Erickson claims commanding PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car win
Myers Jr. doubles IRA 410 Sprint Car win tally
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 31, 2024 – Sixth-year 360 Sprint Car competitor Justin Erickson of Plymouth schooled the field in applying the "how to win races" page from the dirt track racing 101 handbook to fend off past Akright Auto Plymouth Dirt Track Racing – Midwest Sprint Car Association champions Kurt Davis and Ben Schmidt on the way to his first 25-lap PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Caar A-main victory of the 2024 season in front of a large Sheboygan County Fair Night crowd at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, Aug. 31.
NASCAR stock car and sports car competitor Josh Bilicki of Menominee Falls paced the first three-quarters of the opening lap of the PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car main event from the pole before second starter Justin Erickson slipped past Bilicki coming off of turn four to lead lap one.
Erickson pulled away from Bilicki over the next four laps before the first of four race stoppages occurred on lap 5 when Scott Conger of Eagle spun in turn two.
Two laps later, 32nd-year open-wheel veteran Paul Pokorski of West Bend slowed with a flat right rear tire to bring out the second caution flag of the event. The third caution appeared after another two laps were completed when Bilicki spun out of the runner-up spot in turn two to collect Brandon Berth of Cascade, who had been running third.
When the race returned to green flag action for an extended period, Erickson again flexed his muscle to pull out to a half-straightaway cushion on lap 15 as 2011 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car champion and current points leader Ben Schmidt of Plymouth, who started ninth, gave chase in second.
Meanwhile, two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion and five-time MSA title winner Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee swept into the third spot from the seventh starting position on lap 20.
One lap later Bill Taylor of Boltonville flipped in turn one following contact with a lapped car to trigger a red flag on lap 21.
Following a single-file restart, the high-riding Davis powered around Schmidt to heist second from inside-dwelling Schmidt on lap 22. However, Erickson was not to be denied as he rocketed away from the field to earn his second career PDTR and MSA 360 Sprint Car main event win, his first A-main triumph since May 21, 2022.
With the victory, Erickson became the seventh different driver to score an Akright Auto PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main triumph in nine 2024 A-main events. His main event win also represented the eighth different main event winner in 12 MSA events during the 2024 campaign.
Davis placed second, Schmidt moved a step closer to wrapping up his second career PDTR and MSA championship by finishing third, 17th starter Eric Wilke of Genesee charged up 13 spots to come home fourth and Chris Clayton of Waldo also advanced 13 positions to round out the top five.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve got a win,” Erickson said. “The crew pours their heart out into this thing. Building our own motors that can compete with some of these guys is great. I love it.”
Schmidt extended his lead in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car points standings to 34 points over Alex Pokorski of West Bend and 48 points over Kevin Karnitz of West Bend with just one event remaining on the 2024 schedule during the annual Wisconsin Sprint Car Championships on Saturday, Sept. 28.
Kevin Karnitz of West Bend was victorious PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car B-main.
Katelyn Krebsbach of Cascade captured the overall PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car fast qualifier award with a fast lap of 12.271 seconds.
The 12th event of the 2024 PDTR campaign, which was sponsored by Hemp Works of Waldo, featured 27 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars.
The next race for the MSA Sprint Car Series will take place during the Fall Classic at Wilmot Raceway in Wilmot, Wis. on Friday, Sept. 20.
Winged Crate Sprint Cars, IRA Lightning Sprints, Street Stocks, A Modifieds and Bandits are also on the card.
The 2024 MSA Sprints campaign will conclude at The Plymouth Dirt Track with the seventh annual Wisconsin Sprint Car Championships, which wraps up the season for four Wisconsin-based Sprint Car divisions – the PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars, IRA 410 Sprint Cars, Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Cars, and IRA Lightning Sprints – on Saturday, Sept. 28.
Pit gates open at 2 p.m. with spectator gates opening at 4:30 p.m. and “on-track action” scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Special event pricing will be in effect.
For more information on the MSA Sprint Car Series, visit www.msasprints.com.
AKRIGHT AUTO PLYMOUTH DIRT TRACK RACING – MIDWEST SPRINT CAR ASSOCIATION 360 SPRINT CARS
A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 3-Justin Erickson [2]; 2. 39K-Kurt Davis [7]; 3. 35-Ben Schmidt [9]; 4. 24X-Eric Wilke [17]; 5. 2-Chris Clayton [18]; 6. 14J-Joseph Hintz [11]; 7. 30-Doug Wondra [19]; 8. 11-Tony Wondra [20]; 9. 4-Alex Pokorski [4]; 10. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [15]; 11. 22B-Brandon Berth [3]; 12. 55P-Brady Portschy [21]; 13. 69S-TJ Smith [22]; 14. 09-Clayton Rossmann [14]; 15. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [16]; 16. 51-Chris Larson [12]; 17. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [10]; 18. 53A-Paul Pokorski [5]; 19. (DNF) 69-Bill Taylor [6]; 20. (DNF) 68T-Tyler Davis [13]; 21. (DNF) 24-Scott Conger [8]; 22. (DNF) 33M-Josh Bilicki [1]
B-Main (12 Laps): 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [1]; 2. 24X-Eric Wilke [4]; 3. 2-Chris Clayton [7]; 4. 30-Doug Wondra [8]; 5. 11-Tony Wondra [9]; 6. 55P-Brady Portschy [2]; 7. 69S-TJ Smith [12]; 8. 12P-JJ Pagel [10]; 9. 54-Randy Post [6]; 10. 52-Cody Schlafer [5]; 11. 55S-Ryan Sawusch [11]; 12. 0-Robbie Pribnow [3]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 68T-Tyler Davis [1]; 2. 09-Clayton Rossmann [5]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth [4]; 4. 51-Chris Larson [2]; 5. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [6]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra [7]; 7. 0-Robbie Pribnow [3]; 8. 69S-TJ Smith [9]; 9. 12P-JJ Pagel [8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 4-Alex Pokorski [2]; 2. 53A-Paul Pokorski [3]; 3. 14J-Joseph Hintz [6]; 4. 69-Bill Taylor [4]; 5. 33M-Josh Bilicki [5]; 6. 2-Chris Clayton [9]; 7. 54-Randy Post [8]; 8. 52-Cody Schlafer [7]; 9. 55P-Brady Portschy [1]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 39K-Kurt Davis [1]; 2. 3-Justin Erickson [6]; 3. 24-Scott Conger [2]; 4. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [4]; 5. 35-Ben Schmidt [3]; 6. 30-Doug Wondra [8]; 7. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [5]; 8. 24X-Eric Wilke [7]; 9. 55S-Ryan Sawusch [9]
Qualifying 1: 1. 22B-Brandon Berth, 12.680 [6]; 2. 0-Robbie Pribnow, 12.730 [2]; 3. 51-Chris Larson, 12.917 [9]; 4. 68T-Tyler Davis, 12.959 [1]; 5. 69S-TJ Smith, 12.972 [8]; 6. 09-Clayton Rossmann, 12.997 [5]; 7. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 13.002 [7]; 8. 11-Tony Wondra, 13.038 [3]; 9. 12P-JJ Pagel, 13.051 [4]
Qualifying 2: 1. 69-Bill Taylor, 12.540 [3]; 2. 53A-Paul Pokorski, 12.557 [6]; 3. 4-Alex Pokorski, 12.660 [4]; 4. 55P-Brady Portschy, 12.720 [2]; 5. 33M-Josh Bilicki, 12.768 [1]; 6. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 12.783 [9]; 7. 52-Cody Schlafer, 12.906 [7]; 8. 54-Randy Post, 12.929 [8]; 9. (DNF) 2-Chris Clayton, 12.958 [5]
Qualifying 3: 1. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 12.271 [6]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt, 12.336 [9]; 3. 24-Scott Conger, 12.436 [5]; 4. 39K-Kurt Davis, 12.473 [1]; 5. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 12.517 [4]; 6. 3-Justin Erickson, 12.695 [8]; 7. 24X-Eric Wilke, 12.769 [7]; 8. 30-Doug Wondra, 12.993 [2]; 9. 55S-Ryan Sawusch, 15.479 [3]