(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) June 21, 2025 – With the air temperature pushing the century mark, Kevin Karnitz of West Bend fired up a final corner pass to nip Joseph Hintz of Burnett in a hotly contested 25-lap Akright Auto Plymouth Dirt Track Racing A main during the Road America Challenge at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, June 21.
Kelby Watt of Adel, Iowa led every lap but one on the way to his first career Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car victory in the 30-lap Road America Challenge main event and Adam Taylor of Wheatfield, Ind. posted a commanding win in the 20-lap Autometer Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car A main.
Second-year driver Joseph Hintz jumped into the lead of the 25-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car from his outside front row starting position as fourth starter Kevin Karnitz followed in second.
On lap 8, Hintz caught the rear of the field before a caution flag appeared for the slowing car of two-time and defending PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth.
When the race resumed, Hintz opened up a full straightaway lead over Karnitz. He retained command of the race until a red flag appeared on lap 23 when Kurt Davis of South Milwaukee flipped along the front stretch after colliding with Donny Goeden of Kewaskum near the flag stand.
After a single-file restart, the final two laps featured fireworks as Hintz and Karnitz engaged in a fierce duel for the win. On lap 24, Karnitz ripped off a slide job in turn four to clear Hintz and gain the top spot. However, the 15-year-old standout battled back to steal the lead back from Karnitz with a slide job of his own in turn two on the final circuit.
Karnitz had one more move left as he dove low in turn four to sneak ahead of the high-riding Hintz exiting turn four to claim the hard-earned win by a slim half-car length margin.
It was Karnitz’s seventh career PDTR 360 Sprint Car win and ninth career Midwest Sprint Car Association A-main victory.
Hintz crossed the line a close second, fifth starter Brandon Berth of Cascade took third, PDTR 360 Sprint Car rookie Tristan Furseth of Cambridge finished fourth after starting sixth and Chris Clayton of Waldo advanced from the 11th starting spot to place fifth.
“I’ve been finishing second for quite some time now,” Karnitz said. “I had to leave it all out there, so I did. I slid him pretty good in three and fourth and he got right back around me. I knew he was going to do the defensive move, so I tried to plug the top. Just give me a chance coming off three and four. That’s what we did. It feels awesome.”
Kelby Watt grabbed the lead at the start of the IRA 410 Sprint Car A main as second starter Jake Neuman of New Berlin, Ill. dueled with two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Travis Arenz of Sheboygan Falls, who started third, for the runner-up spot.
By lap 5, Watt had built up a huge half-lap lead before he got bottled up in thick lapped traffic, which allowed Neuman to cut into the lead gap. A red flag appeared on lap 15 when Tyler Tischendorf of Waupaca flipped in turn two.
Following the restart, Arenz slid past Neuman to gain second on lap 17. With the leaders sticking with the high line of the multi-groove racing surface, Arenz gradually reeled in Watt. On lap 24, Arenz surged into the lead along the inside lane in turn one with Watt tucked close behind.
One lap later, Arenz and Watt made contact along the back stretch as they dueled for the lead amid lapped traffic, which resulted in Watt regaining the top spot.
Meanwhile, Arenz brought out a yellow flag on lap 26 when he slowed in turn four with a flat right rear tire.
Following another caution flag on lap 26, Watt flexed his muscle in the closing laps to power away from Neuman on the way to his first career IRA A-main triumph by a huge half-lap margin.
Neuman placed second, fifth starter Blake Nimee of Yorkville, Ill. took third, Danny Schlafer of Sussex finished fourth after starting sixth and Max Guilford of Auckland, New Zealand charged up from the 18th starting spot to round out the top five.
Outside front-row starter George Gaertner Jr. of Salem led the opening lap of the Wisconsin wingLESS main event before third starter Miles Doherty of Delmar, Iowa took over the lead on the second circuit.
Doherty maintained the point over the next 10 laps before sixth starter Adam Taylor swept past Doherty to assume the lead. Taylor built up a full straightaway lead over Doherty on the way to a commanding victory in the non-stop event.
Doherty placed second, polesitter Tyler Kuxhouse of Antioch, Ill. was third, Gaertner Jr. wound up fourth and Tim Cox of Park City, Ill., who started fourth, placed fifth.
Lance Fassbender of Burnett earned fast qualifier honors in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car division with a lap of 13.383 seconds.
Kyle Schuett of Philo, Ill. was the fastest qualifier in the PDTR 410 Sprint Car division in 11.916 seconds.
The seventh event of the 2025 PDTR campaign, sponsored by Road America, drew 65 total entries, including 25 IRA 410 Sprint Cars, 22 PDTR 360 Sprint Cars and 18 wingLess Sprint Cars.
Plymouth Dirt Track Racing returns to action on Saturday, June 28 with the Super Six Late Model Series, along with competition in the Akright Auto 360 Sprint Car, Oostburg Automotive Grand National and Sheboygan Flooring B Mod divisions.
Spectator gates open at 4:30 p.m. with qualifying at 5:30 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m.
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. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [4]; 2. 14J-Joseph Hintz [2]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth [5]; 4. 57-Tristan Furseth [6]; 5. 2-Chris Clayton [11]; 6. 30-Doug Wondra [1]; 7. 27G-Donny Goeden [9]; 8. 69-Bill Taylor [13]; 9. 51-Chris Larson [7]; 10. 69S-TJ Smith [16]; 11. 7L-Ellie Hensley [12]; 12. 3-Justin Erickson [17]; 13. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [8]; 14. 7-Lance Fassbender [22]; 15. 46-Steven Ruh [19]; 16. 55P-Brady Portschy [21]; 17. 68T-Tyler Davis [18]; 18. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [15]; 19. 11-Tony Wondra [14]; 20. 52-Cody Schlafer [20]; 21. 6K-Kurt Davis [10]; 22. 1-Ben Schmidt [3]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Ben Schmidt[1]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth[2]; 3. 27G-Donny Goeden[3]; 4. 57-Tristan Furseth[7]; 5. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach[5]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra[8]; 7. 46-Steven Ruh[6]; 8. 7-Lance Fassbender[4]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14J-Joseph Hintz[1]; 2. 51-Chris Larson[2]; 3. 6K-Kurt Davis[3]; 4. 2-Chris Clayton[4]; 5. 69-Bill Taylor[6]; 6. 3-Justin Erickson[7]; 7. 52-Cody Schlafer[5]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz[3]; 2. 3BK-Billy Kreutz[1]; 3. 30-Doug Wondra[6]; 4. 7L-Ellie Hensley[4]; 5. 69S-TJ Smith[5]; 6. 68T-Tyler Davis[7]; 7. 55P-Brady Portschy[2]
Qualifying 1: 1. 7-Lance Fassbender, 00:13.383[7]; 2. 27G-Donny Goeden, 00:13.495[3]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth, 00:13.542[4]; 4. 1-Ben Schmidt, 00:13.562[8]; 5. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 00:13.577[2]; 6. 46-Steven Ruh, 00:13.654[5]; 7. 57-Tristan Furseth, 00:13.664[1]; 8. 11-Tony Wondra, 00:13.737[6]
Qualifying 2: 1. 2-Chris Clayton, 00:13.543[5]; 2. 6K-Kurt Davis, 00:13.604[4]; 3. 51-Chris Larson, 00:13.730[1]; 4. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 00:13.759[7]; 5. 52-Cody Schlafer, 00:13.887[3]; 6. 69-Bill Taylor, 00:13.902[2]; 7. 3-Justin Erickson, 00:13.911[6]
Qualifying 3: 1. 7L-Ellie Hensley, 00:13.561[1]; 2. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 00:13.622[3]; 3. 55P-Brady Portschy, 00:13.828[5]; 4. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 00:13.992[6]; 5. 69S-TJ Smith, 00:14.034[2]; 6. 30-Doug Wondra, 00:14.336[7]; 7. 68T-Tyler Davis, 00:14.708[4]
BUMPER TO BUMPER INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION 410 SPRINT CARS
A Main (30 Laps): 1. 1K-Kelby Watt [1]; 2. 3N-Jake Neuman [2]; 3. 79-Blake Nimee [5]; 4. 25-Danny Schlafer [6]; 5. 16C-Max Guilford [18]; 6. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [11]; 7. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [10]; 8. 85J-Logan Julien [4]; 9. 9K-Kyle Schuett [7]; 10. 96-Jake Blackhurst [8]; 11. 47-Todd King [13]; 12. 12-Corbin Gurley [19]; 13. GR8-Will Gerrits [17]; 14. 4K-Kris Spitz [15]; 15. 25T-Travis Arenz [3]; 16. 5-Zackary Sokol [16]; 17. 43-Jereme Schroeder [23]; 18. 21H-TJ Haddy [20]; 19. 4-Paul Pokorski [24]; 20. 24-Scott Conger [22]; 21. 99-Tyler Brabant [12]; 22. 70W-Logan Wienke [25]; 23. (DNF) 09-Clayton Rossmann [21]; 24. (DNF) 26-Tyler Tischendorf [14]; 25. (DNF) 87A-Austin Hartmann [9]
Dash 1 (4 Laps): 1. 1K-Kelby Watt[1]; 2. 25T-Travis Arenz[5]; 3. 79-Blake Nimee[4]; 4. 9K-Kyle Schuett[2]; 5. 87A-Austin Hartmann[3]
Dash 2 (4 Laps): 1. 3N-Jake Neuman[2]; 2. 85J-Logan Julien[4]; 3. 25-Danny Schlafer[1]; 4. 96-Jake Blackhurst[3]; 5. 2W-Scotty Neitzel[5]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 85J-Logan Julien[1]; 2. 25T-Travis Arenz[3]; 3. 9K-Kyle Schuett[4]; 4. 87A-Austin Hartmann[2]; 5. 26-Tyler Tischendorf[5]; 6. 16C-Max Guilford[7]; 7. 09-Clayton Rossmann[6]; 8. 24-Scott Conger[8]; 9. 70W-Logan Wienke[9]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2W-Scotty Neitzel[1]; 2. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[2]; 3. 79-Blake Nimee[4]; 4. 99-Tyler Brabant[7]; 5. 96-Jake Blackhurst[3]; 6. GR8-Will Gerrits[6]; 7. 12-Corbin Gurley[5]; 8. 43-Jereme Schroeder[8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 25-Danny Schlafer[2]; 2. 3N-Jake Neuman[3]; 3. 1K-Kelby Watt[4]; 4. 47-Todd King[7]; 5. 4K-Kris Spitz[6]; 6. 5-Zackary Sokol[1]; 7. 21H-TJ Haddy[5]; 8. 4-Paul Pokorski[8]
Qualifying: 1. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 00:11.916[6]; 2. 79-Blake Nimee, 00:12.022[3]; 3. 1K-Kelby Watt, 00:12.030[4]; 4. 25T-Travis Arenz, 00:12.050[11]; 5. 96-Jake Blackhurst, 00:12.087[7]; 6. 3N-Jake Neuman, 00:12.106[5]; 7. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 00:12.158[8]; 8. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 00:12.191[10]; 9. 25-Danny Schlafer, 00:12.202[13]; 10. 85J-Logan Julien, 00:12.219[19]; 11. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 00:12.279[23]; 12. 5-Zackary Sokol, 00:12.421[17]; 13. 26-Tyler Tischendorf, 00:12.444[1]; 14. 12-Corbin Gurley, 00:12.449[14]; 15. 21H-TJ Haddy, 00:12.599[12]; 16. 09-Clayton Rossmann, 00:12.609[21]; 17. GR8-Will Gerrits, 00:12.618[20]; 18. 4K-Kris Spitz, 00:12.634[15]; 19. 16C-Max Guilford, 00:12.639[16]; 20. 99-Tyler Brabant, 00:12.917[2]; 21. 47-Todd King, 00:13.091[25]; 22. 24-Scott Conger, 00:13.194[22]; 23. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 00:13.407[18]; 24. 4-Paul Pokorski, 00:13.629[9]; 25. 70W-Logan Wienke, 00:13.750[24]
AUTOMETER WISCONSIN WINGLESS SPRINT CARS
A Main (20 Laps): 1. 8T-Adam Taylor [6]; 2. 8D-Miles Doherty [3]; 3. 711-Tyler Kuxhouse [1]; 4. 4G-George Gaertner Jr [2]; 5. 14AJ-Tim Cox [4]; 6. 0-John Fahl [7]; 7. 23Z-Zach Raidart [8]; 8. 50-Rusty Egan [9]; 9. 44J-Jordan Miklas [5]; 10. 41-Dennis Spitz [13]; 11. 11-Austin Hansen [12]; 12. 22-Greg Alt [11]; 13. 17-Bryce Andrews [10]; 14. 38-Allen Hafford [15]; 15. 29J-Ralph Johnson [16]; 16. 29OG-Tom Eller [17]; 17. 99J-Seth Johnson [14]; 18. (DNS) 7D-Josh Davidson
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 4G-George Gaertner Jr[1]; 2. 0-John Fahl[3]; 3. 17-Bryce Andrews[4]; 4. 14AJ-Tim Cox[2]; 5. 38-Allen Hafford[5]; 6. 29J-Ralph Johnson[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 711-Tyler Kuxhouse[1]; 2. 8T-Adam Taylor[3]; 3. 22-Greg Alt[5]; 4. 50-Rusty Egan[4]; 5. 99J-Seth Johnson[2]; 6. 29OG-Tom Eller[6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 8D-Miles Doherty[2]; 2. 44J-Jordan Miklas[3]; 3. 11-Austin Hansen[5]; 4. 41-Dennis Spitz[1]; 5. 23Z-Zach Raidart[4]; 6. (DNS) 7D-Josh Davidson
Qualifying: 1. 17-Bryce Andrews, 00:14.800[1]; 2. 50-Rusty Egan, 00:14.885[11]; 3. 23Z-Zach Raidart, 00:14.926[2]; 4. 0-John Fahl, 00:14.928[8]; 5. 8T-Adam Taylor, 00:15.065[12]; 6. 44J-Jordan Miklas, 00:15.145[15]; 7. 14AJ-Tim Cox, 00:15.164[9]; 8. 99J-Seth Johnson, 00:15.186[4]; 9. 8D-Miles Doherty, 00:15.207[6]; 10. 4G-George Gaertner Jr, 00:15.235[3]; 11. 711-Tyler Kuxhouse, 00:15.252[13]; 12. 41-Dennis Spitz, 00:15.292[17]; 13. 38-Allen Hafford, 00:15.319[10]; 14. 22-Greg Alt, 00:15.332[14]; 15. 11-Austin Hansen, 00:15.392[5]; 16. 29J-Ralph Johnson, 00:15.416[16]; 17. 29OG-Tom Eller, 00:15.480[18]; 18. (DNS) 7D-Josh Davidson