Karnitz claims MSA opener at Plymouth

Kevin Karnitz claimed the 2026 season-opening MMW Industrial Supply Midwest Sprint Car Association A-main at The Plymouith Dirt Track in Plymout, Wis. on Saturday, April 25. - Victory Imagery Media Group photo

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) April 25, 2026 – Defending Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car champion Kevin Karnitz of West Bend picked up where he left off a year ago by securing the victory in the 2026 MMW Industrial Supply Midwest Sprint Car Association 25-lap season-opening A-main event at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis., on Saturday, April 25.

Justin Erickson of Plymouth jumped out to the lead of the 360 Sprint Car A main from the pole as third starter Tristan Furseth of Cambridge slipped into second on the opening lap.

By lap five, Erickson had built up a half-straightaway cushion over Furseth before the first of two caution flags appeared on lap 8 when Jake Zimmerman of Pewaukee stopped on the backstretch.

On the restart, Kevin Karnitz, who started fourth, swept around Furseth to seize the runner-up spot. One lap later, Karnitz outside the outside groove to power ahead of Erickson and into the lead in turn two on lap 9.

Five laps later, Karnitz caught the rear of the field, allowing Erickson to close the gap on the lead. Karnitz skillfully sliced his way through slower traffic, while Erickson kept the leader in his sights.

Just as the leaders took the white flag, the caution light came on for the stalled car of Lance Fassbender of Burnett in turn four to set up a green-white-checkered flag finish.

Karnitz held Erickson at bay over the final two circuits, while three-time MSA champ Ben Schmidt of Plymouth slid past Furseth to steal third place on the final lap.

Karnitz went to post his 11th career MSA and ninth career PDTR 360 Sprint Car main event victory. The win netted him a $1,000 first-place prize thanks to an opening night PDTR purse boost.

Erickson wound up second, Schmidt charged up from the 15th starting slot to place third, Furseth was fourth, and Cascade’s Brandon Berth moved up from the 12th starting position to round out the top five.

The MSA/PDTR 360 Sprint Cars will next be in action on Saturday, May 2 at The Plymouth Dirt Track with qualifying scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m.

Plymouth Dirt Track

Plymouth, Wis.

April 25, 2026

Final Results

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [4]; 2. 3-Justin Erickson [1]; 3. 35-Ben Schmidt [15]; 4. 57-Tristan Furseth [3]; 5. 22B-Brandon Berth [12]; 6. 69S-TJ Smith [11]; 7. 14J-Joseph Hintz [5]; 8. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [10]; 9. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski [6]; 10. 24X-Eric Wilke [7]; 11. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [2]; 12. 69-Bill Taylor [17]; 13. 68T-Tyler Davis [18]; 14. 11-Tony Wondra [19]; 15. 46-Steven Ruh [8]; 16. 51-Chris Larson [13]; 17. 44H-Hayden Johnson [21]; 18. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl [16]; 19. 9C-Cole Stella [14]; 20. 68P-Frank Perko [20]; 21. 7-Lance Fassbender [9]; 22. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman [22]

B Main (12 Laps): 1. 69-Bill Taylor [4]; 2. 68T-Tyler Davis [1]; 3. 11-Tony Wondra [3]; 4. 68P-Frank Perko [6]; 5. 44H-Hayden Johnson [2]; 6. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman [11]; 7. 16-Anthony Knierim [8]; 8. 5-Chad Stouthamer [9]; 9. 20W-Weston Finke [10]; 10. 59-Ethon Stear [13]; 11. 30-Nathan Skelton [12]; 12. (DNF) 26-Preston Ruh [5]; 13. (DNF) 25-Cody Schlafer [7]; 14. (DNS) 5C-Carter Chevalier; 15. (DNS) 87R-Josh Rehberg

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Tristan Furseth [2]; 2. 14J-Joseph Hintz [4]; 3. 44H-Hayden Johnson [1]; 4. 9C-Cole Stella [5]; 5. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl [7]; 6. 68P-Frank Perko [6]; 7. 87R-Josh Rehberg [8]; 8. 16-Anthony Knierim [3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [2]; 2. 3-Justin Erickson [4]; 3. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [3]; 4. 22B-Brandon Berth [5]; 5. 68T-Tyler Davis [6]; 6. 25-Cody Schlafer [1]; 7. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman [7]; 8. 30-Nathan Skelton [8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [2]; 2. 46-Steven Ruh [1]; 3. 7-Lance Fassbender [3]; 4. 51-Chris Larson [5]; 5. 69-Bill Taylor [4]; 6. 26-Preston Ruh [6]; 7. 20W-Weston Finke [8]; 8. (DNS) 59-Ethon Stear

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski [1]; 2. 24X-Eric Wilke [2]; 3. 69S-TJ Smith [3]; 4. 35-Ben Schmidt [4]; 5. 11-Tony Wondra [5]; 6. 5-Chad Stouthamer [6]; 7. (DNS) 5C-Carter Chevalier

Qualifying 1: 1. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 13.030 [6]; 2. 16-Anthony Knierim, 13.108 [3]; 3. 57-Tristan Furseth, 13.144 [5]; 4. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl, 13.307 [7]; 5. 44H-Hayden Johnson, 13.654 [1]; 6. 9C-Cole Stella, 13.747 [4]; 7. 68P-Frank Perko, 14.815 [2]; 8. 87R-Josh Rehberg, 14.897 [8]

Qualifying 2: 1. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman, 13.011 [8]; 2. 3-Justin Erickson, 13.028 [5]; 3. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 13.082 [2]; 4. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 13.155 [3]; 5. 25-Cody Schlafer, 13.295 [1]; 6. 22B-Brandon Berth, 13.351 [4]; 7. 68T-Tyler Davis, 13.418 [6]; 8. 30-Nathan Skelton, 18.160 [7]

Qualifying 3: 1. 69-Bill Taylor, 12.789 [5]; 2. 7-Lance Fassbender, 13.002 [3]; 3. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 13.089 [2]; 4. 59-Ethon Stear, 13.189 [8]; 5. 46-Steven Ruh, 13.430 [4]; 6. 51-Chris Larson, 13.448 [6]; 7. 26-Preston Ruh, 13.622 [1]; 8. 20W-Weston Finke, 14.970 [7]

Qualifying 4: 1. 35-Ben Schmidt, 13.010 [1]; 2. 69S-TJ Smith, 13.086 [5]; 3. 24X-Eric Wilke, 13.280 [4]; 4. 5C-Carter Chevalier, 13.373 [3]; 5. 5-Chad Stouthamer, 13.443 [7]; 6. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski, 13.448 [2]; 7. 11-Tony Wondra, 13.597 [6]