Last corner pass nets Karnitz Plymouth MSA victory

Kevin Karnitz racked up his ninth career MMW Industrial Supply Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car A-main victory in the 25-lap Road America Challenge at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, June 21. - MSA Sprints photo

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) June 21, 2025 – With the air temperature pushing the century mark, Kevin Karnitz of West Bend fired up a final corner pass to nip Joseph Hintz of Burnett in a hotly contested 25-lap MMW Industrial Supply Midwest Sprint Car Association main event during the Road America Challenge at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, June 21.

Second-year driver Joseph Hintz jumped into the lead of the 25-lap headliner from his outside front row starting position as fourth starter Kevin Karnitz followed in second.

On lap 8, Hintz caught the rear of the field before a caution flag appeared for the slowing car of two-time and defending PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth.

When the race resumed, Hintz opened up a full straightaway lead over Karnitz. He retained command of the race until a red flag appeared on lap 23 when Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee flipped along the front stretch after colliding with Donny Goeden of Kewaskum near the flag stand.

After a single-file restart, the final two laps featured fireworks as Hintz and Karnitz engaged in a fierce duel for the win. On lap 24, Karnitz ripped off a slide job in turn four to clear Hintz and gain the top spot. However, the 15-year-old standout battled back to steal the lead back from Karnitz with a slide job of his own in turn two on the final circuit.

Karnitz had one more move left as he dove low in turn four to sneak ahead of the high-riding Hintz exiting turn four to claim the hard-earned win by a slim half-car length margin.

It was Karnitz’s ninth career Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car Series A-main victory and first since July 16, 2023.

Hintz crossed the line a close second, fifth starter Brandon Berth of Cascade took third, MSA 360 Sprint Car rookie Tristan Furseth of Cambridge finished fourth after starting sixth and Chris Clayton of Waldo advanced from the 11th starting spot to place fifth.

“I’ve been finishing second for quite some time now,” Karnitz said. “I had to leave it all out there, so I did. I slid him pretty good in three and fourth and he got right back around me. I knew he was going to do the defensive move, so I tried to plug the top. Just give me a chance coming off three and four. That’s what we did. It feels awesome.”

The eighth event of 2025 MSA campaign attracted a field of 22 cars.

The MMW Industrial Supply MSA Sprint Car Series is back in action on Saturday, June 28 at The Plymouth Dirt Track.

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. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [4]; 2. 14J-Joseph Hintz [2]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth [5]; 4. 57-Tristan Furseth [6]; 5. 2-Chris Clayton [11]; 6. 30-Doug Wondra [1]; 7. 27G-Donny Goeden [9]; 8. 69-Bill Taylor [13]; 9. 51-Chris Larson [7]; 10. 69S-TJ Smith [16]; 11. 7L-Ellie Hensley [12]; 12. 3-Justin Erickson [17]; 13. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [8]; 14. 7-Lance Fassbender [22]; 15. 46-Steven Ruh [19]; 16. 55P-Brady Portschy [21]; 17. 68T-Tyler Davis [18]; 18. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [15]; 19. 11-Tony Wondra [14]; 20. 52-Cody Schlafer [20]; 21. 6K-Kurt Davis [10]; 22. 1-Ben Schmidt [3]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Ben Schmidt 1]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth [2]; 3. 27G-Donny Goeden [3]; 4. 57-Tristan Furseth [7]; 5. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [5]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra [8]; 7. 46-Steven Ruh [6]; 8. 7-Lance Fassbender [4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14J-Joseph Hintz 1]; 2. 51-Chris Larson [2]; 3. 6K-Kurt Davis [3]; 4. 2-Chris Clayton [4]; 5. 69-Bill Taylor [6]; 6. 3-Justin Erickson [7]; 7. 52-Cody Schlafer [5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [3]; 2. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [1]; 3. 30-Doug Wondra [6]; 4. 7L-Ellie Hensley [4]; 5. 69S-TJ Smith 5]; 6. 68T-Tyler Davis [7]; 7. 55P-Brady Portschy [2]

Qualifying 1: 1. 7-Lance Fassbender, 13.383 [7]; 2. 27G-Donny Goeden, 13.495 [3]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth, 13.542 [4]; 4. 1-Ben Schmidt, 13.562 [8]; 5. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 13.577 [2]; 6. 46-Steven Ruh, 13.654 [5]; 7. 57-Tristan Furseth, 13.664 [1]; 8. 11-Tony Wondra, 13.737 [6]

Qualifying 2: 1. 2-Chris Clayton, 13.543 [5]; 2. 6K-Kurt Davis, 13.604 [4]; 3. 51-Chris Larson, 13.730 [1]; 4. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 13.759 [7]; 5. 52-Cody Schlafer, 13.887 [3]; 6. 69-Bill Taylor, 13.902 [2]; 7. 3-Justin Erickson, 13.911 [6]

Qualifying 3: 1. 7L-Ellie Hensley, 13.561 [1]; 2. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 13.622 [3]; 3. 55P-Brady Portschy, 13.828 [5]; 4. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 13.992 [6]; 5. 69S-TJ Smith, 14.034 [2]; 6. 30-Doug Wondra, 14.336 [7]; 7. 68T-Tyler Davis, 14.708 [4]