Josh Walter outpowered outside front row starter Nich Melis of Plymouth to take the lead in turn one of the opening lap from the pole position. The first of two caution flags appeared on lap 2, when Waupun’s Tyler Brabant spun in turn four.
On the restart, sixth starter Travis Arenz of Sheboygan began to make his march to the front of the field as he pulled off a slide job in turn three to move past fourth starter Shane Wenninger of Kewaskum, 2017 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh, who started third, and Melis to secure second place in the running order on lap 3.
Arenz then ducked low on lap 7 to pressure Walter for the top spot. On lap 8, Arenz slipped underneath Walter in turn one to take over the top spot. However, Walter did not back down as he held tight to Arenz and dove low in turn three on lap 11 as the two drivers raced side by side before Walter regained the top spot on lap 12.
On lap 13, Arenz dropped from contention as he slowed to a stop in turn four with a magneto failure to bring out the second caution flag of the race. After the restart, the low line prevailed for nearly every competitor searching for traction on the ultra-slick racing surface.
Walter stayed glued to the inside lane until he had to negotiate lapped traffic starting on lap 20, which allowed McMullen to close the gap significantly. On lap 22, McMullen attempted a high move in turn one, but Walter was too strong along the inside lane.
As the leaders continued to weave their way through slower traffic, McMullen continued to pressure Walter over the final five laps. However, Walter was able to hold off McMullen’s last-lap charge to notch his fifth career PDTR and Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car A-main victory by a half-car length margin over runner-up McMullen.
Defending PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Justin Miller of Plymouth moved up from his 11th starting spot to finish third, Wenninger placed fourth and eighth starter Tim Haddy of Waupun rounded out the top five.
HEAT 1
1, NICH MELIS. 2, PAUL POKORSKI. 3, CHRIS FLICK. 4, BILL TAYLOR. 5,
DOUG WONDRA. 6, JOSH TEUNISSEN. 7, SEAN RAYHALL. 8, SCOTT
CONGER. (DNS).
HEAT 2
1, TIM HADDY. 2, DANNY SCHLAFER. 3, YURMANOVICH RACING. 4,
KEVIN KARNTZ. 5, BRANDON BERTH. 6, ROBBIE PRIBNOW. 7, MIKE
DECKER. 8, WAYNE MODJESKI.
HEAT 3
1, JOSH WALTER. 2, SHANE WENNINGER. 3, KURT DAVIS. 4, JUSTIN
MILLER. 5, SCOTTY THEIL. 6, ANTHONY KNIERIM. 7, JACK
VANDERBOOM. 8, BLAKE WONDRA.
HEAT 4
1, TONY WONDRA. 2, TYLER BRABANT. 3, WILL GERRITS. 4, MAYER
AUTOMOTIVE. 5, CHRIS LARSON. 6, AL SCHLAFER. 7, JUSTIN
ERICKSON. 8, PRESTON RUH. (DNS).
HEAT 5
1, TRAVIS ARENZ. 2, BRANDON MCMULLEN. 3, ADAM MILLER. 4, LANCE
FASSBENDER. 5, CHRIS CLAYTON. 6, BRYCE SCHMITT. 7, TYLER
DAVIS. 8, TYLER TISCHENDORF.
B FEATURE
1, LANCE FASSBENDER. 2, KEVIN KARNTZ. 3, DOUG WONDRA. 4, CHRIS
CLAYTON. 5, ANTHONY KNIERIM. 6, JUSTIN ERICKSON. 7, JACK
VANDERBOOM. 8, TYLER TISCHENDORF. 9, MIKE DECKER. 10, CHRIS
LARSON. 11, SEAN RAYHALL. 12, SCOTT CONGER.
B FEATURE
1, BILL TAYLOR. 2, SCOTTY THEIL. 3, AL SCHLAFER. 4, CHRIS FLICK. 5,
JOSH TEUNISSEN. 6, BRANDON BERTH. 7, WAYNE MODJESKI. 8,
TYLER DAVIS. 9, BRYCE SCHMITT. 10, BLAKE WONDRA. 11, ROBBIE
PRIBNOW. 12, PRESTON RUH. (DNS).
A FEATURE
1, JOSH WALTER. 2, BRANDON MCMULLEN. 3, JUSTIN MILLER. 4,
SHANE WENNINGER. 5, TIM HADDY. 6, PAUL POKORSKI. 7, WILL
GERRITS. 8, YURMANOVICH RACING. 9, KURT DAVIS. 10, MAYER
AUTOMOTIVE. 11, NICH MELIS. 12, ADAM MILLER. 13, LANCE
FASSBENDER. 14, TONY WONDRA. 15, SCOTTY THEIL. 16, TYLER
BRABANT. 17, BILL TAYLOR. 18, DOUG WONDRA. 19, DANNY
SCHLAFER. 20, AL SCHLAFER. 21, TRAVIS ARENZ. 22, KEVIN KARNTZ.