By Jeff Pederson
July 15, 2017 – Plymouth Dirt Track Racing honored those that keep the sport of auto racing alive on Fan Appreciation Night Saturday, July 15 at the Sheboygan County Fair Grounds.
Polesitter Paul Pokorski of West Bend jumped out to the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap Sprint Car A main. The 25-year veteran held the top spot through the first eight laps before 2010 PDTR Sprint Car champion Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee, who started third, moved in to challenge as the leaders encountered lapped traffic.
On lap 9, Davis dove underneath the high-riding Pokorski in turn one to assume the top spot, while Schlafer, who started seventh, used the outside groove to take over third. The next lap produced a five-car incident extending from turn three and the way through the frontstretch, involving Anthony Knierim of Franksville, Justin Miller of Plymouth, Eagle’s Scott Conger, Shane Wenninger of Kewaskum and Davis, who collided with Miller, who had spun exiting turn four.
The damage forced Davis to exit the race, giving the lead back to Pokorski. Of the five cars involved in the incident, only Conger was able to continue.
On the restart, Schlafer pulled off a slide job entering turn three. However, Pokorski turned back under him to lead lap 11. However, Schlafer was not to be denied as he again slid past Pokorski in turn three on lap 12 and made the move stick.
Schlafer road the ragged edge along the high line, jumping the cushion on a few occasions, but still managed to hold off Pokorski over the final 13 laps to notch his 18th career PDTR Sprint Car victory and the 46th overall main event triumph in Midwest Sprint Car Association competition.
Pokorski placed second, followed by 18th starter Tim Haddy of Waupun in third, Lance Fassbender of Burnett, who started 11th, fourth and fourth starter Al Schlafer of Sussex, who rounded out the top five.
Date of Race: July 15, 2017
HEAT 1
1, BRANDON MCMULLEN. 2, DANNY SCHLAFER. 3, DOUG WONDRA. 4,
NICH MELIS. 5, JOHN KRESBACH. 6, CHRIS CLAYTON. 7, DANNON
TESSMER. 8, TYLER BRABANT. 9, EMILY PORTSCHY.
HEAT 2
1, ANTHONY KNIERIM. 2, TONY WONDRA. 3, PAUL POKORSKI. 4, LANCE
FASSBENDER. 5, KEN JAY FIEDLER. 6, MAYER AUTOMOTIVE. 7,
SCOTT CONGER. 8, KEVIN SEIDLER.
HEAT 3
1, AL SCHLAFER. 2, KURT DAVIS. 3, MICHAEL YURMANOVICH. 4, KEVIN
KARNTZ. 5, Bill Taylor. 6, JUSTIN MILLER. 7, TIM HADDY. 8, JOSH
TEUNISSEN.
B FEATURE
1, MAYER AUTOMOTIVE. 2, TIM HADDY. 3, TYLER BRABANT. 4,
DANNON TESSMER. 5, SCOTT CONGER. 6, JOSH TEUNISSEN. 7, CHRIS
CLAYTON. 8, KEVIN SEIDLER. 9, EMILY PORTSCHY.
A FEATURE
1, DANNY SCHLAFER. 2, PAUL POKORSKI. 3, TIM HADDY. 4, LANCE
FASSBENDER. 5, AL SCHLAFER. 6, TONY WONDRA. 7, DOUG WONDRA.
8, KEVIN KARNTZ. 9, BRANDON MCMULLEN. 10, KEN JAY FIEDLER. 11,
TYLER BRABANT. 12, JOHN KRESBACH. 13, SCOTT CONGER. 14, NICH
MELIS. 15, DANNON TESSMER. 16, Bill Taylor. 17, MICHAEL
YURMANOVICH. 18, JOSH TEUNISSEN. 19, KURT DAVIS. 20, MAYER
AUTOMOTIVE. 21, ANTHONY KNIERIM. 22, JUSTIN MILLER.