(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 12, 2023 – Four-time Midwest Sprint Car Association champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh maintained his slim lead at the top of the MSA points standings by collecting his fourth MSA 360 Sprint Car A-main victory of the 2023 campaign in the 25-lap Akright Auto Midwest Sprint Car Association-Plymouth Dirt Track Racing main event at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, Aug. 12.
Behind the wheel of Spyder Akright’s 53A car, 2014 MSA Masters Series and three-time Eastern Wisconsin Stock Car Winged Super Modified champ Paul Pokorski of West Bend took the lead in turn one of the opening lap from the pole.
On lap 2, Paul’s son, Alex Pokorski of West Bend, maneuvered his way into second in turn one from the third starting position. Two laps later, Brandon McMullen worked the high groove from his fifth starting spot to assume second from Alex Pokorski in turn two.
McMullen then swept past Paul Pokorski into the lead in turn one on lap six before quickly building up a full straightaway cushion over the rest of the field. On lap 10, 2011 PDTR and Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car champ Ben Schmidt of Plymouth moved into third from his sixth starting spot before taking over second along the high groove in turn three on lap 12.
The first of two caution flags was displayed on lap 15 when Justin Erickson of Plymouth spun in turn four. After the restart, outside front row starter T.J. Smith of Greenville and Alex Pokorski exchanged slide jobs before Alex Pokorski maintained fourth place in the running order.
Meanwhile, McMullen had built up a half-straightaway lead over Schmidt at the head of the pack. The leaders caught the rear of the field on lap 20 just before the second and final caution flag came out on lap 21 when T.J. Haddy of Waupun spun in turn two.
With five laps remaining in the race, a single-file restart was incorporated as McMullen used a strong restart to bolt away from Schmidt in the closing laps en route to his third PDTR 360 Sprint A-main victory and fourth MSA 360 Sprint main event win of the 2023 season. It was also the four-time MSA 360 Sprint Car champion’s all-time division leading 30th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main triumph and 42nd overall MSA 360 Sprint A-main win to move into sole possession of third place on the all-time MSA victory list.
Schmidt placed second, Paul Pokorski finished third in just his sixth event of the 2023 season, Alex Pokorski was fourth and T.J. Smith rounded out the top five.
Ben Schmidt registered the fast qualifier award in the Akright PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car division with a top lap of 12.566 seconds.
Bill Taylor of Boltonville won the 12-lap PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car B main.
The 13th event of the 2023 PDTR campaign included 24 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars.
The next Plymouth Dirt Track Racing program on Saturday, Aug. 19 will feature the PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars, Grand Nationals, B Mods and the third and final appearance of the 2023 season from the Wisconsin Legends Racing Dirt Series.
Grandstand gates open at 4:30 p.m. with qualifying at 5:30 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m.
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, Twitter and Instagram.
AKRIGHT AUTO PLYMOUTH DIRT TRACK RACING 360 SPRINT CARS
A Main (25 Laps): 1. 98-Brandon McMullen [5]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt [6]; 3. 53A-Paul Pokorski [1]; 4. 4-Alex Pokorski [3]; 5. 69S-TJ Smith [2]; 6. 22B-Brandon Berth [7]; 7. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [9]; 8. 2-Chris Clayton [12]; 9. 7-Lance Fassbender [8]; 10. 85J-Logan Julien [14]; 11. 30-Doug Wondra [10]; 12. 66-Nick Daywalt [11]; 13. 66T-Tristan Koenings [15]; 14. 3-Justin Erickson [13]; 15. 51-Chris Larson [18]; 16. 11-Tony Wondra [21]; 17. 24-Scott Conger [17]; 18. 69-Bill Taylor [16]; 19. 54-Randy Post [19]; 20. 7L-Ellie Hensley [20]; 21. 21H-TJ Haddy [4]; 22. 38-Ben Doak [22]; 23. (DNS) 08-Katelyn Krebsbach
B Main: 1. 69-Bill Taylor [1]; 2. 24-Scott Conger [4]; 3. 51-Chris Larson [3]; 4. 54-Randy Post [2]; 5. 7L-Ellie Hensley [8]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra [6]; 7. 38-Ben Doak [7]; 8. (DNF) 88-Chris Flick [5]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 98-Brandon McMullen [3]; 2. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [1]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth [4]; 4. 66T-Tristan Koenings [2]; 5. 66-Nick Daywalt [5]; 6. 2-Chris Clayton [7]; 7. 24-Scott Conger [6]; 8. 88-Chris Flick [8]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 35-Ben Schmidt [4]; 2. 4-Alex Pokorski [3]; 3. 53A-Paul Pokorski [5]; 4. 85J-Logan Julien [2]; 5. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [6]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra [1]; 7. 54-Randy Post [7]; 8. 38-Ben Doak [8]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 21H-TJ Haddy [1]; 2. 69S-TJ Smith [3]; 3. 7-Lance Fassbender [4]; 4. 3-Justin Erickson [2]; 5. 30-Doug Wondra [5]; 6. 69-Bill Taylor [7]; 7. 51-Chris Larson [6]; 8. 7L-Ellie Hensley [8]
Qualifying 1: 1. 22B-Brandon Berth, 12.753 [2]; 2. 98-Brandon McMullen, 12.768 [5]; 3. 66T-Tristan Koenings, 12.823 [4]; 4. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 12.854 [8]; 5. 66-Nick Daywalt, 12.908 [7]; 6. 24-Scott Conger, 13.129 [6]; 7. 2-Chris Clayton, 13.172 [1]; 8. 88-Chris Flick, 13.410 [3]
Qualifying 2: 1. 35-Ben Schmidt, 12.566 [6]; 2. 4-Alex Pokorski, 12.808 [5]; 3. 85J-Logan Julien, 12.811 [3]; 4. 11-Tony Wondra, 12.986 [1]; 5. 53A-Paul Pokorski, 13.109 [7]; 6. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 13.158 [4]; 7. 54-Randy Post, 13.192 [2]; 8. 38-Ben Doak, 15.270 [8]
Qualifying 3: 1. 7-Lance Fassbender, 12.899 [5]; 2. 69S-TJ Smith, 12.996 [7]; 3. 3-Justin Erickson, 13.031 [1]; 4. 21H-TJ Haddy, 13.112 [2]; 5. 30-Doug Wondra, 13.223 [3]; 6. 51-Chris Larson, 13.281 [4]; 7. 69-Bill Taylor, 13.358 [6]; 8. 7L-Ellie Hensley, 13.652 [8]