By Jeff Pederson
Pedal Down Promotions
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) September 10, 2021 – With just one points race remaining in the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing B Mod and Grand National ranks, the points championships hang firmly in the balance in both hotly contested divisions.
After completing 11 nights of heated competition, the 2021 PDTR B Mod and Grand National title holders will be decided this Saturday, Sept. 11 at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis.
The B Mod division features an intriguing duel between a pair of drivers seeking their first PDTR championship. Heading into the final points race, Justin Bauer of Sheboygan Falls leads second-year driver Trevor Frank of Sheboygan by a scant two points.
Bauer says he entered the 2021 campaign with the B Mod title sitting firmly at the front of his mind.
“Winning a championship was my only goal this season,” Bauer said. “There are so many nights I look back on and know my car was capable of a better finish. I’ve probably left the track feeling disappointed more times than satisfied. I’m still going into the final night with a shot at the championship, so it’s hard to say the season as a whole has been anything other than successful.”
Bauer points to a clean sweep on May 29, which included his second career PDTR B Mod A-main victory, as the clear high water mark of his 2021 campaign.
“The highlight of my season was easily the clean sweep,” Bauer said. “The low points were all the nights I had a better car than what I finished, especially the three or four nights that I had a winning car, but didn’t get it done.”
Bauer is thrilled to have the opportunity to battle for a track division championship heading into the final points night of the 2021 PDTR campaign.
“It’s exciting to be in this position,” Bauer said. “It’s also nerve wracking that it’s close enough that it could possibly be decided by some variables that I can’t control. I’m going to give it my best shot by racing the right way like I have all year and, hopefully, it’s enough. I’ll be relieved to be done with this season either way.”
Looking ahead to the 2022 season, Bauer is unsure of how much he will race.
“I don’t have any future racing plans set in stone right now,” Bauer said. “I’m getting married to an amazing girl next year so getting ready for that will be my main focus and priority all of next summer. That doesn’t necessarily mean there won’t be room for some racing. I’ll talk with my fiancé, parents and sponsors over the next couple of months to figure out my future racing plans. If I have enough support behind me, I’ll be back in some capacity.
“I’d also like to thank SCA Inc, Van Wyk Auto, Sunset Hills Golf Course, Bushman Homestead LLC, Heim’s Hillcrest Dairy & Brothers Custom, The Fat Seagull, Butch and Anne’s Pine Grove, Fresh Prints Design, Diamond Dog Wraps, KK Construction, Northwoods Powersport Adventures and Outcast Motorsports for sponsoring me this year and helping me have a successful season,” he said. “I’d also like to encourage anyone that is interested in coming on board as a sponsor to reach out and we’ll work something out.”
Trevor Frank, who made the big jump from racing photographer to racing driver at the start of the 2020 season, sits just two points behind Bauer with an excellent chance to snag the 2021 PDTR B Mod championship.
“Going into the season, I had no plans on running in contention for the championship,” Frank said. “My goal coming in was a top-five finish in the point standings, but through consistency we’ve kept ourselves up front and put ourselves in a position to win.
“Our season has gone well so far,” he said. “We had a three-week stretch of bad races that lost us the points lead that we had. We were quite far down about a month ago, but have clawed back through consistency and picked up a clean sweep, including our first A-main victory, during the last time out on August 14th. That helped us close to two points back with one remaining night.”
Heading into the PDTR B Mod season finale, Frank is optimistic that his Frank Motorsports team will be able to draw off the momentum of its recent string of strong finishes.
“I don’t really get nervous, especially considering I’ve over achieved my personal goals for the year,” Frank said. “Justin [Bauer] put himself into the situation of leader through consistency and we’ve both gotten a win this year. It’s no surprise it’s a close battle.
“I think we’ve been really good over the past few weeks at Plymouth and I’m hoping we can continue that into championship night,” he said.
In looking ahead to a potential third season behind the wheel of a race car, Frank is not sure at this time what shape his 2022 campaign might take.
“I no plans for next year yet,” Frank said. “My current car is sold and we’re not sure what direction we will be going with our program. My brother, Brandon, did buy my car, so there will be at least one Frank Motorsports car on track next year.”
Sitting third heading into Saturday’s PDTR B Mod season finale is Shane Long of Sheboygan Falls, who sits 64 points out of the lead, while Spencer Long of Sheboygan Falls stands fourth, 72 points behind Bauer.
Two-time PDTR Grand National champion Don Sorce Jr. of West Allis heads into the Sept. 11 division season finale with a four-point cushion over 2018 PDTR Grand National champ Tyler Kulow of Plymouth.
Despite his impressive track record of past success at Plymouth, Kulow says he did not put any extra championship pressure on himself during the 2021 season.
“This year we planned on just having some fun racing and really weren’t worried about if we won the championship,” Kulow said. “We just wanted to win some races. The season has been pretty good for us as we only have raced Saturday nights at PDTR this year.
“Our lowest point was probably opening night when we had a good run going in the feature, but were taken out with only a few laps remaining,” he said. “Our best night was on Memorial Day weekend on May 29th when we had a clean sweep for only the second time ever. That meant a lot since we lost my grandpa at the end of last year, who was a veteran.”
Kulow heads into the 2021 PDTR Grand National championship night program with a relaxed, yet focused outlook.
“Heading in to the last night, a lot can happen,” Kulow said. “We just have to run our race and not worry about what else is going on. The only control we have is our outcome the final night, so we just have to stay focused.”
At this time, Kulow thinks his 2022 racing schedule will likely mirror his 2021 effort.
“I think next year we will probably run a similar schedule as this year,” Kulow said. “With the addition of our daughter, Charlotte, at the beginning of the race season, I’ve spent a lot more time with the family and only racing about one night a week.
“We have had a pretty good year this year thanks to all of our sponsors Meyer Motors, Route 67 Saloon, Sorce Services, Weiss’s Cal & Gus Motors, Crazy G Design LLC and Becker’s Detailing Jerome. Also, thanks to all my family and friends that have helped out and supported us this season. Without them, none of this would be possible.”
Heading into Saturday night’s 2021 PDTR Grand National division finale, Donny Kulow of Elkhart Lake stands 62 points out of first place in third place in the point standings, while Oostburg’s Luke Scholten stands fourth, 69 points of out of the points lead and the Bender Racing 89 car shared by Matt Loehr, J.J. Pagel and Steven Ruh is 87 points out of first place in fifth.
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This Saturday, Sept. 11 will feature the final points night of the 2021 racing season for the PDTR Grand National and B Mod divisions. The PDTR 360 Sprint Cars will also be featured, along with a guest appearance by the Badger Midget Auto Racing Association, which will be making its first appearance at Plymouth since 2019.
In addition, it is also Autograph Night and Kids Night. Free checkered flags will be distributed to the first 150 kids through the gate with a candy-coin drop compliments of Vandervart Concrete Products and Plymouth Dirt Track Racing also planned.
Grandstand gates open at 4:30 p.m. with hot laps 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.
Pedal Down Promotions is a full-service public relations and media services company devoted to helping clients effectively communicate with targeted audiences through a diverse array of promotional strategies and methods, including press releases, newsletters, profile and feature articles, website and social media content development, printed media, editing and layout, graphic design and book publishing services.
For more information on Pedal Down Promotions, email pedaldownpromotions@gmail.com, visit www.pedaldownpromotions.com or call 920-323-7970.
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