PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS
May 16, 2026 – Experience showed the way as three true veterans of their respective divisions stepped into the spotlight once more in Plymouth Dirt Track Racing and Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association Sprint Car Series competition at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis., on Saturday, May 16.
In the PDTR Akright Auto 360 Sprint Car ranks, 2008 champion Lance Fassbender of Burnett turned back the clock to score the victory in the 25-lap main event in his 34th season of racing.
Former division champion and 27-year racing veteran Luke Scholten of Oostburg claimed the victory in the 25-lap PDTR Oostburg Automotive Grand National A main.
Two-time Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series champ and 38-year racing veteran Scotty Neitzel of Beaver Dam pulled off a last-lap pass to secure the win in the 30-lap IRA headliner.
The PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main got off to a shaky start as a four-car incident in turn four drew the first caution of the race before the completion of the first lap. Damage from the contact forced defending PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Kevin Karnitz of West Bend to retire from the race.
After a complete restart, outside front row starter Justin Erickson of Plymouth outdueled polesitter Katelyn Krebsbach of Johnsburg to lead the opening lap. On lap 3, Lance Fassbender, who started fourth, ducked low to steal away the top spot.
Fassbender, who had his 2024 season cut short by a serious burns suffered at the Plymouth Dirt Track, wasted no time in building up a solid cushion over Erickson and two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Ben Schmidt of Plymouth, who had worked his way into third from the eighth starting position.
With 15 laps to go, Fassbender caught the rear of the field and skillfully worked his way through slower traffic along the inside lane. The second and final caution flag of the race appeared on lap 15 when Scott Grissom of Winthrop Harbor, Ill., spun to a stop in turn two.
Fassbender, who captured the Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car title in 2005, showed his strength on the restart by pulling out to a considerable lead. As the laps wound down, Fassbender approached the back of the pack again. This time, he got held up behind a lapped car on the final circuit, which allowed Erickson and Schmidt to make a late charge heading into the final corner.
Schmidt used the outside lane to power past Erickson and finish just .042 of a second behind Fassbender, who claimed his ninth career PDTR 360 Sprint Car win and 23rd career victory in Midwest Sprint Car Association competition. It was Fassbender’s first A-main victory since May 20, 2023, at Plymouth.
Schmidt had to settle for second, Erickson was a close third, Tyler Davis of Franklin darted up from the seventh starting spot to take fourth, and three-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Donny Goeden of Kewaskum moved up from 10th at the start to finish fifth in his first outing of the 2026 campaign.
Polesitter Jason Juech of Plymouth jumped into the lead on the drop of the green flag of the PDTR Grand National main event with outside front row starter Tanner Lorenz of Cascade in tow.
After the lone caution of the race came out on lap 3 for the slowing car of Donny Kulow, Juech maintained the top spot on the restart. Three-time PDTR Grand National champion Will Sorce of Franksville vaulted into second from the seventh starting spot on lap 3 and quickly moved in to pressure Juech for the top spot.
Over the ensuing 17 circuits, Sorce tried every move in the book to oust the lead away from Juech without success, while 10th starter Luke Scholten made his presence felt after working his way into third.
With five laps to go and the leaders mired in lapped traffic, Scholten went low to sweep past Sorce before making slight contact with Juech. The three drivers raced three-wide into the fourth turn with Scholten using the inside lane to seize the lead on lap 20.
The 2022 PDTR Grand National champion went on to notch his 19th career A-main victory and first win since Aug. 12, 2023. Juech came home second, Sorce was third, Lorenz wound up fourth, while 1966 Plymouth Sportsman and 1969 Modified champion Dick Hed of Plymouth started and finished fifth.
Two-time IRA champion Jake Blackhurst of Hannah City, Ill., led the opening lap of the IRA A main from the pole before Will Armitage of Athens, Ill., who started third, grabbed the lead on lap 5.
Four laps later, fourth starter Scotty Neitzel swept into the runner-up spot. On lap 13, Armitage spun to a stop in turn two while working through slower traffic to draw the first caution flag of the race and hand the lead over to Neitzel.
On the restart, sixth starter Paul Nienhiser of Chapin, Ill., launched into second from his sixth starting spot and began to run down Neitzel. As the leaders weaved through lapped cars, Nienhiser pounced to pry the lead away from Neitzel along the high groove on lap 22.
Nienhiser narrowly avoided disaster on lap 23 after contact with Laela Eisenschenk of Fargo, N.D., set him into the infield before Eisenschenk drew a caution after colliding with 2022 IRA champ Jordan Goldesberry of Springfield, Ill., in turn four.
A red flag for a two-car incident in turn two involving Austin Hartmann of Plymouth and Zach Daum of Pocahontas, Ill., on lap 25 set up a six-lap dash to the finish between Nienhiser and Neitzel.
Nienhiser held control of the lead until making slight contact with the infield tires, which sent him up the track in turn two on the final lap. Neitzel capitalized and uncorked a big run along the backstretch and through turn three to catapult into the lead.
Nienhiser steered low to battle back exiting turn four, but Neitzel pulled out the victory by a scant .026 of a second. It was the 29th victory of Neitzel’s IRA career and first since May 25, 2024, at Wilmot Raceway.
Nienhiser finished second, outside front row starter Logan Julien of Oconomowoc placed third, Armitage recovered from his lap 13 spin to take fourth, and Shelby Bosie of Lincoln, Ill. charged up from the 14th starting spot to place fifth.
T.J. Smith of Greenville was victorious in the 12-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main.
Alex Pokorski of West Bend won the 12-lap IRA 410 Sprint Car B main.
Ben Schmidt collected PDTR 360 Sprint Car overall fast qualifier honors with a lap of 12.192 seconds.
Will Armitage topped IRA 410 Sprint Car qualifying with a lap of 11.431 seconds.
The event drew a field of 83 total entries, including 32 PDTR 360 Sprint Cars, 32 IRA 410 Sprint Cars, and 19 Grand Nationals.
Jensen Sales & Service was the evening’s trophy sponsor.
After taking the Memorial Day weekend off, PDTR returns to action on Saturday, May 30, with the first of three appearances from the Badger Midgets, along with the PDTR 360 Sprint Cars, Grand Nationals, and B Mods. It is also Autograph Night with free checkered flags for kids.
Pit gates open at 3 p.m. with spectator gates opening at 4:30 p.m. and on-track action at 5:30 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 360 Sprint Cars
A Main (25 Laps): 1. 7-Lance Fassbender [4]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt [6]; 3. 3-Justin Erickson [2]; 4. 68T-Tyler Davis [7]; 5. 66-Donny Goeden [10]; 6. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski [13]; 7. 19-Ion Stear [8]; 8. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [1]; 9. 67-Josh Walter [12]; 10. 2-Chris Clayton [20]; 11. 22B-Brandon Berth [11]; 12. 69S-TJ Smith [17]; 13. 44H-Hayden Johnson [16]; 14. 46-Steven Ruh [21]; 15. 20W-Weston Finke [19]; 16. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman [3]; 17. 51-Chris Larson [15]; 18. 59-Ethon Stear [22]; 19. 54-Randy Post [18]; 20. 54G-Scott Grissom [14]; 21. 14J-Joseph Hintz [5]; 22. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [9]
B Main (12 Laps): 1. 69S-TJ Smith[1]; 2. 54-Randy Post[3]; 3. 20W-Weston Finke[2]; 4. 2-Chris Clayton[6]; 5. 46-Steven Ruh[7]; 6. 59-Ethon Stear[12]; 7. 5C-Carter Chevalier[11]; 8. 68P-Frank Perko[9]; 9. 69-Bill Taylor[13]; 10. 51C-Brok Clifcorn[14]; 11. 5-Chad Stouthamer[8]; 12. 30-Nathan Skelton[16]; 13. 34T-Tom Becker[10]; 14. 87R-Josh Rehberg[15]; 15. (DNF) 3BK-Billy Kreutz[5]; 16. (DNS) 10V-Matt VanderVere
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 35-Ben Schmidt[4]; 2. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach[3]; 3. 51-Chris Larson[1]; 4. 67-Josh Walter[5]; 5. 5-Chad Stouthamer[2]; 6. 20W-Weston Finke[7]; 7. 68P-Frank Perko[6]; 8. 34T-Tom Becker[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman[1]; 2. 19-Ion Stear[2]; 3. 63K-Kevin Karnitz[4]; 4. 69S-TJ Smith[3]; 5. 44H-Hayden Johnson[6]; 6. 10V-Matt VanderVere[7]; 7. 59-Ethon Stear[5]; 8. 87R-Josh Rehberg[8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 14J-Joseph Hintz[2]; 2. 68T-Tyler Davis[3]; 3. 66-Donny Goeden[4]; 4. 2-Chris Clayton[1]; 5. 54G-Scott Grissom[7]; 6. 46-Steven Ruh[6]; 7. 5C-Carter Chevalier[5]; 8. 51C-Brok Clifcorn[8]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Lance Fassbender[2]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth[1]; 3. 3-Justin Erickson[6]; 4. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski[5]; 5. 3BK-Billy Kreutz[4]; 6. 54-Randy Post[7]; 7. 69-Bill Taylor[3]; 8. 30-Nathan Skelton[8]
Qualifying 1: 1. 35-Ben Schmidt, 12.192[6]; 2. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 12.612[4]; 3. 5-Chad Stouthamer, 12.751[8]; 4. 51-Chris Larson, 12.938[1]; 5. 67-Josh Walter, 13.038[7]; 6. 68P-Frank Perko, 13.157[3]; 7. 20W-Weston Finke, 13.234[2]; 8. 34T-Tom Becker, 14.756[5]
Qualifying 2: 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 12.510[3]; 2. 69S-TJ Smith, 12.637[5]; 3. 19-Ion Stear, 12.704[7]; 4. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman, 12.820[4]; 5. 59-Ethon Stear, 13.130[6]; 6. 44H-Hayden Johnson, 13.159[2]; 7. 87R-Josh Rehberg, 13.259[8]; 8. 10V-Matt VanderVere, 13.524[1]
Qualifying 3: 1. 66-Donny Goeden, 12.690[3]; 2. 68T-Tyler Davis, 12.750[6]; 3. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 12.809[1]; 4. 2-Christopher Clayton, 12.926[4]; 5. 5C-Carter Chevalier, 13.000[2]; 6. 46-Steven Ruh, 13.043[7]; 7. 51C-Brok Clifcorn, 13.056[8]; 8. 54G-Scott Grissom, 13.517[5]
Qualifying 4: 1. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 12.545[6]; 2. 69-Bill Taylor, 12.738[1]; 3. 7-Lance Fassbender, 12.901[5]; 4. 22B-Brandon Berth, 12.970[7]; 5. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski, 13.042[3]; 6. 3-Justin Erickson, 13.075[2]; 7. 54-Randy Post, 13.239[4]; 8. 30-Nathan Skelton, 14.140[8]
Oostburg Automotive Grand Nationals
A Main (25 Laps): 1. 80-Luke Scholten [10]; 2. 42-Jason Juech [1]; 3. 14-Will Sorce [7]; 4. 53T-Tanner Lorenz [2]; 5. 6-Dick Hed [5]; 6. 47-Nick Schumacher [9]; 7. 24K-Tyler Kulow [11]; 8. 15-Derek Kaat [8]; 9. 53W-Dustin Weiss [15]; 10. 16-Will Schumacher [14]; 11. 5M-Jeff Muehlbauer [18]; 12. 13-Josh Pierce [12]; 13. 15M-Justin Miller [6]; 14. 95-Donny Kulow [4]; 15. 27-Greg Goschey [19]; 16. 54-Austin Yancey [13]; 17. (DNF) 23-Scott Kafka [16]; 18. (DNF) 11-Dylan May [3]; 19. (DNF) 53B-Brad Weiss [17]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 80-Luke Scholten[6]; 2. 15-Derek Kaat[5]; 3. 95-Donny Kulow[3]; 4. 15M-Justin Miller[4]; 5. 54-Austin Yancey[1]; 6. 23-Scott Kafka[7]; 7. 27-Greg Goschey[2]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14-Will Sorce[4]; 2. 42-Jason Juech[1]; 3. 47-Nick Schumacher[5]; 4. 24K-Tyler Kulow[6]; 5. 16-Will Schumacher[2]; 6. 53B-Brad Weiss[3]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 53T-Tanner Lorenz[1]; 2. 11-Dylan May[2]; 3. 6-Dick Hed[3]; 4. 13-Josh Pierce[6]; 5. 53W-Dustin Weiss[4]; 6. 5M-Jeff Muehlbauer[5]
Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Cars
A Main (30 Laps): 1. 2W-Scott Neitzel [4]; 2. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [6]; 3. 85J-Logan Julien [2]; 4. 7A-Will Armitage [3]; 5. 3B-Shelby Bosie [14]; 6. 9K-Kyle Schuett [12]; 7. 25T-Travis Arenz [8]; 8. 25-Danny Schlafer [10]; 9. 4K-Kris Spitz [17]; 10. 79-Blake Nimee [18]; 11. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [5]; 12. 09-Clayton Rossmann [15]; 13. 8-Will Gerrits [23]; 14. 99-Tyler Brabant [20]; 15. 4-Alex Pokorski [21]; 16. 21H-TJ Haddy [16]; 17. 26-Cody Schlafer [19]; 18. 15-Laela Eisenschenk [24]; 19. (DNF) 92-Zach Daum [11]; 20. (DNF) 87A-Austin Hartmann [7]; 21. (DNF) 1-Amelia Eisenschenk [22]; 22. (DNF) 68-Dave Uttech [9]; 23. (DNF) 96-Jake Blackhurst [1]; 24. (DNF) 12-Corbin Gurley [13]
B Main (12 Laps): 1. 4-Alex Pokorski[1]; 2. 1-Amelia Eisenschenk[5]; 3. 8-Will Gerrits[2]; 4. 15-Laela Eisenschenk[3]; 5. 10V-Matt VanderVere[12]; 6. 43-Jereme Schroeder[7]; 7. 45-Rob Pribnow[9]; 8. 26R-Preston Ruh[4]; 9. 91-Kevin Seidler[8]; 10. 24-Scott Conger[10]; 11. (DNF) 70W-Logan Wienke[6]; 12. (DNS) 55P-Brady Portschy
Dash 1 (4 Laps): 1. 96-Jake Blackhurst[1]; 2. 7A-Will Armitage[3]; 3. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[5]; 4. 87A-Austin Hartmann[2]; 5. 68-Dave Uttech[4]
Dash 2 (4 Laps): 1. 85J-Logan Julien[2]; 2. 2W-Scott Neitzel[1]; 3. 9X-Paul Nienhiser[4]; 4. 25T-Travis Arenz[3]; 5. 25-Danny Schlafer[5]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 85J-Logan Julien[2]; 2. 7A-Will Armitage[4]; 3. 25-Danny Schlafer[3]; 4. 4K-Kris Spitz[6]; 5. 79-Blake Nimee[5]; 6. 26R-Preston Ruh[7]; 7. 70W-Logan Wienke[8]; 8. (DNF) 8-Will Gerrits[1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 96-Jake Blackhurst[2]; 2. 9K-Kyle Schuett[1]; 3. 25T-Travis Arenz[4]; 4. 09-Clayton Rossmann[5]; 5. 26-Cody Schlafer[6]; 6. 4-Alex Pokorski[3]; 7. 43-Jereme Schroeder[8]; 8. 24-Scott Conger[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[3]; 2. 92-Zach Daum[2]; 3. 3B-Shelby Bosie[1]; 4. 2W-Scott Neitzel[4]; 5. 99-Tyler Brabant[6]; 6. 15-Laela Eisenschenk[5]; 7. 91-Kevin Seidler[8]; 8. (DNF) 55P-Brady Portschy[7]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 68-Dave Uttech[1]; 2. 9X-Paul Nienhiser[3]; 3. 12-Corbin Gurley[2]; 4. 21H-TJ Haddy[5]; 5. 87A-Austin Hartmann[4]; 6. 1-Amelia Eisenschenk[7]; 7. 10V-Matt VanderVere[8]; 8. 45-Rob Pribnow[6]
Qualifying: 1. 7A-Will Armitage, 11.431[30]; 2. 25T-Travis Arenz, 11.471[24]; 3. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 11.481[31]; 4. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 11.490[20]; 5. 25-Danny Schlafer, 11.527[12]; 6. 4-Alex Pokorski, 11.528[9]; 7. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 11.552[5]; 8. 9X-Paul Nienhiser, 11.569[29]; 9. 85J-Logan Julien, 11.575[18]; 10. 96-Jake Blackhurst, 11.631[16]; 11. 92-Zach Daum, 11.660[21]; 12. 12-Corbin Gurley, 11.674[23]; 13. 8-Will Gerrits, 11.675[22]; 14. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 11.721[28]; 15. 3B-Shelby Bosie, 11.728[7]; 16. 68-Dave Uttech, 11.731[1]; 17. 79-Blake Nimee, 11.738[14]; 18. 09-Clayton Rossmann, 11.790[3]; 19. 15-Laela Eisenschenk, 11.826[6]; 20. 21H-TJ Haddy, 11.831[13]; 21. 4K-Kris Spitz, 11.873[19]; 22. 26-Cody Schlafer, 11.918[32]; 23. 99-Tyler Brabant, 11.988[2]; 24. 45-Rob Pribnow, 11.996[26]; 25. 26R-Preston Ruh, 12.149[4]; 26. 24-Scott Conger, 12.240[15]; 27. 55P-Brady Portschy, 12.266[17]; 28. 1-Amelia Eisenschenk, 12.316[11]; 29. 70W-Logan Wienke, 12.356[10]; 30. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 12.572[27]; 31. 91-Kevin Seidler, 13.349[25]; 32. (DQ) 10V-Matt VanderVere, 11.912[8]