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Fassbender goes flag to flag to bag PDTR 360 Sprint A main triumph

By Jeff Pederson Pedal Down Promotions

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) May 20, 2023 – On a night when nothing but open wheel race cars took to The Plymouth Dirt Track third-mile clay oval in Plymouth, Wis., 31-year racing veteran Lance Fassbender of Burnett led all 25 laps on the way to his first Akright Auto Plymouth Dirt Track Racing – Midwest Sprint Car Association A-main victory of the 2023 season Saturday, May 20.

In the 30-lap Frank Filskov Memorial Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series A main, 2022 IRA champion Jordan Goldesberry of Springfield, Ill. emerged from a thrilling late-race duel with 10-time IRA champ Bill Balog of Hartland and two-time IRA champion Jake Blackhurst of Hanna City, Ill. to claim his second IRA A-main victory of the 2023 season.

Jace Sparks of Crystal Lake, Ill. led every lap of the 25-lap main event to notch his first career Badger Midgets A-main victory.

After starting on the pole of the 25-lap PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car A main, 2008 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing and 2005 Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car champion Lance Fassbender jumped into the lead on the drop of the green flag utilizing the preferred low groove, followed by 2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Ben Schmidt of Plymouth, who started third, in second.

On lap 3, fifth starter Alex Pokorski of West Bend slipped past the high-riding machine of two-time PDTR and five-time MSA 360 Sprint Car champion Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee, who started second, to move into third.

As Fassbender built up a solid lead in the early going, the first of third caution flags in the event appeared on lap six when two-time PDTR and MSA 360 Sprint Car champion Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls spun to a stop in turn two.

Following the restart, Pokorski maneuvered past Schmidt to assume second on lap 7. Fassbender caught the rear of the field on lap 12, which allowed Pokorski to cut the gap. While closing in on Fassbender for the lead, a potential career-best finish for Pokorski was derailed when he was collected after rookie T.J. Haddy of Waupun and Chris Larson of Franksville made contact in turn four.

Fassbender controlled the lead after the ensuing restart and built up a half-straight away cushion over Schmidt by lap 22. As the leaders closed in on slower traffic, the third and final caution flew when Kurt Davis hit the backstretch wall on lap 28.

Fassbender was not to be denied on the final restart as he cruised to his eighth career PDTR 360 Sprint A-main victory and 22nd career MSA 360 Sprint Car main event triumph.

Schmidt placed second, seventh starter Chris Clayton of Waldo finished a strong third, fourth starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend took fourth and two-time PDTR and four-time MSA 360 Sprint Car champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh moved up from the eighth starting spot to round out the top five.

“I was actually glad to see that final caution come out because those lapped cars were going to be really hard to get around at the end,” Fassbender said.

Polesitter Jake Blackhurst raced into the lead on the opening lap of the 30-lap IRA 410 Sprint Car Frank Filskov Memorial A main. On lap five, fourth starter Bill Balog used the outside groove to power into the lead in turn one.

The first of two caution flags appeared on lap six when Josh Schneiderman of West Burlington, Iowa spun in turn four. Following the restart, Jordan Goldesberry, who started fifth, used a low move to slip past Blackhurst into second.

As the cushion-pounding Balog caught lapped traffic on lap 13, Goldesberry closed considerably along the low line. The second and final caution flag of the race then appeared on the following lap as Tyler Tischendorf of Waupaca and Ion Stear of Hebron, Ill. make contact in turn third.

Goldesberry continued to hound Balog for the lead over the next six laps before surging ahead in turn four on lap 19. However, Balog battled back to regain the lead on lap 21 in turn two.

On the next lap, Blackhurst reentered the lead battle as Balog, Goldesberry and Blackhurst went into turn three three-wide with Blackhurst emerging in the lead exiting turn four.

As the leaders weaved their way through slower traffic, Balog regained the top spot in turn two as he continued to stick with the high line. Goldesberry remained patient along the low line to move back into the lead exiting turn four on lap 29.

On the final lap, Balog attempted to make one final bid for the lead, but he spun into the wall along the far outside portion of the track in turn four as Goldesberry crossed the finish line at the head of the pack to secure his ninth career IRA Sprint Car Series A-main victory.

“I didn’t have an idea we were going to be that good in the A main,” Goldesberry said. “As the race went on, I knew lapped traffic would be a problem running down low. I didn’t know if we would be as fast the guys running the top, but luckily it turned out in our favor.”

Russel Borland, who started eighth, charged up to finish a career-best second, IRA rookie Brenham Crouch of Lubbock, Texas, started and finished third, two-time IRA champion Scotty Neitzel of Beaver Dam placed fourth after starting eighth and Blackhurst placed fifth.

Polesitter Jace Sparks assumed the top spot on the opening lap of the 25-lap Badger Midget A main as fifth starter Brandon Waelti of Sun Prairie used a strong start to move into second.

The lone caution of the race appeared on lap five when Tommy Colburn of New Berlin spun in turn four on lap 5. Three laps later, Waelti closed in to challenge the low-riding Sparks along the low line.

The leaders remained in lock-step order along the inside groove until Sparks caught the rear of the field on lap 21. Waelti then drifted out of the preferred low line on lap 22 which allowed the third place car of Cody Weisensel of Sun Prairie, who started fourth, to move into second.

Sparks held on over the final three laps to secure his first career Badger Midgets A-main victory. Weisensel placed second, sixth starter Todd Kluever of Sun Prairie placed third, Daltyn England of Springfield, Ill., who started ninth, placed fourth and seventh starter Kyle Stark of Marshall rounded out the top five.

Travis Arenz (PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars), Anthony Knierim of Franksville (IRA 410 Sprint Cars) and R.J. Corson of Markham, Ill. (Badger Midgets) each claimed B-main victories.

Ben Schmidt earned top PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car qualifying honors with a lap of 13.331 seconds.

Mike Reinke of Howards Grove was the top IRA 410 Sprint Series qualifier with a fast lap of 11.695 seconds.

Todd Kluever collected Badger Midgets fast qualifier accolades with a lap of 14.017 seconds.

The third event of the 2023 PDTR campaign, which was sponsored by Hopf Farms, drew a total of 89 cars, including 27 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars, 31 IRA 410 Sprint Cars and 31 Badger Midgets

After taking the Memorial Day weekend off, The Plymouth Dirt Track will host the Rayce Rudeen Foundation $26,000-to-win Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions-Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series event on Saturday, June 3. The PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars will also be on the card for the all-Sprint Car event.

Pit gates open at 2 p.m., followed by grandstand gates at 4:30 p.m. with hot laps at 5:30 p.m.

Advance tickets for the Rayce Rudeen Foundation event are available on My Race Pass.

The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds is located at 229 Fairview Drive in Plymouth, Wis. For more information, visit www.plymouthdtr.com or check out Plymouth Dirt Track Racing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

AKRIGHT AUTO PLYMOUTH DIRT TRACK RACING 360 SPRINT CARS

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 7-Lance Fassbender [1]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt [3]; 3. 2-Chris Clayton [7]; 4. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [4]; 5. 98-Brandon McMullen [8]; 6. 11-Tim Haddy [10]; 7. 30-Doug Wondra [6]; 8. 66-Nick Daywalt [11]; 9. 53-Shane Wenninger [17]; 10. 22B-Brandon Berth [9]; 11. 69S-TJ Smith [18]; 12. 69-Bill Taylor [21]; 13. 85J-Logan Julien [13]; 14. 4-Alex Pokorski [5]; 15. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [19]; 16. 51-Chris Larson [20]; 17. 54G-Scott Grissom [14]; 18. 53A-Paul Pokorski [15]; 19. 6K-Kurt Davis [2]; 20. (DNF) 3-Justin Erickson [12]; 21. (DNF) 21H-TJ Haddy [22]; 22. (DNF) 25T-Travis Arenz [16]
B Main (10 Laps): 1. 25T-Travis Arenz [10]; 2. 53-Shane Wenninger [6]; 3. 69S-TJ Smith [3]; 4. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [1]; 5. 51-Chris Larson [2]; 6. 69-Bill Taylor [8]; 7. 1-Tommy Colburn [9]; 8. 5-Kevin Seidler [4]; 9. 66T-Tristan Koenings [7]; 10. 54-Randy Post [5]; 11. (DNS) 12P-JJ Pagel

Heat 1: 1. 98-Brandon McMullen [3]; 2. 7-Lance Fassbender [1]; 3. 35-Ben Schmidt [4]; 4. 11-Tim Haddy [5]; 5. 3-Justin Erickson [7]; 6. 53-Shane Wenninger [2]; 7. 69S-TJ Smith [8]; 8. 69-Bill Taylor [6]; 9. 66T-Tristan Koenings [9]

Heat 2: 1. 30-Doug Wondra [1]; 2. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [2]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth [3]; 4. 85J-Logan Julien [4]; 5. 66-Nick Daywalt [7]; 6. 51-Chris Larson [6]; 7. 5-Kevin Seidler [8]; 8. 1-Tommy Colburn [5]; 9. (DNS) 25T-Travis Arenz

Heat 3: 1. 2-Chris Clayton [1]; 2. 4-Alex Pokorski [3]; 3. 6K-Kurt Davis [4]; 4. 53A-Paul Pokorski [2]; 5. 54G-Scott Grissom [5]; 6. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [6]; 7. 21H-TJ Haddy [9]; 8. 54-Randy Post [8]; 9. (DNF) 12P-JJ Pagel [7]

Qualifying 1 (10 Laps): 1. 35-Ben Schmidt, 13.331 [1]; 2. 98-Brandon McMullen, 13.376 [7]; 3. 53-Shane Wenninger, 13.780 [4]; 4. 7-Lance Fassbender, 13.789 [5]; 5. 11-Tim Haddy, 13.813 [8]; 6. 69-Bill Taylor, 13.847 [3]; 7. 3-Justin Erickson, 13.879 [9]; 8. 69S-TJ Smith, 14.641 [6]; 9. 66T-Tristan Koenings, 14.733 [2]

Qualifying 2 (10 Laps): 1. 25T-Travis Arenz, 13.343 [6]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth, 13.527 [5]; 3. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 13.630 [1]; 4. 30-Doug Wondra, 13.678 [7]; 5. 85J-Logan Julien, 13.795 [3]; 6. 1-Tommy Colburn, 13.955 [8]; 7. 51-Chris Larson, 14.088 [4]; 8. 66-Nick Daywalt, 14.417 [2]; 9. 5-Kevin Seidler, 14.672 [9]

Qualifying 3 (10 Laps): 1. 6K-Kurt Davis, 13.349 [1]; 2. 4-Alex Pokorski, 13.540 [5]; 3. 53A-Paul Pokorski, 13.992 [7]; 4. 2-Chris Clayton, 14.378 [4]; 5. 54G-Scott Grissom, 14.385 [8]; 6. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 14.431 [3]; 7. 21H-TJ Haddy, 14.790 [9]; 8. 12P-JJ Pagel, 14.793 [2]; 9. 54-Randy Post, 14.901 [6]

BUMPER TO BUMPER INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION 410 SPRINT CARS

A Main (30 Laps): 1. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [5]; 2. 23-Russel Borland [8]; 3. 1-Brenham Crouch [3]; 4. 96-Jake Blackhurst [1]; 5. 2W-Scott Neitzel [6]; 6. 35-Zach Hampton [2]; 7. 3N-Jake Neuman [13]; 8. 87A-Austin Hartmann [9]; 9. 10W-Mike Reinke [7]; 10. 79-Blake Nimee [12]; 11. 10V-Kurt Davis [17]; 12. 9K-Kyle Schuett [16]; 13. U2-Jack Vanderboom [10]; 14. 4K-Kris Spitz [14]; 15. 21-Will Gerrits [18]; 16. 88-Christopher Flick [20]; 17. 16-Anthony Knierim [19]; 18. 29-Hunter Custer [24]; 19. 68-Dave Uttech [22]; 20. 25-Danny Schlafer [15]; 21. 17B-Bill Balog [4]; 22. 19CW-Ion Stear [23]; 23. 49-Josh Schneiderman [11]; 24. 26-Tyler Tischendorf [21]

B Main (12 Laps): 1. 16-Anthony Knierim [1]; 2. 88-Christopher Flick [4]; 3. 26-Tyler Tischendorf [5]; 4. 68-Dave Uttech [3]; 5. 19CW-Ion Stear [10]; 6. 29-Hunter Custer [2]; 7. 99-Tyler Brabant [7]; 8. 3B-Shelby Bosie [13]; 9. 25T-Travis Arenz [12]; 10. 26R-Preston Ruh [6]; 11. 24-Scott Conger [8]; 12. 39V-William Huck [9]; 13. (DNS) 47-Todd King

Dash 1 (4 Laps): 1. 96-Jake Blackhurst [1]; 2. 1-Brenham Crouch [3]; 3. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [5]; 4. 10W-Mike Reinke [2]; 5. 87A-Austin Hartmann [4]
Dash 2 (4 Laps): 1. 35-Zach Hampton [1]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog [2]; 3. 2W-Scott Neitzel [4]; 4. 23-Russel Borland [3]; 5. U2-Jack Vanderboom [5]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Brenham Crouch [2]; 2. 96-Jake Blackhurst [3]; 3. 10W-Mike Reinke [4]; 4. 25-Danny Schlafer [6]; 5. 9K-Kyle Schuett [9]; 6. 10V-Kurt Davis [7]; 7. 16-Anthony Knierim [1]; 8. 29-Hunter Custer [5]; 9. 24-Scott Conger [8]; 10. 19CW-Ion Stear [10]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 17B-Bill Balog [2]; 2. 49-Josh Schneiderman [1]; 3. 79-Blake Nimee [6]; 4. 3N-Jake Neuman [5]; 5. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [3]; 6. 35-Zach Hampton [4]; 7. 68-Dave Uttech [7]; 8. 26R-Preston Ruh [8]; 9. 39V-William Huck [9]; 10. (DNF) 47-Todd King [10]; 11. (DNS) 3B-Shelby Bosie

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 23-Russel Borland [1]; 2. U2-Jack Vanderboom [3]; 3. 87A-Austin Hartmann [2]; 4. 4K-Kris Spitz [5]; 5. 2W-Scott Neitzel [4]; 6. 21-Will Gerrits [7]; 7. 88-Christopher Flick [9]; 8. 26-Tyler Tischendorf [8]; 9. (DNF) 25T-Travis Arenz [10]; 10. (DNF) 99-Tyler Brabant [6]

Qualifying: 1. 10W-Mike Reinke, 11.695 [3]; 2. 35-Zach Hampton, 11.791 [6]; 3. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 11.879 [1]; 4. 96-Jake Blackhurst, 11.944 [5]; 5. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 11.948 [19]; 6. U2-Jack Vanderboom, 12.058 [10]; 7. 1-Brenham Crouch, 12.123 [4]; 8. 17B-Bill Balog, 12.135 [29]; 9. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 12.140 [9]; 10. 16-Anthony Knierim, 12.216 [14]; 11. 49-Josh Schneiderman, 12.234 [16]; 12. 23-Russel Borland, 12.287 [7]; 13. 29-Hunter Custer, 12.320 [2]; 14. 3N-Jake Neuman, 12.357 [15]; 15. 4K-Kris Spitz, 12.367 [25]; 16. 25-Danny Schlafer, 12.417 [24]; 17. 79-Blake Nimee, 12.486 [27]; 18. 99-Tyler Brabant, 12.528 [13]; 19. 10V-Kurt Davis, 12.529 [11]; 20. 68-Dave Uttech, 12.562 [22]; 21. 21-Will Gerrits, 12.689 [12]; 22. 24-Scott Conger, 12.767 [17]; 23. 3B-Shelby Bosie, 12.840 [8]; 24. 26-Tyler Tischendorf, 12.842 [28]; 25. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 13.011 [26]; 26. 26R-Preston Ruh, 13.182 [18]; 27. 88-Christopher Flick, 13.224 [23]; 28. 19CW-Ion Stear, 13.367 [21]; 29. 39V-William Huck, 14.031 [31]; 30. 25T-Travis Arenz [20]; 31. 47-Todd King [30]
Hot Laps: 1. 17B-Bill Balog, 11.771 [29]; 2. 35-Zach Hampton, 12.031 [6]; 3. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 12.074 [26]; 4. 96-Jake Blackhurst, 12.094 [5]; 5. 49-Josh Schneiderman, 12.123 [16]; 6. 1-Brenham Crouch, 00:12.151 [4]; 7. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 12.304 [1]; 8. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 12.376 [9]; 9. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 12.377 [19]; 10. 3B-Shelby Bosie, 12.434 [8]; 11. 23-Russel Borland, 12.527 [7]; 12. 10W-Mike Reinke, 12.533 [3]; 13. 3N-Jake Neuman, 12.571 [15]; 14. 47-Todd King, 12.581 [30]; 15. 16-Anthony Knierim, 12.606 [14]; 16. 26-Tyler Tischendorf, 12.617 [28]; 17. 19CW-Ion Stear, 12.637 [21]; 18. 79-Blake Nimee, 12.740 [27]; 19. 4K-Kris Spitz, 12.752 [25]; 20. 25-Danny Schlafer, 12.759 [24]; 21. 68-Dave Uttech, 12.761 [22]; 22. 10V-Kurt Davis, 12.811 [11]; 23. U2-Jack Vanderboom, 12.847 [10]; 24. 99-Tyler Brabant, 13.031 [13]; 25. 29-Hunter Custer, 13.068 [2]; 26. 24-Scott Conger, 13.096 [17]; 27. 21-Will Gerrits, 13.236 [12]; 28. 26R-Preston Ruh, 13.330 [18]; 29. 88-Christopher Flick, 13.478 [23]; 30. 39V-William Huck, 13.789 [31]; 31. 25T-Travis Arenz, 13.789 [20]

BADGER MIDGETS

Advanced Fastening Supply AFS A Main (25 Laps): 1. 40-Jace Sparks [1]; 2. 20-Cody Weisensel [4]; 3. 55-Todd Kluever [6]; 4. 19E-Daltyn England [9]; 5. 2-Kyle Stark [7]; 6. 9S-Mike Stroik [2]; 7. 57-Daniel Robinson [3]; 8. 3W-Brandon Waelti [5]; 9. 36-Chris Baue [17]; 10. 5K-Kevin Douglas [8]; 11. 15C-RJ Corson (16]; 12. 28-Jim Fuerst [22]; 13. 29-Harrison Kleven [19]; 14. 7-Brian Peterson [13]; 15. 87-Jake Dohner [18]; 16. 10A-Tommy Colburn [11]; 17. 68-Eric Blumer [21]; 18. 8-Jake Goeglein [15]; 19. 53M-Miles Doherty [20]; 20. 59-Kyle Koch [12]; 21. (DNF) 56-Charles Rufi [10]; 22. (DNF) 40JR-Dave Collins Jr. [14]
High Performance Lubricants B Main (12 Laps): 1. 15C-RJ Corson [3]; 2. 36-Chris Baue [5]; 3. 87-Jake Dohner [4]; 4. 29-Harrison Kleven [7]; 5. 53M-Miles Doherty [9]; 6. 68-Eric Blumer [11]; 7. 28-Jim Fuerst [6]; 8. 31-Shay Sassano [1]; 9. 1W-Robby Wirth [13]; 10. 45-Trey Weishoff [2]; 11. 10-Denny Smith [8]; 12. 17-Nick Kilian [10]; 13. (DNF) 41-Parker Jones [12]

Behlings Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 55-Todd Kluever [8]; 2. 19E-Daltyn England [3]; 3. 40-Jace Sparks [5]; 4. 7-Brian Peterson [1]; 5. 10A-Tommy Colburn [2]; 6. 31-Shay Sassano [4]; 7. (DNF) 5X-Adam Taylor [6]; 8. (DNS) 38-Matt Rechek

Simpson Race Products Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2-Kyle Stark [4]; 2. 57-Daniel Robinson [5]; 3. 3W-Brandon Waelti [7]; 4. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr [1]; 5. 59-Kyle Koch [2]; 6. 53M-Miles Doherty [8]; 7. 15C-RJ Corson [3]; 8. (DNF) 6B-Mitchell Davis [6]

Auto Meter Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5K-Kevin Douglas [5]; 2. 20-Cody Weisensel [7]; 3. 9S-Mike Stroik [6]; 4. 56-Charles Rufi [3]; 5. 8-Jake Goeglein [1]; 6. 45-Trey Weishoff [2]; 7. (DNS) 87-Jake Dohner; 8. (DQ) 36-Chris Baue [8]

FiveOne Motorsports Fast Time Qualifying (25 Laps): 1. 55-Todd Kluever, 14.017 [14]; 2. 3W-Brandon Waelti, 14.061 [15]; 3. 36-Chris Baue, 14.191 [9]; 4. 38-Matt Rechek, 14.218 [18]; 5. 6B-Mitchell Davis, 14.289 [28]; 6. 20-Cody Weisensel, 14.460 [17]; 7. 5X-Adam Taylor, 14.536 [4]; 8. 57-Daniel Robinson, 14.560 [21]; 9. 9S-Mike Stroik, 14.628 [23]; 10. 40-Jace Sparks, 14.913 [30]; 11. 2-Kyle Stark, 14.920 [5]; 12. 5K-Kevin Douglas, 14.999 [25]; 13. 31-Shay Sassano, 15.048 [13]; 14. 53M-Miles Doherty, 15.133 [20]; 15. 87-Jake Dohner, 15.138 [6]; 16. 19E-Daltyn England, 15.190 [11]; 17. 15C-RJ Corson, 15.225 [2]; 18. 56-Charles Rufi, 15.250 [12]; 19. 10A-Tommy Colburn, 15.251 [19]; 20. 59-Kyle Koch, 15.261 [16]; 21. 45-Trey Weishoff, 15.308 [31]; 22. 7-Brian Peterson, 15.338 [22]; 23. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr, 15.649 [1]; 24. 8-Jake Goeglein, 15.776 [29]; 25. 10-Denny Smith, 15.856 [24]; 26. 29-Harrison Kleven, 15.860 [3]; 27. 28-Jim Fuerst, 15.894 [26]; 28. 41-Parker Jones, 15.982 [7]; 29. 1W-Robby Wirth, 16.472 [27]; 30. 68-Eric Blumer, 16.857 [8]; 31. (DNS) 17-Nick Kilian, 16.857

Madison Extinguisher Service Non Qualifier (8 Laps): 1. 28-Jim Fuerst [1]; 2. 68-Eric Blumer [5]; 3. 41-Parker Jones [6]; 4. 29-Harrison Kleven [2]; 5. 10-Denny Smith [3]; 6. 1W-Robby Wirth [4]; 7. 17-Nick Kilian [7]

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