8/30/2025
Plymouth Dirt Track-Sheboygan Co Fair
Late pass propels Schmidt to 50th 360 Sprint Car win
Julien claims second straight IRA event
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 29, 2025 – With the bright lights of the Sheboygan County Fair midway framing a vibrant background, two-time and defending Akright Auto Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth flashed to his 50th career 360 Sprint Car victory Friday, Aug. 29 at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis.
In the 30-lap Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series main event, 16-year-old rising star Logan Julien of Oconomowoc executed the winning pass in the closing laps on the way to his second straight A-main victory.
Polesitter Lance Fassbender of Burnett, who claimed the 2008 PDTR 360 Sprint Car title, led the opening two circuits of the 25-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car main event.
On lap 3, outside front row starter Brandon Berth of Cascade used a slide job to vault past Fassbender into the lead. Berth pulled away to a solid advantage before catching the rear of the field on lap 8. However, the slower cars didn’t faze Berth as he maintained a full-straightaway cushion over Fassbender on lap 11.
Seven laps later, the first caution flag of the race was displayed for the spinning car of Ryan Sawusch. When the race resumed, sixth starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend moved into second with Ben Schmidt, who started eighth, following in third.
A red flag appeared on lap 19 for a flip involving Joseph Hintz of Burnett. Following the restart, Karnitz dove low to pressure the cushion-riding Berth for the lead. Another caution for a Sawusch spin bunched the field on lap 21.
When the green light turned on, Schmidt turned it on as he camped his No. 1 machine on the low line to power past Karnitz into second. On the 23rd circuit, Schmidt ripped off the winning move, sliding past Berth in turn four to seize the lead.
The 25th-year racer went on to nail down his fourth Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car victory of the 2025 season, 28th career PDTR A-main win and 50th career MSA triumph.
Berth, who had outdueled Schmidt for the win one week prior, had to settle for second. Karnitz placed third, Chris Clayton of Waldo, the fourth starter, wound up fourth, and Fassbender rounded out the top five.
“I’ve been racing at this track since 2000,” Schmidt said. “I’ve had some huge support over the years. I need to thank everyone for that. This win feels awesome. Last week, he [Brandon Berth] got me for the win by running the bottom in the closing laps. Tonight, everyone was running the top, so I went where they weren’t, and the bottom worked for us to get the win.”
Outside front row starter Jake Neuman of New Berlin, Ill., led the first two laps of the IRA 410 Sprint Car main event before polesitter Max Guilford of Auckland, New Zealand, grabbed the top spot on lap 3.
Guilford wasted no time bolting out to a huge full straightaway cushion, while two-time PDTR and MSA 360 Sprint Car champion Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls, who started third, bolted into second on lap 6.
Guilford caught the rear of the field just as the first of two yellow flags appeared on lap 9 for the spinning car of Tyler Brabant. Following the restart, Austin Hartmann slowed to a stop in turn four to bring out the second caution flag of the race.
The final restart saw fourth starter Logan Julien flex his muscle by slipping past Arenz into third along the rubber down inside lane in turns three and four. While Guilford ran the cushion just off the wall, Logan clung to the low line to drive into the lead on lap 27.
Julien, who captured the 2023 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car Rookie of the Year Award, held off Guilford’s late bid to retake the lead along the high line to notch his second career and second straight IRA 410 Sprint Car A-main win.
“I saw some lapped cars running really fast down low in turns three and four,” Julien said. “When I saw that, I knew there was rubber on the bottom. I was able to roll the top in one and two, and then the bottom in three and four to track down Max [Guilford]. It’s crazy to get back-to-back wins like this. To get my first 410 win last week [at LaSalle Speedway in LaSalle, Ill.] was amazing, and now to get another one this week is unbelievable.”
Arenz was second, Guilford took third, Neuman wound up fourth, and seventh starter Blake Nimee of Yorkville, Ill., placed fifth.
Thomas Schinderle of Berkley, Mich., won the 12-lap IRA B main.
Billy Kreutz of Kiel earned PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car fast qualifier accolades with a fast lap of 12.196 seconds.
Logan Julien took IRA 410 Sprint Car fast qualifier accolades for a lap of 11.335 seconds.
The event attracted a field of 52 entries, including 28 IRA 410 Sprint Cars and 24 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars.
The next event at The Plymouth Dirt Track is the eighth annual Jim “Wildman” Watson Classic on Saturday, Sept. 20, featuring the final race of the 2025 WABAM Dirt Kings Late Model Tour season. The Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Cars, A Modifieds, Street Stocks, and Bandits are also on the card.
Grandstands open at 4 p.m. with hot laps/qualifying at 5 p.m. and racing at 5:45 p.m.
Advance tickets for PDTR events are available for purchase at plymouthdirttrackracing.com/tickets.html
Weather information for all Plymouth Dirt Track Racing events will be posted on the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram pages, as well as the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing website – www.plymouthdtr.com.
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, X (Twitter) and Instagram.
AKRIGHT AUTO PLYMOUTH DIRT TRACK RACING 360 SPRINT CARS
A Main (25 Laps): 1. 1-Ben Schmidt [8]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth [2]; 3. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [6]; 4. 2-Chris Clayton [4]; 5. 7-Lance Fassbender [1]; 6. 69S-TJ Smith [9]; 7. 27G-Donny Goeden [11]; 8. 69-Bill Taylor [12]; 9. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [3]; 10. 51-Chris Larson [13]; 11. 52-Cody Schlafer [5]; 12. 24X-Eric Wilke [10]; 13. 12P-JJ Pagel [16]; 14. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [14]; 15. 11-Tony Wondra [15]; 16. 46-Steven Ruh [18]; 17. 16-Anthony Knierim [17]; 18. 53A-Spyder Akright [21]; 19. 26-Preston Ruh [19]; 20. P1-Mark Chevalier [22]; 21. 68P-Frank Perko [23]; 22. 20R-Weston Finke [24]; 23. 55S-Ryan Sawusch [20]; 24. (DNF) 14J-Joseph Hintz [7]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 52-Cody Schlafer [1]; 2. 2-Chris Clayton [2]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth [4]; 4. 69-Bill Taylor [3]; 5. 11-Tony Wondra [5]; 6. 12P-JJ Pagel [7]; 7. 53A-Spyder Akright [6]; 8. P1-Mark Chevalier [8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Ben Schmidt [2]; 2. 7-Lance Fassbender [1]; 3. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [4]; 4. 27G-Donny Goeden [3]; 5. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [5]; 6. 16-Anthony Knierim [6]; 7. 26-Preston Ruh [7]; 8. 68P-Frank Perko [8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 14J-Joseph Hintz [2]; 2. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [4]; 3. 69S-TJ Smith [1]; 4. 51-Chris Larson [3]; 5. 24X-Eric Wilke [6]; 6. 46-Steven Ruh [5]; 7. 55S-Ryan Sawusch [7]; 8. 20R-Weston Finke [8]
Qualifying 1: 1. 22B-Brandon Berth, 12.600 [4]; 2. 69-Bill Taylor, 12.627 [8]; 3. 2-Chris Clayton, 12.804 [7]; 4. 52-Cody Schlafer, 12.821 [3]; 5. 11-Tony Wondra, 12.935 [6]; 6. 53A-Spyder Akright, 12.955 [1]; 7. 12P-JJ Pagel, 12.976 [5]; 8. P1-Mark Chevalier, 13.091 [2]
Qualifying 2: 1. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 12.196 [3]; 2. 27G-Donny Goeden, 12.512 [1]; 3. 1-Ben Schmidt, 12.568 [6]; 4. 7-Lance Fassbender, 12.572 [2]; 5. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 12.620 [4]; 6. 16-Anthony Knierim, 12.621 [8]; 7. 68P-Frank Perko, 13.066 [5]; 8. 26-Preston Ruh, 13.359 [7]
Qualifying 3: 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 12.689 [5]; 2. 51-Chris Larson, 12.795 [1]; 3. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 12.881 [4]; 4. 69S-TJ Smith, 12.940 [3]; 5. 46-Steven Ruh, 13.213 [6]; 6. 24X-Eric Wilke, 13.222 [2]; 7. 55S-Ryan Sawusch, 13.932 [7]; 8. 20R-Weston Finke, 16.217 [8]
BUMPER TO BUMPER INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION 410 SPRINT CARS
A Main (30 Laps): 1. 85J-Logan Julien [4]; 2. 25T-Travis Arenz [3]; 3. 16C-Max Guilford [1]; 4. 3N-Jake Neuman [2]; 5. 79-Blake Nimee [7]; 6. 25-Danny Schlafer [8]; 7. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [10]; 8. 9K-Kyle Schuett [5]; 9. 21H-TJ Haddy [9]; 10. 34-Sterling Cling [6]; 11. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [11]; 12. 10V-Matt VanderVere [17]; 13. 4-Alex Pokorski [15]; 14. 12-Corbin Gurley [24]; 15. 41-Thomas Schinderle [19]; 16. 68-Dave Uttech [14]; 17. GR8-Will Gerrits [22]; 18. 3-Justin Erickson [23]; 19. 26-Tyler Tischendorf [20]; 20. 96-Jake Blackhurst [13]; 21. (DNF) 4K-Kris Spitz [18]; 22. (DNF) 99-Tyler Brabant [16]; 23. (DNF) 87A-Austin Hartmann [12]; 24. (DNF) 9-Tommy Colburn [21]
B Main (10 Laps): 1. 41-Thomas Schinderle [4]; 2. 26-Tyler Tischendorf [7]; 3. 9-Tommy Colburn [1]; 4. GR8-Will Gerrits [3]; 5. 3-Justin Erickson [6]; 6. 12-Corbin Gurley [2]; 7. 24-Scott Conger [8]; 8. 55P-Brady Portschy [9]; 9. 43-Jereme Schroeder [5]; 10. 70W-Logan Wienke [10]
Dash 1 (4 Laps): 1. 16C-Max Guilford [1]; 2. 25T-Travis Arenz [3]; 3. 9K-Kyle Schuett [4]; 4. 79-Blake Nimee [2]; 5. 21H-TJ Haddy [5]
Dash 2 (4 Laps): 1. 3N-Jake Neuman [1]; 2. 85J-Logan Julien [2]; 3. 34-Sterling Cling [4]; 4. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [5]; 5. 25-Danny Schlafer [3]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 25T-Travis Arenz [1]; 2. 9K-Kyle Schuett [2]; 3. 85J-Logan Julien [4]; 4. 96-Jake Blackhurst [5]; 5. 21H-TJ Haddy [3]; 6. 99-Tyler Brabant [7]; 7. 41-Thomas Schinderle [8]; 8. 26-Tyler Tischendorf [10]; 9. 24-Scott Conger [9]; 10. 12-Corbin Gurley [6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 16C-Max Guilford [1]; 2. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [2]; 3. 79-Blake Nimee [4]; 4. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [3]; 5. 68-Dave Uttech [5]; 6. 4K-Kris Spitz [8]; 7. GR8-Will Gerrits [6]; 8. 3-Justin Erickson [7]; 9. 55P-Brady Portschy [9]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 25-Danny Schlafer [2]; 2. 3N-Jake Neuman [4]; 3. 87A-Austin Hartmann [1]; 4. 34-Sterling Cling [3]; 5. 4-Alex Pokorski [6]; 6. 10V-Matt VanderVere [7]; 7. 43-Jereme Schroeder [8]; 8. 9-Tommy Colburn [5]; 9. 70W-Logan Wienke [9]
Qualifying: 1. 85J-Logan Julien, 11.335 [1]; 2. 79-Blake Nimee, 11.402 [3]; 3. 3N-Jake Neuman, 11.409 [19]; 4. 21H-TJ Haddy, 11.410 [2]; 5. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 11.457 [10]; 6. 34-Sterling Cling, 11.465 [8]; 7. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 11.480 [14]; 8. 2W-Scotty Neitzel, 11.514[7]; 9. 25-Danny Schlafer, 11.519 [16]; 10. 25T-Travis Arenz, 11.612 [17]; 11. 16C-Max Guilford, 11.631 [24]; 12. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 11.647 [26]; 13. 96-Jake Blackhurst, 11.656 [27]; 14. 68-Dave Uttech, 11.706 [20]; 15. 9-Tommy Colburn, 11.820 [4]; 16. 12-Corbin Gurley, 11.833 [23]; 17. GR8-Will Gerrits, 11.850 [21]; 18. 4-Alex Pokorski, 11.851 [13]; 19. 99-Tyler Brabant, 11.941 [11]; 20. 3-Justin Erickson, 11.975 [6]; 21. 10V-Matt VanderVere, 11.978 [18]; 22. 41-Thomas Schinderle, 11.991 [25]; 23. 4K-Kris Spitz, 12.019 [9]; 24. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 12.237 [22]; 25. 24-Scott Conger, 12.252 [12]; 26. 55P-Brady Portschy, 12.347 [28]; 27. 70W-Logan Wienke, 12.940 [5]; 28. (DNF) 26-Tyler Tischendorf [15]
Hot Laps: 1. 25-Danny Schlafer, 11.275 [16]; 2. 16C-Max Guilford, 11.402 [24]; 3. 96-Jake Blackhurst, 11.496 [27]; 4. 25T-Travis Arenz, 11.582 [17]; 5. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 11.583 [26]; 6. 41-Thomas Schinderle, 11.625 [25]; 7. 68-Dave Uttech, 11.632 [20]; 8. 3N-Jake Neuman, 11.669 [19]; 9. 85J-Logan Julien, 11.672 [1]; 10. 99-Tyler Brabant, 11.703 [11]; 11. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 11.708 [14]; 12. 12-Corbin Gurley, 11.761 [23]; 13. 2W-Scotty Neitzel, 11.765 [7]; 14. 34-Sterling Cling, 11.779 [8]; 15. GR8-Will Gerrits, 11.805 [21]; 16. 55P-Brady Portschy, 11.875 [28]; 17. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 11.879 [10]; 18. 79-Blake Nimee, 11.925 [3]; 19. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 12.052 [22]; 20. 10V-Matt VanderVere, 12.152 [18]; 21. 21H-TJ Haddy, 12.247 [2]; 22. 4K-Kris Spitz, 12.368 [9]; 23. 4-Alex Pokorski, 12.428 [13]; 24. 24-Scott Conger, 12.438 [12]; 25. 9-Tommy Colburn, 12.675 [4]; 26. 3-Justin Erickson, 12.689 [6]; 27. 70W-Logan Wienke, 13.979 [5]; 28. (DNF) 26-Tyler Tischendorf [15]
Article Credit: Jeff Pederson - Pedal Down Promotions
Submitted By: Jeff Pederson
