2023 Year In Review…

The schedule would feature 19-nights of racing featuring eight divisions.   PDTR/MSA Sprints along with the B-Mods and Grand Nationals would race thirteen nights.  Each of these nights they would be joined by another division. Badger Midgets twice, Wingless Sprints twice, Lightning Sprints three times and Legends twice.
The Super Six Late Models were scheduled for six nights however one program was lost to Mother Nature.   Late Models also raced with the WABAM Dirt Kings.  The All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars included the IRA Sprint cars and the PDTR/MSA sprints.   The IRA raced five other times along with the PDTR/MSA sprints and other groups.

After opening night was postponed because of the weather, May 6th would be the first night of racing.  Brad Mueller would pass two cars on the final two laps to get the Late Model win.  It would be his 24th A-main with PDTR.  Veteran Ben Schmidt won the Sprint A-Main after battling Lance Fassbender and Brandon McMullen. McMullen took the lead in turn three  before Schmidt came back in turn four. 

Chad Espen won the first Grand National race of the season from the front row while Tyler Kulow charged from the third row to finish second.   Tim Werner from the third row executed a thrilling three wide pass to garner the lead on the opening circuit of the B-Mod race, his eighth B-Mod win

May 13th the second race in the Super Six Late Model series saw Taylor Scheffler build a big lead from the pole, a late race caution tightened the field and Brad Muller who started sixth took advantage and came home second.  The B-Mod A-Main saw former track champion Tim Sheppard get his 2nd career win with PDTR.
Grand National race saw Brad Weiss and Dustin Weiss race side-by-side for the first five laps.  Will Sorce who started sixth worked his way to the front for the win.  Sprint cars roared to the green with pole-sitter Brandon 
McMullen getting a huge early lead enroute to the win.  Lance Fassbender came from seventh to take second.

The next week the IRA showed up for their first race of the season with PDTR.  Jordan Goldsberry held off Bill Balog and Jake Blackhurst late in the race for a thrilling win.  The Badger Midgets with 31 cars saw Jace Sparks get his first series win.  Lance Fassbender won the Sprint A-Main with Alex Pokorski coming from fifth to second and appeared ready to challenge Fassbender before a pair of lapped cars collected him and sent him the back.

 June 3rd the All-Stars-IRA Rayce Rudeen Foundation event took place.  Fan favorite Rico Abreu lead all 35-laps to claim the $26,000 payout.  Brandon McMullen won the PDTR/MSA event after Justin Erickson who dominated the race got caught up in lapped traffic and crashed.

June 10th the Super Six Late Model series continued and it was Mitch McGrath winning after a fierce battle with Terry Casey.  The Sprint main saw 31-year veteran Tony Wondra lead every lap to the checkered flag.  Rain started falling & the remainder of the program was cancelled.

The following week Badger Midgets returned, Brandon Waelti from Sun Prairie used a late race slide-job to get the win.  Ben Schmidt came from sixth to get by Alex Pokorski and secure his second win of the season. Tim Werner after starting in the second row used the low-line to move to the front and get the win, his second of the season.  Grand Nationals saw Justin Pearson from Horicon take the lead on lap-23 after a side-by-side battle with Dustin Weiss.

June 24th would be a special night as racers and fans gathered to remember Cole Possi who died in March.  It was billed “Coles Last Lap”.  A large gathering of Cole’s family and friends came from the U.P. to honor Cole’s memory.  Cole’s father Earl would drive the familiar number 39 car. In racing action Ben Schmidt would win his second straight Sprint race. Brandon McMullen came from the fifth row to finish third.  Will Sorce won the Grand National race after starting third.  Tim Werner would use the outside to pass Hunter Larson on the final lap to win the B-Mod race.

The first Saturday in July the IRA returned and Sheboygan driver Travis Arenz would win the IRA race, his first on his home track in a 410.  Ben Schmidt would make it three straight in the PDTR/MSA event leading all 25-laps.  McMullen caught Schmidt and made it exciting at the end but it was Schmidt’s race. Mark Heinert from Oak Creek won the Lightning Sprint A-main.

Points leaders at this stage of the season were, Brad Mueller Late Models, Tyler Kulow Grand Nationals, Travis Schmidt B-Mods and Brandon McMullen Sprints

July 8th saw Ben Schmidt record a record fourth straight Sprint car win.  The win came after he held off a hard charging Shane Wenninger through lapped traffic.  Will Sorce took the Grand National race making it three for the season.  Oshkosh driver Hunter Larson won the B-Mod Main event, his first on the Plymouth oval.  Legends took part and Adam Zellmer from Horicon won after a last lap pass.

Super Six Late Model Series returned the follow week as part of the “Wall of Fame” night of racing.  Mitch McGrath outdueled Taylor Scheffler late in the race to notch the win.  The Sprint race which saw five caution and red flag restarts had Kevin Karnitz get his first win of the season in a 19-lap race.  Will Sorce made it two in a row winning the Grand National race and Barry Maas from Cascade won the B-Mod feature that saw Werner catch him late before settling second.

July 28th Ben Schmidt who saw his streak of four consecutive wins snapped last week started another by winning the Sprint Main.  This was part of the Road America Challenge featuring the IRA along with PDTR/MSA cars.  Schmidt worked past Kevin Karnitz in lapped traffic to assume the lead and later hold off McMullen who charged from the third row up to second..  The IRA win went to Greg Wilson who edged Brenham Crouch at the finish line.

Moving into August great racing continued.  Tim Werner took top honors again in the B-Mod division.  After starting sixth, Werner had to survive a three-car battle with Steve Lorier and Barry Maas to get the win.  Grand Nationals provided another good race with Pearson holding off Sorce for the win.  Ben Schmidt picked up win number seven after a good battle with Brandon Berth.  The win moved Schmidt into fourth place on the all-time PDTR win list. Mark Heinert was the class of the Lightning Sprint field by winning again.

On August 12th the Late Models concluded their Super Six series with Nick Anvelink winning for the first time on the Plymouth track.  Brad Mueller would finish fourth and gain enough points to win the series championship.  It would be his fifth overall on his home track.   The Grand National race was won by 2022 champion Luke Scholten.  Jeff Steenbergen won the B-Mod race in the car normally driven by Tim Werner.  McMullen won his third Sprint race of the season ahead of Schmidt to retain a narrow lead in the Points.

The following week McMullen would win again after passing two cars on the lead lap and reel in Fassbender on lap 10.  On the last lap Schmidt made an inside pass of Fassbender for second.  Grand National win went to Steven Weber who passed Sorce for the lead and then edged Nick Schumacher after a side-by-side dual.  B-Mod race saw Werner win for the fifth time this season.  It would be his division leading 12th A-Main win.  The Legends would compete with Adam Zellmer repeating his win of earlier in the season.

August 25th would be the final points show of the season for Grand Nationals and B-mods with both divisions seeing the championship up for grabs.  The B-Mod division had Maas with a 12-point lead over Schmidt, a 14-point lead over Shane Long and a 20-point lead over Werner.  Elijah Koenig after a battle with Steve Lorier who be the leader and eventual winner.  Maas would be a non-factor after a major breakdown early in the night.  Werner who started sixth would get up to second on lap 8 and stay there.  Werner by winning his heat would garner enough points to surpass Schmidt and Long to get his third PDTR championship.

The Grand National situation was just as interesting with Sorce just two-points ahead of Gillis.  Both would start in heat two with Gillis finishing second and Sorce fifth putting Gillis ahead.  In the A-Main Sorce after starting ninth would finish third, Gillis who started seventh was fifith creating a tie for the title. 
The Sprint race saw McMullen win his third straight and fifth overall after starting on the pole.  Schmidt who started in the fourth row would charge ahead to finish behind McMullen and stay within 14-points of McMullen.  The Dirt Kings Late Model Series would race their event as part of the program with 23 cars on hand.  Unfortunately rain came just as their feature was set to begin.

September 2nd was Fair night with the IRA and PDTR/MSA Sprints ready to rumble again.  With a large crowd in the stands Jake Neumann would hold off a late charge from Bill Balog to get the win.  McMullen who startied eighth would take the lead on lap 10 after passing Alex Pokorski.  Ben Schmidt who crashed hard the night before at Dodge would be forced to run the B-Main and miss the transfer by one spot in a car that his crew assembled working long hours.

September 30th a warm fall Saturday afternoon greeted a huge crowd for the Wisconsin Sprint Car Championships.  The racing wouldn’t disappoint and when it was over Scotty Thiel would take the PDTR/MSA 25-Lap A-main race, but Brandon McMullen would please his fans and secure his third PDTR championship and fifth MSA title.  He now has tied Kurt Davis for most MSA series championships.  The Fuzzy Fassbender Memorial event unfolded in front of a full grandstand.  With just over a lap to go McMullen passed Thiel but the Sheboygan ace would come back and get the win.

The IRA race was won by Bill Balog who started on the pole of the Rick Schmidt Memorial race.  Rookie  Brenham Crouch would win the championship.  Jimmy Sivia won the 20-lap Wisconsin Wingless race while Clayton Rossmann would win the championship.  Mark Heinert won the 20-lap Lightning sprint race and win the series championship.  The event sponsored by Jensen Sales & Service featured 117 cars.

         Top-Ten Points:
 
Late Models: 1) #89Brad Mueller  424, 2) #10S Taylor Scheffler 422,  3) #70 Justin Richie 398, 4) #74 Mitch McGrath 376,  5) #9Z Jaymie Zidar 376, 6) #77 Bill Edler 341, 7) #19J Justin Green 310, 8) #97 Justin Schmidt 305, 9) #22 Charlie Schmidt 300, 10) #24S Jayden Schmidt..

Sprints:  1) #98 Brandon McMullen 1493, 2) #35 Ben Schmidt 1422, 3) #63K Kevin Karnitz 1362, 4) #4 Alex Pokorski 1324, 5) #7 Lance Fassbender 1254, 6) #85J Logan Julien 1194, 7) #22B Branden Berth 1158, 8) TJ Smith 1147, 9) #11 Tony Wondra, 1075, 10) #69 Bill Taylor 1048.

Grand Nationals: 1) TIE #14X Will Sorce & #89 Brian Gillis 855,  3) #24 Tyler Kulow 816, 4) #95 Donny Kulow 807, 5) #34 Steven Webwe 755, 6) #80 Luke Scholten 747, 7) #53W Dustin Weiss 713, 8) #6 Dick Hed 697, 9) #E85 Justin Pearson 650, 10) #23 Matt Loehr/Scott Kafka 635.

B-Mods: 1 #03W Tim Werner 863, 2) #3 Travis Schmidt 861, 3) 17S Shane Long 857, 4) #66 Steve Lorier 823, 5) #22M Barry Maas 813, 6) #73 Rory Welch 730, 7)  #84 Mark Hoeppner 723, 8) #19P Parker Glander 649, 10) #17 Brandon Knepprath 603

B-Mods

Next Step Insurance sponsored this Division:  Hard Charger Sponsor Schwaller’s Painting & Staining.
 
Forty-five different drivers competed..  Thirty-four races were run with sixteen drivers winning at least once.

Ten A-Mains saw six drivers winning at least one;  #03W Tim Werner 5. One each by #1K Elijah Koenig’s, #09 Hunter Larson, #22M Barry Maas, #29S Tim Sheppard and #62 Jeff Steenbergen.

Most Top-fives: #30W Tim Werner 8, #3 Travis Schmidt 7, #17S Shane Long 7, Maas 7, #66 Steve Lorier 5.

Most Top-tens: 7 each:  Shane Long 10,  Maas 9, Lorier 9,  Schmidt 9, Werner 8, #84 Mark Hoeppner 8, Werner 8.

Most total wins:  Werner 13, five drivers won two each.

Hard Chargers:  (22) #03W Tim Werner,  (15) #19 Parker Glander,  (14) #73 Rory Welch,  (13) Travis Schmidt,  (13) #22M Barry Maas, (13) #17S Shane Long,  (11)  #66 Steve Lorier,  (10) #59S Spencer Long,  (9) #9L Hunter Larson, (9) #84 Mark Hoeppner.

Champion:  #03W Tim Werner
Rookie of the Year: #19 P Parker Glander
Most Improved Driver/Season:  #73 Rory Welch

Grand Nationals

Oostburg Automotive sponsored this division; Laura Correa-North Shore Homes sponsored Hard Chargers
 Forty-seven different drivers competed with fourteen winning at least one race.

Ten A-mains were run with six different drivers stopping in victory lane. #14X Will Sorce won four, #85E Justin Pearson won two, One each by, #80 Luke Scholten, #72E Chad Espen, #34 Steven Weber and #47 Nick Schumacher.

Most Top-fives:  Will Sorce 9, Brian Gillis 7, Justin Pearson 6, Tyler Kulow, Donny Kulow and Luke Scholten 4 each.
Most Top-tens:  Donny Kulow 10, Will Sorce, Tyler Kulow, Brian Gillis 9 each, Luke Scholten 8, Justin Pearson 7.

 Most total wins:  Sorce 8, Weber 6, Gillis & Pearson 4 each.

Hard Charger:  (34) #14X Will Sorce, (25) #89 Brian Gillis,  (22) #85E Justin Pearson, (19) #6 Dick Hed, (16) Tyler Kulow, (16)  #80 Luke Scholten,  (15) #47 Nick Schumacher, (15) Matt Loehr/Scott Kafka, (14) #34 Steven Weber,  (10) #5 Colin Skindzeleski, (10)  #87 Eric Lingford.

Champion:  #14W Will Sorce & #89 Brian Gillis
Third: #24K Tyler Kulow
Rookie of the Year:  #6B Vince Bartolotta
Most Improved Driver/Season:  #23Scott Kafka

Sprint Cars

Akright Auto sponsored this division: Kristine Hartmann, Pleasant View Realty sponsored the Hard Charger.

Sixty-two different drivers competed..  seventy-seven races were run with twenty-three drivers winning at least once.

Seventeen A-Mains saw seven drivers win at least one;  #35 Ben Schmidt 7, #98 Brandon McMullen 6,
#7 Lance Fassbender, #11 Tony Wondra,  #63K Kevin Karnitz and #39S Scotty Thiel one each.

Most Top-fives: #98 McMullen 16, #35 Schmidt 14, #63K Karnitz 11,  #4 Alex Pokorski 9. #7 Lance Fassbender 6, #85J Logan Julien 5
Most Top-tens:  #98 McMullem 16, #63K Karnitz 16, #35 Schmidt 15, #4 Pokorski, #7 Fassbender 13,  #85J Julien 12, #22B Bert 10, #69S Smith 10.

Most total wins:  #98 McMullen 14, #35 Schmidt 12, #63K Karnitz 8, #69 Bill Taylor 7, #7 Fassbender 5.

Hard Chargers: (60) #98 Brandon McMullen, (42) #63K Kevin Karnitz, (41) #35 Ben Schmidt, (34) 69S TJ Smith, (34) #30  Doug Wondra, (34)  #2 Chris Clayton, (33) #12P JJ Pagel,  (31)  #69 Bill Taylor, (31) #85J Logan Julien. (26)  #11 Tony Wondra,

Champion:  #98 Brandon McMullen
Rookie of the Year: #85J Logan Julien
Most Improved Driver/Season:  #4 Alex Pokorski

Late Models

106.5 The Buzz sponsored this division and the Hard Charger.
These numbers include the five Super Six events.
Thirty-eight different drivers competed..  25 races were run with 13drivers winning at least once.

Five A-Mains saw four drivers winning at least one;  #74 Mitch McGrath won two, one each for #10S Taylor Scheffler, #15N Tom Naeyaert, #89 Brad Mueller.
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Most Top-fives: Taylor Scheffler and Brad Mueller five each, three each for #70 Justin Richie and #74 Mitch McGrath,  Two each for #79 Jim Schmidt and #24S Jayden Schmidt.

Most Top-tens:  Five each, Scheffler, Richie and Mueller.

Most total wins:  (4) McGrath, three each for Zydar, Scheffler and Naeyaert.

Hard Chargers:  (25) #24S Jayden Schmidt, (16)  #89 Brad Mueller, (14) #54 Kevin Baldry, (9) #9N Tom Naeyaert,  (9) #19J Justin Green,  (8) #9Z Jayme Zidar, (8) #79 Jim Schmidt, (7) #22 Charlie Schmidt,  (6) #55B Joe Bongiorno, (6) #99M Mike Mullen.

Champion:  #89 Brad Mueller
Rookie of the Year: #24S Jayden Schmidt
Most Improved Driver/Season:  #9Z Jayme Zydar

Dedication to Dirt: Gary Perronne - 40 plus years of service.

PDTR thanks all officials for their dedication to the race program. See you next spring ……

PDTR 2023
Track Champions