Glenz, Arenz take PDTR victories

Jesse Glenz of Fall Creek, the hottest Dirt Late Model driver in Western Wisconsin, made the trek to the eastern side of the state pay off to the tune of a $4,200 pay day as he claimed his first Dirt Kings Late Model Tour

A-main victory and fifth main event win of the 2020 campaign in the third annual Diamond 42 headliner at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth last Friday.

The race was the first of two events in consecutive days at PDTR.

Glenz, who started second, bolted into the lead of the 42-lap event along the high groove on the opening lap, while third-starter Mike Mullen of Seymour ducked low to assume second on the initial circuit.

The first of six cautions appeared on lap three when Zack Kessler of Plymouth spun in turn two

Following the restart, sixth starter Justin Reed of Camp Point, Ill., rode the high groove of the fast and tacky racing surface into third place on lap four before the second caution appeared on lap five for a spin involving Joe Bongiorno of Milwaukee and Ron Berna of Abrams in turn four.

On the restart, Reed used a high move to power his way past Mullen into second on lap five before Mullen battled back to regain the runner-up spot along the low groove on lap nine.

Meanwhile, Glenz pulled away to a solid lead before lapped traffic made things vinteresting starting on lap 16 when Mullen dove low to pull even with Glenz.

One lap later, the high-riding Reed joined in to make it a three-way duel for the top spot as he moved into second on lap 18 and powered around Glenz into the lead on lap 19. On lap 20, Mullen briefly grabbed the top spot down low before Reed battled back to regain the lead on lap 21.

On lap 28, two-time and defending PDTR Late Model champion Justin Schmidt of Cleveland, who started 11th, worked his way into fourth along the outside groove.

On lap 29, 2014 PDTR Late Model champ Mitch McGrath of Waukesha moved into fourth just as Schmidt moved around Glenz into second.  

The third caution appeared on lap 30 when McGrath made contact with Glenz, which sent Glenz spinning in turn three. However, Dirt Kings officials ruled the caution to be inadvertent as Glenz did not stop on the track and both drivers maintained their spots in the running order.

On the restart, Glenz regained second, while McGrath moved into third as Schmidt dropped back after hitting the turn two wall. Just as Glenz was trimming the gap on Reed the fourth caution appeared on lap 37 when Dirt

Kings point leader Brett Swedberg of Shawano spun in turn four.

Glenz changed his line to work the middle and high groove of the multi-groove track on the restart to work his way around Reed into the lead in turn two on lap 38. Glenz then pulled away from the rest of the pack as McGrath moved into third on lap 39.

One lap later, the fifth caution appeared when Reed spun in turn two after contact with McGrath as the two battled for second. On the restart, the sixth and final caution flag was displayed when four-time PDTR Late Model track champion Brad Mueller of Random Lake spun in turn two.

On the restart, McGrath moved into second, while three-time Dirt Kings Late Model Tour champion Nick Anvelink of Navarino, who started ninth, moved into third and challenged McGrath for the runner-up spot.

On the final circuit, McGrath and Anvelink collided while dueling for second, which sent Anvelink into the tire barrier on turn two, while McGrath was disqualified from the race for rough driving and subsequently issued a suspension from all Dirt Kings Tour events for the remainder of the 2020 season due to his conduct throughout the program.

Glenz pulled away over the final two laps to notch his first career Dirt Kings Late Model Tour victory, second career PDTR Late Model A-main victory, third straight main event triumph and fifth overall A-main victory of the 2020 season.

“I’m super stoked to be in victory lane at Plymouth as it has been a few years since our last victory here,” Glenz said. “Justin Reed was kind of hugging the bottom on that restart and I tried rolling through the middle and then worked up to the top to get by him. I’m super happy with this victory.”

Schmidt placed second after starting in the middle of the pack.

“That caution with about 12 to go hurt us,” Schmidt said. “We were really going pretty good before that. I didn’t really know exactly where I was running for a while until I looked at the scoreboard and saw myself second. This was a really good run for us. We’ve kind of struggled over the past few weeks, so it feels good to get a good finish tonight.”

Ritchie worked his way up from his 13th starting spot to take third.

“It was pretty hairy out there with a lot of guys making some crazy moves,” Ritchie said. “I hope it was a good show for the fans because it was really something to watch from my seat.”

Ron Berna, who started 22nd, recovered from an early race spin to finish fourth, and fourth-starter Taylor Scheffler of Waukesha placed fifth in the Diamond 42, which was run in honor of Late Model driver “Diamond” Jim

Letizia’s 42nd year in racing.

In other non-points PDTR action, Luke Scholten of Oostburg steered the Bender Racing No. 89 car to his first main event victory of the 2020 season in the 25-lap Klips N Tips Grand National A-main.

Travis Schmidt of Waldo notched his initial A-main victory of the season in the 25-lap Cellcom B Mod main event.

The event attracted a total of 56 cars, including 34 Dirt Kings/PDTR Late Models, 11 Grand Nationals and 11 B mods.

Arenz returns to victory lane

The second night of the doubleheader weekend saw some familiar faces park their machines in A-main victory lane last Saturday.

PDTR 360 Sprint Car point leader Travis Arenz of Sheboygan notched his third 25-lap A-main victory of the 2020 season.

Tony Wondra of Campbellsport jumped out to the early lead from the pole position while 2017 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Brandon McMullen of Oshkosh grabbed second on the opening lap.

On lap six, McMullen ventured up the high groove of the dry slick racing surface to wrestle the top spot away from Wondra. Two laps later, Arenz who started fifth, dove under Wondra to take second.

As the leaders encountered lapped traffic on lap 14, Arenz rapidly closed the gap on McMullen before pouncing with a low move in turn one on lap 15 to take the top spot from the high-riding McMullen.

Once in front, Arenz extended his lead, maneuvering his way through lapped traffic to collect his fourth career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory, 10th career Midwest Sprint Car Association main event triumph and third

A-main win of the 2020 season in the non-stop, caution-free race.

McMullen took second, outside front-row starter Justin Erickson of Plymouth finished third, 2011 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Ben Schmidt of Howards Grove, who started eighth, placed fourth and Wondra rounded out the top five.

In other races,

•  In the 25-lap A-main, two-time defending PDTR Late Model champ Justin Schmidt of Cleveland notched his second 25-lap main event win of the season.

• Defending PDTR Grand National champion Tyler Kulow of Plymouth collected his first main event win of 2020, while defending PDTR B Mod champ Tim Warner of Fond du Lac claimed his third A-main triumph of the 2020 campaign.

PDTR will resume on Saturday, Aug. 22, with 360 Sprint Car, Late Model, Grand National and B Mod action. Grandstand gates open at 4:30 p.m. with qualifying at 5:30 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m.