Fassbender finds MSA victory lane at Plymouth

Lance Fassbender of Burnett claimed his 23rd career MMW Industrial Supply Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car A-main victory at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, May 16. - MSA Sprints photo

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) May 16, 2026 – One of the most experienced drivers in the MMW Industrial Supply Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car Series field put on a veteran's clinic on the way to his first A-main victory in nearly three years Saturday, May 16 at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis.

The 25-lap main event got off to a shaky start as a four-car incident in turn four drew the first caution of the race before the completion of the first lap. Damage from the contact forced defending Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car champion Kevin Karnitz of West Bend to retire from the race.

After a complete restart, outside front row starter Justin Erickson of Plymouth outdueled polesitter Katelyn Krebsbach of Johnsburg to lead the opening lap. On lap 3, Lance Fassbender, who started fourth, ducked low to steal away the top spot.

Fassbender, who had his 2024 season cut short by a serious burns suffered at the Plymouth Dirt Track, wasted no time in building up a solid cushion over Erickson and three-time and defending MSA champ Ben Schmidt of Plymouth, who had worked his way into third from the eighth starting position.

With 15 laps to go, Fassbender caught the rear of the field and skillfully worked his way through slower traffic along the inside lane. The second and final caution flag of the race appeared on lap 15 when Scott Grissom of Winthrop Harbor, Ill., spun to a stop in turn two.

Fassbender, who captured the Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car title in 2005, showed his strength on the restart by pulling out to a considerable lead. As the laps wound down, Fassbender approached the back of the pack again. This time, he got held up behind a lapped car on the final circuit, which allowed Erickson and Schmidt to make a late charge heading into the final corner.

Schmidt used the outside lane to power past Erickson and finish just .042 of a second behind Fassbender, who claimed his ninth career PDTR 360 Sprint Car win and 23rd career victory in Midwest Sprint Car Association competition. It was Fassbender’s first A-main victory since May 20, 2023, at Plymouth.

Schmidt had to settle for second, Erickson was a close third, Tyler Davis of Franklin darted up from the seventh starting spot to take fourth, and three-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Donny Goeden of Kewaskum moved up from 10th at the start to finish fifth in his first outing of the 2026 campaign.

T.J. Smith of Greenville was victorious in the 12-lap MSA B main.

Ben Schmidt collected overall fast qualifier honors with a lap of 12.192 seconds.

The event drew a field of 32 MSA 360 Sprint Cars.

Jensen Sales & Service was the evening’s trophy sponsor.

After taking the Memorial Day weekend off, the MSA returns to action with a doubleheader starting on Saturday, May 30 at The Plymouth Dirt Track.

Pit gates open at 3 p.m. with spectator gates opening at 4:30 p.m. and on-track action at 5:30 p.m.

On Sunday, May 31, the MSA travels to Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wis. for the first of two scheduled appearances at the venerable third-mile clay oval.

Pit gates open at 1:30 p.m with spectator gates at 4 p.m., hot laps at 5 p.m. and open ceremonies at 6 p.m.

MMW Industrial Supply 360 Sprint Cars

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 7-Lance Fassbender [4]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt [6]; 3. 3-Justin Erickson [2]; 4. 68T-Tyler Davis [7]; 5. 66-Donny Goeden [10]; 6. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski [13]; 7. 19-Ion Stear [8]; 8. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [1]; 9. 67-Josh Walter [12]; 10. 2-Chris Clayton [20]; 11. 22B-Brandon Berth [11]; 12. 69S-TJ Smith [17]; 13. 44H-Hayden Johnson [16]; 14. 46-Steven Ruh [21]; 15. 20W-Weston Finke [19]; 16. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman [3]; 17. 51-Chris Larson [15]; 18. 59-Ethon Stear [22]; 19. 54-Randy Post [18]; 20. 54G-Scott Grissom [14]; 21. 14J-Joseph Hintz [5]; 22. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [9]

B Main (12 Laps): 1. 69S-TJ Smith[1]; 2. 54-Randy Post[3]; 3. 20W-Weston Finke[2]; 4. 2-Chris Clayton[6]; 5. 46-Steven Ruh[7]; 6. 59-Ethon Stear[12]; 7. 5C-Carter Chevalier[11]; 8. 68P-Frank Perko[9]; 9. 69-Bill Taylor[13]; 10. 51C-Brok Clifcorn[14]; 11. 5-Chad Stouthamer[8]; 12. 30-Nathan Skelton[16]; 13. 34T-Tom Becker[10]; 14. 87R-Josh Rehberg[15]; 15. (DNF) 3BK-Billy Kreutz[5]; 16. (DNS) 10V-Matt VanderVere

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 35-Ben Schmidt[4]; 2. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach[3]; 3. 51-Chris Larson[1]; 4. 67-Josh Walter[5]; 5. 5-Chad Stouthamer[2]; 6. 20W-Weston Finke[7]; 7. 68P-Frank Perko[6]; 8. 34T-Tom Becker[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman[1]; 2. 19-Ion Stear[2]; 3. 63K-Kevin Karnitz[4]; 4. 69S-TJ Smith[3]; 5. 44H-Hayden Johnson[6]; 6. 10V-Matt VanderVere[7]; 7. 59-Ethon Stear[5]; 8. 87R-Josh Rehberg[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 14J-Joseph Hintz[2]; 2. 68T-Tyler Davis[3]; 3. 66-Donny Goeden[4]; 4. 2-Chris Clayton[1]; 5. 54G-Scott Grissom[7]; 6. 46-Steven Ruh[6]; 7. 5C-Carter Chevalier[5]; 8. 51C-Brok Clifcorn[8]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Lance Fassbender[2]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth[1]; 3. 3-Justin Erickson[6]; 4. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski[5]; 5. 3BK-Billy Kreutz[4]; 6. 54-Randy Post[7]; 7. 69-Bill Taylor[3]; 8. 30-Nathan Skelton[8]

Qualifying 1: 1. 35-Ben Schmidt, 12.192[6]; 2. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 12.612[4]; 3. 5-Chad Stouthamer, 12.751[8]; 4. 51-Chris Larson, 12.938[1]; 5. 67-Josh Walter, 13.038[7]; 6. 68P-Frank Perko, 13.157[3]; 7. 20W-Weston Finke, 13.234[2]; 8. 34T-Tom Becker, 14.756[5]

Qualifying 2: 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 12.510[3]; 2. 69S-TJ Smith, 12.637[5]; 3. 19-Ion Stear, 12.704[7]; 4. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman, 12.820[4]; 5. 59-Ethon Stear, 13.130[6]; 6. 44H-Hayden Johnson, 13.159[2]; 7. 87R-Josh Rehberg, 13.259[8]; 8. 10V-Matt VanderVere, 13.524[1]

Qualifying 3: 1. 66-Donny Goeden, 12.690[3]; 2. 68T-Tyler Davis, 12.750[6]; 3. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 12.809[1]; 4. 2-Christopher Clayton, 12.926[4]; 5. 5C-Carter Chevalier, 13.000[2]; 6. 46-Steven Ruh, 13.043[7]; 7. 51C-Brok Clifcorn, 13.056[8]; 8. 54G-Scott Grissom, 13.517[5]

Qualifying 4: 1. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 12.545[6]; 2. 69-Bill Taylor, 12.738[1]; 3. 7-Lance Fassbender, 12.901[5]; 4. 22B-Brandon Berth, 12.970[7]; 5. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski, 13.042[3]; 6. 3-Justin Erickson, 13.075[2]; 7. 54-Randy Post, 13.239[4]; 8. 30-Nathan Skelton, 14.140[8]