(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 25, 2023 – Four-time Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh nailed down his third straight and sixth overall Akright Auto Midwest Sprint Car Association A main victory of the 2023 campaign to remain on top of the series point standings on Friday, Aug. 25 at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis.
The initial start of the Akright Auto PDTR – Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car A main was aborted when Katelyn Krebsbach of Cascade spun in turn two. Following a complete restart, outside front row starter Chris Larson of Franksville jumped into the lead in turn two on the opening lap with polesitter Brandon McMullen following in second.
On lap 2, McMullen dove low to secure the top spot exiting turn four. With McMullen in control at the front of the field, 2011 MSA champ Ben Schmidt of Plymouth worked his way up from the seventh starting position to take third from fourth starter Alex Pokorski of West Bend on lap 9.
One lap later, Schmidt shot past Larson to gain the runner-up spot as McMullen began to work his way through slower traffic. Schmidt cut into McMullen’s lead as the laps wound down and was within sight of the top spot when the second and final caution flag of the race was displayed on lap 24 after Chris Clayton of Waldo spun in turn three.
Following a single-file restart, McMullen held off Schmidt’s challenge over the final two laps en route to his division-topping 32nd career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory and 44th career MSA 360 Sprint main event triumph, along with his third consecutive and sixth overall MSA A-main victory of the 2023 season.
Schmidt had to settle for second, Pokorski pulled off a final corner pass to finish third, Larson earned a career-best fourth place showing and rookie Tristan Koenings of Van Dyne, who started third, claimed a career-best fifth place finish.
Brandon McMullen earned the Akright Auto PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car division fast qualifier award with a lap of 12.783 seconds.
The 15th event of the 2023 PDTR campaign, which was sponsored by Kriete Truck Center drew 21 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars.
The PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars will return to The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, Sept. 2 during 2023 Sheboygan County Fair for an all-Sprint Car event in conjunction with the Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series.
On-track action is scheduled to begin at 5 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 [1]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt [7]; 3. 4-Alex Pokorski [4]; 4. 51-Chris Larson [2]; 5. 66T-Tristan Koenings [3]; 6. 7-Lance Fassbender [8]; 7. 69S-TJ Smith [5]; 8. 85J-Logan Julien [9]; 9. 22B-Brandon Berth [12]; 10. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [13]; 11. 11-Tony Wondra [11]; 12. 3-Justin Erickson [20]; 13. 53A-Paul Pokorski [14]; 14. 12P-JJ Pagel [16]; 15. 66-Nick Daywalt [18]; 16. 54-Randy Post [15]; 17. 69-Bill Taylor [17]; 18. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [6]; 19. 38-Jeffrey Neubert [21]; 20. 2-Chris Clayton [10]; 21. 21H-TJ Haddy [19]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 51-Chris Larson [2]; 2. 69S-TJ Smith [4]; 3. 35-Ben Schmidt [3]; 4. 53A-Paul Pokorski [1]; 5. 22B-Brandon Berth [5]; 6. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [7]; 7. 69-Bill Taylor [6]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 4-Alex Pokorski [2]; 2. 98-Brandon McMullen [4]; 3. 7-Lance Fassbender [3]; 4. 11-Tony Wondra [5]; 5. 66-Nick Daywalt [1]; 6. 54-Randy Post [6]; 7. 12P-JJ Pagel [7]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 66T-Tristan Koenings [2]; 2. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [4]; 3. 85J-Logan Julien [3]; 4. 2-Chris Clayton [5]; 5. 38-Jeffrey Neubert [7]; 6. (DNF) 3-Justin Erickson [1]; 7. (DNF) 21H-TJ Haddy [6]
Qualifying 1: 1. 69S-TJ Smith, 12.861 [4]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt, 12.866 [1]; 3. 51-Chris Larson, 12.932 [6]; 4. 53A-Paul Pokorski, 13.004[5]; 5. 22B-Brandon Berth, 13.042 [7]; 6. 69-Bill Taylor, 13.045 [3]; 7. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 13.106 [2]
Qualifying 2: 1. 98-Brandon McMullen, 12.783 [2]; 2. 7-Lance Fassbender, 12.914 [1]; 3. 4-Alex Pokorski, 13.002 [3]; 4. 66-Nick Daywalt, 13.013 [4]; 5. 11-Tony Wondra, 13.277 [6]; 6. 54-Randy Post, 13.323 [5]; 7. 12P-JJ Pagel, 13.474 [7]
Qualifying 3: 1. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 12.923 [6]; 2. 85J-Logan Julien, 13.050 [3]; 3. 66T-Tristan Koenings, 13.306 [5]; 4. 3-Justin Erickson, 13.308 [4]; 5. 38-Jeffrey Neubert, 13.523 [7]; 6. 2-Chris Clayton, 13.565 [2]; 7. (DNS) 21H-TJ Haddy, 13.565