Thiel, McMullen stand tall in Sprint Car Fair Night main events at Plymouth Dirt Track
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) September 3, 2022 – On an unseasonably cool early September evening, two of the hottest drivers in their respective Sprint Car racing disciplines continued to excel at a fever pitch, during an all-Sprint Car event at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. held during the 2022 Sheboygan County Fair on Saturday, Sept. 3.
In the Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series main event, Scotty Thiel of Sheboygan racked up his series-leading fourth main event victory of the 2022 IRA season in the 30-lap headliner.
Two-time Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh recorded his fourth straight Akright Auto Midwest Sprint Car Association A-main victory in the 25-lap Kristine Hartmann Pleasant View Realty PDTR 360 Sprint Car main event.
Polesitter Kyle Schuett of Philo, Ill., who won the most recent IRA A main at The Plymouth Dirt Track on July 30, jumped into the lead in turn one of the opening lap before Scotty Thiel, who started second, pulled off a slide job to seize the top spot in turn four on the opening lap.
On lap 2, fourth starter Zach Hampton of Mooresville, Ind., who was making his debut appearance at The Plymouth Dirt Track, ducked low to briefly challenge Thiel for the top spot.
However, Thiel fended off Hampton’s challenge and pulled away to build up a sizable lead as the leaders began to catch the rear of the field on lap 6. One lap later, the red flag was displayed when IRA point leader and top rookie of the year contender Jake Neuman of New Berlin, Ill., flipped his machine in turn two.
Two laps later, another caution flag appeared when Kris Spitz of Salem stopped in turn two after losing his right rear tire. When the race resumed, Thiel pulled away from Hampton as the leaders began to work their way through lapped traffic on lap 14.
By lap 20, Thiel had built up a full-straightaway lead over Hampton on the lightning-fast, yet slide-job-receptive track surface. Three laps later, a caution flag appeared when Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls spun in turn two.
On the restart, Hampton took a shot at the lead as he executed a slide job in turn two to surge ahead before Thiel battled back to regain the top spot in turn three. One lap later, the red flag came out when Austin Hartmann of Plymouth flipped into the turn one catch fence, following contact with Schuett along the front stretch on lap 24.
Over the final six laps, the Thiel-Hampton duel escalated substantially, as Hampton ripped off a slide job in turn two on lap 25 to vault his away into the lead before Thiel came back to return the slide-job favor in turn four to maintain the top spot.
Undaunted, Hampton battled back to surge ahead in turn two and assume the lead on lap 26. However, Thiel unreeled yet another slide job to pull off what proved to be the winning move in turn two on lap 27. Meanwhile, third starter Steve Meyer of Sheboygan Falls came to life along the low groove to move past Hampton and into the runner-up spot on lap 28.
Thiel held off Meyer’s late charge over the final two laps to secure his fourth A-main victory of the 2022 IRA campaign, first IRA main event triumph at The Plymouth Dirt Track since the 2018 season and 23rdcareer IRA A-main win.
“It’s great to get a win here tonight,” Thiel said in victory lane. “I have to thank the crew for everything they do. Everyone on his team really does a great job to help put us in the position to win these races.
“During the last couple of restarts, I didn’t know what to do or the right way to go to keep the 35 car [Zach Hampton] behind me,” he said. “On the last restart, I decided to just let him go and see where he went and then adjust to what he did. That’s how it played out and luckily everything worked out in our favor over the final few laps.”
Meyer posted a strong second-place finish, Hampton finished third in his third career IRA appearance, seventh starter Jordan Goldesberry of Springfield, Ill. finished fourth and two-time IRA champion Scotty Neitzel of Beaver Dam placed fifth after starting sixth.
In the 25-lap Kristine Hartmann Pleasant View Realty PDTR 360 Sprint Car main event, outside front row starter Brandon McMullen outpowered polesitter Tyler Davis of Franklin to surge into the lead along the backstretch on the opening lap. On lap 2, 2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth, who started third, worked his way around Davis to take second.
Two laps later, defending PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion and current point leader Travis Arenz, who started fourth, moved his way into third along the high groove.
The lone caution flag of the race appeared on lap 13 when 2018 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Justin Miller of Plymouth stopped in turn two and Tyler Brabant of Waupun stalled in turn four.
When the race resumed, Arenz worked the high line to power past Schmidt and secure second in the running order. However, Arenz was unable to track down McMullen, who pulled away to build up a full straightaway lead by lap 20 en route to his third straight PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory at The Plymouth Dirt Track and fourth consecutive overall main event triumph in his last four Akright Auto Midwest Sprint Car Association starts.
The win was also McMullen’s all-time division-leading 27th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main triumph and 38th career Akright Auto Midwest Sprint Car Association main event victory.
“The car has really been working well over the past few weeks,” McMullen said. “Tonight, we were able to run the top, bottom and even the middle at times. Having a car that handles that well in all parts of the track is a testament to the crew. For most of the season, we haven’t been as fast as we wanted to be, but we’ve hit on something lately and the results have shown it.”
Arenz finished second, Schmidt placed third, Davis wound up fourth and 2008 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Lance Fassbender of Burnett finished fifth after starting fifth.
Arenz heads into the final event of the 2022 PDTR 360 Sprint Car season on Saturday, Sept. 24 with a commanding 73-point lead over Ben Schmidt at the top of the standings, as he looks to secure his second straight PDTR 360 Sprint Car crown.
Arenz also leads Schmidt by 17 points with two races remaining in the 2022 Midwest Sprint Car Association season.
Travis Arenz earned PDTR 360 Sprint Car overall fast qualifier honors with a lap of 12.701 seconds.
IRA rookie Austin Hartmann of Plymouth collected his first-career IRA fast qualifier award by topping the 31-car field with a lap of 11.461 seconds.
Jereme Schroeder of Lake Villa, Ill. won the 12-lap IRA B main.
The 12th full PDTR racing program of the 2022 season, which was sponsored by JDL Automotive & Detailing, drew 55 Sprint Cars, including 31 IRA 410 Sprint Cars and 24 PDTR 360 Sprint Cars.
The 2022 PDTR season will conclude on Saturday, Sept. 24 with the Wisconsin Sprint Car Championships, featuring the final points race of the PDTR and Akright Auto Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car season, as well as the 2022 curtain closer for Bumper to Bumper IRA 410 Sprint Cars, Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Cars and IRA Lightning Sprints.
The new book “Racing Recollections – Plymouth Racetrack Fans & Drivers 1950-2021” by Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan, George Baumann of Waupun and Verla Peichl of Sheboygan Falls will be available for purchase at every race during the 2022 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.
The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds is located at 229 Fairview Drive in Plymouth, Wis. For more information, visit www.plymouthdtr.com or check out Plymouth Dirt Track Racing on Facebook.
BUMPER TO BUMPER INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION 410 SP11RINT CARS
QUALIFYING
1, Austin Hartmann 11.461 2, Jake Blackhurst 11.494 3, Zach Hampton 11.596 4, Jordan Goldesberry 11.598 5, Kyle Schuett 11.648 6, Travis Arenz 11.683 7, Scotty Thiel 11.746 8, Danny Schlafer 11.752 9, Scotty Neitzel 11.799 10, Blake Nimee 11.806 11, Tyler Tischendorf 11.819 12, Steve Meyer 11.832 13, Preston Ruh 11.836 14, Scott Biertzer 11.837 15, Chris Martin 11.837 16, Dave Uttech 11.873 17, Ryan Bunton 11.895 18, Jake Neuman 11.895 19, Jack Vanderboom 11.922 20, Jereme Schroeder 12.059 21, Todd Daun 12.069 22, Kris Spitz 12.091 23, Hunter Custer 12.114 24, Jeremy Schultz 12.125 25, Scott Conger 12.194 26, Russel Borland 12.331 27, Alan Gilbertson 12.435 28, Ion Stear 12.445 29, Jason Johnson 12.746 30, Jett Mann 13.225 31, Zach Hansen 13.281.
HEAT 1
1, Scotty Neitzel 2, Preston Ruh 3, Kyle Schuett 4, Ryan Bunton 5, Austin Hartmann 6, Todd Daun 7, Scott Conger 8, Jason Johnson.
HEAT 2
1, Blake Nimee 2, Travis Arenz 3, Jake Blackhurst 4, Jake Neuman 5, Kris Spitz 6, Russel Borland 7, Jett Mann 8, Scott Biertzer.
HEAT 3
1, Scotty Thiel 2, Tyler Tischendorf 3, Zach Hampton 4, Chris Martin 5, Hunter Custer 6, Jack Vanderboom 7, Alan Gilbertson 8, Zach Hansen.
DASH 1
1, Kyle Schuett 2, Steve Meyer 3, Austin Hartmann 4, Jordan Goldesberry 5, Blake Nimee.
DASH 2
1, Scotty Thiel 2, Zach Hampton 3, Scotty Neitzel 4, Jake Blackhurst 5, Travis Arenz.
B MAIN
1, Jereme Schroeder 2, Todd Daun 3, Jack Vanderboom 4, Russel Borland 5, Ion Stear 6, Jett Mann 7, Zach Hansen 8, Jason Johnson 9, Scott Conger 10, Alan Gilbertson 11, Scott Biertzer.
A MAIN
1, Scotty Thiel 2, Steve Meyer 3, Zach Hampton 4, Jordan Goldesberry 5, Scotty Neitzel 6, Jake Blackhurst 7, Kyle Schuett 8, Tyler Tischendorf 9, Preston Ruh 10, Travis Arenz 11, Ryan Bunton 12, Chris Martin 13, Russel Borland 14, Jeremy Schultz 15, Danny Schlafer 16, Dave Uttech 17, Blake Nimee 18, Jeremy Schroeder 19, Jack Vanderboom 20, Hunter Custer 21, Todd Daun 22, Austin Hartmann 23, Kris Spitz 24, Jake Neuman.
KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANT VIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS
QUALIFYING
1, Travis Arenz 12.701 2, Brandon Berth 12.964 3, Lance Fassbender 12.977 4, Brandon McMullen 12.986 5, Tony Wondra 13.000 6, Bill Taylor 13.017 7, Ben Schmidt 13.149 8, Tyler Davis 13.173 9, Anthony Knierim 13.175 10, Justin Miller 13.177 11, Blake Wondra 13.201 12, Kurt Davis 13.204 13, Chris Larson 13.226, 14, Justin Erickson 13.233 15, Tyler Brabant 13.285 16, Dylan Winkel 13.295 17, Alex Pokorski 13.411 18, Chris Clayton 13.458 19, Doug Wondra 13.465 20, Katelyn Krebsbach 13.474 21, Kevin Seidler 13.520 22, Randy Post 13.525 23, Tim Haddy 13.545 24, J.J. Pagel 13.620.
HEAT 1
1, Tyler Davis 2, Lance Fassbender 3, Bill Taylor 4, Kurt Davis 5, Brandon Berth 6, Dylan Winkel 7, Chris Clayton 8, Kevin Seidler.
HEAT 2
1, Ben Schmidt 2, Brandon McMullen 3, Justin Miller 4, Anthony Knierim 5, Chris Larson 6, Alex Pokorski 7, Doug Wondra 8, Katelyn Krebsbach.
HEAT 3
1, Travis Arenz 2, Justin Erickson 3, Tony Wondra 4, Blake Wondra 5, Tyler Brabant 6, J.J. Pagel 7, Randy Post 9, Tim Haddy (DNS).
A MAIN
1, Brandon McMullen 2, Travis Arenz 3, Ben Schmidt 4, Tyler Davis 5, Lance Fassbender 6, Bill Taylor 7, Kurt Davis 8, Tony Wondra 9, Justin Erickson 10, Anthony Knierim 11, Chris Larson 12, Brandon Berth 13, Blake Wondra 14, Katelyn Krebsbach 15, Chris Clayton 16, Justin Miller 17, Alex Pokorski 18, Dylan Winkel 19, Randy Post 20, Kevin Seidler 21, Doug Wondra 22, Tyler Brabant 23, J.J. Pagel 24, Tim Haddy.
