From PDP
May 30, 2026-In the 25-lap Akright Auto 360 Sprint Car main event, two-time division champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth held off a heated charge from T.J. Smith of Greenville to earn his first A-main victory of the 2026 campaign.
Polesitter Ben Schmidt grabbed the lead on the drop of the green flag in the 25-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car A main with division rookie Carter Chevalier of Andover, Minn., who started third, following in second.
JosFo Electric was the evening’s trophy sponsor, and T3 Towing provided an extra $1,000, which was split evenly between the A-main starters in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car division.
Schmidt pulled out to a comfortable full-straightaway lead in the early stages before reaching slower traffic on lap 7, which allowed Chevalier to cut the gap. Meanwhile, sixth starter T.J. Smith of Greenville charged up to slip into second on lap 13.
One lap later, the first of two caution flags appeared when Katelyn Krebsbach of Johnsburg and Plymouth’s Justin Erickson collided on the frontstretch. Following the restart, Smith moved in to pressure Schmidt for the top spot before the second and final caution flag flew on lap 18 when Chevalier spun to a stop in turn one.
The final eight laps produced an intense duel between Schmidt and Smith with both drivers using every inch of the multi-groove racing surface to find an advantage.
Smith used the high line to put even for the lead on a few occasions, but Schmidt expertly positioned his car to fend off Smith’s advances on the way to his 29th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car victory. It was also the 53rd main event win of Schmidt’s Midwest Sprint Car Association career, which pushed him past Danny Schlafer into second place on the all-time MSA A-main victory list.
Smith had to settle for second, Brandon Berth of Cascade charged up from the 10th starting spot to place third, defending PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Kevin Karnitz came home fourth after starting fifth, and Tyler Davis of Franklin advanced from the 13th starting position to round out the top five.
The Tracy Black Family provided free checkered flags on Autograph Night.
The NOS Energy Drink World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series is set to stage its fourth-ever event at The Plymouth Dirt Track this Saturday, June 6. The Akright Auto PDTR 360 Sprint Cars will also be in action.
Pits open at 2 p.m. Spectator gates open at 4 p.m. with hot laps at 6:30 p.m. and racing at 7:30 p.m.
Akright Auto 360 Sprint Cars
Akright Auto A Main (25 Laps): 1. 35-Ben Schmidt [1]; 2. 69S-TJ Smith [6]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth [10]; 4. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [5]; 5. 68T-Tyler Davis [13]; 6. 46-Steven Ruh [11]; 7. 2-Chris Clayton [21]; 8. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski [17]; 9. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [14]; 10. 67-Josh Walter [18]; 11. 3-Justin Erickson [19]; 12. 69-Bill Taylor [4]; 13. 7-Lance Fassbender [20]; 14. 11-Tony Wondra [16]; 15. 44H-Hayden Johnson [7]; 16. 59-Ethon Stear [8]; 17. 54-Randy Post [22]; 18. 51-Chris Larson [2]; 19. 5C-Carter Chevalier [3]; 20. 14J-Joseph Hintz [15]; 21. 19-Ion Stear [12]; 22. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [9]
B Main (12 Laps): 1. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski[7]; 2. 67-Josh Walter[8]; 3. 3-Justin Erickson[5]; 4. 7-Lance Fassbender[4]; 5. 2-Christopher Clayton[9]; 6. 54-Randy Post[11]; 7. 5-Chad Stouthamer[3]; 8. 51C-Brok Clifcorn[14]; 9. 55S-Ryan Sawusch[12]; 10. (DNF) 20W-Weston Finke[2]; 11. (DNF) 68P-Frank Perko[1]; 12. (DNF) 30-Nathan Skelton[6]; 13. (DNS) 37Z-Jake Zimmerman; 14. (DNS) 87R-Josh Rehberg
Jensen Sales Service Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 51-Chris Larson[1]; 2. 59-Ethon Stear[2]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth[3]; 4. 19-Ion Stear[5]; 5. 68T-Tyler Davis[7]; 6. 67-Josh Walter[4]; 7. 2-Chris Clayton[6]; 8. 87R-Josh Rehberg[8]
Jensen Sales Service Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz[2]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt[3]; 3. 20W-Weston Finke[1]; 4. 3BK-Billy Kreutz[4]; 5. 5-Chad Stouthamer[6]; 6. 51C-Brok Clifcorn[8]; 7. 54-Randy Post[5]; 8. 55S-Ryan Sawusch[7]
Jensen Sales Service Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 69S-TJ Smith[2]; 2. 69-Bill Taylor[4]; 3. 14J-Joseph Hintz[1]; 4. 7-Lance Fassbender[3]; 5. 68P-Frank Perko[6]; 6. (DNF) 3-Justin Erickson[5]; 7. (DNS) 37Z-Jake Zimmerman
Jensen Sales Service Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 5C-Carter Chevalier[1]; 2. 44H-Hayden Johnson[2]; 3. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach[3]; 4. 46-Steven Ruh[5]; 5. 11-Tony Wondra[6]; 6. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski[4]; 7. 30-Nathan Skelton[7]
Qualifying 1: 1. 67-Josh Walter, 13.615[7]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth, 13.624[6]; 3. 59-Ethon Stear, 13.817[5]; 4. 51-Chris Larson, 13.835[8]; 5. 19-Ion Stear, 13.883[2]; 6. 2-Chris Clayton, 13.980[3]; 7. 68T-Tyler Davis, 14.494[1]; 8. 87R-Josh Rehberg, 14.592[4]
Qualifying 2: 1. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 12.671[5]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt, 12.721[7]; 3. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 12.996[4]; 4. 51C-Brok Clifcorn, 13.161[8]; 5. 20W-Weston Finke, 13.357[6]; 6. 54-Randy Post, 13.584[3]; 7. 5-Chad Stouthamer, 13.591[2]; 8. 55S-Ryan Sawusch, 14.683[1]
Qualifying 3: 1. 69-Bill Taylor, 12.573[6]; 2. 7-Lance Fassbender, 12.725[4]; 3. 69S-TJ Smith, 12.736[5]; 4. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 12.894[2]; 5. 3-Justin Erickson, 13.067[1]; 6. 68P-Frank Perko, 13.089[3]; 7. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman[7]
Qualifying 4: 1. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski, 12.733[6]; 2. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 12.744[5]; 3. 44H-Hayden Johnson, 12.833[7]; 4. 5C-Carter Chevalier, 12.939[2]; 5. 46-Steven Ruh, 12.989[4]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra, 13.084[3]; 7. 30-Nathan Skelton, 13.503[1]