(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) July 20, 2024 – Second-year 360 Sprint Car competitor T.J. Smith of Greenville secured his second career Akright Auto Midwest Sprint Car Association-Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car A-main triumph Saturday, July 20 at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis.
Smith outdueled polesitter Randy Post of Oostburg to gain the lead in turn two on the opening lap of the opening lap of the 25-lap MSA-PDTR main event with Post following in second and Alex Pokorski of West Bend moving up from the fourth starting position into third.
Meanwhile, 2011 PDTR and MSA 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth, who started 10th, used the high groove to power his way into the top five on lap 5 as eighth starter Brandon Berth of Cascade worked the outside line to follow Schmidt into sixth.
Smith caught the rear of the field on lap 10, while Schmidt vaulted his way past Post into second on lap 14 and quickly moved in to challenge Smith for the lead.
With the leaders fully entwined in thick lapped traffic, Berth slipped into third on lap 17 before Schmidt pulled even with Smith at the head of the field. One circuit later, disaster struck as Schmidt made contact with Smith’s right rear tire, which sent his machine hard into the turn three wall before flipping.
On the restart, Berth tried to track down Smith, while third starter Justin Erickson of Plymouth gained third on lap 18. Smith continued his smooth and steady pace at the point over the final seven laps to notch his second career PDTR and MSA 360 Sprint Car A-main triumph.
Berth placed second, Erickson was third, Pokorski claimed fourth and T.J. Haddy of Waupun worked his way up from the ninth starting spot to round out the top five.
Ben Schmidt topped PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car group qualifying with a quick lap of 13.326 seconds.
The seventh event of the 2024 PDTR campaign, which was sponsored by Butch and Blondie Hafemann, drew 23 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars.
The MSA 360 Sprint Car Series will return to action on Friday, July 26 at Dodge County Fairgrounds Speedway in Beaver Dam, Wis. along with the Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series and IMCA Modifieds for the annual Harry Neitzel Tribute Race.
Spectator gates open at 5 p.m. with warm-ups at 6 p.m. and hot laps to follow before opening ceremonies at 7:15 p.m.
One night later, the MSA will be in competition at The Plymouth Dirt Track on Saturday, July 27, which will also feature the third scheduled Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series event of the 2024 campaign at The Plymouth Dirt Track. The Sheboygan Flooring B Mods round out the card.
Grandstand gates open at 4:30 p.m. with “on-track action” scheduled to commence at 5:30 p.m.
AKRIGHT AUTO PLYMOUTH DIRT TRACK RACING 360 SPRINT CARS
A Main (25 Laps): 1. 69S-TJ Smith [2]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth [8]; 3. 3-Justin Erickson [3]; 4. 4-Alex Pokorski [4]; 5. 21H-TJ Haddy [9]; 6. 54-Randy Post [1]; 7. 51-Chris Larson [16]; 8. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [6]; 9. 09-Clayton Rossmann [7]; 10. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [11]; 11. 69-Bill Taylor [15]; 12. 30-Doug Wondra [20]; 13. 14J-Joseph Hintz [12]; 14. 11-Tony Wondra [14]; 15. 24-Scott Conger [13]; 16. 46-Steven Ruh [17]; 17. 53A-Spyder Akright [5]; 18. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [18]; 19. 55P-Brady Portschy [19]; 20. (DNF) 35-Ben Schmidt [10]; 21. (DNS) 44-Hayden Johnson; 22. (DNS) 19-Ion Stear; 23. (DNS) 16-Anthony Knierim
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 54-Randy Post [1]; 2. 21H-TJ Haddy [4]; 3. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [3]; 4. 53A-Spyder Akright [2]; 5. 14J-Joseph Hintz [6]; 6. 16-Anthony Knierim [7]; 7. 46-Steven Ruh [5]; 8. (DNS) 30-Doug Wondra
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 09-Clayton Rossmann [1]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt [4]; 3. 3-Justin Erickson [5]; 4. 69S-TJ Smith [6]; 5. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [7]; 6. 55P-Brady Portschy [8]; 7. (DNF) 51-Chris Larson [2]; 8. (DNF) 44-Hayden Johnson [3]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 4-Alex Pokorski [3]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth [4]; 3. 24-Scott Conger [1]; 4. 69-Bill Taylor [6]; 5. 11-Tony Wondra [5]; 6. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [7]; 7. (DNS) 19-Ion Stear
Qualifying 1: 1. 21H-TJ Haddy, 13.380 [5]; 2. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 13.614 [2]; 3. 53A-Spyder Akright, 13.628 [3]; 4. 54-Randy Post, 13.793 [8]; 5. 46-Steven Ruh, 13.838 [1]; 6. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 13.950 [6]; 7. 16-Anthony Knierim, 13.957 [4]; 8. 30-Doug Wondra [7]
Qualifying 2: 1. 35-Ben Schmidt, 13.326 [8]; 2. 44-Hayden Johnson, 13.421 [3]; 3. 51-Chris Larson, 13.459 [4]; 4. 09-Clayton Rossmann, 13.590 [7]; 5. 3-Justin Erickson, 13.739 [5]; 6. 69S-TJ Smith, 13.746 [6]; 7. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 13.875 [2]; 8. 55P-Brady Portschy, 14.642 [1]
Qualifying 3: 1. 22B-Brandon Berth, 13.427 [4]; 2. 4-Alex Pokorski, 13.707 [2]; 3. 19-Ion Stear, 14.099 [7]; 4. 24-Scott Conger, 14.118 [5]; 5. 11-Tony Wondra, 14.178 [6]; 6. 69-Bill Taylor, 14.233 [1]; 7. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 14.291 [3]
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