(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) July 1, 2023 – Former Midwest Sprint Car Association and Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint car champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth added another stellar entry to his impressive 2023 main event victory tally by turning in his third straight and fifth overall 25-lap Akright Auto Midwest Sprint Car Association A-main victory, during the Scott Semmelmann Memorial Saturday, July 1 at The Plymouth Dirt Track.
Ben Schmidt, who started second, outpowered rookie polesitter T.J. Haddy of Waupun to grab the lead in turn one of the opening lap of the MSA-PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main with Haddy and 14-year-old rookie Logan Julien of Oconomowoc, who started fourth, trailing in second and third respectively.
On lap 2, four-time MSA 360 Sprint Car champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh moved past third starter Alex Pokorski of West Bend to assume fourth.
The red flag appeared later on lap 2 when rookie Ryan Sawusch of Lake Villa, Ill. flipped and hit the wall in turn two. On the restart, Schmidt into the lead while Julien worked past Haddy to gain second.
Schmidt, who captured the 2011 MSA and PDTR 360 Sprint Car championships, caught the rear of the field on lap 8 before McMullen swept past Julien to take over second on lap 10. One lap later, the caution flag appeared when Tommy Colburn of New Berlin stopped on the backstretch.
Another caution flag was displayed when Haddy spun in turn one. Following the final restart, Schmidt pulled away from the field before finding himself dealing with lapped traffic again on lap 20.
As the leaders wound their way through dense slower traffic, McMullen worked the inside lane of the lightning fast and undulating track surface to duck under Schmidt briefly on the final lap. However, Schmidt held strong en route to his third straight and fifth overall MSA 360 Sprint Car A-main victory of the 2023 season, 19th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car main event win and 37th overall career MSA 360 Sprint Car triumph.
“We had another fast track tonight and to get another win is just unbelievable,” Schmidt said. “The crew does a great job week after week setting the car up so nice for me to drive.”
McMullen wound up second, Julien earned a MSA-PDTR 360 Sprint Car career-best third place showing, Robbie Pribnow of Lomira placed fourth after starting fifth and eighth starter Shane Wenninger of Kewaskum rounded out the top five.
Ben Schmidt earned fast qualifier accolades in the PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car division with a top lap of 12.202 seconds.
The eighth event of the 2023 PDTR campaign, which was sponsored by Jensen Sales and Service and included bonus money from Professional Plating for heat race and A main winners, drew 25 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars.
The next race program for the MSA-PDTR 360 Sprint Cars will be Saturday, July 8 at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis.
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. 35-Ben Schmidt [2]; 2. 98-Brandon McMullen [6]; 3. 85J-Logan Julien [4]; 4. 30-Robbie Pribnow [5]; 5. 53-Shane Wenninger [8]; 6. 4-Alex Pokorski [3]; 7. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [7]; 8. 6K-Kurt Davis [10]; 9. 69S-TJ Smith [9]; 10. 7-Lance Fassbender [12]; 11. 22B-Brandon Berth [17]; 12. 3-Justin Erickson [13]; 13. 2-Chris Clayton [14]; 14. 11-Tony Wondra [19]; 15. 69-Bill Taylor [18]; 16. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [11]; 17. 12P-JJ Pagel [20]; 18. 66T-Tristan Koenings [15]; 19. 54-Randy Post [22]; 20. 21H-TJ Haddy [1]; 21. 51-Ellie Hensley [25]; 22. 1-Tommy Colburn [16]; 23. 55S-Ryan Sawusch [21]; 24. (DNS) 53A-Paul Pokorski; 25. (DNS) 92-Kevin Seidler
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 98-Brandon McMullen [1]; 2. 30-Robbie Pribnow [3]; 3. 35-Ben Schmidt [4]; 4. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [5]; 5. 2-Chris Clayton [6]; 6. 51-Ellie Hensley [9]; 7. 53A-Paul Pokorski [2]; 8. 55S-Ryan Sawusch [7]; 9. (DNS) 92-Kevin Seidler
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 53-Shane Wenninger [2]; 2. 21H-TJ Haddy [1]; 3. 6K-Kurt Davis [3]; 4. 7-Lance Fassbender [4]; 5. 3-Justin Erickson [6]; 6. 22B-Brandon Berth [5]; 7. 69-Bill Taylor [7]; 8. 12P-JJ Pagel [8]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [2]; 2. 85J-Logan Julien [3]; 3. 4-Alex Pokorski [4]; 4. 66T-Tristan Koenings [1]; 5. 69S-TJ Smith [8]; 6. 1-Tommy Colburn [5]; 7. 11-Tony Wondra [6]; 8. 54-Randy Post [7]
Qualifying 1: 1. 35-Ben Schmidt, 12.202 [7]; 2. 30-Robbie Pribnow, 12.427 [1]; 3. 53A-Paul Pokorski, 12.455 [3]; 4. 98-Brandon McMullen, 12.477 [5]; 5. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 12.650 [2]; 6. 2-Chris Clayton, 12.843 [6]; 7. 51-Ellie Hensley, 14.238 [9]; 8. 55S-Ryan Sawusch, 14.831 [8]; 9. (DNS) 92-Kevin Seidler
Qualifying 2: 1. 7-Lance Fassbender, 12.422 [3]; 2. 6K-Kurt Davis, 12.427 [5]; 3. 53-Shane Wenninger, 12.485 [2]; 4. 21H-TJ Haddy, 12.551 [8]; 5. 22B-Brandon Berth, 12.704 [6]; 6. 3-Justin Erickson, 12.759 [1]; 7. 69-Bill Taylor, 12.789 [4]; 8. 12P-JJ Pagel, 13.274 [7]
Qualifying 3: 1. 4-Alex Pokorski, 12.412 [1]; 2. 85J-Logan Julien, 12.459 [7]; 3. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 12.529 [5]; 4. 66T-Tristan Koenings, 12.564 [6]; 5. 1-Tommy Colburn, 12.590 [4]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra, 12.744 [2]; 7. 54-Randy Post, 12.880 [8]; 8. 69S-TJ Smith, 12.892 [3]