(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) June 18, 2022 – Defending Plymouth Dirt Track Racing and Akright Auto Midwest Sprint Car Association champion Travis Arenz romped to his fourth Plymouth Dirt Track Racing main event triumph in five attempts during the 2022 campaign in the 25-lap PDTR Kristine Hartmann Pleasant View Realty 360 Sprint Car A main at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, June 18.
Polesitter Doug Wondra of Oakfield jumped into the lead on the drop of the green flag of the 25-lap 360 Sprint Car A main with third starter Shane Wenninger of Kewaskum, who was competing for the first time since the end of the 2020 season, moving into second and 2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth, who started fourth, taking third on the opening lap.
Four laps later, Schmidt worked his way around Wenninger to take over second in the running order. On lap 6, the first of three caution flags appeared when Preston Ruh of Elkhart Lake spun in turn two. Following the ensuing restart, Travis Arenz, who started sixth, swept past Wenninger and Schmidt to move into the runner-up spot on lap 7.
One lap later, the second caution flag flew when Alex Pokorski West Bend rolled to a stop in turn three. When the race resumed, Arenz used the outside groove to power his way around Wondra and into the lead in turn one on lap 8.
As Arenz bolted away from the field, Schmidt used a low move to pass Wondra and gain second place on lap 12. Schmidt closed the gap slightly on Arenz as the leaders began to weave their way through lapped traffic on lap 18.
On lap 20, the third and final caution flag appeared when Tyler Davis of Franklin spun to a stop in turn two. Arenz then fended off Schmidt over the final five laps en route to his fourth PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory of the 2022 season, 14th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car main event win and 26th career Midwest Sprint Car Association feature triumph.
Schmidt had to settle for second, Wondra placed third, 2008 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Lance Fassbender of Burnett placed fourth after starting fifth and Brandon Berth of Cascade charged up from his 14th starting spot to round out the top five.
Will Gerrits of Waupun was victorious in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main.
Tim Haddy of Waupun was the overall fastest qualifier in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car group qualifying session with a lap of 12.427 seconds.
The program, which as sponsored by Mayer Automotive, included 26 PDTR 360 Sprint Cars.
With no racing scheduled at The Plymouth Dirt Track next Saturday, June 25, the next PDTR program is set to take place on Thursday, June 30 featuring the Road America Challenge Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series event and the PDTR 360 Sprint Cars.
Pit gates open at 2 p.m. with spectator gates opening at 4:30 p.m., qualifying at 6:30 p.m. and racing at 7 p.m.
Advance adult $25 tickets can be purchased for the June 30 Road America Challenge IRA event by visiting https://myracepass.com/406362/tickets/ until Thursday, June 30 at 9 a.m. Tickets can also be purchased at the gate for at the regular adult price of $30 on Thursday, June 30.
Shuttle buses will be available to transport NASCAR weekend campers from Road America to The Plymouth Dirt Track for the June 30 event.
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.
KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANT VIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS
QUALIFYING
1, Tim Haddy 12.427 2, Alex Pokorski 12.435 3, Ben Schmidt 12.454 4, Doug Wondra 12.576 5, Shane Wenninger 12.617 6, Cole Possi 12.622 7, Kurt Davis 12.638 8, Travis Arenz 12.639 9, Justin Erickson 12.731 10, Tim McMullen 12.731 11, Bill Taylor 12.822 12, Preston Ruh 12.904 13, Will Gerrits 12.909 14, Katelyn Krebsbach 12.998 15, Justin Miller 13.001 16, Lance Fassbender 13.031 17, Tyler Brabant 13.040 18, Tyler Davis 13.111 19, Brandon Berth 13.157 20, Chris Clayton 13.164 21, Mike Yurmanovich 13.197 22, Dylan Winkel 13.329 23, Kevin Seidler 13.593 24, J.J. Pagel 13.883 25, Randy Post 14.335 26, Tony Wondra no time.
HEAT 1
1, Lance Fassbender 2, Tyler Davis 3, Justin Miller 4, Katelyn Krebsbach 5, Brandon Berth 6, Mike Yurmanovich 7, Chris Clayton 8, J.J. Pagel 9, Tony Wondra(DNS).
HEAT 2
1, Travis Arenz 2, Ben Schmidt 3, Kurt Davis 4, Dylan Winkel 5, Tim McMullen 6, Will Gerrits 7, Kevin Seidler 8, Randy Post 9, Tyler Brabant.
HEAT 3
1, Shane Wenninger 2, Doug Wondra 3, Alex Pokorski 4, Tim Haddy 5, Preston Ruh 6, Justin Erickson 7, Bill Taylor 8, Cole Possi.
B MAIN
1, Will Gerrits 2, Bill Taylor 3, Chris Clayton 4, Tim McMullen 5, Tyler Brabant 6, Cole Possi 7, Tony Wondra 8, Kevin Seidler 9, J.J. Pagel 10, Randy Post (DNS).
A MAIN
1, Travis Arenz 2, Ben Schmidt 3, Doug Wondra 4, Lance Fassbender 5, Brandon Berth 6, Justin Erickson 7, Chris Clayton 8, Shane Wenninger 9, Will Gerrits 10, Tim Haddy 11, Dylan Winkel 12, Tyler Brabant 13, Justin Miller 14, Bill Taylor 15, Kurt Davis 16, Mike Yurmanovich 17, Tim McMullen 18, Preston Ruh 19, Tyler Davis 20, Cole Possi 21, Katelyn Krebsbach 22, Alex Pokorski.