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Travis Arenz wins at PDTR


Brandon Berth of Cascade of grabbed the lead on the drop of the green flag in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main, while 2018 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Justin Miller of Plymouth worked the low groove to pass outside front row starter Shane Wenninger of Kewaskum for second on lap 2.

Berth held a sold cushion over Miller before the first of two caution flags appeared on lap 5 when Waldo’s Chris Clayton spun in turn three. On the restart, 2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Ben Schmidt of Howards Grove, who started fourth, used the high groove to challenge the low-riding Miller for second on lap 6.

One lap later, Tim Haddy of Waupun spun in turn two to bring out the second and final caution flag of the race. When the race resumed, Schmidt again worked the high groove to pass Miller for second on lap 7, while two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee, who started fifth, also pounded the high line to move into third on lap 8.

By lap 12, Berth had built up a half-straightaway cushion over Schmidt. Two laps later, 11th starter Travis Arenz used the preferred low line to work underneath Miller into third before quickly setting his sights on the leaders.

Berth began to encounter slower traffic on lap 16, which allowed Schmidt and Arenz to close the gap significantly. On lap 18, Arenz dove under Schmidt for second before using another low move in turn one on lap 19 to wrestle the lead away from Berth in heavy lapped traffic.

Arenz then pulled away over the final six laps to secure his second career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory and eighth career Midwest Sprint Car Association main event win by a half-straightaway margin.

After the race, Arenz was penalized for passing below the infield track tires, which resulted in the loss of points and pay. Despite the penalty, Arenz was still credited with the victory.

“I was told by an MSA/PDTR official that I was the race winner, but I am getting third-place pay and points because I advanced a spot earlier in the race with the left front over the tires,” Arenz said. “The reason they gave me the win was because there were a lot of other cars passing below the tires tonight and not just me. It’s not how I want to win. I really wish we had a two-lane track like last week. Unfortunately, the bottom was so fast, it made it difficult to pass.”

Berth came home second to record a career-best 360 Sprint Car A main showing, Schmidt finished third, Miller wound up fourth and 2017 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh worked his way up from the 10th starting spot to round out the top five.


HEAT 1

1, Justin Miller 2, Ben Schmidt 3, Travis Arenz 4, Mike Decker 5, Preston Ruh 6, Scott Conger 7, Bill Taylor 8, Nich Melis.

HEAT 2

1, Shane Wenninger 2, Anthony Knierim 3, Kevin Karnitz 4, Chris Clayton 5, Tyler Tischendorf 6, Lance Fassbender 7, Scott Armstrong 8, Blake Wondra

HEAT 3

1, Brandon Berth 2, Tyler Davis 3, Brandon McMullen 4, Tim Haddy 5, Doug Wondra 6, Justin Erickson 7, Nick Daywalt 8, Austin Hartmann.

HEAT 4

1, Kurt Davis 2, Adam Miller 3, Davey Ray 4, Will Gerrits 5, Tony Wondra 6, Tyler Brabant 7, Josh Teunissen (DNS).

B MAIN

1, Preston Ruh 2, Justin Erickson 3, Nick Daywalt 4, Lance Fassbender 5, Tony Wondra 6, Bill Taylor 7, Doug Wondra 8, Tyler Brabant 9, Blake Wondra 10, Scott Armstrong 11, Mike Decker 12, Scott Conger 13, Austin Hartmann 14, Nich Melis (DNS) 15, Josh Teunissen (DNS).

A MAIN

1, Travis Arenz 2, Brandon Berth 3, Ben Schmidt 4, Justin Miller 5, Brandon McMullen 6, Kurt Davis 7, Justin Erickson 8, Tyler Davis 9, Lance Fassbender 10, Will Gerrits 11, Anthony Knierim 12, Davey Ray 13, Nick Daywalt 14, Tyler Tischendorf 15, Kevin Karnitz 16, Tony Wondra 17, Christ Clayton 18, Tim Haddy 19, Bill Taylor 20, Preston Ruh 21, Adam Miller 22, Shane Wenninger.

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