From PDTR
June 20, 2026 – Defending Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car champion Kevin Karnitz of West Bend halted two-time track champion Ben Schmidt’s Plymouth winning streak at three in claiming his second A-main victory of the 2026 PDTR campaign on Mid-Season Night at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis., on Saturday, June 20.
Seth Johnson of Hartland led flag to flag en route to his first career 20-lap A-main victory in the AutoMeter Powered by Gandrud Performance Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car Series presented by PDTR guest division sponsor Sheboygan’s Rock Station 106.5 The Buzz.
After lining up on the outside of the front row, Kevin Karnitz outpowered polesitter Brandon Berth of Cascade to take the lead on the opening lap of the 25-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car main event.
Riding the high and wide cushion, Karnitz caught up the back of the field on lap 6 and went to work slicing his way through thick slower traffic. As the leaders worked their way through a continual swarm of cars, Berth pulled even with Karnitz with a slide job on lap 8.
However, Karnitz fended off Berth’s spirited challenge for the lead. On lap 10, Berth exchanged sliders with fourth starter T.J. Smith of Greenville in a heated duel for the runner-up spot.
Meanwhile, Karnitz weaved his way through slower traffic with some daring, but well-measured moves utilizing the bite of the preferred outside groove to extend his lead by lap 15.
Three laps later, Ben Schmidt of Plymouth charged up from the 10th starting spot to slip past Smith to secure second. As the laps wound down, Schmidt used the low line to gradually reel in the high-riding Karnitz.
However, Schmidt’s valiant bid for a fourth straight PDTR and fifth consecutive Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car A-main win came up just short.
Karnitz secured his 10th career PDTR 360 Sprint Car victory and 12th career MSA main event win in the caution-free race, which came with a $1,000 first-place prize.
Schmidt was second, Berth wound up third, Smith finished fourth, and third starter Josh Walter of Plymouth rounded out the top five.
Seth Johnson, who started on the pole, jumped into the lead of the 20-lap Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car A main on the drop of the green flag. The lone caution of the event came out on lap 3 when Jordan Miklas spun in turn two.
JW’s Car and Raccing Photos
Johnson utilized the preferred high line to control the lead after the restart with Wisconsin wingLESS rookie Colin Sivia of Winthrop Harbor, Ill., who started on the outside of the front row, following in second.
On lap 16, Johnson and Sivia were dueling in close quarters when Johnson came in contact with a slower car in turn two. However, Johnson recovered nicely to maintain the lead and pull away from Sivia over the final four laps on the way to his first career Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car Series A-main victory.
Sivia was second, third starter John Fahl of Brown Deer took third, Rusty Egan of Round Lake Heights, Ill. moved up from the eighth starting spot to place fourth, and Tim Cox of Park City, Ill. wound up fifth after starting sixth.
Weston Finke of Mayville won the 12-lap PDTR 360 Sprint Car B main.
Rookie Ethon Stear of Hebron, Ill. was the overall fastest qualifier in the PDTR 360 Sprint Car division with a lap of 12.480 seconds.
Rusty Egan earned fast qualifier honors in the Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car division with a lap of 13.771 seconds.
The seventh event of the 2026 PDTR campaign, sponsored by Vesta, drew a field of 82 entries, including 27 360 Sprint Cars, 21 Grand Nationals, 17 B Mods and 17 Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Cars.
To help celebrate Mid-Season Night, PDTR added $3,000 to the purse for the 360 Sprint Car, Grand National and B Mod divisions ($1,000 each).
Plymouth Dirt Track Racing will return to action on Saturday, June 27 with the third scheduled 2026 Seubert Calf Ranches Super Six Late Model Series event presented by Sheboygan’s Rock Station 106.5 The Buzz, along with the Akright Auto PDTR 360 Sprint Cars, Oostburg Automotive Grand Nationals and Sheboygan Flooring B Mods.
The program will also feature Hot Wheels Races at the PDTR merchandise table under the grandstand to start the evening.
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, Twitter and Instagram.
AKRIGHT AUTO PLYMOUTH DIRT TRACK RACING 360 SPRINT CARS
A Main (25 Laps): 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [2]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt [10]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth [1]; 4. 69S-TJ Smith [4]; 5. 67-Josh Walter [3]; 6. 3-Justin Erickson [16]; 7. 68T-Tyler Davis [5]; 8. 69-Shane Wenninger [7]; 9. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [6]; 10. 14J-Joseph Hintz [8]; 11. 15-Carter Chevalier [18]; 12. 59-Ethon Stear [13]; 13. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski [9]; 14. 57-Tristan Furseth [15]; 15. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [14]; 16. 24X-Eric Wilke [11]; 17. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl [21]; 18. 44H-Hayden Johnson [19]; 19. 51-Chris Larson [12]; 20. 11-Tony Wondra [20]; 21. 68P-Frank Perko [22]; 22. 20W-Weston Finke [17]
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 20W-Weston Finke[2]; 2. 15-Carter Chevalier[1]; 3. 44H-Hayden Johnson[7]; 4. 11-Tony Wondra[3]; 5. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl[8]; 6. 68P-Frank Perko[5]; 7. 46-Steven Ruh[9]; 8. 87R-Josh Rehberg[4]; 9. 30-Nathan Skelton[10]; 10. (DNS) 37Z-Jake Zimmerman; 11. (DNS) 5-Chad Stouthamer
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 68T-Tyler Davis[1]; 2. 63K-Kevin Karnitz[4]; 3. 51-Chris Larson[2]; 4. 15-Carter Chevalier[3]; 5. 20W-Weston Finke[5]; 6. 68P-Frank Perko[6]; 7. (DNS) 5-Chad Stouthamer
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 22B-Brandon Berth[1]; 2. 14J-Joseph Hintz[2]; 3. 35-Ben Schmidt[3]; 4. 59-Ethon Stear[4]; 5. 57-Tristan Furseth[6]; 6. 44H-Hayden Johnson[5]; 7. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 67-Josh Walter[2]; 2. 69-Shane Wenninger[3]; 3. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski[4]; 4. 24X-Eric Wilke[5]; 5. 46-Steven Ruh[1]; 6. 87R-Josh Rehberg[7]; 7. (DNF) 30-Nathan Skelton[6]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 69S-TJ Smith[2]; 2. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach[3]; 3. 3-Justin Erickson[1]; 4. 3BK-Billy Kreutz[4]; 5. 11-Tony Wondra[5]; 6. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman[6]
Qualifying 1: 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 12.743[2]; 2. 15-Carter Chevalier, 12.802[6]; 3. 51-Chris Larson, 12.834[3]; 4. 68T-Tyler Davis, 12.954[5]; 5. 20W-Weston Finke, 12.973[7]; 6. 68P-Frank Perko, 13.051[1]; 7. 5-Chad Stouthamer, 13.051[4]
Qualifying 2: 1. 59-Ethon Stear, 12.480[2]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt, 12.723[5]; 3. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 12.782[6]; 4. 22B-Brandon Berth, 12.805[1]; 5. 44H-Hayden Johnson, 12.813[4]; 6. 57-Tristan Furseth, 12.876[3]; 7. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl, 12.893[7]
Qualifying 3: 1. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski, 12.884[4]; 2. 69-Shane Wenninger, 12.953[7]; 3. 67-Josh Walter, 12.991[5]; 4. 46-Steven Ruh, 12.999[3]; 5. 24X-Eric Wilke, 13.117[1]; 6. 30-Nathan Skelton, 13.497[6]; 7. 87R-Josh Rehberg, 13.497[2]
Qualifying 4: 1. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 12.760[1]; 2. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 12.849[5]; 3. 69S-TJ Smith, 12.961[3]; 4. 3-Justin Erickson, 13.108[4]; 5. 11-Tony Wondra, 13.490[6]; 6. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman, 13.951[2]
SHEBOYGAN’S ROCK STATION 106.5 THE BUZZ WISCONSIN WINGLESS SPRINT CARS
A Main (20 Laps): 1. 99J-Seth Johnson [1]; 2. 11S-Colin Sivia [2]; 3. 0-John Fahl [3]; 4. 50-Rusty Egan [8]; 5. 14-Tim Cox [6]; 6. 22-Greg Alt [5]; 7. 38-Allen Hafford [7]; 8. 29J-Ralph Johnson 4]; 9. 26-Preston Ruh [9]; 10. 24-Eric Wilke [17]; 11. 2J-Christian Janssen [11]; 12. 4G-George Gaertner III [12]; 13. 54-Chance Ciskowski [13]; 14. 7-Trinity Uttech [14]; 15. 7D-Josh Davidson [16]; 16. 41-Dennis Spitz [15]; 17. 44J-Jordan Miklas [10]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 29J-Ralph Johnson[2]; 2. 14-Tim Cox[3]; 3. 26-Preston Ruh[5]; 4. 11S-Colin Sivia[1]; 5. 50-Rusty Egan[4]; 6. 2J-Christian Janssen[6]; 7. 7-Trinity Uttech[7]; 8. 7D-Josh Davidson[8]; 9. (DNS) 24-Eric Wilke
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 99J-Seth Johnson[1]; 2. 22-Greg Alt[3]; 3. 44J-Jordan Miklas[5]; 4. 0-John Fahl[2]; 5. 38-Allen Hafford[4]; 6. 4G-George Gaertner III[8]; 7. 54-Chance Ciskowski[6]; 8. 41-Dennis Spitz[7]
Qualifying 1: 1. 50-Rusty Egan, 13.771[1]; 2. 38-Allen Hafford, 14.153[2]; 3. 14-Tim Cox, 14.171[16]; 4. 22-Greg Alt, 14.260[5]; 5. 29J-Ralph Johnson, 14.326[6]; 6. 0-John Fahl, 14.340[15]; 7. 11S-Colin Sivia, 14.342[3]; 8. 99J-Seth Johnson, 14.359[17]; 9. 26-Preston Ruh, 14.365[14]; 10. 44J-Jordan Miklas, 14.373[13]; 11. 2J-Christian Janssen, 14.446[4]; 12. 54-Chance Ciskowski, 14.470[11]; 13. 7-Trinity Uttech, 14.657[9]; 14. 41-Dennis Spitz, 14.673[7]; 15. 7D-Josh Davidson, 14.989[12]; 16. 4G-George Gaertner III, 15.017[10]; 17. (DNS) 24-Eric Wilke, 15.017