(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) May 29, 2021 – 2011 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Howards Grove raced to victory in the 25-lap Kristine Hartmann Pleasantview Realty 360 Sprint Car headliner, after early race leader Scotty Thiel of Sheboygan made contact with a lapped car, at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, May 29.
In the 25-lap 360 Sprint Car headliner, Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car competitor Scotty Thiel, who started second, outpowered polesitter Nick Daywalt of Hubertus to grab the lead on the opening lap in a rare appearance behind the wheel of a PDTR 360 Sprint Car.
Thiel worked the high line on the dry slick track surface to built up a quarter-straightaway cushion over fourth starter Ben Schmidt in the early going. On lap 7, the leaders hit lapped traffic. One lap later, Thiel made contact with the slower car of PDTR 360 Sprint Car rookie Matt Rechek of Beaver Dam in turn four, which sent him spinning to bring out the first of two caution flags.
Thiel restarted the race at the rear of the field, while Schmidt inherited the lead on the restart. Following the restart, two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee, who started fifth, worked his way past Daywalt into second with two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh, who started sixth, in tow.
On lap 12, McMullen ducked low to work past Davis with ninth starter Travis Arenz of Sheboygan hot on his heels to move into third. One lap later, Arenz used the high groove to power around McMullen into second in turn three.
Two laps later, Alex Pokorski of West Bend rolled to a stop in turn two to bring out the second and final caution flag of the race. Schmidt controlled the race on the final restart, but Arenz held strong to mount a spirited challenge over the final five laps.
On lap 21, Arenz attempted to work the middle groove to steal the lead away from Schmidt. However, Schmidt fended off Arenz’s charge in the closing laps of the race to earn his second Plymouth victory of the 2021 season, 12th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car victory and 29th career Midwest Sprint Car Association A main triumph.
Arenz finished second, McMullen was third, Davis wound up fourth and 2008 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Lance Fassbender of Burnett rounded out the top five after starting seventh.
Tim Haddy of Waupun won the first 12-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main and Scott Conger of Eagle was the victory in the second 12-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main.
The fifth PDTR program of the 2021 season, which was Military Night and sponsored by Pedal Down Promotions, drew a season-high 37 PDTR 360 Sprint Cars.
PDTR action is scheduled to resume on Saturday, June 5 with the FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions and Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car series set to pay a vi to The Plymouth Dirk Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. with the PDTR 360 Sprint Cars also on the card.
Pit gates open at 1 p.m., with spectator gates opening at 3 p.m. for those purchasing advance tickets and 4 p.m. for those purchasing tickets on race day. Advance tickets can be purchased by visiting www.irasprints.com/schedule/.
The new book “70 Years of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing” by Dennis Darovich of Sheboygan and George Baumann of Waupun, covering every season of racing at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. from 1950 to 2020 will be available for purchase at every race during the 2021 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.
KRISTINE HARTMANN PLEASANTVIEW REALTY 360 SPRINT CARS
HEAT 1
1, Ben Schmidt 2, Lance Fassbender 3, Adam Miller 4, Tony Wondra 5, Brandon Berth 6, Tyler Tischendorf 7, Mike Yurmanovich 8, Tom Kreutz 9, Dylan Winkel 10, Cole Possi.
HEAT 2
1, Nick Daywalt 2, Jack Vanderboom 3, Justin Erickson 4, Anthony Knierim 5, Tim Haddy 6, Blake Wondra 7, Scott Conger 8, Chris Larson 9, Tyler Brabant (DNS).
HEAT 3
1, Kurt Davis 2, Travis Arenz 3, Bill Taylor 4, Kevin Karnitz 5, Alex Pokorski 6, Matt Rechek 7, Josh Teunissen 8, Chris Clayton 9, Ken Schmick.
HEAT 4
1, Will Gerrits 2, Austin Hartmann 3, Brandon McMullen 4, Scotty Thiel 5, Doug Wondra 6, Justin Miller 7, Preston Ruh 8, Tyler Davis 9, Katelyn Krebsbach.
B MAIN 1
1, Tim Haddy 2, Justin Miller 3, Alex Pokorski 4, Chris Clayton 5, Tony Wondra 6, Preston Ruh 7, Mike Yurmanovich 8, Tyler Brabant 9, Katelyn Krebsbach 10, Dylan Winkel 11, Ken Schmick (DNS).
B MAIN 2
1, Scott Conger 2, Matt Rechek 3, Doug Wondra 4, Josh Teunissen 5, Tyler Davis 6, Tyler Tischendorf 7, Chris Larson 8, Blake Wondra 9, Tom Kreutz 10, Cole Possi (DNS).
A MAIN
1, Ben Schmidt 2, Travis Arenz 3, Brandon McMullen 4, Kurt Davis 5, Lance Fassbender 6, Nick Daywalt 7, Will Gerrits 8, Scotty Thiel 9, Kevin Karnitz 10, Anthony Knierim 11, Jack Vanderboom 12, Adam Miller 13, Tim Haddy 14, Bill Taylor 15, Brandon Berth 16, Matt Rechek 17, Justin Miller 18, Doug Wondra 19, Alex Pokorski 20, Justin Erickson 21, Scott Conger 22, Austin Hartmann.