McMullen, Mueller, Scholten, Frank stand tall
in PDTR main event action
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 14, 2021 – As the 2021 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing campaign took a turn down the home stretch, the on-track action was hot and heavy with point championships hanging in the balance in all four divisions at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, Aug. 14.
Two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion and current point leader Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh used a late-race charge in dense lapped traffic to notch his fourth A-main victory of the 2021 campaign in the 25-lap Kristine Hartmann Pleasantview Realty 360 Sprint Car main event.
Four-time PDTR Late Model champion Brad Mueller of Random Lake made a triumphant return from a wicked accident in his last appearance at The Plymouth Dirt Track on June 25 to notch his first victory of the 2021 PDTR season in the 25-lap Sheboygan’s Country B93.7 Late Model A main.
Luke Scholten of Oostburg posted a commanding flag-to-flag victory in the 25-lap Oostburg Automotive Grand National A main to post his second main event triumph of the 2021 PDTR season.
Sheboygan’s Trevor Frank notched his first career A-main victory in the 25-lap Cellcom B Mod A main.
Polesitter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend jumped into the lead on the drop of the green flag with outside front row starter Tyler Tischendorf of Waupaca taking second. On lap 3, Travis Arene of Sheboygan Falls, who started fifth, seized second.
Two laps later, Arenz slipped past Karnitz to take over the top spot in turn four. Meanwhile, Brandon McMullen, who started 10th, charged his way into third on lap nine just before the lone caution of the race appeared later on lap nine when Adam Miller of Plymouth spun in turn four.
On the restart, Karnitz used a big move to slide in front of Arenz and regain the lead in turn two with Tischendorf and McMullen in tow as Arenz fell back in the field along the cushion. On lap 14, McMullen worked the high groove to move past Tischendorf and gain second in the running order.
As the laps wound down, Karnitz caught the rear of the field on lap 21 with McMullen trailing close behind. On lap 24, Karnitz bobbled along the cushion in heavy lapped traffic, which allowed McMullen to take over the lead in turn four.
Arenz rebounded in the closing laps to assume second, while McMullen held on to secure his 24th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory and 34th career Midwest Sprint Car Association main event win.
The victory pushed McMullen past two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Danny Schlafer of Sussex into second place on the all-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory list and moved him just one win behind two-time PDTR 360 Sprint champ Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee, who currently sits atop the main event victory list with 25.
Arenz rallied to finish second, Tischendorf placed a career-best third, 13th starter Tim Haddy of Waupun charged up through the field to finish fourth and Karnitz rounded out the top five.
Outside front row starter Jayme Zidar of Greenfield outpowered polesitter Justin Ritchie of New London to grab the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap Late Model A main with third starter Charlie Schmidt of Cedar Grove moving past Ritchie into second.
As Zidar led, Ritchie used the high groove of the smooth, two-groove track surface to take second from Schmidt on lap 8 just before the first of three caution flags appeared on lap 8 when Sawyer Specht of Sheboygan Falls spun into the infield in turn four.
On the restart, contact resulted in a five-car mishap along the frontstretch involving Justin Richie, Taylor Scheffler of Waukesha, Bill Edler of Howards Grove, Eric Michaels of Cleveland and Jake Van Engen of Howards Grove. Edler and Michaels could not continue, while the other drivers involved in the incident were able to restart the race.
In addition, the leading car of Zidar was sent to the rear of the field on the restart for his involvement in the incident.
When the race resumed, Charlie Schmidt paced the field before fourth starter Turk Letizia of Milwaukee dove low to seize the lead in turn two on lap nine. By lap 15, Letizia had bolted out to a full straightaway lead over Charlie Schmidt.
On lap 16, sixth starter Brad Mueller worked the high groove to move into third. Six laps later, the third caution flag of the event was displayed when Zidar stopped in turn four.
Following the restart, Mueller flexed his muscle in a big way along the high groove to pull even with the low-riding Letizia on lap 22. The two veteran drivers dueled side by side over the next three laps before Mueller surged ahead coming to the white flag.
Mueller fended off Letizia on the final lap to earn his 22nd career PDTR Late Model A-main victory in his first appearance at The Plymouth Dirt Track since a vicious rollover accident while leading the Russ Scheffler Tribute Race on June 25.
Letizia finished second, three-time and defending champion and current Late Model point leader Justin Schmidt of Cleveland finished third after starting fifth, ninth starter Jim Schmidt of Cleveland wound up fourth and rookie Justin Green of Sheboygan Falls moved up from his 11th starting spot to place fifth.
Justin Schmidt heads into the final Late Model points event of the 2021 PDTR season on Saturday, Aug. 21 with a 26-point lead over Turk Letizia and a 46-point cushion over Charlie Schmidt in his quest for a fourth consecutive division points title.
Polesitter Luke Scholten took the lead on the opening lap of the Grand National A main with second starter Steven Weber of Plymouth in tow. Scholten wasted no time in building up a full straightaway cushion over Weber by lap 6.
On lap 8, two-time PDTR Grand National champ Don Sorce Jr. of West Allis passed fifth starter Dick Hed of Plymouth to take over third, As Scholten raced out to a half-lap cushion over Weber, 2019 PDTR Grand National champion Tyler Kulow of Plymouth, who started eighth, moved into third on lap 7, following a side-by-side duel with Sorce Jr.
The lone caution of the race appeared on lap 24 when Steven Ruh of New Holstein spun the Bender Racing 89 car in turn one. On the restart, Scholten again pulled away from the field as Tyler Kulow dove low to slide into second on the final lap.
Scholten went on to notch his 15th career PDTR Grand National A-main win to move into sole possession of second place on the division’s all-time main event victory list.
Kulow finished second, Weber wound up third, Sorce Jr. was fourth and Hed rounded out the top five.
After the first of six caution flags was displayed for a two-car incident in turn two on the initial start of the 25-lap B Mod A main, outside front row starter Donny Singer of Random Lake led the opening lap. On lap 2, third starter Brandon Knepprath of Boltonville moved past polesitter Patrick Hanson of Sheboygan Falls to take over second.
Following the second caution flag appeared for a one-car spin in turn two on lap 5, Singer continued to lead as fourth starter Justin Bauer of Sheboygan Falls advanced to second on lap 7.
Two laps later, Bauer closed in to challenge Singer for the top spot. On lap 10, Bauer pounced as he used the low line to assume the lead in turn three.
Two more caution flags were displayed on lap 2 for separate single-car incidents, which bunched up the field behind the lead car of Justin Bauer.
On lap 4, Trevor Frank, who started eighth, worked the high line to power around sixth starter Shane Long of Sheboygan Falls into second. One lap later, Frank pressured the low-riding Bauer along the outside groove.
The two drivers, who are also dueling for the PDTR B Mod points championship this year, battled side by side over the next three laps with Frank finally wrestling the top spot away from B Mod point leader Bauer in turn four on lap 18.
Two more cautions came out for single-car incidents on lap 20 and lap 23, but they did not deter Frank as he fended off Bauer to record his first career PDTR B Mod A main victory in his second season of racing action.
Bauer wound up second, Shane Long placed third, seventh starter Barry Maas of Cascade, who was making his first PDTR appearance of the 2021 season, placed fourth and ninth starter Spencer Long of Sheboygan Falls rounded out the top five.
Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee won the 15-lap PDTR 360 Sprint B main.
The 15th PDTR program of the 2021 season, which was sponsored by JDL Automotive, drew 76 total cars, including 32 360 Sprint Cars, 17 Late Models, 16 B Mods and 11 Grand Nationals.
PDTR action featuring 360 Sprint Cars, Late Models, Grand Nationals and B Mods is scheduled to resume on Saturday, Aug. 21 with Autograph Night as the first 200 kids will receive free checkered flags and backpacks courtesy of Hopf Farms and Kids Night featuring a candy drop and glow stick giveaways.
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.
KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS
HEAT 1
1, Bill Taylor 2, Dylan Winkel 3, Tim Haddy 4, Chris Clayton 5, Kurt Davis 6, Lance Fassbender 7, Matt Rechek 8, Katelyn Krebsbach.
HEAT 2
1, Jeremy Schultz 2, Brandon McMullen 3, Josh Teunissen 4, Brandon Berth 5, Chris Larson 6, Will Gerrits 7, Cole Possi 8, Austin Hartmann.
HEAT 3
1, Doug Wondra 2, Tyler Tischendorf 3, Justin Miller 4, Justin Erickson 5, Tyler Brabant 6, Adam Miller 7, Tyler Davis 8, Tommy Colburn (DNS).
HEAT 4
1, Alex Pokorski 2, Travis Arenz 3, Ben Schmidt 4, Kevin Karnitz 5, Preston Ruh 6, Scott Conger 7, Anthony Knierim 8, Blake Wondra.
B MAIN
1, Kurt Davis 2, Brandon Berth 3, Will Gerrits 4, Adam Miller 5, Lance Fassbender 6, Anthony Knierim 7, Chris Larson 8, Tyler Davis 9, Blake Wondra 10, Scott Conger 11, Matt Rechek 12, Preston Ruh 13, Cole Possi 14, Katelyn Krebsbach 15, Austin Hartmann 16, Tommy Colburn.
A MAIN
1, Brandon McMullen 2, Travis Arenz 3, Tyler Tischendorf 4, Tim Haddy 5, Kevin Karnitz 6, Bill Taylor 7, Chris Clayton 8, Jeremy Schultz 9, Ben Schmidt 10, Justin Erickson 11, Doug Wondra 13, Lance Fassbender 14, Will Gerrits 15, Dylan Winkel 16, Kurt Davis 17, Brandon Berth 18, Adam Miller 19, Alex Pokorski 20, Anthony Knierim 21, Josh Teunissen 22, Tyler Brabant.
SHEBOYGAN’S COUNTRY B93.7 LATE MODELS
HEAT 1
1, Bill Edler 2, Joe Bongiorno 3, Jim Schmidt 4, Justin Schmidt 5, Justin Green 6, Sawyer Specht 7, Jake Van Engen 8, Donny Singer 9, Wayne Freimund.
HEAT 2
1, Taylor Scheffler 2, Brad Mueller 3, Charlie Schmidt 4, Turk Letizia 5, Justin Ritchie 6, Jayme Zidar 7, Billy Rezutek 8, Eric Michaels.
A MAIN
1, Brad Mueller 2, Turk Letizia 3, Justin Schmidt 4, Jim Schmidt 5, Justin Green 6, Jon Bongiorno 7, Justin Ritchie 8, Wayne Freimund 9, Jake Van Engen 10, Sawyer Specht 11, Donny Singer 12, Jayme Zidar 13, Charlie Schmidt 14, Taylor Scheffler 15, Bill Edler 16, Billy Rezutek 17, Eric Michaels.
OOSTBURG AUTOMOTIVE GRAND NATIONALS
HEAT 1
1, Jonathan Otte 2, Dick Hed 3, Mavrick Ruh 4, Derek Kaat 5, Steven Ruh 6, Andy Singer.
HEAT 2
1, Don Sorce Jr. 2, Tyler Kulow 3, Steven Weber 4, Luke Scholten 5, Donny Kulow.
A MAIN
1, Luke Scholten 2, Tyler Kulow 3, Steven Weber 4, Don Sorce Jr. 5, Dick Hed 6, Donny Kulow 7, Jonathan Otte 8, Mavrick Ruh 9, Derek Kaat 10, Andy Singer 11, Steven Ruh.
CELLCOM B MOD
HEAT 1
1, Barry Maas 2, Rick Kretschmann 3, Shane Long 4, Donny Singer 5, Gary Glander 6, Rory Welch 7, Jim Fischer 8, Christopher Gilson.
HEAT 2
1, Trevor Frank 2, Brandon Knepprath 3, Justin Bauer 4, Spencer Long 5, Patrick Hanson 6, Phil Campanella 7, Steven Lorier 8, Matthew Roehl.
A MAIN
1, Trevor Frank 2, Justin Bauer 3, Shane Long 4, Barry Maas 5, Spencer Long 6, Steve Lorier 7, Donny Singer 8, Rory Welch 9, Brandon Knepprath 10, Patrick Hanson 11, Gary Glander 12, Matthew Roehl 13, Rick Kretschmann 14, Phil Campanella 15, Jim Fischer 16, Christopher Gilson.