Gass, Arenz excel in PDTR Fair Night
Sprint Car doubleheader
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) September 4, 2021 – A surprise 18-year-old 410 Sprint Car entrant from Oklahoma and the hottest 360 Sprint Car driver in the region stood tall in a two-division all-Sprint Car Plymouth Dirt Track Racing program contested before a large crowd during the 2021 Sheboygan County Fair at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, Sept. 4.
Noah Gass of Mounds, Okla. made his first visit to The Plymouth Dirt Track pay off in a big way as he outdueled Scotty Thiel of Sheboygan in the closing laps to record his first career Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association A-main victory in his initial IRA start in the 30-lap headliner.
Midwest Sprint Car Association point leader Travis Arenz earned his fifth Kristine Hartmann Pleasantview Realty Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car A-main victory of the 2021 season in dominating fashion in the 25-lap main event, while also taking over the PDTR 360 Sprint Car division point lead with just two points races remaining in the 2021 campaign.
Polesitter Blake Nimee of Oswego, Ill. outdueled outside front row starter Scotty Thiel to grab the initial lead in turn one of the opening circuit of the IRA 30-lap A main.
Thiel battled back to reel off a slide job in turn three before Nimee dove low to duck under Thiel to maintain the lead at the completion of lap one. Nimee then settled into running the cushion off the third-mile clay oval with Thiel in second and fourth starter Jordan Goldesberry of Springfield, Ill. in third in the early going.
On lap 8, the leaders began to encounter lapped traffic as Noah Gass, who started seventh, worked the low groove to work past Goldesberry into third on lap 9.
The leaders skillfully weaved their way through lapped traffic over the next eight laps before Thiel caught Nimee and dove low to wrestle away the lead exiting turn four on lap 17.
However, Nimee rebounded to trade slide jobs with Thiel over the next four laps. The two hard-charging drivers dueled side by side repeatedly on the smooth and wide track surface before Thiel used the high groove to assume the top spot on lap 23.
One lap later, Gass worked the low groove to move past Nimee into second. Gass was closing on the high-riding Thiel before the first of three caution flags appeared on lap 27 when Mike Reinke of Howards Grove spun in turn two.
Thiel used a big restart to pull away from Gass. However, Gass was not to be denied as he patiently worked the track surface to perfection utilizing the middle to low groove to duck underneath the cushion-pounding Thiel exiting turn four on lap 29.
Thiel attempted to battle back with a low move in turn one. However, Thiel hooked an infield tire and spun in turn two to bring out the second caution flag of the race.
On the ensuing restart, Dave Uttech of Kenosha and Alan Gilbertson of Kasson, Minn. collided exiting turn four to bring out the third caution of the event.
The green, white, checkered flag finish saw Gass pull away as Nimee and 2018 IRA champion and current point leader Jake Blackhurst of Hanna City, Ill., who started fifth, engaging in a heated duel for second.
Gass hold on to notch his initial IRA triumph, Nimee finished second, Blackhurst was third, Goldesberry took fourth and Jake Neuman of New Berlin, Ill., who started third, rounded out the top five in his IRA debut at The Plymouth Dirt Track.
“We didn’t really know what to do here set-up wise since we had never raced here before,” Gass said. “I was searching for the best groove to run early in the race and then I tried running the bottom and it felt really good. On that restart, I just about gave it away, but I worked on my corner entry line and opened up my exit and it all worked out for us.”
Despite falling just short of victory lane, Nimee was still pleased with his runner-up showing.
“We had a lot of speed, but we couldn’t quite get it done tonight,” Nimee said. “It is so tough running against these guys with a part-time team like we have. I’m proud of my guys. They do a great job. We’ll take a second-place finish and move on to the next race.”
Blackhurst found it challenging to find the fast groove around the track during the A main.
“It was a pretty fun race,” Blackhurst said. “I struggled to find the right place to run. The track actually started to take rubber and it took me a while to find it. I ran the cushion when I maybe should have gone down low sooner, but third is still not too bad.”
2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Howards Grove grabbed the lead on the drop of the green flag of the 25-lap 360 Sprint Car A main from the pole.
Throughout the early going, the low-riding Schmidt felt heavy pressure from outside frow row starter Tyler Tischendorf of Waupaca, who was running the cushion. By lap six, Travis Arenz, moved into the top five from his seventh starting spot.
The lone caution flag of the race appeared on lap 7 for debris along the front stretch. On the restart, Schmidt again bolted into the lead while Tischendorf fell back along the cushion, which allowed third starter Jack Vanderboom of Dousman to take over the runner-up spot, while Arenz moved into third.
On lap 10, Arenz worked the high groove to move around Vanderboom into second as he quickly closed in on Schmidt for the lead. On lap 12, Arenz utilized the cushion to shoot around Schmidt into the top spot and he quickly proceeded to pull away from the field.
Arenz hit lapped traffic on lap 16, but it didn’t slow him down a bit as he extended his lead over the closing nine laps en route to his ninth career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory, 20th career Midwest Sprint Car Association A-main triumph and ninth MSA main-event win of the 2021 season.
“It was kind of tough going to begin the race, but then during the caution I pulled the wing back and the car was phenomenal in clean and dirty air the rest of the way,” Arenz said. “I have to thank all my crew members and everyone that supports me. Everyone has done a great job this year.”
Schmidt had to settle for second, Vanderboom was third, two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee placed fourth after starting fifth and 2008 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Lance Fassbender of Burnett rounded out the top five after starting sixth.
Kyle Schuett of Philo, Ill. captured the 10-lap IRA 410 Sprint Car Series B main.
Adam Miller of Plymouth won the 15-lap Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car B Main.
Scotty Thiel was the IRA fast qualifier with a lap of 11.526 seconds.
The 16th PDTR program of the 2021 season, which was sponsored by Hopf Farms, drew 61 total cars, including 31 IRA 410 Sprint Cars and 30 PDTR 360 Sprint Cars.
The final regular PDTR program of the 2021 season will take place on Saturday, Sept. 11 with the season championship points programs on tap for the PDTR Grand National and B Mods, a full points show for the PDTR 360 Sprint Cars and a special appearance by the Badger Midget Auto Racing Association.
Spectator gates open at 4:30 p.m. with hot laps at 5:30 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m.
The new book “70 Years of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing” by Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan and George Baumann of Waupun, covering every season of racing at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. from 1950 to 2020 will be available for purchase at every race during the 2021 PDTR season, as well as at the Sheboygan County Fair office during regular business hours and online at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.
BUMPER TO BUMPER INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION 410 SPRINT CARS
QUALIFYING
1, Scotty Thiel 11.526 2, Jake Blackhurst 11.663 3, Jordan Goldesberry 11.794 4, Jake Neuman 11.869 5, Noah Gass 11.879 6, Blake Nimee 11.895 7, Danny Schlafer 11.923 8, Kris Spitz 12.019 9, Dave Uttech 12.079 10, John Fahl 12.101 11, Josh Walter 12.172 12, Jack Berger 12.175 13, Chris Flick 12.231 14, Mike Reinke 12.254 15, Russel Borland 12.266 16, Steve Meyer 12.279 17, Dan McCarron 12.285 18, Caden Englehart 12.290 19, Josh Schneiderman 12.299 20, Jeremy Schultz 12.336 21, Scotty Neitzel 12.351 22, Zach Hansen 12.369 23, Hunter Custer 12.377 24, Kyle Schuett 12.416 25, Alan Gilbertson 12.491 26, Robbie Pribnow 12.517 27, Brayton Lynch 12.568 28, Wayne Modjeski 12.622 29, Jeremy Schroeder 12.689 30, Austin Hartmann 13.393 31, Preston Ruh 13.439.
HEAT 1
1, Scotty Thiel 2, Noah Gass 3, Scotty Neitzel 4, Dan McCarron 5, Dave Uttech 6, Alan Gilbertson 7, Jeremy Schroeder 8, Chris Flick.
HEAT 2
1, Mike Reinke 2, Jake Blackhurst 3, Blake Nimee 4, Robbie Pribnow 5, John Fahl 6, Zach Hansen 7, Austin Hartmann 8, Caden Englehart.
HEAT 3
1, Danny Schlafer 2, Jordan Goldesberry 3, Josh Schneiderman 4, Russel Borland 5, Hunter Custer 6, Preston Ruh 7, Josh Walter 8, Brayton Lynch.
HEAT 4
1, Steve Meyer 2, Kris Spitz 3, Jake Neuman 4, Wayne Modjeski 5, Jeremy Schultz 6, Kyle Schuett 7, Jack Berger.
DASH 1
1, Blake Nimee 2, Jake Neuman 3, Jake Blackhurst 4, Noah Gass 5, Steve Meyer.
DASH 2
1, Scotty Thiel 2, Jordan Goldesberry 3, Danny Schlafer 4, Mike Reinke 5, Kris Spitz.
B MAIN
1, Kyle Schuett 2, Jack Berger 3, Chris Flick 4, Alan Gilbertson 5, Zach Hansen 6, Preston Ruh 7, Austin Hartmann 8, Jereme Schroeder 9, Brayton Lynch 10, Caden Englehart 11, Josh Walter (DNS).
A MAIN
1, Noah Gass 2, Blake Nimee 3, Jake Blackhurst 4, Jordan Goldesberry 5, Jake Neuman 6, Russel Borland 7, Josh Schneiderman 8, Dan McCarron 9, Steve Meyer 10, Scotty Neitzel 11, Robbie Pribnow 12, John Fahl 13, Danny Schlafer 14, Kris Spitz 15, Kyle Schuett 16, Wayne Modjeski 17, Jeremy Schultz 18, Chris Flick 19, Jack Berger 20, Alan Gilbertson 21, Dave Uttech 22, Hunter Custer 23, Scotty Thiel 24, Mike Reinke.
KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS
HEAT 1
1, Jack Vanderboom 2, Travis Arenz 3, Ben Schmidt 4, Bill Taylor 5, Tony Wondra 6, Katelyn Krebsbach 7, Dylan Winkel 8, Matt Rechek.
HEAT 2
1, Tyler Tischendorf 2, Blake Wondra 3, Tyler Brabant 4, Anthony Knierim 5, Nick Daywalt 6, Adam Miller 7, Brandon McMullen 8, Brandon Berth.
HEAT
1, Kurt Davis 2, Lance Fassbender 3, Paul Pokorski 4, Will Gerrits 5, Justin Miller 6, Chris Larson 7, Chris Clayton.
HEAT 4
1, Justin Erickson 2, Kevin Karnitz 3, Tim Haddy 4, Doug Wondra 5, Jason Johnson 6, Josh Teunissen 7, Scott Conger.
B MAIN
1, Adam Miller 2, Brandon McMullen 3, Tony Wondra 4, Anthony Knierim 5, Scott Conger 6, Nick Daywalt 7, Dylan Winkel 8, Matt Rechek 9, Jason Johnson 10, Josh Teunissen 11, Brandon Berth 12, Katelyn Krebsbach 13, Chris Clayton 14, Chris Larson.
A MAIN
1, Travis Arenz 2, Ben Schmidt 3, Jack Vanderboom 4, Kurt Davis 5, Lance Fassbender 6, Justin Erickson 7, Kevin Karnitz 8, Brandon McMullen 9, Blake Wondra 10, Justin Miller 11, Tyler Tischendorf 12, Paul Pokorski 13, Tyler Brabant 14, Bill Taylor 15, Adam Miller 16, Will Gerrits 17, Tim Haddy 18, Nick Daywalt 19, Scott Conger 20, Tony Wondra 21, Anthony Knierim 22, Doug Wondra.
