Swedberg steals victory in ‘wild’ Plymouth Dirt Kings Watson Classic
Sivia, Schroeder, McDonald claim A-main triumphs
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) September 21, 2024 – A mad scramble in the final turn of the final lap of the seventh annual 106.5 The Buzz WABAM Dirt Kings Late Model Tour Jim “Wildman” Watson Classic produced a fittingly “wild” finish with Brett Swedberg of Shawano prevailing when the dust settled on the 30-lap main event at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, Sept. 21.
Jimmy Sivia of Winthrop Harbor, Ill. emerged from a thrilling three-way duel as the winner of the 20-lap Autometer Wisconsin wingLess Sprint Car Series A-main.
Cody Schroeder of Manitowoc put together a dominating performance to top an attrition-filled 20-lap A Modified main event.
Josh McDonald of Cleveland claimed top honors in the United Street Stock main event.
Six-time Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Late Model champion Brad Mueller of Random Lake jumped into the lead on the drop of the green flag in the 30-lap “Wildman” Watson Dirt Kings Late Model Tour headliner from the pole with third starter Taylor Scheffler of Waukesha in tow.
On lap eight, Mueller caught the rear of the field on the lightning fast track surface, while second starter Brett Swedberg ducked underneath Scheffler to take over the runner-up position.
With Mueller holding down a comfortable lead, the lone caution of the race appeared on lap 12 when Tim Rothe of Hortonville stopped along the backstretch.
When the race resumed, Joel Bennett of Hortonville moved up from his fifth starting position to take over third in the running order on lap 13. Meanwhile, newly crowned seven-time WABAM Dirt Kings Late Model Tour champion Nick Anvelink of Bonduel maneuvered his way into fourth from the sixth starting spot.
Mueller continued to maintain a stranglehold on the lead before he caught lapped traffic once again in the fleeting laps of the race. Mired in heavy lapped traffic, Mueller slipped up the track coming off of turn three on the final lap, which allowed Swedberg to dive low and power underneath Mueller exiting turn four.
After the two veteran competitors jockeyed hard for position heading onto the front stretch, Mueller made contact with the front stretch wall while Swedberg sailed forward to collect his second Dirt Kings A-main victory of the 2024 season and first Jim “Wildman” Watson main event win, which was worth $2,000.
Bennett came home second and Anvelink finished third. Following his skirmish with Swedberg while racing to the checkered flag, Mueller guided his damaged No. 89 machine along the front stretch wall en route to a fourth place finish and Scheffler rounded out the top five in the Dirt Kings Late Model Tour’s 2024 curtain closer.
After being held at Wilmot Raceway in Wilmot, Wis. for the first five years, it was the second “Wildman” Watson Classic to be contested at The Plymouth Dirt Track.
A native of Greenfield, nicknamed “Wildman,” Watson was a longtime Dirt Late Model competitor, most notably at the now shuttered Hales Corners Speedway in Franklin. Following his racing career, Watson went on to work in NASCAR for Roush Fenway Racing from 2006 to 2015, HScott Motorsports in 2016 and Furniture Row Racing, where he worked as a fabricator at the time of his passing in October 2017.
Polesitter and current Wisconsin wingLess Sprint Car Series points leader Zach Raidart of Gurnee, Ill. seized the top spot on the opening lap of the Wisconsin wingLess A-main with outside front row starter Jimmy Sivia trailing in second. Sivia then inched ahead of Raidart in turn one on lap three just before Ryan Zielski of Oconomowoc spun in turn four to bring out the first of two caution flags.
The hot-and-heavy action raged on following the restart as Sivia rode the high groove and Raidart clung to the inside lane of the expertly manicured track surface. Raidart pulled off a well-executed slide job to claim the lead on lap 7. However, Sivia answered by sweeping back around Raidart along the cushion during the following lap.
While Sivia and Raidart were mounting an intense duel for the lead, fourth starter Tyler Kuxhouse of Antioch, Ill. motored in to join the lead battle.
After the leaders briefly battled in three-wide formation on lap 9, the second caution flag appeared on lap 10 for a spin in turn two involving Craig Lager of Union Grove and Mitchell Reich of Waukegan, Ill.
Sivia, who claimed the 2020 Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car Series title, and Raidart re-engaged in their high-speed chess match when the race resumed. In the closing laps, Raidart attempted a pair of slide jobs to oust the lead from Sivia.
However, Sivia held Raidart’s attempts at bay on the way to his third A-main victory of the 2024 season and 16th career Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car Series main event triumph.
Raidart had to settle for second, seventh starter Tristan Furseth of Cambridge placed third, Allen Hafford of Beach Park, Ill. finished fourth after starting third and Rusty Egan of Round Lake Heights, Ill. moved up from the 11th starting spot to place fifth.
After the initial attempt to start the 20-lap A Modified main event produced a six-car pileup, Cody Schroeder leaped forward from the third starting position to seize the lead when the green flag flew with Jayden Schmidt of Seymour, who started fourth, sliding into second.
The second yellow flag was displayed on lap 2 when Gary Jahnke of Bear Creek spun in turn two on lap 8. After two laps of green flag action, the third caution flag was displayed when Logan Brass of Howards Grove and Steve Lorier of Sheboygan slowed on lap 10.
After the fourth and final caution occurred on lap 12 when Brenan Ostrowski of Milwaukee spun in turn two, Schroeder put on a driving clinic over the final eight laps en route to a half-lap victory over sixth starter Jeff Bodendorfer of Waterford.
Fifth starter Matt Klenz of West Bend placed third, Mike Simons of Genoa City advanced from the 15th starting spot to finish fourth and polesitter Mike Klenz of West Bend completed the top five in a race which saw nine of the 20 starters make it to the finish line.
Shanon Guelette of Luxemburg led the opening lap from the pole before the first of three caution flags appeared on lap 2 when Arianna Ross of Green Bay spun in turn four.
Following the restart, Guelette relinquished the lead after slowing in turn two. Josh McDonald, who started fifth, inherited the lead when the race resumed with third starter Austin Steinke of St. Nazianz following in second.
On lap 6, McDonald found himself feeling pressure from sixth starter Eddie Anschutz of Denmark and David Hoerning of Grand Chute, who started fourth.
The third and final caution flag was displayed on lap 7 for a three-car incident. After that, McDonald, Hoerning and Anschutz staged a heated three-wide duel for the lead on lap 8 before Anschutz worked past Hoerning into second.
Anschutz moved in to challenge McDonald for the top spot in the closing laps of race. However, McDonald held on to earn the A-main victory.
Anschutz ended up second, Hoerning finished third, seventh starter Tony Everard of Green Bay took fourth and Steinke placed fifth.
Taylor Scheffler claimed top qualifier honors in Dirt Kings Late Model Tour qualifying in 13.384 seconds.
Jayden Schmidt was the fastest qualifier in the A Modified qualifying session with a lap of 15.115 seconds.
Tyler Kuxhouse turned in a fast lap of 13.716 seconds in Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car Series qualifying.
David Hoerning topped United Street Stock qualifying with a lap of 16.526 seconds.
Austin Winkel of Sheboygan Falls earned the victory in the 10-lap A Modified B-main.
The 13th event of the 2024 season at The Plymouth Dirt Track attracted 89 total entries, including 26 A Modifieds, 22 Dirt Kings Late Models, 22 Unified Street Stocks and 19 Wisconsin wingLess Sprint Cars.
The 2024 Plymouth Dirt Track campaign will draw to a close on Saturday, Sept. 28 with the seventh annual Wisconsin Sprint Car Championships featuring the season finales for the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing-Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Cars, Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Cars, Wisconsin wingLess Sprint Cars and IRA Lightning Sprints.
Spectator gates open at 4:30 p.m. with hot laps at 5 p.m.
The 2024 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Awards Ceremony is set to take place Saturday, Oct. 12 at Racers Hall in Plymouth at 7 p.m.
Weather information for all Plymouth Dirt Track Racing events will be posted on the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram pages, as well as the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing website – www.plymouthdtr.com.
The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds is located at 229 Fairview Drive in Plymouth, Wis.
For more information, visit www.plymouthdtr.comor check out Plymouth Dirt Track Racing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
106.5 THE BUZZ WABAM DIRT KINGS TOUR LATE MODELS
Jim Wildman Watson Classic (30 Laps): 1. 3-Brett Swedberg [2]; 2. 7-Joel Bennett [5]; 3. 15-Nick Anvelink [6]; 4. 89-Brad Mueller [1]; 5. 10S-Taylor Scheffler [3]; 6. 5-Lukas Postl [11]; 7. 97-Justin Schmidt [7]; 8. 77-Bill Edler [8]; 9. 10P-Paul Parker [12]; 10. 70-Justin Ritchie [13]; 11. 42N-Paul Niznik [10]; 12. 24S-Jayden Schmidt [14]; 13. 51-Chris Oertel [19]; 14. 55-Joe Bongiorno [17]; 15. 99-Sawyer Specht [4]; 16. 9Z-Jayme Zidar [15]; 17. 35X-Parker Foster [18]; 18. 56-Tim Rothe [20]; 19. 89R-Kolton Roehl [9]; 20. 9N-Tom Naeyaert [21]; 21. 99M-Mike Mullen [22]; 22. 21F-Gunner Frank [16]
Autoworx Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 10S-Taylor Scheffler [1]; 2. 15-Nick Anvelink [2]; 3. 97-Justin Schmidt [7]; 4. 42N-Paul Niznik [3]; 5. 10P-Paul Parker [6]; 6. 9Z-Jayme Zidar [5]; 7. 35X-Parker Foster [8]; 8. 9N-Tom Naeyaert [4]
Klink Equipment Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 3-Brett Swedberg [1]; 2. 7-Joel Bennett [5]; 3. 77-Bill Edler [3]; 4. 99M-Mike Mullen [2]; 5. 70-Justin Ritchie [7]; 6. 21F-Gunner Frank [6]; 7. 51-Chris Oertel [4]
Ken’s Sports Inc. Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 89-Brad Mueller [1]; 2. 99-Sawyer Specht [2]; 3. 89R-Kolton Roehl [3]; 4. 5-Lukas Postl [4]; 5. 24S-Jayden Schmidt [5]; 6. 55-Joe Bongiorno [6]; 7. 56-Tim Rothe [7]
Autoworx Qualifying 1: 1. 10S-Taylor Scheffler, 13.384 [4]; 2. 15-Nick Anvelink, 13.449 [5]; 3. 42N-Paul Niznik, 13.584 [1]; 4. 9N-Tom Naeyaert, 13.643 [3]; 5. 9Z-Jayme Zidar, 13.935 [7]; 6. 10P-Paul Parker, 14.050 [6]; 7. 97-Justin Schmidt, 14.108 [8]; 8. 35X-Parker Foster, 14.415 [2]
Klink Equipment Qualifying 2: 1. 3-Brett Swedberg, 13.432 [5]; 2. 99M-Mike Mullen, 13.562 [6]; 3. 77-Bill Edler, 13.742[3]; 4. 51-Chris Oertel, 13.800 [1]; 5. 7-Joel Bennett, 13.843 [4]; 6. 21F-Gunner Frank, 14.004 [7]; 7. 70-Justin Ritchie, 14.098 [2]
Ken’s Sports Inc Qualifying 3: 1. 89-Brad Mueller, 13.426 [1]; 2. 99-Sawyer Specht, 13.820 [7]; 3. 89R-Kolton Roehl, 13.830 [2]; 4. 5-Lukas Postl, 13.990 [5]; 5. 24S-Jayden Schmidt, 13.998 [3]; 6. 55-Joe Bongiorno, 14.277 [4]; 7. 56-Tim Rothe, 15.057 [6]
Autoworx Hot Laps 1: 1. 10S-Taylor Scheffler, 13.841 [4]; 2. 89-Brad Mueller, 13.960 [16]; 3. 3-Brett Swedberg, 14.001 [13]; 4. 21F-Gunner Frank, 14.146 [15]; 5. 99-Sawyer Specht, 14.199 [22]; 6. 99M-Mike Mullen, 14.219 [14]; 7. 5-Lukas Postl, 14.338 [20]; 8. 42N-Paul Niznik, 14.453[1]; 9. 55-Joe Bongiorno, 14.457 [19]; 10. 24S-Jayden Schmidt, 14.502 [18]; 11. 70-Justin Ritchie, 14.582 [10]; 12. 9N-Tom Naeyaert, 14.634 [3]; 13. 10P-Paul Parker, 14.781 [6]; 14. 51-Chris Oertel, 14.847 [9]; 15. 15-Nick Anvelink, 15.224 [5]; 16. 97-Justin Schmidt, 15.610 [8]; 17. 89R-Kolton Roehl, 15.624 [17]; 18. 77-Bill Edler, 15.650 [11]; 19. 9Z-Jayme Zidar, 14.241[7]
AUTOMETER WISCONSIN WINGLESS SPRINT CARS
A Main (20 Laps): 1. 91-Jimmy Sivia [2]; 2. 23Z-Zach Raidart [1]; 3. 57-Tristan Furseth [7]; 4. 38-Allen Hafford [3]; 5. 50-Rusty Egan [11]; 6. 0-John Fahl [6]; 7. 17-Bryce Andrews [5]; 8. 99J-Seth Johnson [13]; 9. 11-Austin Hansen [10]; 10. 4G-George Gaertner III [12]; 11. 7D-Josh Davidson [14]; 12. 29J-Ralph Johnson [18]; 13. 14Z-Ryan Zielski [9]; 14. 7-Trinity Uttech [16]; 15. 29OG-Tom Eller [17]; 16. 21T-Mitchell Reich [15]; 17. 52-Craig Lager [8]; 18. 711-Tyler Kuxhouse [4]; 19. 29JR-Cameron Kuxhouse [19]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Tristan Furseth [2]; 2. 711-Tyler Kuxhouse [4]; 3. 11-Austin Hansen [1]; 4. 23Z-Zach Raidart [3]; 5. 99J-Seth Johnson [5]; 6. 29OG-Tom Eller [6]; 7. (DNF) 29JR-Cameron Kuxhouse [7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 38-Allen Hafford [4]; 2. 17-Bryce Andrews [3]; 3. 50-Rusty Egan [1]; 4. 52-Craig Lager [2]; 5. 7D-Josh Davidson [5]; 6. 29J-Ralph Johnson [6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 14Z-Ryan Zielski [2]; 2. 91-Jimmy Sivia [4]; 3. 0-John Fahl [3]; 4. 4G-George Gaertner III [1]; 5. 21T-Mitchell Reich [6]; 6. 7-Trinity Uttech [5]
Qualifying: 1. 711-Tyler Kuxhouse, 13.716 [8]; 2. 38-Allen Hafford, 13.941 [4]; 3. 91-Jimmy Sivia, 13.945 [13]; 4. 23Z-Zach Raidart, 13.973 [2]; 5. 17-Bryce Andrews, 14.036 [18]; 6. 0-John Fahl, 14.046 [17]; 7. 57-Tristan Furseth, 14.247 [16]; 8. 52-Craig Lager, 14.258 [3]; 9. 14Z-Ryan Zielski, 14.296 [14]; 10. 11-Austin Hansen, 14.314 [19]; 11. 50-Rusty Egan, 14.364 [11]; 12. 4G-George Gaertner III, 14.380 [9]; 13. 99J-Seth Johnson, 14.413 [1]; 14. 7D-Josh Davidson, 14.435 [10]; 15. 7-Trinity Uttech, 14.443 [6]; 16. 29OG-Tom Eller, 14.490 [12]; 17. 29J-Ralph Johnson, 14.516 [15]; 18. 21T-Mitchell Reich, 14.583 [5]; 19. (DNS) 29JR-Cameron KuxhouseA MODIFIEDS
A Main (20 Laps): 1. 20C-Cody Schroeder [3]; 2. 95-Jeff Bodendorfer [6]; 3. 18-Matt Klenz [5]; 4. 25-Mike Simons [15]; 5. 17-Mike Klenz [1]; 6. 451-Tim Robbins [7]; 7. 3M-Randy Markwardt Jr [18]; 8. 88-Austin Winkel [16]; 9. 27-Brendan Ostrowski [20]; 10. (DNF) 97-Tanner Janke [14]; 11. (DNF) 89-Logan Brass [17]; 12. (DNF) 19P-Clint Parsons [19]; 13. (DNF) 66-Steve Lorier [11]; 14. (DNF) 79-Gary Janke [10]; 15. (DNF) 24-Jayden Schmidt [4]; 16. (DNF) 46-Jason Condrad [2]; 17. (DNF) 6W-David Wirth [8]; 18. (DNF) 11-Bart Sievert [9]; 19. (DNF) 19-Mike Wittenburg [12]; 20. (DNF) 33A-Adam Abbey [13]
B Main (10 Laps): 1. 88-Austin Winkel [2]; 2. 89-Logan Brass [6]; 3. 3M-Randy Markwardt Jr [1]; 4. 19P-Clint Parsons [3]; 5. 27-Brendan Ostrowski [7]; 6. 29P-Chris Pigeon [8]; 7. 68-Tom Neubauer [5]; 8. 19G-Parker Glander [4]; 9. 11B-Brad Buckman [9]; 10. (DNS) 37L-Brad Lubach; 11. (DNS) 86R-Tom Robbins
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 24-Jayden Schmidt [4]; 2. 79-Gary Janke [5]; 3. 18-Matt Klenz [2]; 4. 6W-David Wirth [1]; 5. 25-Mike Simons [8]; 6. 88-Austin Winkel [6]; 7. 89-Logan Brass [7]; 8. 11B-Brad Buckman [9]; 9. 37L-Brad Lubach [3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 95-Jeff Bodendorfer [2]; 2. 66-Steve Lorier [5]; 3. 19-Mike Wittenburg [9]; 4. 33A-Adam Abbey [6]; 5. 46-Jason Condrad [3]; 6. 19G-Parker Glander [8]; 7. 86R-Tom Robbins [7]; 8. 27-Brendan Ostrowski [1]; 9. 3M-Randy Markwardt Jr [4]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 451-Tim Robbins [2]; 2. 20C-Cody Schroeder [4]; 3. 17-Mike Klenz [3]; 4. 11-Bart Sievert [1]; 5. 97-Tanner Janke [5]; 6. 19P-Clint Parsons [7]; 7. 68-Tom Neubauer [6]; 8. 29P-Chris Pigeon [8]
Qualifying: 1. 24-Jayden Schmidt, 15.115 [22]; 2. 3M-Randy Markwardt Jr, 15.270 [15]; 3. 20C-Cody Schroeder, 15.358 [1]; 4. 37L-Brad Lubach, 15.539 [7]; 5. 46-Jason Condrad, 15.589 [6]; 6. 17-Mike Klenz, 15.720 [4]; 7. 18-Matt Klenz, 15.725 [16]; 8. 95-Jeff Bodendorfer, 15.736 [2]; 9. 451-Tim Robbins, 15.782 [12]; 10. 6W-David Wirth, 15.823 [5]; 11. 27-Brendan Ostrowski, 15.919 [13]; 12. 11-Bart Sievert, 15.990 [11]; 13. 79-Gary Janke, 16.162 [20]; 14. 66-Steve Lorier, 16.173 [19]; 15. 97-Tanner Janke, 16.268 [10]; 16. 88-Austin Winkel, 16.268 [14]; 17. 33A-Adam Abbey, 16.343 [26]; 18. 68-Tom Neubauer, 16.350 [8]; 19. 89-Logan Brass, 16.376 [9]; 20. 86R-Tom Robbins, 16.403 [21]; 21. 19P-Clint Parsons, 16.583 [3]; 22. 25-Mike Simons, 00:16.832 [23]; 23. 19G-Parker Glander, 17.155 [24]; 24. 29P-Chris Pigeon, 17.192 [18]; 25. 11B-Brad Buckman, 17.669 [25]; 26. (DNS) 19-Mike WittenburgUNIFIED STREET STOCKS
A Main (20 Laps): 1. 6-Josh McDonald [5]; 2. 71-Edward Anschutz [6]; 3. 71H-David Hoerning [4]; 4. 8-Tony Everard [7]; 5. 24S-Austin Steinke [3]; 6. 95V-Logan Verhagen [9]; 7. 14X-Nate Gross [14]; 8. 838-Jason Eisel [10]; 9. 4-Shaun Bangart [8]; 10. 8M-Mike Meier [17]; 11. 6M-Matt McDonald [2]; 12. 83-Roman Blank [18]; 13. 28V-John Vetting [12]; 14. 22H-Hope Eisel [20]; 15. 51-Quentin Morrison [16]; 16. 121-Arianna Ross [21]; 17. 14-Bennett Glidden [11]; 18. 1K-Derek Kaye [22]; 19. 5-Todd Berzowski [19]; 20. 914-Tyler Nettekoven [13]; 21. 111-Shanon Guelette [1]; 22. 50X-Trevor Vandehei [15]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 71-Edward Anschutz [2]; 2. 95V-Logan Verhagen [1]; 3. 111-Shanon Guelette [3]; 4. 71H-David Hoerning [4]; 5. 914-Tyler Nettekoven [5]; 6. 8M-Mike Meier [6]; 7. 5-Todd Berzowski [7]; 8. 121-Arianna Ross [8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 838-Jason Eisel [1]; 2. 6-Josh McDonald [3]; 3. 24S-Austin Steinke [4]; 4. 8-Tony Everard [2]; 5. 14X-Nate Gross [5]; 6. 83-Roman Blank [6]; 7. 22H-Hope Eisel [7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 4-Shaun Bangart [2]; 2. 6M-Matt McDonald [4]; 3. 14-Bennett Glidden [7]; 4. 28V-John Vetting [6]; 5. 50X-Trevor Vandehei [5]; 6. 51-Quentin Morrison [1]; 7. 1K-Derek Kaye [3]
Qualifying: 1. 71H-David Hoerning, 16.526 [19]; 2. 24S-Austin Steinke, 16.616 [22]; 3. 6M-Matt McDonald, 16.851 [16]; 4. 111-Shanon Guelette, 16.892 [20]; 5. 6-Josh McDonald, 16.980 [21]; 6. 1K-Derek Kaye, 17.010 [9]; 7. 71-Edward Anschutz, 17.044 [4]; 8. 8-Tony Everard, 17.062 [10]; 9. 4-Shaun Bangart, 17.092 [11]; 10. 95V-Logan Verhagen, 17.106 [17]; 11. 838-Jason Eisel, 17.278 [1]; 12. 51-Quentin Morrison, 17.300 [8]; 13. 914-Tyler Nettekoven, 17.394 [18]; 14. 14X-Nate Gross, 17.430 [14]; 15. 50X-Trevor Vandehei, 17.431 [5]; 16. 8M-Mike Meier, 17.506 [12]; 17. 83-Roman Blank, 17.567 [2]; 18. 28V-John Vetting, 17.889 [7]; 19. 5-Todd Berzowski, 17.981 [13]; 20. 22H-Hope Eisel, 18.003 [3]; 21. 14-Bennett Glidden, 18.131 [15]; 22. 121-Arianna Ross, 21.058 [6]
