorf [3]; 12. 99-Tyler Brabant [20]; 13. 68-Dave Uttech [21]; 14. 3B-Shelby Bosie [16]; 15. 87A-Austin Hartmann [14]; 16. 4K-Kris Spitz [18]; 17. 2W-Scott Neitzel [5]; 18. 26R-Preston Ruh [24]; 19. 19-Todd Daun [10]; 20. 24-Scott Conger [17]; 21. (DNF) 79-Blake Nimee [15]; 22. (DNF) 71M-Caden Englehart [1]; 23. (DNF) 50YR-Ryan Ruhl [23]; 24. (DNF) 47-Todd King [22]
B Main (10 Laps): 1. 3N-Jake Neuman [1]; 2. 99-Tyler Brabant [3]; 3. 68-Dave Uttech [4]; 4. 47-Todd King [5]; 5. 50YR-Ryan Ruhl [2]; 6. 26R-Preston Ruh [6]; 7. 21-Will Gerrits [7]; 8. 16-Anthony Knierim [8]; 9. 17W-Dylan Winkel [9]; 10. 39V-William Huck [10]
Dash 1 (4 Laps): 1. 71M-Caden Englehart [1]; 2. 26-Tyler Tischendorf [2]; 3. 2W-Scott Neitzel [5]; 4. 9K-Kyle Schuett [3]; 5. 23-Russel Borland [4]
Dash 2 (4 Laps): 1. 25-Danny Schlafer [1]; 2. 50-JJ Hickle [4]; 3. 25T-Travis Arenz [5]; 4. 10W-Mike Reinke [3]; 5. 19-Todd Daun [2]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2W-Scott Neitzel [1]; 2. 50-JJ Hickle [4]; 3. 71M-Caden Englehart [2]; 4. U2-Jack Vanderboom [5]; 5. 79-Blake Nimee [9]; 6. 24-Scott Conger [7]; 7. 3N-Jake Neuman [3]; 8. 68-Dave Uttech [6]; 9. 16-Anthony Knierim [8]; 10. 39V-William Huck [10]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 23-Russel Borland [1]; 2. 25T-Travis Arenz [2]; 3. 25-Danny Schlafer [4]; 4. 1-Brenham Crouch [6]; 5. 87A-Austin Hartmann [5]; 6. 4K-Kris Spitz [9]; 7. 50YR-Ryan Ruhl [3]; 8. 26R-Preston Ruh [8]; 9. 21-Will Gerrits [7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 26-Tyler Tischendorf [2]; 2. 10W-Mike Reinke [4]; 3. 19-Todd Daun [1]; 4. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [6]; 5. 9K-Kyle Schuett [3]; 6. 3B-Shelby Bosie [5]; 7. 99-Tyler Brabant [8]; 8. 47-Todd King [7]; 9. 17W-Dylan Winkel [9]
Qualifying: 1. 50-JJ Hickle, 11.458 [10]; 2. 25-Danny Schlafer, 11.557 [28]; 3. 10W-Mike Reinke, 11.589 [7]; 4. 3N-Jake Neuman, 11.684 [15]; 5. 50YR-Ryan Ruhl, 11.694 [14]; 6. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 11.761 [20]; 7. 71M-Caden Englehart, 11.823 [25]; 8. 25T-Travis Arenz, 11.839 [5]; 9. 26-Tyler Tischendorf, 11.865 [12]; 10. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 11.878 [18]; 11. 23-Russel Borland, 11.911 [23]; 12. 19-Todd Daun, 11.924 [13]; 13. U2-Jack Vanderboom, 11.935 [17]; 14. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 11.968 [2]; 15. 3B-Shelby Bosie, 11.972 [4]; 16. 68-Dave Uttech, 12.004 [19]; 17. 1-Brenham Crouch, 00:12.020[26]; 18. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 00:12.031[27]; 19. 24-Scott Conger, 12.054 [16]; 20. 21-Will Gerrits, 12.096 [11]; 21. 47-Todd King, 12.106 [3]; 22. 16-Anthony Knierim, 12.164 [1]; 23. 26R-Preston Ruh, 12.170 [9]; 24. 99-Tyler Brabant, 12.221 [8]; 25. 79-Blake Nimee, 12.260 [21]; 26. 4K-Kris Spitz, 12.698 [6]; 27. 17W-Dylan Winkel, 12.834 [22]; 28. 39V-William Huck, 13.118 [24]
Hot Laps: 1. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 11.785 [20]; 2. 25-Danny Schlafer, 11.926 [28]; 3. 71M-Caden Englehart, 11.928 [25]; 4. 3N-Jake Neuman, 12.002 [15]; 5. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 12.099 [18]; 6. 50-JJ Hickle, 12.118 [10]; 7. 1-Brenham Crouch, 12.151 [26]; 8. 19-Todd Daun, 12.152 [13]; 9. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 12.169 [27]; 10. 50YR-Ryan Ruhl, 12.183 [14]; 11. 23-Russel Borland, 12.212 [23]; 12. 10W-Mike Reinke, 12.251 [7]; 13. 24-Scott Conger, 12.371 [16]; 14. 79-Blake Nimee, 12.421 [21]; 15. 21-Will Gerrits, 12.455 [11]; 16. 68-Dave Uttech, 12.601 [19]; 17. U2-Jack Vanderboom, 12.629 [17]; 18. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 12.661 [2]; 19. 3B-Shelby Bosie, 12.672 [4]; 20. 26-Tyler Tischendorf, 12.732 [12]; 21. 16-Anthony Knierim, 12.775 [1]; 22. 25T-Travis Arenz, 12.867 [5]; 23. 47-Todd King, 13.027 [3]; 24. 39V-William Huck, 13.080 [24]; 25. 17W-Dylan Winkel, 13.206 [22]; 26. 4K-Kris Spitz, 13.261 [6]; 27. 26R-Preston Ruh, 13.269 [9]; 28. 99-Tyler Brabant, 13.284 [8]
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