Berth endures Wilmot survival test to claim third 2024 MSA win

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) September 20, 2024 – Brandon Berth Cascade survived seven caution flags and withstood a spirited three-way dual for the lead to nail down his third Akright Auto Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car A-main victory of the 2024 season in a marathon 25-lap main event on Friday, Sept. 20 at Wilmot Raceway in Wilmot, Wis.

 

To set the tone for the lengthy A-main, a pair of caution flags flew before an official lap was completed. The first caution came on a spin involving Russel Borland of Kewaskum and Chris Larson of Franksville in turn three. The second was for the disabled car of Billy Kreutz of Kiel in turn two.

 

When the race finally got underway, polesitter Shane Wenninger of Kewaskum bolted into the lead in the seat of the No. 69 car normally driven by Bill Taylor, with outside front row starter Anthony Knierim of Franksville giving chase.

 

On lap four, Brandon Berth, who started third, moved in to challenge Knierim for the runner-up spot before the third caution flag was displayed for the spinning car of Katelyn Krebsbach of Cascade in turn two.

 

Following the restart, 2011 Midwest Sprint Car Association champion and current points leader Ben Schmidt of Plymouth, who started sixth, charged into third on lap 6. Three laps later, Berth began to reel in Wenninger on the smooth and slick racing surface, which included a tricky cushion. 

 

The fourth and fifth caution flags came out on laps 10 and 11 for the spinning car of Ryan Sawusch of Lake Villa, Ill.

 

After the completion of just one additional lap, the slowing car of Scott Conger of Eagle brought out the sixth caution flag of the event on lap 12.

 

The ensuing restart proved successful as the remaining field clicked off 12 consecutive green flag laps, during which Wenninger, Berth and Schmidt sliced and diced for the top spot in remarkably close quarters in and around the outer edge of the three-eighths-mile semi-banked clay oval.  

 

Berth and Schmidt swapped the second position multiple times along the high and low grooves of the well-manicured racing surface while reeling in Wenninger for the lead. 

 

As the intensity in the three-car duel for the lead ramped up, the seventh and final caution flag was thrown when Wenninger’s car stopped abruptly as the field was about to take the white flag. After Berth and Schmidt made slight contact with Wenninger’s car exiting turn four, the right front tire of his No. 69 machine dislodged and bounded away along with his hopes for an A-main victory. 

 

Berth commanded the final restart and pulled away over the final two laps to secure his fifth career MSA main event triumph and third A-main victory of the 2024 MSA campaign.

 

Schmidt wound up second, five-time MSA champion Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee charged up from the 11^th starting spot to place third, Kevin Karnitz of West Bend moved up eight positions to place fourth and Alex Pokorski of West Bend started and finished fifth.

 

“I’m so grateful to be in victory lane here,” Berth said. “I’m not sure what happened to Shane [Wenninger] there. He was very strong and had been running away with it. I have to thank everyone on my great team and all of the sponsors and supporters. It’s a dream come true to get to do this every week.”

 

The 12^th MSA event of the 2024 season drew a field of 21 MSA 360 Sprint Cars to the venerable Wilmot Raceway facility.  

 

Ben Schmidt earned the MSA 360 Sprint Car fast qualifier award with a top lap of 13.798 seconds in group qualifying. 

 

The Akright Auto MSA 360 Sprint Series is set to cap off the 2024 campaign at the seventh annual Wisconsin Sprint Car Championships at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, Sept. 28.

 

Spectator gates open at 4:30 p.m. with hot laps at 5 p.m.

 

For more information on the 2024 Midwest Sprint Car Association season, visit www.msasprints.comor check out the Midwest Sprint Car Association Facebook page.  

 

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, visitwww.pedaldownpromo.com or call 920-323-7970.

 

Akright Auto Midwest Sprint Car Association

Wilmot Raceway

Wilmot, Wis.

September 20, 2024

 

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 22B-Brandon Berth [3]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt [6]; 3. 39K-Kurt Davis [11]; 4. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [12]; 5. 4-Alex Pokorski [5]; 6. 51-Chris Larson [9]; 7. 11-Tony Wondra [18]; 8. 16-Anthony Knierim [2]; 9. 24-Scott Conger [13]; 10. 09-Clayton Rossmann [10]; 11. 69-Shane Wenninger [1]; 12. 52-Cody Schlafer [14]; 13. 55P-Brady Portschy [15]; 14. 26-Russel Borland [8]; 15. 3-Justin Erickson [17]; 16. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [16]; 17. 0-Robbie Pribnow [4]; 18. 55S-Ryan Sawusch [21]; 19. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [7]; 20. 25-Danny Schlafer [Did Not Start]; 21. 69S-TJ Smith [Did Not Start]

 

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 51-Chris Larson [1]; 2. 4-Alex Pokorski [4]; 3. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [6]; 4. 24-Scott Conger [7]; 5. 26-Russel Borland [2]; 6. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [5]; 7. 55P-Brady Portschy [3]

 

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 35-Ben Schmidt [3]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth [2]; 3. 09-Clayton Rossmann [1]; 4. 39K-Kurt Davis [4]; 5. (DNF) 55S-Ryan Sawusch [6]; 6. (DNF) 25-Danny Schlafer [5]; 7. (DNS) 11-Tony Wondra

 

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 69-Bill Taylor [2]; 2. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [1]; 3. 0-Robbie Pribnow [4]; 4. 16-Anthony Knierim [3]; 5. 52-Cody Schlafer [6]; 6. 3-Justin Erickson [5]; 7. (DNS) 69S-TJ Smith

 

Qualifying 1: 1. 4-Alex Pokorski, 13.864 [7]; 2. 55P-Brady Portschy, 14.053 [6]; 3. 26-Russel Borland 14.124 [2]; 4. 51-Chris Larson, 14.126 [1]; 5. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 14.172 [3]; 6. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 14.222 [5]; 7. 24-Scott Conger, 14.274 [4]

 

Qualifying 2: 1. 35-Ben Schmidt, 13.798 [6]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth, 13.914 [7]; 3. 11-Tony Wondra, 14.179 [4]; 4. 09-Clayton Rossmann, 14.180 [1]; 5. 39K-Kurt Davis, 14.218 [3]; 6. 25-Danny Schlafer, 14.387 [2]; 7. 55S-Ryan Sawusch, 16.526 [5]

 

Qualifying 3: 1. 0-Robbie Pribnow, 13.904[3]; 2. 16-Anthony Knierim, 14.052[2]; 3. 69-Shane Wenninger, 14.080 [7]; 4. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 14.122 [5]; 5. 69S-TJ Smith, 14.303 [4]; 6. 3-Justin Erickson, 14.308 [6]; 7. 52-Cody Schlafer, 14.383 [1]