Goeden claims first MSA victory in nine years

Donny Goeden of Kewaskum earned 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, Aug. 2. – Plymouth Dirt Track Racing photo

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 2, 2025 – As one of the most successful drivers in the history of The Plymouth Dirt Track, Kewaskum’s Donny Goeden has written the book on winning races at the third-mile clay oval throughout his standout 40-year Wall of Fame career.

Goeden, who ended a six-year retirement from racing at Plymouth in 2022, added a new winning chapter by earning his first 25-lap MMW Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car A-main victory in nearly nine years on Saturday, Aug. 2.

Contact between polesitter T.J. Smith of Greenville and outside front row starter Billy Kreutz of Kiel on the initial start of the 360 Sprint Car A main led to a multi-car incident on the back stretch, which collected Justin Erickson of Plymouth, Burnett’s Joseph Hintz, Hayden Johnson of Campbellsport and Kewaskum’s Bill Taylor.

Following a lengthy red flag period, Kreutz, who maintained control of his car during the melee, retained his starting spot at the front of the field. Erickson, Johnson and Taylor restarted the race at the tail of the field, while Smith and Hintz were forced to retire from the event.

When the green flag flew, Kreutz bolted into the lead from the pole with original third starter Goeden, who restarted second, following close behind.

On lap 2, Goeden powered into the lead along the high groove in turn two and quickly pulled out to a half-straightaway advantage over Kreutz. Five-time MSA champ Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee brought out a caution flag after contacting the back stretch wall on lap 8.

Following the restart, original fifth starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend used a high move to launch past Kreutz and gain the runner-up spot. Three laps later, two-time and defending MSA champ Ben Schmidt of Plymouth advanced up from his original 11th starting position to secure third.

As the laps wound down, Goeden found himself mired in dense lapped traffic, which allowed Karnitz to pull within striking distance with five laps to go. On lap 23, Karnitz ducked low in turn four in a bid to wrestle away the lead from Goeden.

However, the two-time Plymouth Eastern Wisconsin Stock Car Winged Super Modified champion turned back Karnitz’s advances on the way to his first Midwest Sprint Car Association main event victory since Sept. 2, 2016 and 23rd overall MSA A-main win. It was also Goeden’s 41st career A-main victory at Plymouth in 360 Sprint Car and Winged Super Modified competition.

With the win, Goeden became the 10^th different driver to claim an A-main victory in MSA action during the 2025 campaign.

Karnitz had to settle for second, Schmidt wound up third, Chris Clayton of Waldo placed fourth after originally starting ninth and Kreutz rounded out the top five.

The MSA is back in action at The Plymouth Dirt Track on Saturday, Aug. 9. Spectator gates open at 4:30 p.m. with qualifying at 5:30 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m.

MMW INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY MIDWEST SPRINT CAR ASSOCIATION 360 SPRINT CARS

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 27G-Donny Goeden [3]; 2. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [5]; 3. 1-Ben Schmidt [10]; 4. 2-Chris Clayton [8]; 5. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [2]; 6. 57-Tristan Furseth [6]; 7. 51-Shane Wenninger [9]; 8. 68T-Tyler Davis [14]; 9. 46-Preston Ruh [18]; 10. 24-Scott Conger [4]; 11. 55P-Brady Portschy [16]; 12. 44J-Jordan Miklas [12]; 13. 3-Justin Erickson [13]; 14. 69-Bill Taylor [21]; 15. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [17]; 16. 44-Hayden Johnson [19]; 17. 11-Tony Wondra [20]; 18. 24X-Eric Wilke [15]; 19. 34T-Tom Becker [22]; 20. 6K-Kurt Davis [11]; 21. 69S-TJ Smith [1]; 22. 14J-Joseph Hintz [7]; 23. 22B-Brandon Berth [23]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 24-Scott Conger[2]; 2. 69S-TJ Smith[4]; 3. 14J-Joseph Hintz[5]; 4. 24X-Eric Wilke[1]; 5. 55P-Brady Portschy[3]; 6. 44J-Jordan Miklas[8]; 7. 44-Hayden Johnson[7]; 8. (DNF) 69-Bill Taylor[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Tristan Furseth[2]; 2. 27G-Donny Goeden[4]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth[1]; 4. 1-Ben Schmidt[3]; 5. 2-Chris Clayton[6]; 6. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach[5]; 7. 46-Preston Ruh[7]; 8. 34T-Tom Becker[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz[2]; 2. 3BK-Billy Kreutz[4]; 3. 51-Shane Wenninger[1]; 4. 6K-Kurt Davis[3]; 5. 3-Justin Erickson[5]; 6. 68T-Tyler Davis[7]; 7. 11-Tony Wondra[6]

Qualifying 1: 1. 69S-TJ Smith, 13.007[6]; 2. 55P-Brady Portschy, 13.022[4]; 3. 24-Scott Conger, 13.075[2]; 4. 24X-Eric Wilke, 13.149[1]; 5. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 13.155[8]; 6. 69-Bill Taylor, 13.322[3]; 7. 44-Hayden Johnson, 13.358[5]; 8. 44J-Jordan Miklas, 13.637[7]

Qualifying 2: 1. 27G-Donny Goeden, 12.490[4]; 2. 1-Ben Schmidt, 12.527[2]; 3. 57-Tristan Furseth, 12.661[5]; 4. 22B-Brandon Berth, 12.727[3]; 5. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 12.857[1]; 6. 2-Chris Clayton, 12.901[7]; 7. 46-Preston Ruh, 13.003[6]; 8. 34T-Tom Becker, 15.496[8]

Qualifying 3: 1. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 12.659[7]; 2. 6K-Kurt Davis, 12.717[5]; 3. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 12.757[4]; 4. 51-Shane Wenninger, 12.990[2]; 5. 3-Justin Erickson, 13.046[1]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra, 13.068[3]; 7. 68T-Tyler Davis, 13.164[6]