By Jeff Pederson
Pedal Down Promotions
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 5, 2023 – Twelve years after collecting his first Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car championship, Ben Schmidt of Plymouth continued his quest for a second division crown by racking up his seventh Akright Auto PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory of the 2023 season at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, Aug. 5.
Justin Pearson of Horicon tallied his second 25-lap Oostburg Auto Grand National A-main triumph of the 2023 campaign.
In the 25-lap Next Step Insurance B Mod main event, Malone’s Tim Warner earned his fourth A-main victory of the 2023 PDTR season.
Mark Heinert of Oak Creek notched his second IRA Lightning Sprints A-main triumph of the 2023 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing season and sixth overall 2023 A-main victory by topping the 20-lap 106.5 The Buzz guest division main event.
Outside front row starter Brandon Berth of Cascade outpowered rookie polesitter Hayden Johnson of Campbellsport to grab the lead in turn one of the opening lap of the 25-lap PDTR-Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car A main, while sixth starter Ben Schmidt used the extreme outside groove to vault into third in turn two.
On lap 2, T.J. Smith of Greenville spun in turn two to bring out the first of two caution flags. On the restart, Schmidt wasted no time as he blasted his way around Berth in turn two on lap 3 to take over the top spot.
Schmidt built up a solid cushion at the head of the field over the next four laps before catching up to the back of the pack on lap 8, which allowed Berth to reduce the lead gap.
On lap 12, Berth closed to within striking distance of Schmidt, as the leaders weaved their way through thick lapped traffic on the well-manicured, multi-groove track surface. Berth continued to hound Schmidt over the next 12 circuits until the second and final caution flag was displayed on 24 when Chris Flick of Beaver Dam spun to a stop near the turn four wall.
Following a single-file green-white-checkered flag restart, Schmidt bolted away from Berth and the rest of the pack en route to his 22nd career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory, 41st career MSA 360 Sprint Car triumph, seventh A-main win of the 2023 PDTR 360 Sprint Car season and ninth over MSA main event win of his stellar 2023 campaign.
The win moved Schmidt, who captured the 2011 MSA 360 Sprint Car title, into sole possession of fourth place on the all-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory list and into a tie for third on the all-time MSA 360 Sprint A-main win list with four-time MSA champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh.
“Hats off to the track prep crew tonight for giving us a great track to race on,” Schmidt said. “The track was fast and smooth and there was a nice cushion to run tonight.”
Berth wound up second, two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Brandon McMullen charged up from the 14th starting spot to finish third, rookie Logan Julien of Oconomowoc placed fourth after starting seventh and fifth starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend rounded out the top five.
Outside front row starter Chad Espen of West Bend jumped into the lead in the first turn of the opening lap of the 25-lap PDTR Grand National A main. On lap 2, fourth starter Justin Pearson moved up to take over the second spot in turn two.
One lap later, Pearson used a high move to power his way into the lead along the back stretch. On lap 4, third starter Will Sorce of Franklin engaged in a duel with Espen for second before taking over the runner-up spot in turn two on lap five.
As Pearson controlled the lead, Brian Gilles of Plymouth, a six-time Plymouth track champion in the Super Stock and Grand National divisions, moved up from his sixth starting position to work past Espen to secure third on lap 10.
Sorce caught Pearson on lap 13 and the two ran nose to tail along primarily the high line and middle groove of the third-mile clay oval during the second half of the race. The leaders caught lapped traffic on lap 20, which allowed Sorce to duck under Pearson on a couple of occasions.
However, Pearson was up to the challenge as he held off Sorce over the final five laps en route to his second career PDTR Grand National A-main victory in the caution-free race.
Sorce placed second, Gilles finished third, 2022 PDTR Grand National champ Luke Scholten of Oostburg wound up fourth after starting eighth and Espen rounded out the top five.
Steve Lorier of Sheboygan, who started second, bolted into the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap B Mod A main with fourth starter Barry Maas of Cascade taking second.
On the second go around, Tim Warner maneuvered up from the sixth starting spot to take third. One lap later, Maas moved in to challenge the high-riding Lorier for the lead along the low groove.
Over the next four laps, Lorier, Maas and Warner engaged in a heated duel for the top spot before the red flag appeared when the car of Hunter Larson of Oostburg flipped on its side during a three-car incident, which also involved Mark Hoeppner of Rubicon and Jonathan Hitsman of Newton.
On the restart, Warner used the low groove to take over second from Maas on lap 8. Warner challenged Lorier repeatedly for the top spot by working the high and low grooves during the next 11 laps before finally taking over the lead with a low move in turn two on lap 19 with Maas following in second.
Warner built up a huge lead over the final six laps en route to his division-leading 11th career PDTR B Mod A-main triumph and fourth PDTR B Mod main event victory of the 2023 campaign.
Polesitter Ron Brannam of Holiday Hills, Ill. moved into the lead in turn one of the opening lap of the 20-lap IRA Lightning Sprints main event with outside front row starter Max Brannam of Holiday Hills, Ill., who started second, taking second.
On lap 3, Mark Heinert, who started third, used a high move to assume second from Max Brannam. After moving in to challenge for the lead on lap 4, Heinert swept his way into the top spot exiting turn four on lap 5.
Once out front, Heinert switched his pace into overdrive, as he built up a solid cushion before the lone caution flag of the race appeared on lap 19 when the second place car of Ron Brannam got tangled up with Jordan Funderburk of Wadsworth, Ill. in turn two.
Following a single-file restart green-white-checkered flag restart, Heinert continued to lead, while the second place car of Max Brannam spun in turn four on the final lap.
Heinert, who won the IRA Lightning Sprints A-main at Plymouth on July 1, went on to notch his second IRA Lightning Sprints main event victory of The Plymouth Dirt Track 2023 campaign and sixth overall 2023 IRA Lightning Sprints A-main triumph.
Third starter Brian Strane Jr. of Paris took second, Derek Fortier of Franksville placed third after starting sixth, Jacob Irwin of Genoa City finished fourth after starting eighth and 13th starter John Kirk of Johnsburg, Ill. was fifth.
Justin Erickson of Plymouth turned in the fast qualifier award in the Akright PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car division with a top lap of 12.674 seconds.
Mark Heinert was the top qualifier in the 106.5 The Buzz IRA Lightning Sprints division with a lap of 13.440 seconds.
The 12th event of the 2023 PDTR campaign, which was sponsored by Racers Hall, drew a total of 68 cars, including 24 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars, 15 Grand Nationals, 14 B Mods and 15 IRA Lightning Sprints.
The next Plymouth Dirt Track Racing program on Saturday, Aug. 12 will feature the sixth and final event of the 2023 Super Six Late Model Series, along with the PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars, Grand Nationals and B Mods.
The Super Six Late Model Series A main will pay $2,000 to win and $200 to start. In addition, extra money will be added to the PDTR Grand National and B Mod purses courtesy of Judy Deicher and an anonymous donor.
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 [6]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth [2]; 3. 98-Brandon McMullen [14]; 4. 85J-Logan Julien [7]; 5. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [5]; 6. 7-Lance Fassbender [3]; 7. 4-Alex Pokorski [17]; 8. 44-Hayden Johnson [1]; 9. 69-Bill Taylor [4]; 10. 30-Doug Wondra [9]; 11. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [16]; 12. 66-Nick Daywalt [12]; 13. 11-Tony Wondra [18]; 14. 51-Chris Larson [13]; 15. 66T-Tristan Koenings [19]; 16. 69S-TJ Smith [8]; 17. 12P-JJ Pagel [10]; 18. 54-Randy Post [15]; 19. 21H-TJ Haddy [21]; 20. 88-Chris Flick [11]; 21. 53A-Spyder Akright [20]; 22. 92-Kevin Seidler [22]; 23. (DNS) 53-Shane Wenninger; 24. (DNS) 3-Justin Erickson
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 35-Ben Schmidt [2]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth [3]; 3. 12P-JJ Pagel [1]; 4. 30-Doug Wondra [4]; 5. 66-Nick Daywalt [6]; 6. 66T-Tristan Koenings [5]; 7. 53A-Spyder Akright [7]; 8. (DNF) 92-Kevin Seidler [8]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [1]; 2. 85J-Logan Julien [2]; 3. 69S-TJ Smith [4]; 4. 98-Brandon McMullen [3]; 5. 51-Chris Larson [6]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra [5]; 7. 4-Alex Pokorski [8]; 8. 21H-TJ Haddy [7]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 69-Bill Taylor [1]; 2. 7-Lance Fassbender [3]; 3. 44-Hayden Johnson [5]; 4. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [2]; 5. 88-Chris Flick [6]; 6. 54-Randy Post [7]; 7. (DNF) 53-Shane Wenninger [4]; 8. (DNS) 3-Justin Erickson
Qualifying 1: 1. 22B-Brandon Berth, 13.394 [4]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt, 13.429 [5]; 3. 53A-Spyder Akright, 13.937 [8]; 4. 12P-JJ Pagel, 14.043 [2]; 5. 30-Doug Wondra, 14.189 [7]; 6. 66T-Tristan Koenings, 14.224 [6]; 7. 66-Nick Daywalt, 14.605 [3]; 8. 92-Kevin Seidler, 14.863 [1]
Qualifying 2: 1. 69S-TJ Smith, 12.794 [8]; 2. 98-Brandon McMullen, 12.927 [7]; 3. 85J-Logan Julien, 13.093 [3]; 4. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 13.105 [4]; 5. 11-Tony Wondra, 13.201 [2]; 6. 51-Chris Larson, 13.215 [6]; 7. 21H-TJ Haddy, 13.294 [1]; 8. 4-Alex Pokorski, 13.294 [5]
Qualifying 3: 1. 3-Justin Erickson, 12.674 [1]; 2. 7-Lance Fassbender, 12.743 [3]; 3. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 12.866 [8]; 4. 69-Bill Taylor, 12.893 [4]; 5. 53-Shane Wenninger, 12.988 [5]; 6. 44-Hayden Johnson, 13.000 [7]; 7. 88-Chris Flick, 13.400 [2]; 8. 54-Randy Post, 13.519 [6]
OOSTBURG AUTOMOTIVE GRAND NATIONALS
A Main: 1. E85-Justin Pearson [4]; 2. 14X-Will Sorce [3]; 3. 89-Brian Gilles [6]; 4. 80-Luke Scholten [8]; 5. 72E-Chad Espen [2]; 6. 24K-Tyler Kulow [5]; 7. 95-Donny Kulow [10]; 8. 53W-Dustin Weiss [7]; 9. 54-Matt Yancey [1]; 10. 34-Steven Weber [15]; 11. 23-Matt Loehr [13]; 12. 5R-Nate Ruh [11]; 13. 15-Derek Kaat [14]; 14. 6B-Vince Bartolotta [9]; 15. 6-Dick Hed [12]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 24K-Tyler Kulow [2]; 2. 54-Matt Yancey [1]; 3. 72E-Chad Espen [5]; 4. 80-Luke Scholten [3]; 5. 53W-Dustin Weiss [8]; 6. 23-Matt Loehr [4]; 7. 6-Dick Hed [7]; 8. 34-Steven Weber [6]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 89-Brian Gilles [3]; 2. 14X-Will Sorce [4]; 3. E85-Justin Pearson [7]; 4. 6B-Vince Bartolotta [1]; 5. 5R-Nate Ruh [2]; 6. 95-Donny Kulow [5]; 7. 15-Derek Kaat [6]
NEXT STEP INSURANCE B MODS
A Main (25 Laps): 1. 03W-Tim Warner [6]; 2. 22M-Barry Maas [4]; 3. 3-Travis Schmidt [8]; 4. 66-Steve Lorier [2]; 5. 17S-Shane Long [7]; 6. 73-Rory Welch [11]; 7. 17-Brandon Knepprath [1]; 8. 84-Mark Hoeppner [3]; 9. 59S-Spencer Long [9]; 10. 19-Parker Glander [13]; 11. 117-Tom Barnharst [14]; 12. 117H-Jonathon Hitsman [5]; 13. 25-Jim Fischer [12]; 14. 9L-Hunter Larson [10]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 03W-Timothy Warner [4]; 2. 66-Steve Lorier [2]; 3. 84-Mark Hoeppner [6]; 4. 17S-Shane Long [3]; 5. 59S-Spencer Long [5]; 6. 73-Rory Welch [1]; 7. 117-Tom Barnharst [7]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 117H-Jonathan Hitsman [4]; 2. 22M-Barry Maas [6]; 3. 17-Brandon Knepprath [1]; 4. 3-Travis Schmidt [3]; 5. 9L-Hunter Larson [5]; 6. (DNF) 25-Jim Fischer [7]; 7. (DNF) 19-Parker Glander [2]
106.5 THE BUZZ IRA LIGHTNING SPRINTS
A Main (20 Laps): 1. 55H-Mark Heinert [4]; 2. 22S-Brian Strane Jr. [3]; 3. 11-Derek Fortier [6]; 4. 63-Jacob Irwin [8]; 5. 9-John Kirk [13]; 6. 6-Jeff Schmidt [5]; 7. 3-Ron Curasi [7]; 8. 55X-Xander York [11]; 9. 33-David Powers [10]; 10. 74M-Max Brannam [2]; 11. (DNF) 21T-Mitchell Reich [14]; 12. (DNF) 23-Dominick Swierad [15]; 13. (DNF) 01-Ron Brannam [1]; 14. (DNF) 17-Jordan Funderburk [12]; 15. (DNF) 74-Tim Brannam [9]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 55H-Mark Heinert [4]; 2. 3-Ron Curasi [1]; 3. 74M-Max Brannam [3]; 4. 6-Jeff Schmidt [2]; 5. 74-Tim Brannam [5]; 6. 9-John Kirk [8]; 7. 21T-Mitchell Reich [7]; 8. 17-Jordan Funderburk [6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Derek Fortier [2]; 2. 63-Jacob Irwin [1]; 3. 22S-Brian Strane Jr. [4]; 4. 01-Ron Brannam [3]; 5. 33-David Powers [6]; 6. 55X-Xander York [5]; 7. 23-Dominick Swierad [7]
Qualifying: 1. 55H-Mark Heinert, 13.440 [2]; 2. 22S-Brian Strane Jr, 13.585 [9]; 3. 74M-Max Brannam, 13.592 [13]; 4. 01-Ron Brannam, 13.667[ 6]; 5. 6-Jeff Schmidt, 13.897 [4]; 6. 11-Derek Fortier, 13.997 [15]; 7. 3-Ron Curasi, 14.063 [5]; 8. 63-Jacob Irwin, 14.133 [11]; 9. 74-Tim Brannam, 14.206 [3]; 10. 55X-Xander York, 14.556 [8]; 11. 17-Jordan Funderburk, 14.803 [1]; 12. 33-David Powers, 14.923 [14]; 13. 21T-Mitchell Reich, 15.336 [12]; 14. 23-Dominick Swierad, 15.336 [10]; 15. 9-John Kirk, 15.336 [7]
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