Arenz, who came into the night as the hottest Midwest Sprint Car Association driver in the pit area on the strength of victories in three of the past four MSA events, grabbed the lead of the 25-lap A-main event from the pole.
By lap four, Arenz had built up a full-straightaway cushion over third starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend. The first of two caution flags appeared on lap 5 when Spyder Akright of Sheboygan Falls spun in turn four.
Travis Arenz of Sheboygan claimed his first career Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car A-main victory and sixth overall career Midwest Sprint Car Association main event triumph at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Thursday, July 25. – Trevor Frank-Frank Motorsports Photography photo
When the race resumed, 2018 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh was making his presence felt as he moved up from his ninth starting spot to challenge fifth starter Shane Wenninger of Kewaskum for third on lap 10.
On lap 19, Karnitz closed the gap on Arenz slightly when the leaders encountered heavy lapped traffic. Two laps later on lap 21, the second caution appeared when McMullen’s strong run was spoiled after contact with a lapped car sent him flipping in turn two, which brought out a red flag.
Following the restart, Arenz again pulled away over the final four laps to seal his fourth A-main victory in the last five MSA main events, sixth career and fifth MSA A-main victory of the 2019 season by a quarter straightaway over Karnitz, who placed second, Wenninger finished third, 2010 PDTR 360 Sprint champion, current PDTR and MSA 360 Sprint Car point leader Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee finished fourth after starting 11th and second starter Nich Melis of Plymouth rounded out the top five.
“It feels really good to get this win in a Sprint Car at Plymouth,” Arenz said. “My last win at Plymouth was back in 2015 in a Sport Mod.”
In preliminary action, the All Star-IRA fast qualifier was James McFadden, who turned in a fast lap of 11.732 seconds. All Star-IRA heat race winners were Cory Eliason, Brock Zearfoss of Jonestown, Penn., Justin Peck and Wayne Johnson of Oklahoma City, Ok. The All Star-IRA B main winner was Marcus Dumsney of Nelson, New South Wales, Australia, while Peck and Zearfoss recorded dash victories.
PDTR 360 Sprint Car heat race winners were Shane Wenninger, Jim Melis of Glenbeulah, Jason Johnson of Kewaskum and Kevin Karnitz. Bill Taylor of Boltonville won the first PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main and Adam Miller of Plymouth claimed the second PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main.
Date of Race: July 25, 2019
HEAT 1
1, Shane Wenninger 2, Brandon McMullen 3, Lance Fassbender 4, Justin Miller 5, Josh Walter 6, Brandon Berth 7, Chris Clayton 8, Jack Vanderboom 9, Al Schlafer.
HEAT 2
1, Jim Melis 2, Paul Pokorski 3, Justin Erickson 4, Travis Arenz 5, Tony Wondra 6, Robbie Pribnow 7, Tyler Brabant 8, Mike Yurmanovich 9, Tyler Tischendorf.
HEAT 3
1, Jason Johnson 2, Danny Schlafer 3, Tim Haddy 4, Kurt Davis 5, Adam Miller 6, Josh Teunissen 7, Doug Wondra 8, Anthony Knierim.
HEAT 4
1, Kevin Karnitz 2, Nich Melis 3, Will Gerrits 4, Bill Taylor 5, Blake Wondra 6, Spyder Akright 7, Preston Ruh 8, Chris Larson.
B MAIN 1
1, Bill Taylor 2, Josh Walter 3, Robbie Pribnow 4, Tyler Brabant 5, Chris Clayton 6, Tyler Tischendorf 7, Mike Yurmanovich 8, Josh Teunissen 9, Chris Larson.
B MAIN 2
1, Adam Miller 2, Brandon Berth 3, Spyder Akright 4, Jack Vanderboom 5, Justin Erickson 6, Al Schlafer 7, Doug Wondra 8, Preston Ruh 9, Anthony Knierim (DNS).
A MAIN
1, Travis Arenz 2, Kevin Karnitz 3, Shane Wenninger 4, Kurt Davis 5, Nich Melis 6, Jim Melis 7, Jason Johnson 8, Tim Haddy 9, Lance Fassbender 10, Justin Miller 11, Robbie Pribnow 12, Bill Taylor 13, Paul Pokorski 14, Brandon Berth 15, Tony Wondra 16, Adam Miller 17, Josh Walter 18, Blake Wondra 19, Will Gerrits, 20, Brandon McMullen 21, Spyder Akright 22, Danny Schlafer.