Thiel banks Plymouth MSA win in spot 360 Sprint Car start

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 23, 2024 - Scotty Thiel of Sheboygan made a rare appearance behind the wheel of Randy Sippel's 39s car pay off as he rolled to victory in the 25-lap Akright Auto Midwest Sprint Car Association - Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car main event Friday, Aug. 23 at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis.

Inside third row starter T.J. Smith of Greenville bolted in to challenge polesitter Scotty Thiel for the lead along the low line on the opening lap of the 25-lap PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car A-main.

Smith had surged into the lead on lap 2 just as a red flag was displayed when Katelyn Krebsbach of Cascade flipped hard along the back stretch. Following the restart, 2011 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth rode the cushion to swing into fifth on lap 3 from his eighth starting position.

The hard-charging Schmidt then bolted around fifth starter Brandon Berth of Cascade and second starter Alex Pokorski of West Bend to assume third on lap 8.

Thiel, who is the current Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series points leader, caught the rear of the field on lap 9, which allowed Smith to cut the lead gap a bit.

A yellow flag appeared on lap 11 when Spyder Akright rolled to a stop in turn four. The ensuing restart saw Schmidt dive low to sneak past Smith into the runner-up spot on lap 12.

Four laps later, the cushion-pounding Thiel was enjoying a half-straightaway advantage when he caught up to the back of the pack again. Brady Portschy then brought out the final caution flag of the event when he slowed in turn four on lap 19.

Thiel commanded the restart and cruised away from Schmidt over the final six laps on the way to his fourth career PDTR 360 Sprint Car main event win and 14th career MSA 360 Sprint A-main victory in his first PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car start of the 2024 season.

With the win, Thiel became the sixth different driver to claim an A-main victory in the eight PDTR-MSA A-mains conducted at The Plymouth Dirt Track in 2024.

Schmidt came home second to maintain his PDTR and MSA points lead, Berth finished third, Pokorski placed fourth, while two-time PDTR and five-time MSA 360 Sprint Car champion Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee moved up from the seventh starting spot to finish fifth.

The 11th event of the 2024 PDTR campaign included 29 MSA-PDTR 360 Sprint Cars.

The MSA-PDTR Sprint Cars will be in action during the 2024 Sheboygan County Fair on Saturday, Aug. 31, along with the Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Cars.

The event will include an early start time with on-track action commencing at 5 p.m.

AKRIGHT AUTO PLYMOUTH DIRT TRACK RACING 360 SPRINT CARS

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 39S-Scotty Thiel [1]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt [8]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth [5]; 4. 4-Alex Pokorski [2]; 5. 39K-Kurt Davis [7]; 6. 3-Justin Erickson [4]; 7. 69S-TJ Smith [3]; 8. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [11]; 9. 0-Robbie Pribnow [9]; 10. 14J-Joseph Hintz [10]; 11. 2-Chris Clayton [15]; 12. 69-Bill Taylor [17]; 13. 11-Tony Wondra [16]; 14. 51-Chris Larson [13]; 15. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [19]; 16. 24-Scott Conger [6]; 17. 24X-Eric Wilke [20]; 18. 55P-Brady Portschy [21]; 19. 09-Clayton Rossmann [14]; 20. 16-Anthony Knierim [18]; 21. 53A-Spyder Akright [22]; 22. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [12]

 

B Main (12 Laps): 1. 69-Bill Taylor [2]; 2. 16-Anthony Knierim [3]; 3. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [1]; 4. 24X-Eric Wilke [4]; 5. 55P-Brady Portschy [5]; 6. 53A-Spyder Akright [10]; 7. 46-Kevin Ruh [11]; 8. 52-Cody Schlafer [9]; 9. 7L-Ellie Hensley [8]; 10. 55S-Ryan Sawusch  [12]; 11. (DNF) 54-Randy Post [6]; 12. (DNF) 66T-Tristan Koenings [7]; 13. (DNS) 30-Shane Wenninger

 

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22B-Brandon Berth [2]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt [4]; 3. 3-Justin Erickson [1]; 4. 24-Scott Conger [3]; 5. 69-Bill Taylor [6]; 6. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [5]; 7. 54-Randy Post [7]; 8. 55S-Ryan Sawusch [8]

 

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14J-Joseph Hintz  [1]; 2. 39K-Kurt Davis [4]; 3. 4-Alex Pokorski [2]; 4. 69S-TJ Smith  [3]; 5. 66T-Tristan Koenings [6]; 6. 53A-Spyder Akright [7]; 7. 24X-Eric Wilke [5]

 

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [3]; 2. 51-Chris Larson [1]; 3. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [2]; 4. 09-Clayton Rossmann [5]; 5. 16-Anthony Knierim [4]; 6. 52-Cody Schlafer [7]; 7. 55P-Brady Portschy [6]

 

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 0-Robbie Pribnow [3]; 2. 39S-Scotty Thiel [4]; 3. 2-Chris Clayton [2]; 4. 11-Tony Wondra [1]; 5. 46-Kevin Ruh [7]; 6. 7L-Ellie Hensley [5]; 7. (DNS) 30-Shane Wenninger

 

Qualifying 1: 1. 35-Ben Schmidt, 12.645 [6]; 2. 24-Scott Conger, 12.680 [3]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth, 12.738 [5]; 4. 3-Justin Erickson, 12.767 [4]; 5. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 12.789 [2]; 6. 69-Bill Taylor, 12.875 [1]; 7. 54-Randy Post, 13.197 [7]; 8. 55S-Ryan Sawusch, 16.366 [8]

 

Qualifying 2: 1. 39K-Kurt Davis, 12.649 [1]; 2. 69S-TJ Smith, 12.817 [7]; 3. 4-Alex Pokorski, 12.857 [6]; 4. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 12.944 [4]; 5. 24X-Eric Wilke, 13.115 [5]; 6. 66T-Tristan Koenings, 13.203 [3]; 7. 53A-Spyder Akright, 13.641 [2]

 

Qualifying 3: 1. 16-Anthony Knierim, 12.989 [1]; 2. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 12.992 [5]; 3. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 13.002 [4]; 4. 51-Chris Larson, 13.044 [3]; 5. 09-Clayton Rossmann, 13.137 [2]; 6. 55P-Brady Portschy, 13.161 [6]; 7. 52-Cody Schlafer, 13.482 [7]

 

Qualifying 4: 1. 39S-Scotty Thiel, 12.912 [1]; 2. 0-Robbie Pribnow, 12.921 [2]; 3. 2-Chris Clayton, 13.196 [3]; 4. 11-Tony Wondra, 13.231 [7]; 5. 7L-Ellie Hensley, 13.325 [5]; 6. 30-Shane Wenninger 13.422 [6]; 7. 46-Kevin Ruh, 13.731 [4]