Smith secures MSA triumph at Plymouth

T.J. Smith earned his third career MMW Industrial Supply Midwest Sprint Car Association A-main victory at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, May 9. - MSA Sprints photo

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) May 9, 2026 – T.J. Smith of Greenville stormed to his first MMW Industrial Supply Midwest Sprint Car Association A-main victory in nearly two years in the 25-lap Akright Auto Plymouth Dirt Track Racing headliner at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, May 9.

The opening three laps of the MSA main event yielded three different leaders after mishaps ended the runs of both front row starters. Carter Chevalier of Andover, Minn., took the early lead before coming to rest against the turn four wall on the opening lap to draw the first of two caution flags.

After inheriting the lead on the ensuing restart, second starter Hayden Johnson of Campbellsport lost power on the backstretch at the conclusion of lap 2 to bring out the second and final caution flag of the race.

T.J. Smith, who started fourth, assumed the lead on the final restart of the race on lap 3 and built up a solid cushion over the rest of the field. On lap 10, Smith caught slower traffic, which allowed 2005 MSA champ Lance Fassbender of Burnett, who started fifth, to close in on the lead.

Fassbender pulled up right behind Smith on lap 13 and appeared poised to make a move. However, Smith managed to successfully slice through lapped traffic to distance himself from Fassbender’s advances.

Smith went on to collect his third career MSA main event win and first since July 20, 2024 at The Plymouth Dirt Track.

Fassbender finished second, defending PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Kevin Karnitz of West Bend placed third from the sixth starting spot, three-time MSA champ Ben Schmidt of Plymouth rode up from the 11th starting position to finish fourth, and eighth starter Brandon Berth of Cascade took fifth.

Josh Walter of Plymouth won the 12-lap 360 Sprint Car B main.

Tristan Furseth of Cambridge earned overall 360 Sprint Car fast qualifier honors with a lap of 12.997 seconds.

The event drew a field 28 MSA-PDTR 360 Sprint Cars.

The city of Sheboygan Falls Fire Department served as the evening’s trophy sponsor on You’re Our Heroes Night, which offered free admission to all U.S. military, police, fire, and EMS personnel.

The MSA is set to be in action at The Plymouth Dirt Track on Saturday, May 16, along with the Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series and PDTR Oostburg Automotive Grand National division.

Pit gates open at 3 p.m. with spectator gates opening at 4:30 p.m. and on-track action at 5:30 p.m.

MMW Industrial Supply-Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Cars

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 69S-TJ Smith [4]; 2. 7-Lance Fassbender [5]; 3. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [6]; 4. 35-Ben Schmidt [11]; 5. 22B-Brandon Berth [8]; 6. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski [3]; 7. 69-Shane Wenninger [7]; 8. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [9]; 9. 3-Justin Erickson [16]; 10. 14J-Joseph Hintz [12]; 11. 68T-Tyler Davis [18]; 12. 57-Tristan Furseth [13]; 13. 46-Steven Ruh [14]; 14. 67-Josh Walter [15]; 15. 11-Tony Wondra [20]; 16. 2-Chris Clayton [10]; 17. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [17]; 18. 59-Ethon Stear [19]; 19. 20R-Weston Finke [21]; 20. 30-Nathan Skelton [22]; 21. 5C-Carter Chevalier [1]; 22. 44H-Hayden Johnson [2]

B Main (12 Laps): 1. 67-Josh Walter [4]; 2. 3-Justin Erickson [10]; 3. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [2]; 4. 68T-Tyler Davis [5]; 5. 59-Ethon Stear [1]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra [6]; 7. 51-Chris Larson [7]; 8. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman [11]; 9. 5-Chad Stouthamer [3]; 10. 51C-Brok Clifcorn [12]; 11. 68P-Frank Perko [8]; 12. 19-Ion Stear [9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Lance Fassbender [2]; 2. 5C-Carter Chevalier [3]; 3. 46-Steven Ruh [1]; 4. 57-Tristan Furseth [4]; 5. 5-Chad Stouthamer [5]; 6. 68T-Tyler Davis [6]; 7. 51C-Brok Clifcorn [7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 69S-TJ Smith [2]; 2. 44H-Hayden Johnson [4]; 3. 35-Ben Schmidt [3]; 4. 67-Josh Walter [1]; 5. 59-Ethon Stear [6]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra [5]; 7. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman [7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski [2]; 2. 69-Shane Wenninger [3]; 3. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [4]; 4. 14J-Joseph Hintz [5]; 5. 30-Nathan Skelton [7]; 6. (DNF) 3-Justin Erickson [1]; 7. (DNF) 51-Chris Larson [6]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [4]; 2. 2-Chris Clayton [1]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth [5]; 4. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [3]; 5. 20R-Weston Finke [7]; 6. (DNF) 19-Ion Stear [2]; 7. (DNF) 68P-Frank Perko [6]

Qualifying 1: 1. 57-Tristan Furseth, 12.997 [2]; 2. 5C-Carter Chevalier, 13.263 [1]; 3. 7-Lance Fassbender, 13.308 [5]; 4. 46-Steven Ruh, 13.530 [4]; 5. 5-Chad Stouthamer, 13.580 [3]; 6. 51C-Brok Clifcorn, 13.714 [7]; 7. 68T-Tyler Davis, 13.738 [6]

Qualifying 2: 1. 35-Ben Schmidt, 13.108 [6]; 2. 69S-TJ Smith, 13.442 [1]; 3. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman, 13.638 [7]; 4. 67-Josh Walter, 13.657 [5]; 5. 44H-Hayden Johnson, 14.028 [3]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra, 14.280 [4]; 7. 59-Ethon Stear, 14.301 [2]

Qualifying 3: 1. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 13.170 [2]; 2. 69-Shane Wenninger, 13.428 [4]; 3. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski, 13.695 [3]; 4. 3-Justin Erickson, 13.709 [6]; 5. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 13.720 [1]; 6. 51-Chris Larson, 14.068 [5]; 7. 30-Nathan Skelton, 15.409 [7]

Qualifying 4: 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 13.735 [1]; 2. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 13.763 [6]; 3. 19-Ion Stear, 14.012 [2]; 4. 2-Chris Clayton, 14.090 [5]; 5. 22B-Brandon Berth, 14.117 [3]; 6. 68P-Frank Perko, 14.620 [4]; 7. 20R-Weston Finke, 14.838 [7]