Larson continues historic season with Rayce Rudeen All Star triumph
Davis moves to top of all-time PDTR Sprint Car A-main win list
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) July 30, 2020 – The hottest Sprint Car driver in the world, Kyle Larson of Elk Grove, Calif., paid his first visit to The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. for the second annual Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions-Interstate Racing Association Rayce Rudeen Foundation $26,000-to-win event on Thursday, July 30 and promptly shined over a stellar field to claim his sixth straight A-main victory in All Star Series competition and his 26th overall triumph on dirt during the 2020 season in the highest-paying Winged Sprint Car race in Wisconsin history.
In the companion, non-points Kristine Hartmann Pleasant View Realty 26-lap Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car A main, two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee nipped the hard-charging Travis Arenz of Sheboygan by mere feet to claim his second overall Midwest Sprint Car Association main event victory of the 2020 campaign and first A-main victory of the year at Plymouth.
All eyes were on Larson throughout the night as his has been a dominant force everywhere he has raced this season whether in the 410 Winged Sprint Car ranks with the All Star Circuit of Champions and World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series or with the USAC Midget Series, with victories coming in droves for the 28-year-old racing phenom.
After laying down the fastest qualifying lap of the night with a circuit of 11.459 seconds around the third-mile clay oval, Larson placed fourth in the fourth 10-lap heat race and won the second four-lap dash to start on the outside of the front row for the $26,000-to-win Rayce Rudeen Foundation 35-lap A main.
The race got off to a rough start as Austin McCarl of Altoona, Iowa flipped into the turn two catch fence on the initial start and Tyler Courtney of Indianapolis, Ind. spun in turn four on the second start attempt.
When the race finally got under way, polesitter Gio Scelzi of Fresno, Calif. bolted into the lead with Larson following in second and Gio’s brother Dominic Scelzi of Fresno, Calif., who started third, settling into third in the early going.
With Gio Scelzi running the cushion, Larson worked the low and middle groove to reel in the leader on lap 6. On lap 7, the leaders encountered heavy lapped traffic, which allowed Larson to close even further.
On lap 12, Larson pounced as he pulled off a well-executed slide job in turn four to wrestle the led away from Gio Scelzi. Meanwhile, Kerry Madsen of St. Mary’s, New South Wales, Australia, who started seventh, was marching his way to the front of the pack along the high groove.
On lap 14, Madsen worked his way into fourth before charged past Dominic Scelzi into third on lap 16 and eventually powering around Gio Scelzi for second in thick lapped traffic.
As Larson appeared to be biding his time in getting around the slower car of Tyler Courtney for a number of laps, Madsen closed to within two car lengths of Larson on lap 22. However, once Larson cleared Courtney on lap 24, he quickly pulled away from Madsen to build up a quarter-straightaway cushion on lap 26.
Larson, who has six NASCAR Cup Series victories to his credit, skillfully worked his way through lapped traffic over the final nine laps to score his 20th career All Star Series victory and his 11th triumph in 17 All Star starts in 2020 in the third-ever All Star event to be contested at The Plymouth Dirt Track.
“This feels really good,” Larson said in victory lane. “I had to earn it for sure. The track was extremely technical and a lot of fun. The curb was just not going anywhere and it was getting trickier and trickier to run. The lappers were all so even that I couldn’t get by for the longest time, but I was able to follow Sunshine [Tyler Courtney] past a few guys, so that helped.
“I was just making a lot of mistakes, but the track was tough, so I didn’t know how close second was to me,” he said. “Once I got past Tyler though, I felt like I got a good rhythm going again and lapped some pretty decent cars there toward the end. We just had a really good car tonight. It’s not often that you get to chase this kind of money in Sprint Cars, especially this year, so thanks to the Rudeen family and what they’ve done for this race. It’s really cool.”
Madsen, who appeared that he might overtake Larson for the lead in the middle stages of the race, finished a full straightaway behind in second at the finish.
“We had a great race car and we were really running Kyle down for the lead,” Madsen said after the race. “I was trying to be patient and pick my spots, but it just didn’t turn out to be our night.”
Gio Scelzi placed third after a strong run in the early laps of the race.
“I felt pretty good in the early going running the top then Kyle got past me on the bottom, which surprised me because I didn’t think the bottom would be that good,” Gio Scelzi said. “I just have to do a better job in these races. Third is not bad, but we want to win.”
Dominic Scelzi came home fourth and fourth starter Cory Eliason of Visalia, Calif. placed fifth.
In the 26-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main, 2018 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Justin Miller of Plymouth, who started on the pole, second starter Kurt Davis and fourth starter Adam Miller of Plymouth dueled three-wide for the entire first lap before Justin Miller surged ahead in turn one on lap 2.
One lap later, Davis ventured up to the high groove to challenge Miller for the top spot. Miller and Davis battled side by side over the next three circuits before Miller eventually regained control of the lead just as the leaders hit slower traffic on lap 10.
Meanwhile, current PDTR 360 Sprint Car point leader Travis Arenz of Sheboygan, who started fifth, vaulted into third on lap 15 before surging past Davis into second on lap 18.
One lap later, rookie Alex Pokorski of West Bend spun in turn two to bring out the first of three caution flags. On the restart, Davis bolted back up to the high line to power around Arenz into second before surging past Miller into the lead in turn four on lap 20.
The second caution flag appeared on lap 21 when Adam Miller and Matt Vandevere of Zion, Ill. spun in turn four. One lap later, the third and final caution flag flew when Tyler Davis of South Milwaukee spun in turn two.
On the restart, Arenz charged in to apply heavy pressure along the high line as Davis switched to the inside lane. On the final lap, Arenz pulled even with Davis entering turn one. Davis battled back to regain the top spot going into turn three.
Arenz didn’t back down as he reeled in Davis in the final corner and pulled alongside heading the checkered flag. However, Davis held on to nip Arenz by a half-car length to secure his 24th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main victory and record 62nd career MSA main event win. The triumph pushed Davis past Danny Schlafer of Sussex and to sole possession of first place on the all-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main win list.
Arenz placed second, 2017 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh moved up from his sixth starting spot to finish third, Justin Miller finished fourth and seventh starter Shane Wenninger of Kewaskum placed fifth.
The sixth PDTR racing program of the 2020 season drew a total of 68 cars, including 41 All Star Circuit of Champions-Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Cars and 27 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars.
The PDTR 360 Sprint Car, Late Model, Grand National and B Mod divisions will be in action on Saturday, Aug. 1 with trophies sponsored by Pedal Down Promotions.
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.
ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS-INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION 410 SPRINT CARS
QUALIFYING
1, Kyle Larson 11.450 2, Gio Scelzi 11.575 3, Dominic Scelzi 4, Kerry Madsen 11.682 5, Cory Eliason 11.707 6, Tyler Courtney 11.720 7, Cale Thomas 11.760 8, Aaron Reutzel 11.764 9, Sam Haftertepe Jr. 11.791 10, Scotty Thiel 11.850 11, Parker Price-Miller 11.850 12, Terry McCarl 11.878 13, Jeremy Schultz 11.878 14, Josh Baughman 11.917 15, Hunter Schuerenberg 11.922 16, Zeb Wise 11.941 17, Paul McMahan 11.979 18, Skylar Gee 12.006 19, Austin McCarl 12.012 20, Greg Wilson 12.041 21, Bill Balog 12.087 22, Russel Borland 12.115, 23, Mike Reinke 12.125 24, Dave Uttech 12.149 25, Gerard McIntrye 12.185, 26, Jake Blackhurst 12.246 27, Shane Stewart 12.291 28, Robbie Pribnow 12.445 29, Todd King 12.46 30, Scotty Neitzel 12.520 31, Josh Walter 12.632 32, Sean Rayhall 12.697 33, Matt Vandevere 12.731 34, Danny Schlafer 12.739 35, Kris Spitz 12.739 36, John Fahl 12.778 37, Scott Biertzer 12.956 38, Bryce Schmitt 12.988 39, Hunter Custer 13.198 40, Wayne Modjeski 13.288 41, Paige Polyak no time.
HEAT 1
1, Paul McMahan 2, Josh Baughman 3, Cory Eliason 4, Scotty Thiel 5, Russel Borland 6, Dave Uttech 7, Mike Reinke 8, Shane Stewart 9, John Fahl.
HEAT 2
1, Zeb Wise 2, Hunter Schuerenberg 3, Cale Thomas 4, Gio Scelzi 5, Greg Wilson 6, Gerard McIntyre Jr. 8, Hunter Custer 9, Bryce Schmitt.
HEAT 3
1, Austin McCarl 2, Aaron Reutzel 3, Scotty Neitzel 4, Kerry Madsen 5, Danny Schlafer 6, Scott Biertzer 7, Sean Rayhall 8, Wayne Modjeski.
HEAT 4
1, Jake Blackhurst 2, Parker Price-Miller 3, Dominic Scelzi 4, Kyle Larson 5, Robbie Pribnow 6, Matt Vandevere 7. Josh Walter 8, Paige Polyak (DNS).
HEAT 5
1, Jeremy Schultz 2, Terry McCarl 3, Sam Hafertepe Jr. 4, Skylar Gee 5, Bill Balog 6, Tyler Courtney 7, Todd King 8, Kris Spitz.
C MAIN
1, Mike Reinke 2, Todd King 3, Sean Rayhall 4, Josh Walter 5, Kris Spitz 6, Hunter Custer 7, Wayne Modjeski 8, John Fahl 9, Bryce Schmidt 10, Paige Polyak (DNS), 11, Shane Stewart (DNS).
B MAIN
1, Tyler Courtney 2, Bill Balog, 3, Greg Wilson 4, Danny Schlafer 5 Russel Borland 6, Robbie Pribnow 7, Gerard McIntyre Jr. 8, Dave Uttech 9, Mike Reinke 10, Matt Vandevere 11, Todd King 12, Scott Biertzer.
DASH 1
1, Gio Scelzi 2, Dominic Scelzi 3, Zeb Wise 4, Kerry Madsen 5, Jake Blackhurst 6, Sam Hafertepe Jr.
DASH 2
1, Kyle Larson 2, Cory Eliason 3, Austin McCarl 4, Paul McMahan 5, Cale Thomas 6, Jeremy Schultz.
A MAIN
1, Kyle Larson 2, Kerry Madsen 3, Gio Scelzi 4, Dominic Scelzi 5, Cory Eliason 6, Paul McMahan 7, Zeb Wise 8, Parker Price-Miller 9, Cale Thomas 10, Josh Baughman 11, Aaron Reutzel 12, Sam Hafertepe Jr. 13, Skylar Gee 14, Tyler Courtney 15, Jeremy Schultz 16, Bill Balog 17, Scotty Thiel 18, Scotty Neitzel 19, Greg Wilson 20, Jake Blackhurst 21, Terry McCarl 22, Hunter Schuerenberg 23, Danny Schlafer 24, Austin McCarl.
KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANT VIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS
HEAT 1
1, Justin Miller 2, Jack Vanderboom 3, Shane Wenninger 4, Brandon McMullen 5, Will Gerrits 6, Tyler Brabant 7, Doug Wondra 8, Austin Hartmann 9, Kevin Seidler.
HEAT 2
1, Kurt Davis 2, Tony Wondra 3, Kevin Karnitz 4, Travis Arenz 5, Tim Haddy 6, Mike Decker 7, Bill Taylor 8, Alex Pokorski 9, Lance Fassbender.
HEAT 3
1, Ben Schmidt 2, Adam Miller 3, Tyler Davis 4, Nick Daywalt 5, Matt Vandevere 6, Blake Wondra 7, Chris Larson 8, Preston Ruh 9, Scott Armstrong.
A MAIN
1, Kurt Davis 2, Travis Arenz 3, Brandon McMullen 4, Justin Miller 5, Shane Wenninger 6, Ben Schmidt 7, Kevin Karnitz 8, Jack Vanderboom 9, Tony Wondra 10, Nick Daywalt, 11, Bill Taylor 12, Will Gerrits 13, Tyler Brabant 14, Adam Miller 15, Tim Haddy 16, Alex Pokorski 17, Matt Vandevere 18, Blake Wondra 19, Mike Decker 20, Preston Ruh 21, Chris Larson 22, Tyler Davis 23, Austin Hartmann 24, Doug Wondra.