Miller, Schmidt, Kulow, Cullen claim top honors in PDTR main events
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) June 13, 2020 – On an unseasonably cool early summer evening, the racing action was hot and heavy as Plymouth Dirt Track Racing staged its second racing program of the 2020 season Saturday, June 13 at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds third-mile oval in Plymouth, Wis.
In A-main action, Adam Miller of Plymouth outdueled Kewaskum’s Shane Wenninger and Sheboygan’s Travis Arenz to claim his second career PDTR Kristine Hartmann Pleasant View Realty 25-lap 360 Sprint Car main event victory. Two-time defending PDTR Late Model champion Justin Schmidt of Cleveland nipped New London’s Justin Ritchie by inches at the finish line to capture a spirited Gasroots Project 25-lap Late Model A main. Donny Kulow of Elkhart Lake racked up his first career 25-lap PDTR Klips N Tips Grand National A-main victory and Jesse Cullen of Chilton was the victor in a hotly contested 25-lap Cellcom B Mod A main.
Polesitter Adam Miller led the 22-car 360 Sprint Car A-main field on the opening lap while outside front row starter Shane Wenninger slid into second place. On lap 4, Wenninger worked the high groove to power around the low riding Miller exiting turn two.
Four laps later, the leaders began to encounter heavy lapped traffic, which allowed Miller, who had moved up to the cushion, to close the gap on Wenninger. On lap 13, Miller moved within striking distance as Wenninger attempted to work through dense lapped traffic.
One lap later, Wenninger moved low to maneuver past a slower car while Miller pounded the treacherous cushion to shoot back into the lead exiting turn four on lap 14. On lap 16, the first of two caution flags appeared when Chris Clayton of Waldo spun in turn two.
Miller, who was involved in a race-ending flip on the opening lap of last week’s A main, maintained the lead over Wenninger on the restart before fifth starter Tim Haddy of Waupun dove low entering turn three on lap 17 and pushed high in turn four before colliding with Wenninger, who made contact with the frontstretch wall and stopped exiting turn four to bring out the second caution of the race.
On the restart, seventh starter Travis Arenz used a daring low move to take over second place on lap 18. At the front of the field, Miller remained in control along the high groove as he moved through slower traffic in the closing laps to earn his second career PDTR and Midwest Sprint Car Association A-main victory by a 10-car length margin over the hard-charging Arenz. Haddy finished third, third starter Bill Taylor of Kewaskum was fourth and fourth starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend rounded out the top five.
“We started the race by running pretty good on the bottom before Shane got by us around the top,” Miller said in victory lane. “We were fortunate to get back around him in traffic and then we survived a few cautions to get the win. I couldn’t have asked for a better bounce back after last week. We’ll take it and move on to next week.”
The action-packed Late Model A main opened with Jim Schmidt of Cleveland taking the lead from the pole, while third starter Justin Ritchie assumed second on the opening circuit. On lap 3, Ritchie used the low groove to duck under Jim Schmidt in turn one.
One lap later, Justin Schmidt, who started fifth, used the high line to work his way into third place. As the leaders maneuvered through slower traffic, Justin Schmidt moved into second and closed the gap on Ritchie while four-time PDTR Late Model champion Brad Mueller of Random Lake, who started fourth, used the high grove to seize third and move in to pressure the leaders.
The first of five caution flags appeared on lap 11 when rookie Sawyer Specht of Sheboygan Falls and rookie Chad Ludwigson of Sheboygan Falls collided along the backstretch. On the restart, Mueller vaulted past Justin Schmidt along the high groove before the second caution was displayed for rookie Glen Blanke of Sheboygan Falls and Charlie Schmidt of Cedar Grove in turn three on lap 13.
The third caution flag came out on the next attempted restart when Greg Cantrell of DeKalb, Ill. stalled on the backstretch. On the restart, Justin Schmidt again used the high groove to pass Mueller and challenge Ritchie for the top spot. On lap 16, Schmidt surged past Ritchie with a strong run along the cushion.
Three laps later, Justin Schmidt, Ritchie and Mueller were running in close quarters for the lead when Mueller made contact with the lapped car of Chad Ludwigson, which caused Ludwigson to spin while Mueller left the track with a flat tire, which brought out the fourth caution of the race on lap 19.
On the restart, Ritchie stayed precise on the low groove to regain the lead from Justin Schmidt in turn two on lap 19. Two laps later, the fifth and final caution flag appeared for Sawyer Specht in turn two.
Justin Schmidt was not to be denied in the closing laps as he continued to powered through a very challenging and thick cushion to pull even with Ritchie in the closing laps. On the white flag lap, Justin Schmidt used a huge run out of turn four to edge Ritchie at the finish line to claim his 11th career PDTR Late Model A-main victory. Ritchie finished second, Jim Schmidt held on for third, sixth starter Turk Letizia of Milwaukee finished fourth and 2016 PDTR Late Model champion Tim Buhler of Greenbush finished fifth after starting seventh.
“The track was crazy tonight,” Justin Schmidt said. “Turn four was very treacherous on the cushion. No one is better on the bottom than Justin Ritchie and it was a great race with him. I didn’t know if I had him or not as it was back and forth for a while. On that last lap, it was just all or nothing. I went in hard, held on and it work out.”
Former PDTR Grand National champion Matt Yancey of Sheboygan led the opening lap of the main event from the pole with outside front row starter Donny Kulow assuming second.
Yancey controlled the opening seven laps by clinging to the inside lane of the slick track surface before Kulow executed a strong low move in turn one on lap 8 to seize the top spot.
Once in front, Kulow pulled away from the field as third starter Jeff Muelhbauer of Elkhart Lake moved in to pressure Yancey for the runner-up spot. Over the final 10 laps, Kulow remained smooth on the low line en route to his first career PDTR Grand National A-main victory by a half-straightaway margin over Yancey, who finished second. Muehlbauer placed third, fourth starter Luke Scholten of Oostburg claimed fourth and defending PDTR Grand National champ Tyler Kulow of Plymouth finished fifth after starting fifth.
After a caution flag on the opening lap for a two-car incident involving Steve Lorier of Sheboygan and rookie Trevor Frank of Sheboygan, Donny Singer of Random Lake paced the first three laps of the B Mod A main from the pole. On lap 4, rookie Will Garceau of Mishicot worked his way up from the third starting spot to take the lead.
The second of four caution flags was displayed on lap 5 for an incident involving Steve Lorier, Trevor Frank and Christopher Gilson of Elkhart Lake. Another caution appeared on the ensuing restart from Patrick Hanson of Sheboygan Falls and David McCutcheon.
On the restart, fourth starter Justin Bauer of Sheboygan Falls worked the outside groove to take second before fifth starter Jesse Cullen passed Bauer for second on lap 6.
On lap 7, the fourth and final caution flag came out when James Rautmann of Howards Grove stopped in turn three. Cullen continued to show his strength on the restart as he moved in to pressure Garceau for the top spot, along with 2018 PDTR B Mod champion Tim Sheppard of Beaver Dam, who started eighth.
On lap 8, Cullen used the outside groove to work around Garceau into the lead in turn three. Meanwhile, defending PDTR B Mod champion Tim Warner of Fond du Lac, who started sixth mounted a charge in the late stages of the race to secure second on lap 14.
As Cullen found a distinct groove to his liking utilizing the middle portion of the track, Warner closed on the later in the waning laps. However, Cullen held on to earn his third career PDTR B Mod A-main triumph. Warner was second, Sheppard placed third, Bauer wound up fourth and Garceau rounded out the top five.
“I could feel someone [Tim Warner] back there a few times near the end,” Cullen said. “I feel I had a pretty good groove there on the bottom and the middle, which really seemed to work well in getting me to the front and into victory lane tonight.”
Doug Wondra of Oakfield won the first 360 Sprint Car B main and Justin Erickson of Plymouth captured the second 360 Sprint Car B main.
The event, which was sponsored by Mayer Automotive, drew a total of 88 cars, including 36 360 Sprint Cars, 16 Late Models, 13 Grand Nationals and 23 B Mods.
The next PDTR program at The Plymouth Dirt Track will take place on Saturday, June 20 with gates opening at 4:30 p.m., hot laps at 5:30 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m.
KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANT VIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CAR
Date of Race: June 13, 2020
HEAT 1
1, Lance Fassbender 2, Kurt Davis 3, Adam Miller 4, Tim Haddy 5, Nick Daywalt 6, Scott Conger 7, Alex Pokorski 8, Tom Kreutz 9, Tyler Brabant (DNS).
HEAT 2
1, Will Gerrits 2, Kevin Karnitz 3, Bill Taylor 4, Anthony Knierim 5, Nick Melis 6, Jack Vanderboom 7, Doug Wondra 8, Josh Teunissen 9, Scott Armstrong.
HEAT 3
1, Travis Arenz 2, Justin Milller 3, Tony Wondra 4, Brandon McMullen 5, Mike Decker 6, Justin Erickson 7, Austin Hartmann, 8, Ben Schmidt (DNS), 9, Tyler Davis (DNS).
HEAT 4
1, Chris Clayton 2, Tyler Tischendorf 3, Shane Wenninger 4, Robby Wirth 5, Brandon Berth 6, Blake Wondra 7, Preston Ruh 8, Mike Mac Farlane 9, Ken Schmick.
B MAIN 1
1, Doug Wondra 2, Preston Ruh 3, Blake Wondra 4, Josh Teunissen 5, Nick Daywalt 6, Alex Pokorski 7, Ken Schmick 8, Austin Hartmann 9, Tyler Davis (DNS) 10, Ben Schmidt (DNS).
B MAIN 2
1, Justin Erickson 2, Robby Wirth 3, Jack Vanderboom 4, Mike Decker 5, Scott Conger 6, Scott Armstrong 7, Tyler Brabant 8, Mike Mac Farlane 9, Anthony Knierim (DNS) 10, Tom Kreutz (DNS).
A MAIN
1, Adam Miller 2, Travis Arenz 3, Tim Haddy 4, Bill Taylor 5, Kevin Karnitz 6, Brandon McMullen 7, Kurt Davis 8, Justin Miller 9, Lance Fassbender 10, Justin Erickson 11, Nich Melis 12, Tyler Tischendorf 13, Will Gerrits 14, Brandon Berth 15, Tony Wondra 16, Preston Ruh 17, Chris Clayton 18, Doug Wondra 19, Robby Wirth 20, Jack Vanderboom 21, Blake Wondra 22, Shane Wenninger.
GASROOTS PROJECT LATE MODEL
HEAT 1
1, Charlie Schmidt 2, Tim Buhler 3, Justin Schmidt 4, Greg Cantrell 5, Kevin Baldry 6, Glen Blanke 7, Adrian Roscelli 8, Sawyer Specht.
HEAT 2
1, Turk Letizia 2, Justin Ritchie 3, Brad Mueller 4, Jim Schmidt 5, Ted Dolhun Sr. 6, Chad Ludwigson 7, Donny Singer 8, Victor Benedetto.
A MAIN
1, Justin Schmidt 2, Justin Ritchie 3, Jim Schmidt 4, Turk Letizia 5, Tim Buhler 6, Ted Dolhun Sr. 7, Kevin Baldry 8, Victor Benedetto 9, Donny Singer 10, Adrian Roscelli 11, Glen Blanke 12, Sawyer Specht 13, Brad Mueller 14, Chad Ludwigson 15, Charlie Schmidt 16, Greg Cantrell.
KLIPS N TIPS GRAND NATIONAL
HEAT 1
1, Donny Kulow 2, Jeff Muehlbauer 3, Tyler Kulow 4, Dick Hed 5, Steven Weber 6, Brad Weiss 7, Paul Perronne.
HEAT 2
1, Matt Yancey 2, Derek Kaat 3, Luke Scholten 4, Aaron Stolp 5, Jonathan Otte 6, Don Sorce Jr.
A MAIN
1, Donny Kulow 2, Matt Yancey 3, Jeff Muehlbauer 4, Luke Scholten 5, Tyler Kulow 6, Aaron Stolp 7, Jonathan Otte 8, Don Sorce Jr. 9, Dick Hed 10, Steven Weber 11, Derek Kaat 12, Bred Weiss 13, Paul Perronne.
CELLCOM B MOD
HEAT 1
1, Justin Bauer 2, Tim Sheppard 3, Brandon Knepprath 4, Phil Campanella 5, Rory Welch 6, Michael Gilson 7, Brandon Goeser 8, Trevor Frank.
HEAT 2
1, Tim Warner 2, James Rautmann 3, Will Garceau 4, Brendan Ostrowski 5, Patrick Hanson 6, David McCutcheon 7, Christopher Gilson 8, Dakota Cabunac.
HEAT 3
1, Kyle Odekirk 2, Donny Singer 3, Jesse Cullen 4, Barry Maas 5, Gary Glander 6, Jim Fischer 7, Steve Lorier.
A MAIN
1, Jesse Cullen 2, Tim Warner 3, Tim Sheppard 4, Justin Bauer 5, Will Garceau 6, Barry Maas 7, Brandon Knepprath 8, Kyle Odekirk 9, Donny Singer 10, Gary Glander 11, Brendan Ostrowski 12, Rory Welch 13, Brandan Goeser 14, Michael Gilson 15, David McCutcheon 16, Jim Fischer 17, Phil Campanella 18, Patrick Hanson 19, Steve Lorier 20, Dakota Cabunac 21, James Rautmann 22, Trevor Frank 23, Christopher Gilson.
