Arenz, Schmidt, Kulow, Warner reign supreme in PDTR main event action
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 15, 2020 – The second night of a Plymouth Dirt Track Racing doubleheader weekend saw some familiar faces park their machines in A-main victory lane Saturday, Aug. 15 at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis.
PDTR 360 Sprint Car point leader Travis Arenz of Sheboygan notched his third 25-lap A-main victory of the 2020 season. Two-time defending PDTR Late Model champ Justin Schmidt of Cleveland notched his second 25-lap main event win of the season. Defending PDTR Grand National champion Tyler Kulow of Plymouth collected his first main event win of 2020, while defending PDTR B Mod champ Tim Warner of Fond du Lac claimed his third A-main triumph of the 2020 campaign.
In the 25-lap PDTR Sprint Car headliner, 28-year veteran Tony Wondra of Campbellsport jumped out to the early lead from the pole position while 2017 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh grabbed second on the opening lap.
On lap 6, McMullen ventured up the high groove of the dry slick racing surface to wrestle the top spot away from Wondra. Two laps later, Arenz who started fifth, dove under Wondra to take second.
As the leaders encountered lapped traffic on lap 14, Arenz rapidly closed the gap on McMullen before pouncing with a low move in turn one on lap 15 to take the top spot from the high-riding McMullen.
Once in front, Arenz extended his lead steadily, while skillfully maneuvering his way through lapped traffic to collect his fourth career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory, 10th career Midwest Sprint Car Association main event triumph and third A-main win of the 2020 season in the non-stop, caution-free race.
McMullen had to settle for second, outside front row starter Justin Erickson of Plymouth finished third, 2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Howards Grove, who started eighth, placed fourth and Wondra rounded out the top five.
PDTR Late Model point leader Turk Letizia of Waukesha grabbed the lead of the 25-lap A main from the pole on the opening circuit with 2016 PDTR Late Model champion and second starter Tim Buhler of Greenbush second and fourth starter Mark Rose of Dorchester in third.
The lone caution flag of the race appeared on lap 3 after rookie Sawyer Specht of Sheboygan Falls spun in turn three. On the restart, Justin Schmidt moved up from his third starting spot to challenge Rose for third.
Schmidt secured the third spot on lap 4, while Justin Reed of Camp Point, Ill., who started sixth, followed in fourth on lap 6. As the laps wound down with Letizia still leading, Schmidt hit his stride using the high groove to power around Buhler into second on lap 21 in heavy lapped traffic.
With Letizia boxed in behind the slower car of Ted Dolhun Sr. of Franklin on lap 22, Schmidt worked the high line past Letizia into the lead. Once in the lead, Schmidt continued to deal with dense lapped traffic, which allowed Buhler to close slightly over the final circuits.
However, Schmidt held on to notch his 12th career PDTR Late Model A-main victory. Buhler placed second, Letizia finished third, Reed wound up fourth and fifth starter Taylor Scheffler of Waukesha was fifth.
Polesitter Tyler Kulow and outside front row starter Brad Weiss of West Bend dueled side-by-side for the lead during the first two laps of the 25-lap PDTR Grand National A main before Kulow finally surged ahead around the inside groove exiting turn four on lap 2.
On lap 5, fourth starter Luke Scholten of Oostburg and two-time PDTR Grand National champion Don Sorce Jr. of West Allis battled for third in close quarters before Sorce Jr. gained the top with a high move in turn two on lap 7.
Four laps later, eighth starter Aaron Stolp of Milwaukee slipped into third, while Sorce Jr. cut the lead cap on Kulow on lap 16. On lap 23, Stolp took second and pushed hard for the lead over the final two seconds.
Kulow held on to secure his eighth PDTR Grand National A-main victory by a slim one-car length margin over the hard-charging Stolp, who placed second. Sorce Jr. finished third, third starter Steven Weber of Plymouth placed fourth and 81-year-old Dick Hed of Plymouth, who started sixth, finished fifth in the non-stop race.
Polesitter Brandon Knepprath of Kewaskum led the first four laps of the 25-lap B Mod A main before defending PDTR B mod champion Tim Warner of Fond du Lac moved in from his sixth starting spot to pressure Knepprath from the top spot.
On lap 5, Warner worked the high groove to bolt past the low-riding Knepprath in turn four. With Warner in the lead, the action was hot and heavy behind him as eighth starter Barry Maas of Cascade, Brendon Ostrowski of Milwaukee, who starter second, and Justin Bauer of Sheboygan Falls, who started fourth, waged a three-wide duel for third on lap 8.
Bauer emerged with the third position along the inside line before the first of four caution flags appeared on lap 9 for a spin in turn three involving rookie Trevor Frank of Sheboygan.
On the restart, Bauer vaulted his way into second with the high-riding Maas following into third. The second caution was displayed on lap 15 when rookie Jim Fischer of Oostburg spun in turn four.
Bauer and Maas engaged in a spirited battle for second starting on lap 15, which lasted for most of the remainder of the race with Bauer working the low groove and Maas riding the outside lane.
Two more caution flags appeared on lap 18 for a spin involving Phil Campanella of Sheboygan Falls and Rory Welch of Grafton on lap 21.
With less than five laps to go, the final restart the lined up single file per PDTR rules with Bauer surging ahead of Maas for second on lap 21. As the laps wound down, Bauer cut the gap on Warner. However, Warner proved to be too tough as he cruised to his sixth career PDTR B Mod A-main victory.
Bauer placed second, Maas wound up third, Knepprath took fourth and seventh starter Steve Lorier of Sheboygan placed fifth.
Adam Miller of Plymouth won the 15-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main.
The ninth PDTR racing program of the 2020 season, which was sponsored by Hidden Dreams Livestock, drew a total of 74 cars, including 30 PDTR 360 Sprint Cars, 15 Late Models, 14 Grand Nationals and 15 B Mods.
PDTR will resume on Saturday, Aug. 22 with 360 Sprint Car, Late Model, Grand National and B Mod action at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis.
Grandstand gates open at 4:30 p.m. with qualifying at 5:30 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m.
For all remaining 2020 PDTR races, Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan Falls will have his new book “RPM – The Golden Era of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing” for sale under the grandstand.
A portion of the money collected from the sale of the book will be donated to Plymouth Dirt Track Racing.
KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS
HEAT 1
1, Tyler Tischendorf 2, Tony Wondra 3, Justin Erickson 4, Brandon Berth 5, Josh Teunissen 6, Paul Pokorski 7, Doug Wondra 8, Jordan Paulsen.
HEAT 2
1, Brandon McMullen 2, Kurt Davis 3, Travis Arenz 4, Anthony Knierim 5, Blake Wondra 6, Chris Clayton 7, Scott Conger 8, Andy Glewen.
HEAT 3
1, Jack Vanderboom 2, Nick Daywalt 3, Tyler Brabant 4, Kevin Karnitz 5, Justin Miller 6, Bill Taylor 7, Chris Larson.
HEAT 4
1, Ben Schmidt 2, Tim Haddy 3, Lance Fassbender 4, Adam Miller 5, Preston Ruh 6, Austin Hartmann 7, Mike MacFarlane.
B MAIN
1, Adam Miller 2, Blake Wondra 3, Paul Pokorski 4, Chris Clayton 5, Josh Teunissen 6, Bill Taylor 7, Preston Ruh 8, Scott Conger 9, Jordan Paulsen 10, Chris Larson 11, Doug Wondra 12, Mike MacFarlane 13, Austin Hartmann 14, Andy Glewen.
A MAIN
1, Travis Arenz 2, Brandon McMullen 3, Justin Erickson 4, Ben Schmidt 5, Tony Wondra 6, Tim Haddy 7, Lance Fassbender 8, Kurt Davis 9, Jack Vanderboom 10, Kevin Karnitz 11, Justin Miller 12, Adam Miller 13, Tyler Tischendorf 14, Brandon Berth 15, Anthony Knierim 16, Tyler Brabant 17, Paul Pokorski 18, Nick Daywalt 19, Blake Wondra 20, Bill Taylor 21, Chris Clayton 22, Josh Teunissen.
GASROOT PROJECT LATE MODELS
HEAT 1
1, Justin Reed 2, Tim Buhler 3, Justin Schmidt 4, Charlie Schmidt 5, Eric Michaels 6, Jim Schmidt 7, Donny Singer 8, Sawyer Specht.
HEAT 2
1, Taylor Scheffler 2, Turk Letizia 3, Mark Rose 4, Jim Letizia 5, Ted Dolhun Sr. 6, Justin Green 7, Chad Ludwigson.
A MAIN’
1, Justin Schmidt 2, Tim Buhler 3, Turk Letizia 4, Justin Reed 5, Taylor Scheffler 6, Mark Rose 7, Jim Schmidt 8, Charlie Schmidt, 9, Justin Green 10, Jim Letizia 11, Eric Michaels 12, Ted Dolhun Sr. 13, Chad Ludwigson 14, Sawyer Specht 15, Donny Singer
KLIPS N TIPS GRAND NATIONAL
HEAT 1
1, Aaron Stolp 2, Luke Scholten 3, Tyler Kulow 4, Brad Weiss 5, Donny Kulow 6, Paul Perronne 7, Derek Kaat.
HEAT 2
1, Don Sorce Jr. 2, Dick Hed 3, Steven Weber 4, Jeff Muehlbauer 5, Eric Lingford 6, Darryl Traber 7, Joe Brenner.
A MAIN
1, Tyler Kulow 2, Aaron Stolp 3, Don Sorce Jr. 4, Steven Weber 5, Dick Hed 6, Luke Scholten 7, Brad Weiss 8, Donny Kulow 9, Darryl Traber 10, Eric Lingford 11, Paul Perronne 12, Jeff Muehlbauer 13, Derek Kaat 15, Joe Brenner.
CELLCOM B MOD
HEAT 1
1, Craig Gessner 2, Barry Maas 3, Justin Bauer 4, Brandon Knepprath 5, Brendan Ostrowski 6, Trevor Fank 7, Jonathan Hitsman 8, Rory Welch.
HEAT 2
1, Tim Warner 2, Steve Lorier 3, Patrick Hanson 4, Jim Fischer 5, Gary Glander 6, Donny Singer 7, Phil Campanella.
A MAIN
1, Tim Warner 2, Justin Bauer 3, Barry Maas 4, Brandon Knepprath 5, Steve Lorier 6, Gary Glander 7, Jonathan Histman 8, Trevor Frank 9, Craig Gessner 10, Donny Singer 11, Jim Fischer 12, Phil Campanella 13, Patrick Hanson 14, Rory Welch 15, Brendon Ostrowski.