From Pedal Down Promotions
April 26, 2025 – Two-time and defending Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth topped five-time track champion Donny Goeden of Kewaskum to fire up the 2025 season in victorious fashion in the 25-lap Akright Auto PDTR-Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car A main on a chilly spring evening at The Plymouth Dirt Track on Saturday, April 26.
Polesitter Brandon Berth of Cascade jumped into the lead on the opening circuit of the 360 Sprint Car headliner before back-to-back cautions involving Katelyn Krebsbach of Cascade and Joseph Hintz of Burnett bunched the field on lap 2.
On the restart, three-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Donny Goeden, who started outside the front row, bolted in to challenge Berth from the top spot. The two drivers battled side by side over the ensuing lap before Berth clipped an infield tire sending his car flipping in turn two on lap 3.
Former PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Lance Fassbender of Burnett was also involved in the incident, which forced him to retire from the race on his first night back in his familiar No. 7 car after suffering serious burns last June.
Goeden, who began his racing career in the Eastern Wisconsin Stock Car Winged Super Modified division at Plymouth in 1985, controlled the restart before Ben Schmidt, who started fourth, maneuvered past fifth starter T.J. Smith of Greenville and dove under Goeden to assume the lead exiting turn four on lap 4.
Schmidt fended off Goeden over the next two laps before the race was slowed for the fourth time for Eric Wilke of Genessee, who spun in turn three on lap 6.
Smith and Goeden exchanged second place on the restart, which helped Schmidt build up a half-straightaway cushion. On lap 11, Schmidt caught the rear of the field, which helped Goeden close in to pull even with the two-time PDTR 360 Sprint champion on lap 13 as the two Sprint Car stalwarts weaved their way through lapped traffic.
Schmidt successfully negotiated the slower traffic to stretch his lead to a full straightaway over the final 10 laps en route to his 26th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory and 47th Midwest Sprint Car Association triumph. The victory pulled Schmidt into a tie for second on the all-time PDTR 360 Sprint A-main victory list with Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee.
Goeden, who owns 40 career A-main victories and five total track titles in Winged Super Modified (two) and 360 Sprint Car competition (three) at Plymouth, had to settle for second, sixth starter Kevin Karnitz of West Bend placed third, Smith wound up fourth and Clayton Rossmann of Wadsworth, Ill. charged from the 14th starting spot to place fifth.
“We went backward at the start,” Schmidt said. “It took a few laps for us to move forward. Then I was able to get past Donny after an early restart. It’s always good to finish ahead of a great driver like Donny. He’s been doing it really well for a long time here at Plymouth. To me, he’s the G.O.A.T. It feels good to be standing here in victory lane for the sponsors, crew and everyone that supports this team.”
AKRIGHT AUTO PLYMOUTH DIRT TRACK RACING 360 SPRINT CARS
A Main (25 Laps): 1. 1-Ben Schmidt [4]; 2. 27G-Donny Goeden [2]; 3. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [6]; 4. 69S-TJ Smith [5]; 5. 09-Clayton Rossmann [14]; 6. 3-Justin Erickson [8]; 7. 69-Bill Taylor [11]; 8. 2-Chris Clayton [21]; 9. 14J-Joseph Hintz [3]; 10. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [13]; 11. 46-Steven Ruh [20]; 12. 57-Tristan Furseth [19]; 13. 16-Anthony Knierim [12]; 14. 55P-Brady Portschy [16]; 15. 11-Tony Wondra [9]; 16. 51-Chris Larson [17]; 17. 9C-Cole Stella [18]; 18. 30-Doug Wondra [22]; 19. 24X-Eric Wilke [10]; 20. 22B-Brandon Berth [1]; 21. 7-Lance Fassbender [7]; 22. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [15]; 23. (DNS) 5-Kevin Seidler
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Ben Schmidt[1]; 2. 14J-Joseph Hintz[3]; 3. 24X-Eric Wilke[2]; 4. 69-Bill Taylor[4]; 5. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach[5]; 6. 51-Chris Larson[7]; 7. 9C-Cole Stella[8]; 8. 30-Doug Wondra[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 69S-TJ Smith[2]; 2. 7-Lance Fassbender[1]; 3. 27G-Donny Goeden[4]; 4. 3BK-Billy Kreutz[3]; 5. 09-Clayton Rossmann[5]; 6. 55P-Brady Portschy[7]; 7. 2-Chris Clayton[6]; 8. (DNS) 5-Kevin Seidler
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz[2]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth[1]; 3. 3-Justin Erickson[3]; 4. 11-Tony Wondra[5]; 5. 16-Anthony Knierim[6]; 6. 46-Steven Ruh[4]; 7. 57-Tristan Furseth[7]
Qualifying 1: 1. 1-Ben Schmidt, 13.309[3]; 2. 24X-Eric Wilke, 13.979[7]; 3. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 14.010[1]; 4. 69-Bill Taylor, 14.132[6]; 5. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 14.181[5]; 6. 30-Doug Wondra, 14.321[4]; 7. 51-Chris Larson, 14.354[8]; 8. 9C-Cole Stella, 14.903[2]
Qualifying 2: 1. 7-Lance Fassbender, 13.077[4]; 2. 69S-TJ Smith, 13.114[6]; 3. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 13.293[8]; 4. 27G-Donny Goeden, 13.337[3]; 5. 09-Clayton Rossmann, 13.387[7]; 6. 2-Chris Clayton, 13.431[1]; 7. 55P-Brady Portschy, 13.792[2]; 8. (DNS) 5-Kevin Seidler
Qualifying 3: 1. 22B-Brandon Berth, 12.926[2]; 2. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 13.014[4]; 3. 3-Justin Erickson, 13.166[1]; 4. 57-Tristan Furseth, 13.397[7]; 5. 46-Steven Ruh, 13.428[3]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra, 13.443[5]; 7. 16-Anthony Knierim, 13.465[6]