Schmidt secures first career Angell Park victory in MSA headliner
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) June 4, 2023 – As one of the most accomplished drivers in the history of the Midwest Sprint Car Association, 2011 MSA and Plymouth Dirt Track Racing champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth headed into the first of two scheduled 2023 Akright Auto MSA 360 Sprint Car Series appearances at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wis. with something to prove.
Of Schmidt’s 33 previous MSA 360 Sprint A-main victories and three IRA 410 Sprint Car main event triumphs, none of them had come during his many appearances at Angell Park Speedway.
However, that changed when the checkered flag fell on Schmidt’s flag-to-flag 25-lap MSA A-main victory, during an all-open wheel racing program at the venerable 87-year-old third-mile clay oval on Sunday, June 4.
The 24th-year driver outpowered four-time MSA champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh to take the lead on the drop of the green flag from the pole position. By lap 6, Schmidt caught the back of the field and began the process of skillfully weaving his way through lapped traffic.
McMullen was unable to make up much ground on Schmidt until the final five laps when Schmidt found himself bottled up behind a gaggle of slower cars, which were dueling for position in side-by-side fashion.
McMullen closed the gap to within five cars lengths in a sea of lapped traffic on the final circuit, but Schmidt was too strong as he held on to record his 34th career MSA A-main victory, second MSA main event win of the 2023 season and first career A-main triumph at Angell Park Speedway in the caution-free race.
“I’ve been coming here for years in both a 410 and 360 Sprint Car but had never been able to get to victory lane before,” Schmidt said in victory lane. “This is definitely a bucket list track for me to get a win at. I finally got one at ‘The Prairie.’ This is so awesome.”
McMullen placed second, third starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend finished third, Brandon Berth of Cascade placed fourth after starting seventh and Boltonville’s Bill Taylor charged up from 10th at the start to finish five.
Brandon Berth set a new Angell Park Speedway 360 Sprint Car qualifying record with a fast lap of 13.665 seconds.
Heat race victories went to 2008 MSA champion Lance Fassbender of Burnett and West Bend’s Alex Pokorski.
The sixth MSA event of the 2023 season drew a field of 20 MSA 360 Sprint cars.
The next race for the MSA 360 Sprint Cars is this Saturday, June 10 at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis., which will also include the third race of the 2023 PDTR Super Six Late Model Series, along with the PDTR Grand Nationals and B Mods.
Grandstand gates open at 4:30 p.m. with Late Model and 360 Sprint Car qualifying set at 5:30 p.m. and racing scheduled to begin at 6 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
Angell Park Speedway
Sun Prairie, Wis.
June 4, 2023
A Main (25 Laps): 1. 35-Ben Schmidt [1]; 2. 98-Brandon McMullen [2]; 3. 63-Kevin Karnitz [3]; 4. 22B-Brandon Berth [7]; 5. 69-Bill Taylor [10]; 6. 7-Lance Fassbender [6]; 7. 11-Tony Wondra [4]; 8. 69S-TJ Smith [9]; 9. 85J-Logan Julien [16]; 10. 4-Alex Pokorski [5]; 11. 21H-Tim Haddy [11]; 12. 66-Tristan Koenings [13]; 13. 1-Tommy Colburn [15]; 14. 12P-JJ Pagel [12]; 15. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [8]; 16. 51-Chris Larson [17]; 17. 44-Hayden Johnson [18]; 18. 55S-Ryan Sawusch [14]; 19. 30-Doug Wondra; 20. 6K-Kurt Davis (DNS)
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 7-Lance Fassbender [2]; 2. 63-Kevin Karnitz [3]; 3. 35-Ben Schmidt [4]; 4. 11-Tony Wondra [8]; 5. 21H-Tim Haddy [5]; 6. 69S-TJ Smith [9]; 7. 66-Tristan Koenings [7]; 8. 12P-JJ Pagel [10]; 9. (DNF) 1-Tommy Colburn [1]; 10. 85J-Logan Julien [6]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 4-Alex Pokorski [2]; 2. 98-Brandon McMullen [3]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth [4]; 4. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [5]; 5. 69-Bill Taylor [6]; 6. 44-Hayden Johnson [9]; 7. 30-Doug Wondra [1]; 8. 55S-Ryan Sawusch [8]; 9. 6K-Kurt Davis (DNS); 10. 51-Chris Larson (DNS)
Qualifying 1: 1. 35-Ben Schmidt, 13.676 [3]; 2. 63-Kevin Karnitz, 13.742 [1]; 3. 7-Lance Fassbender, 13.844 [4]; 4. 1-Tommy Colburn, 13.887 [10]; 5. 21H-Tim Haddy, 13.997 [8]; 6. 85J-Logan Julien, 14.146 [7]; 7. 66-Tristan Koenings, 14.212 [2]; 8. 11-Tony Wondra, 14.233 [9]; 9. 69S-TJ Smith, 14.417 [5]; 10. 12P-JJ Pagel, 14.721 [6]
Qualifying 2: 1. 22B-Brandon Berth, 13.665 [1]; 2. 98-Brandon McMullen, 13.859 [6]; 3. 4-Alex Pokorski, 14.009 [2]; 4. 30-Doug Wondra, 14.231 [9]; 5. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 14.354 [4]; 6. 44-Hayden Johnson, 14.356 [8]; 7. 69-Bill Taylor, 14.480 [5]; 8. 51-Chris Larson, 14.573 [3]; 9. 55S-Ryan Sawusch, 18.585 [10]; 10. 6K-Kurt Davis [7]
