(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 31, 2024 – Sixth-year 360 Sprint Car competitor Justin Erickson of Plymouth schooled the field in applying the “how to win races” page from the dirt track racing 101 handbook to fend off past Akright Auto Plymouth Dirt Track Racing – Midwest Sprint Car Association champions Kurt Davis and Ben Schmidt on the way to his first 25-lap PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Caar A-main victory of the 2024 season in front of a large Sheboygan County Fair Night crowd at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, Aug. 31.
In the 30-lap Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series main event, Joel Myers Jr. of Sebastopol, Calif. collected his second consecutive IRA main event victory of the 2024 campaign at The Plymouth Dirt Track.
NASCAR stock car and sports car competitor Josh Bilicki of Menominee Falls paced the first three-quarters of the opening lap of the PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car main event from the pole before second starter Justin Erickson slipped past Bilicki coming off of turn four to lead lap one.
Erickson pulled away from Bilicki over the next four laps before the first of four race stoppages occurred on lap 5 when Scott Conger of Eagle spun in turn two.
Two laps later, 32nd-year open-wheel veteran Paul Pokorski of West Bend slowed with a flat right rear tire to bring out the second caution flag of the event. The third caution appeared after another two laps were completed when Bilicki spun out of the runner-up spot in turn two to collect Brandon Berth of Cascade, who had been running third.
When the race returned to green flag action for an extended period, Erickson again flexed his muscle to pull out to a half-straightaway cushion on lap 15 as 2011 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car champion and current points leader Ben Schmidt of Plymouth, who started ninth, gave chase in second.
Meanwhile, two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion and five-time MSA title winner Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee swept into the third spot from the seventh starting position on lap 20.
One lap later Bill Taylor of Boltonville flipped in turn one following contact with a lapped car to trigger a red flag on lap 21.
Following a single-file restart, the high-riding Davis powered around Schmidt to heist second from inside-dwelling Schmidt on lap 22. However, Erickson was not to be denied as he rocketed away from the field to earn his second career PDTR and MSA 360 Sprint Car main event win, his first A-main triumph since May 21, 2022.
With the victory, Erickson became the seventh different driver to score an Akright Auto PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main triumph in nine 2024 A-main events. His main event win also represented the eighth different main event winner in 12 MSA events during the 2024 campaign.
Davis placed second, Schmidt moved a step closer to wrapping up his second career PDTR and MSA championship by finishing third, 17th starter Eric Wilke of Genesee charged up 13 spots to come home fourth and Chris Clayton of Waldo also advanced 13 positions to round out the top five.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve got a win,” Erickson said. “The crew pours their heart out into this thing. Building our own motors that can compete with some of these guys is great. I love it.”
Schmidt extended his lead in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car points standings to 34 points over Alex Pokorski of West Bend and 48 points over Kevin Karnitz of West Bend with just one event remaining on the 2024 schedule during the annual Wisconsin Sprint Car Championships on Saturday, Sept. 28.
Outside front-row starter Scotty Thiel of Sheboygan powered around polesitter Mike Reinke of Howards Grove to gain the early advantage in the 30-lap IRA main event.
By lap 6, Thiel had built up a solid full straightaway lead over the field working the extreme high side of the track.
However, on lap 12, Thiel spun in turn three after racing in close quarters with a lapped car. Following a trip to the work area, Thiel rejoined the field at the rear of the 24-car field.
Two circuits later the second caution flag was displayed when fourth starter Kyle Schuett of Philo, Ill. jumped the cushion and hit the wall in turn two before two-time IRA champion and sixth starter Jake Blackhurst of Hannah City, Ill. made contact, as the two drivers dueled for second.
When the race resumed, 12th starter Joel Myers Jr., who advanced from fourth to second following the Schuett-Blackhurst incident, powered forward to slide past Reinke and grab the lead exiting turn four on lap 16.
Meanwhile, two-time PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car champion Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls, who started 11th, slid underneath Reinke into second on lap 18.
The final 12 laps of the race proved to be intense as Arenz hunted Myers Jr. down with a cushion-pounding performance along the extreme high line of the well-manicured multi-groove third-mile clay oval. As the leaders weaved through slower traffic, Arenz dove underneath Myers Jr. to take over the top spot on lap 21.
One lap later, Shelby Bosie of Lincoln, Ill. flipped in turn four after contact with Myers Jr. Arenz controlled the restart at the head of the field, but Myers Jr. stayed focused on the top spot as the two leaders stayed glued to the high line, which extended close to the outside wall.
Myers Jr. stalked Arenz along the cushion until sliding past the three-time Plymouth Dirt Track division champion (2021-2022 PDTR 360 Sprint Car, 2013 Outlaw Compact) to wrestle away the top spot in thick lapped traffic on lap 26. Myers Jr. held on from there to post his second career IRA A-main victory, both of which have come at The Plymouth Dirt Track during the 2024 campaign.
Arenz earned a strong second place showing, 14th starter Blake Nimee of Oswego, Ill. placed third, Thiel stormed back from his lap 12 spin to advance from the rear of the field to take fourth and 2022 IRA champion Jordan Goldesberry of Springfield, Ill. placed fifth after starting 13th.
“Starting 12th, I got a lot of spots early and had luck with Jake [Blackhurst] wrecking out and the 9 [Kyle Schuett] car wrecking,” Myers Jr. said. “Then Travis [Arenz] got me in lapped traffic. I saw he couldn’t run as hard as I could, so I knew if I ran five good laps I could get him and that’s what happened.”
Kevin Karnitz of West Bend was victorious PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car B-main.
Tylar Rankin of Angola, Ind. captured the win in the 12-lap IRA 410 Sprint Car B-main.
Mike Reinke claimed fast qualifier honors in IRA 410 Sprint Car Series qualifying with a lap of 12.031 seconds.
Katelyn Krebsbach of Cascade captured the overall PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car fast qualifier award with a fast lap of 12.271 seconds.
The 12th event of the 2024 PDTR campaign, which was sponsored by Hemp Works of Waldo, featured a total of 54 Sprint Cars, including 27 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars and 27 IRA 410 Sprint Cars.
The next event at The Plymouth Dirt Track is the seventh annual Jim “Wildman” Watson Class on Saturday, Sept. 21 featuring the final race of the 2024 WBAM Dirt Kings Late Model Series, Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Cars IMCA Modifieds and Street Stocks.
Pit gates open at 2 p.m. with spectator gates opening at 4 p.m., qualifying will take place at 5 p.m. with racing to begin at 5:45 p.m.
Special event pricing will be in place. Grandstand admission is $25 for adults, $5 for children ages 7-11 with children ages 6 and under admitted free. Pit passes are $35.
The 2024 campaign will conclude at The Plymouth Dirt Track with the seventh annual Wisconsin Sprint Car Championships, which wraps up the season for four Wisconsin-based Sprint Car divisions – the PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars, IRA 410 Sprint Cars, Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Cars, and IRA Lightning Sprints – on Saturday, Sept. 28.
Pit gates open at 2 p.m. with spectator gates opening at 4:30 p.m. and “on-track action” scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Special event pricing will be in effect.
The 2024 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Awards Ceremony is set to take place Saturday, Oct. 12 at Racers Hall in Plymouth at 7 p.m.
Weather information for all Plymouth Dirt Track Racing events will be posted on the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram pages, as well as the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing website – www.plymouthdtr.com.
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 – MIDWEST SPRINT CAR ASSOCIATION 360 SPRINT CARS
A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 3-Justin Erickson [2]; 2. 39K-Kurt Davis [7]; 3. 35-Ben Schmidt [9]; 4. 24X-Eric Wilke [17]; 5. 2-Chris Clayton [18]; 6. 14J-Joseph Hintz [11]; 7. 30-Doug Wondra [19]; 8. 11-Tony Wondra [20]; 9. 4-Alex Pokorski [4]; 10. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [15]; 11. 22B-Brandon Berth [3]; 12. 55P-Brady Portschy [21]; 13. 69S-TJ Smith [22]; 14. 09-Clayton Rossmann [14]; 15. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [16]; 16. 51-Chris Larson [12]; 17. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [10]; 18. 53A-Paul Pokorski [5]; 19. (DNF) 69-Bill Taylor [6]; 20. (DNF) 68T-Tyler Davis [13]; 21. (DNF) 24-Scott Conger [8]; 22. (DNF) 33M-Josh Bilicki [1]
B-Main (12 Laps): 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [1]; 2. 24X-Eric Wilke [4]; 3. 2-Chris Clayton [7]; 4. 30-Doug Wondra [8]; 5. 11-Tony Wondra [9]; 6. 55P-Brady Portschy [2]; 7. 69S-TJ Smith [12]; 8. 12P-JJ Pagel [10]; 9. 54-Randy Post [6]; 10. 52-Cody Schlafer [5]; 11. 55S-Ryan Sawusch [11]; 12. 0-Robbie Pribnow [3]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 68T-Tyler Davis [1]; 2. 09-Clayton Rossmann [5]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth [4]; 4. 51-Chris Larson [2]; 5. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [6]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra [7]; 7. 0-Robbie Pribnow [3]; 8. 69S-TJ Smith [9]; 9. 12P-JJ Pagel [8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 4-Alex Pokorski [2]; 2. 53A-Paul Pokorski [3]; 3. 14J-Joseph Hintz [6]; 4. 69-Bill Taylor [4]; 5. 33M-Josh Bilicki [5]; 6. 2-Chris Clayton [9]; 7. 54-Randy Post [8]; 8. 52-Cody Schlafer [7]; 9. 55P-Brady Portschy [1]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 39K-Kurt Davis [1]; 2. 3-Justin Erickson [6]; 3. 24-Scott Conger [2]; 4. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [4]; 5. 35-Ben Schmidt [3]; 6. 30-Doug Wondra [8]; 7. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [5]; 8. 24X-Eric Wilke [7]; 9. 55S-Ryan Sawusch [9]
Qualifying 1: 1. 22B-Brandon Berth, 12.680 [6]; 2. 0-Robbie Pribnow, 12.730 [2]; 3. 51-Chris Larson, 12.917 [9]; 4. 68T-Tyler Davis, 12.959 [1]; 5. 69S-TJ Smith, 12.972 [8]; 6. 09-Clayton Rossmann, 12.997 [5]; 7. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 13.002 [7]; 8. 11-Tony Wondra, 13.038 [3]; 9. 12P-JJ Pagel, 13.051 [4]
Qualifying 2: 1. 69-Bill Taylor, 12.540 [3]; 2. 53A-Paul Pokorski, 12.557 [6]; 3. 4-Alex Pokorski, 12.660 [4]; 4. 55P-Brady Portschy, 12.720 [2]; 5. 33M-Josh Bilicki, 12.768 [1]; 6. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 12.783 [9]; 7. 52-Cody Schlafer, 12.906 [7]; 8. 54-Randy Post, 12.929 [8]; 9. (DNF) 2-Chris Clayton, 12.958 [5]
Qualifying 3: 1. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 12.271 [6]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt, 12.336 [9]; 3. 24-Scott Conger, 12.436 [5]; 4. 39K-Kurt Davis, 12.473 [1]; 5. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 12.517 [4]; 6. 3-Justin Erickson, 12.695 [8]; 7. 24X-Eric Wilke, 12.769 [7]; 8. 30-Doug Wondra, 12.993 [2]; 9. 55S-Ryan Sawusch, 15.479 [3]
BUMPER TO BUMPER INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION 410 SPRINT CAR SERIES
A-Main (30 Laps): 1. 19-Joel Myers Jr [12]; 2. 25T-Travis Arenz [11]; 3. 79-Blake Nimee [14]; 4. 73-Scotty Thiel [2]; 5. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [13]; 6. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [3]; 7. 10W-Mike Reinke [1]; 8. 85J-Logan Julien [7]; 9. 3N-Jake Neuman [9]; 10. 12-Corbin Gurley [8]; 11. 7A-Will Armitage [18]; 12. 25-Danny Schlafer [17]; 13. 96-Jake Blackhurst [6]; 14. 4K-Kris Spitz [22]; 15. 87A-Austin Hartmann [23]; 16. 68-Dave Uttech [5]; 17. 16C-Tylar Rankin [19]; 18. 16-Anthony Knierim [16]; 19. 21-Will Gerrits [20]; 20. 8-Chase McDermand [21]; 21. 17-Dylan Winkel [10]; 22. 5-Zackary Sokol [24]; 23. (DNF) 3B-Shelby Bosie [15]; 24. (DNF) 9K-Kyle Schuett [4]
B-Main (12 Laps): 1. 16C-Tylar Rankin [9]; 2. 21-Will Gerrits [4]; 3. 8-Chase McDermand [2]; 4. 4K-Kris Spitz [6]; 5. 87A-Austin Hartmann [3]; 6. 5-Zackary Sokol [7]; 7. 43-Jereme Schroeder [8]; 8. 88-Chris Flick [1]; 9. 70W-Logan Wienke [5]
Dash 1 (4 Laps): 1. 10W-Mike Reinke [1]; 2. 2W-Scott Neitzel [2]; 3. 68-Dave Uttech [3]; 4. 85J-Logan Julien [4]; 5. 3N-Jake Neuman [5]
Dash 2 (4 Laps): 1. 73-Scotty Thiel [4]; 2. 9K-Kyle Schuett [1]; 3. 96-Jake Blackhurst [5]; 4. 12-Corbin Gurley [3]; 5. 17-Dylan Winkel [2]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [1]; 2. 19-Joel Myers Jr [6]; 3. 96-Jake Blackhurst [2]; 4. 10W-Mike Reinke [4]; 5. 25-Danny Schlafer [5]; 6. 17-Dylan Winkel [3]; 7. 87A-Austin Hartmann [7]; 8. 43-Jereme Schroeder [9]; 9. 4K-Kris Spitz [8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 9K-Kyle Schuett [1]; 2. 25T-Travis Arenz [5]; 3. 79-Blake Nimee [2]; 4. 73-Scotty Thiel [3]; 5. 12-Corbin Gurley [4]; 6. 7A-Will Armitage [7]; 7. 21-Will Gerrits [9]; 8. 5-Zackary Sokol [8]; 9. 8-Chase McDermand [6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 3N-Jake Neuman [1]; 2. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [6]; 3. 85J-Logan Julien [4]; 4. 3B-Shelby Bosie [8]; 5. 16-Anthony Knierim [2]; 6. 68-Dave Uttech [3]; 7. 88-Chris Flick [5]; 8. 70W-Logan Wienke [7]; 9. (DNF) 16C-Tylar Rankin [9]
Qualifying: 1. 10W-Mike Reinke,12.031 [16]; 2. 12-Corbin Gurley, 12.069 [3]; 3. 85J-Logan Julien, 12.158 [5]; 4. 17-Dylan Winkel, 12.207 [4]; 5. 73-Scotty Thiel, 12.262 [19]; 6. 68-Dave Uttech, 12.293 [1]; 7. 96-Jake Blackhurst, 12.320 [21]; 8. 79-Blake Nimee, 12.353 [8]; 9. 16-Anthony Knierim, 12.353 [15]; 10. 2W-Scotty Neitzel, 12.434 [13]; 11. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 12.450 [18]; 12. 3N-Jake Neuman, 12.457 [22]; 13. 25-Danny Schlafer, 12.523 [6]; 14. 25T-Travis Arenz, 12.552 [20]; 15. 88-Chris Flick, 12.562 [2]; 16. 19-Joel Myers Jr, 12.648 [14]; 17. 8-Chase McDermand, 12.695 [17]; 18. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 12.739 [11]; 19. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 12.768 [12]; 20. 7A-Will Armitage, 12.873 [10]; 21. 70W-Logan Wienke, 12.943 [7]; 22. 4K-Kris Spitz, 12.947 [9]; 23. 5-Zackary Sokol, 13.099 [27]; 24. 3B-Shelby Bosie, 13.194 [23]; 25. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 13.234 [25]; 26. 21-Will Gerrits, 13.235 [24]; 27. (DNF) 16C-Tylar Rankin, 13.235 [26]
Hot Laps: 1. 73-Scotty Thiel, 11.778 [19]; 2. 25T-Travis Arenz, 11.856 [20]; 3. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 11.877 [18]; 4. 7A-Will Armitage, 11.934 [10]; 5. 96-Jake Blackhurst, 11.938 [21]; 6. 85J-Logan Julien, 11.950 [5]; 7. 10W-Mike Reinke, 11.982 [16]; 8. 3N-Jake Neuman, 11.986 [22]; 9. 17-Dylan Winkel, 11.994 [4]; 10. 12-Corbin Gurley, 12.028 [3]; 11. 79-Blake Nimee, 12.044 [8]; 12. 16-Anthony Knierim, 12.055 [15]; 13. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 12.087 [11]; 14. 8-Chase McDermand, 12.099 [17]; 15. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 12.109 [12]; 16. 68-Dave Uttech, 12.191 [1]; 17. 2W-Scotty Neitzel, 12.295 [13]; 18. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 12.303 [25]; 19. 3B-Shelby Bosie, 12.447 [23]; 20. 5-Zackary Sokol, 12.483 [27]; 21. 4K-Kris Spitz, 12.535 [9]; 22. 25-Danny Schlafer, 12.565 [6]; 23. 88-Chris Flick, 12.757 [2]; 24. 70W-Logan Wienke, 13.056 [7]; 25. 21-Will Gerrits, 13.132 [24]; 26. (DNS) 19-Joel Myers Jr; 27. (DNS) 16C-Tylar Rankin
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