(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 6, 2022 – Four-time Midwest Sprint Car Association champion and two-time Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car title winner Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh negotiated a fast, yet intricate racing surface to notch his first 25-lap A-main victory of the 2022 season, during the inaugural Plymouth Racing Wall of Fame Induction Night and Autograph Night program at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, Aug. 6.
After starting on the outside of the front row in the 25-lap Kristine Hartmann Pleasant View Realty 360 Sprint Car A main, Brandon McMullen outpowered polesitter Tony Wondra of Campbellsport to lead the opening lap of the 25-lap 360 Sprint A main as third starter Tyler Brabant of Waupun ducked underneath Wondra to take second, followed by 2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth, who started fifth, in third.
On lap 8, McMullen caught the rear of the field on the lightning fast and tricky third-mile clay oval track surface. Two laps later, Schmidt worked his way past Brabant to assume second in the running order.
The first of three caution periods appeared on lap 12 when Tyler Davis of Franklin spun in turn four. On the restart, Brabant got caught along the treacherous cushion and flipped his machine in turn two to bring out a red flag.
Following the restart, McMullen bolted away from the field with Schmidt chasing in second and fourth starter Brandon Berth of Cascade following in third. On lap 14, the third and final caution flag appeared when Doug Wondra of Oakfield bicycled on the cushion and came to a stop in turn two.
McMullen again controlled the final restart as defending PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion and current points leader Travis Arenz of Sheboygan, who started 13th, moved into fifth on lap 19.
On lap 20, the leaders began to work their way through slower traffic, which allowed Schmidt to cut the gap on McMullen. However, McMullen held strong over the final five laps to fend off Schmidt’s advances in thick lapped traffic en route to his 25th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory, which moved him into a tie for first place on the all-time main event win list with five-time Midwest Sprint Car Association champion and two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee. The race also marked McMullen’s 35th career Midwest Sprint Car Association main event victory, which ranks him third on the all-time MSA A-main victory list.
2018 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Justin Miller of Plymouth won the 12-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main.
Ben Schmidt earned PDTR 360 Sprint Car overall fast qualifier honors with a lap of 12.883 seconds.
The 10th full PDTR racing program of the 2022 season drew 30 PDTR 360 Sprint Cars,
The Autograph Night program was sponsored by Hopf Farms and the inaugural Plymouth Racing Wall of Fame Class of 2022 induction ceremony took place at intermission with drivers Dick Berth, Etchie Biertzer, Buck Carman, Willie Goeden, Wayne Goetsch, Dick Hed, Carl Kulow, Bill Johnson II, Ken Markwardt and Ken Steffen, track workers (dedication to racing) Eddie Foy, Bill Hoftiezer, Happy Laack, Karen and Donny Ruh and the Goetsch, Laack and Schulz racing families earning inaugural induction accolades.
PDTR action resumes next Saturday, Aug. 13 with Kids Fan Appreciation Night, featuring special prizes, giveaways and activities for kids and competition in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car, Late Model, Grand National and B Mod divisions with the program sponsored by JDL Automotive and Detailing.
Spectator gates open at 4:30 p.m. with 360 Sprint Car hot laps/group qualifying at 5:30 p.m. and racing to begin at 6 p.m.
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, Ben Schmidt 12.883 2, Will Gerrits 13.033 3, Jason Johnson 13.227 4, Tyler Davis 13.351 5, Shane Wenninger 13.356 6, Chris Larson 13.368 7, Brandon Berth 13.422 8, Tyler Brabant 13.433 9, Doug Wondra 13.487 10, Justin Miller 13.489 11, Blake Wondra 13.569 12, Donny Goeden 13.571 13, Katelyn Krebsbach 13.719 14, Chris Clayton 13.723 15, J.J. Pagel 13.726 16, Bill Taylor 13.799 17, Brandon McMullen 13.819 18, Tony Wondra 13.838 19, Tim Haddy 13.842 20, Lance Fassbender 13.848 21, Justin Erickson 13.867 22, Dylan Winkel 13.882 23, Mike Yurmanovich 13.890 24, Alex Pokorski 13.907 25, Kurt Davis 13.938 26, Travis Arenz 14.001 27, Anthony Knierim 14.125 28, Cole Possi 14.188 29, Kevin Seidler 14.299 30, Randy Post 14.746.
HEAT 1
1, Lance Fassbender 2, Brandon McMullen 3, Kurt Davis 4, Travis Arenz 5, Bill Taylor 6, Anthony Knierim 7, Cole Possi 8, Kevin Seidler.
HEAT 2
1, Tim Haddy 2, Tony Wondra 3, Dylan Winkel 4, Katelyn Krebsbach 5, Alex Pokorski 6, Justin Erickson 7, Randy Post 8, Mike Yurmanovich.
HEAT 3
1, Brandon Berth 2, Ben Schmidt 3, Jason Johnson 4, Tyler Davis 5, Doug Wondra 6, J.J. Pagel 7, Chris Clayton.
HEAT 4
1, Tyler Brabant 2, Will Gerrits 3, Shane Wenninger 4, Donny Goeden 5, Justin Miller 6, Chris Larson 7, Blake Wondra.
B MAIN
1, Justin Miller 2, Doug Wondra 3, Tyler Davis 4, Bill Taylor 5, Anthony Knierim 6, Justin Erickson 7, Cole Possi 8, Blake Wondra 9, Chris Larson 10, Kevin Seidler 11, Randy Post 12, J.J. Pagel 13, Chris Clayton (DNS) 14, Mike Yurmanovich (DNS).
A MAIN
1, Brandon McMullen 2, Ben Schmidt 3, Brandon Berth 4, Lance Fassbender 5, Travis Arenz 6, Will Gerrits 7, Kurt Davis 8, Donny Goeden 9, Shane Wenninger 10, Tony Wondra 11, Dylan Winkel 12, Bill Taylor 13, Alex Pokorski 14, Jason Johnson 15, Anthony Knierim 16, Justin Erickson 17, Justin Miller 18, Tim Haddy 19, Tyler Davis 20, Katelyn Krebsbach 21, Doug Wondra 22, Tyler Brabant.