From Jeff Pederson
Defending Akright Auto PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Kevin Karnitz of West Bend collected a victory in the 25-lap main event.
Justin Erickson of Plymouth jumped out to the lead of the 360 Sprint Car A main from the pole as third starter Tristan Furseth of Cambridge slipped into second on the opening lap.
By lap five, Erickson had built up a half-straightaway cushion over Furseth before the first of two caution flags appeared on lap 8 when Jake Zimmerman of Pewaukee stopped on the backstretch.
On the restart, Kevin Karnitz, who started fourth, swept around Furseth to seize the runner-up spot. One lap later, Karnitz outside the outside groove to power ahead of Erickson and into the lead in turn two on lap 9.
Five laps later, Karnitz caught the rear of the field, allowing Erickson to close the gap on the lead. Karnitz skillfully sliced his way through slower traffic, while Erickson kept the leader in his sights.
Just as the leaders took the white flag, the caution light came on for the stalled car of Lance Fassbender of Burnett in turn four to set up a green-white-checkered flag finish.
Karnitz held Erickson at bay over the final two circuits, while two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Ben Schmidt of Plymouth slid past Furseth to steal third place on the final lap.
Karnitz went to post his ninth career PDTR 360 Sprint Car main event victory and 11th win of his Midwest Sprint Car Association career. The win netted him a $1,000 first-place prize thanks to an opening night PDTR purse boost.
Erickson wound up second, Schmidt charged up from the 15th starting slot to place third, Furseth was fourth, and Cascade’s Brandon Berth moved up from the 12th starting position to round out the top five.
Akright Auto 360 Sprint Cars
A Main (25 Laps): 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [4]; 2. 3-Justin Erickson [1]; 3. 35-Ben Schmidt [15]; 4. 57-Tristan Furseth [3]; 5. 22B-Brandon Berth [12]; 6. 69S-TJ Smith [11]; 7. 14J-Joseph Hintz [5]; 8. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [10]; 9. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski [6]; 10. 24X-Eric Wilke [7]; 11. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [2]; 12. 69-Bill Taylor [17]; 13. 68T-Tyler Davis [18]; 14. 11-Tony Wondra [19]; 15. 46-Steven Ruh [8]; 16. 51-Chris Larson [13]; 17. 44H-Hayden Johnson [21]; 18. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl [16]; 19. 9C-Cole Stella [14]; 20. 68P-Frank Perko [20]; 21. 7-Lance Fassbender [9]; 22. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman [22]
B Main (12 Laps): 1. 69-Bill Taylor [4]; 2. 68T-Tyler Davis [1]; 3. 11-Tony Wondra [3]; 4. 68P-Frank Perko [6]; 5. 44H-Hayden Johnson [2]; 6. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman [11]; 7. 16-Anthony Knierim [8]; 8. 5-Chad Stouthamer [9]; 9. 20W-Weston Finke [10]; 10. 59-Ethon Stear [13]; 11. 30-Nathan Skelton [12]; 12. (DNF) 26-Preston Ruh [5]; 13. (DNF) 25-Cody Schlafer [7]; 14. (DNS) 5C-Carter Chevalier; 15. (DNS) 87R-Josh Rehberg
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Tristan Furseth [2]; 2. 14J-Joseph Hintz [4]; 3. 44H-Hayden Johnson [1]; 4. 9C-Cole Stella [5]; 5. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl [7]; 6. 68P-Frank Perko [6]; 7. 87R-Josh Rehberg [8]; 8. 16-Anthony Knierim [3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [2]; 2. 3-Justin Erickson [4]; 3. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [3]; 4. 22B-Brandon Berth [5]; 5. 68T-Tyler Davis [6]; 6. 25-Cody Schlafer [1]; 7. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman [7]; 8. 30-Nathan Skelton [8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [2]; 2. 46-Steven Ruh [1]; 3. 7-Lance Fassbender [3]; 4. 51-Chris Larson [5]; 5. 69-Bill Taylor [4]; 6. 26-Preston Ruh [6]; 7. 20W-Weston Finke [8]; 8. (DNS) 59-Ethon Stear
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski [1]; 2. 24X-Eric Wilke [2]; 3. 69S-TJ Smith [3]; 4. 35-Ben Schmidt [4]; 5. 11-Tony Wondra [5]; 6. 5-Chad Stouthamer [6]; 7. (DNS) 5C-Carter Chevalier
Qualifying 1: 1. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 13.030 [6]; 2. 16-Anthony Knierim, 13.108 [3]; 3. 57-Tristan Furseth, 13.144 [5]; 4. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl, 13.307 [7]; 5. 44H-Hayden Johnson, 13.654 [1]; 6. 9C-Cole Stella, 13.747 [4]; 7. 68P-Frank Perko, 14.815 [2]; 8. 87R-Josh Rehberg, 14.897 [8]
Qualifying 2: 1. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman, 13.011 [8]; 2. 3-Justin Erickson, 13.028 [5]; 3. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 13.082 [2]; 4. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 13.155 [3]; 5. 25-Cody Schlafer, 13.295 [1]; 6. 22B-Brandon Berth, 13.351 [4]; 7. 68T-Tyler Davis, 13.418 [6]; 8. 30-Nathan Skelton, 18.160 [7]
Qualifying 3: 1. 69-Bill Taylor, 12.789 [5]; 2. 7-Lance Fassbender, 13.002 [3]; 3. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 13.089 [2]; 4. 59-Ethon Stear, 13.189 [8]; 5. 46-Steven Ruh, 13.430 [4]; 6. 51-Chris Larson, 13.448 [6]; 7. 26-Preston Ruh, 13.622 [1]; 8. 20W-Weston Finke, 14.970 [7]
Qualifying 4: 1. 35-Ben Schmidt, 13.010 [1]; 2. 69S-TJ Smith, 13.086 [5]; 3. 24X-Eric Wilke, 13.280 [4]; 4. 5C-Carter Chevalier, 13.373 [3]; 5. 5-Chad Stouthamer, 13.443 [7]; 6. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski, 13.448 [2]; 7. 11-Tony Wondra, 13.597 [6]