Schmidt claims 10th MSA A-main win of 2023 campaign at Wilmot Raceway
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 26, 2023 – A victory-laden campaign rolled on for 2011 Midwest Sprint Car Association champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth as he racked up his 10th main event triumph of the 2023 Akright Auto Midwest Sprint Car Association season in the 25-lap A main at Wilmot Raceway in Wilmot, Wis. on Saturday, Aug. 26.
The 21st MSA event of the 2023 season drew a solid field of 27 360 Sprint Cars for the series’ second visit of the season to the venerable three-eighths mile semi-banked Wilmot Raceway facility.
In the 25-lap main event, rookie Logan Julien of Oconomowoc jumped into the lead in turn two of the opening lap as four-time MSA champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh, who started fourth, moved into second.
On lap 3, a three-car incident along the front stretch involving Lance Fassbender of Burnett, who flipped hard along the front stretch, Chris Larson of Franksville and West Bend’s Alex Pokorski brought out the first red flag of the event. Fassbender was transported to a local hospital for further checkup.
When the race resumed, Matt Vandervere of Zion, Ill., who started sixth, used the high groove to shoot past both McMullen and Julien and seize the lead in turn four on lap 4.
One lap later, Ben Schmidt, who started eighth, worked his way past Julien to grab second before another red flag was displayed when Chris Larson flipped his No. 51 machine on its side in turn two.
Following the restart, McMullen moved past Julien to gain third, while third starter Brandon Berth of Cascade also passed Julien to gain fourth. On lap 10, Vandervere caught the back of the pack and began the process of slicing his way through slower traffic.
On lap 14, Vandevere’s time at the front of the field came to a halt when he spun to a stop in turn three after contact with a lapped car. With Vandervere relegated to restarting the race at the rear of the field, Schmidt inherited the lead with McMullen in second and Berth third.
Schmidt worked primarily the high line of the fast and undulating track surface over the final 10 laps to pull away from McMullen en route to his 10thMSA main event triumph of the 2023 season and 42nd career MSA A-main victory.
“In talking with Matt [Vandevere] before the race, he indicated that he would likely be running the high groove, which turned out to be the case,” Schmidt said. “My thought was to start the race by following him around as he definitely knows how to get around this place. If it wasn’t for the issue he had in turn three, I’m not sure if we would have been able to beat him or not.”
McMullen wound up second, Berth took third, Anthony Knierim of Franksville placed fourth after starting 12th and 10th starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend rounded out the top five.
Rookie T.J. Smith of Greenville earned the victory in the 12-lap MSA B main.
MSA heat race victories went to five-time MSA champion Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee, Ben Schmidt, 2005 MSA champion Lance Fassbender and Alex Pokorski.
The next race for the MSA 360 Sprint Cars is Friday, Sept. 1 at the Dodge County Fairgrounds Speedway in Beaver Dam, Wis. for the annual Harry Neitzel Tribute Race in conjunction with the Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series. A Modifieds are also on the card.
Spectator gates open at 5 p.m. with warm ups at 6 p.m. with hot laps to follow and opening ceremony at 7:30 p.m.
For more information on the 2023 Midwest Sprint Car Association season, visit www.msasprints.com or check out the Midwest Sprint Car Association Facebook page.
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Akright Auto Midwest Sprint Car Association
Wilmot Raceway
Wilmot, Wis.
August 26, 2023
A Main (25 Laps): 1. 35-Ben Schmidt [8]; 2. 98-Brandon McMullen [4]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth [3]; 4. 16-Anthony Knierim [12]; 5. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [10]; 6. 85J-Logan Julien [2]; 7. 20R-Robbie Pribnow [11]; 8. 69S-TJ Smith [17]; 9. 0-John Fahl [14]; 10. 69-Bill Taylor [18]; 11. 6K-Kurt Davis [9]; 12. 66T-Tristan Koenings [13]; 13. 11-Tony Wondra [21]; 14. 4-Alex Pokorski [5]; 15. 12P-JJ Pagel [15]; 16. 10V-Matt Vandervere [6]; 17. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [16]; 18. 68-Josh Bilicki [22]; 19. 29J-Ralph Johnson [20]; 20. 21H-TJ Haddy; 21. 51-Chris Larson [1]; 22. 7-Lance Fassbender [7]; 23. (DNS) 38-Jeffrey Neubert
B Main (12 Laps): 1. 69S-TJ Smith [2]; 2. 69-Bill Taylor [3]; 3. 38-Jeffrey Neubert [1]; 4. 29J-Ralph Johnson [4]; 5. 11-Tony Wondra [6]; 6. 68-Josh Bilicki [10]; 7. 21H-TJ Haddy [7]; 8. 53A-Spyder Akright [5]; 9. 7L-Ellie Hensley [9]; 10. 39-Tim Decker [8]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 6K-Kurt Davis [4]; 2. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [7]; 3. 16-Anthony Knierim [3]; 4. (DNF) 44H-Hayden Johnson [1]; 5. (DNF) 11-Tony Wondra [2]; 6. (DNF) 21H-TJ Haddy [5]; 7. (DNF) 39-Tim Decker [6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 35-Ben Schmidt [2]; 2. 98-Brandon McMullen [3]; 3. 10V-Matt Vandervere [6]; 4. 51-Chris Larson [7]; 5. 38-Jeffrey Neubert [5]; 6. (DNF) 7L-Ellie Hensley [4]; 7. (DNF) 68-Josh Bilicki[1]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Lance Fassbender [2]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth [3]; 3. 12P-JJ Pagel [1]; 4. 20R-Robbie Pribnow [6]; 5. 69S-TJ Smith [4]; 6. 69-Bill Taylor [5]; 7. 29J-Ralph Johnson [7]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 4-Alex Pokorski [1]; 2. 85J-Logan Julien [3]; 3. 0-John Fahl [2]; 4. 66T-Tristan Koenings [5]; 5. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [6]; 6. 53A-Spyder Akright [4]
