Defending division champion Kevin Karnitz of West Bend claimed the Akright Auto 360 Sprint Car A-main victory in the 2026 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing season opener at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, April 25. - JW's Car and Raccing Photos
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) April 25, 2026 – With extra money on the line and a strong contingent of race-hungry spectators looking on, four drivers cashed in by scoring main-event victories in the 2026 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing season opener at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis., on Saturday, April 25.
Defending Akright Auto PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Kevin Karnitz of West Bend collected a victory in the 25-lap main event.
Former division champion Tyler Kulow of Plymouth racked up the win in the 25-lap Oostburg Automotive Grand National A-main.
Brad Buckman of Kiel made his maiden visit to victory lane in the 25-lap Sheboygan Flooring B Mod headliner.
Eric Blumer of Sun Prairie claimed the 20-lap Midwest Legends Dirt Series main event sponsored by Sheboygan’s Rock Station 106.5, the Buzz.
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.
In the Grand National headliner, polesitter Josh Pierce of Adell led the first seven circuits before outside front row starter Tyler Kulow dipped under Pierce to grab the top spot exiting turn four on lap 8.
Six laps later, the lone caution flag of the event was displayed for a three-car incident in turn two. Following the restart, Kulow maintained control as he built up a full-straightaway lead on the way to his 13th career PDTR Grand National A-main win, which included a $500 payday with added money from PDTR.
Pierce placed second, fourth starter Jeff Muehlbauer of Elkhart Lake took third, 2022 PDTR Grand National champion Luke Scholten of Oostburg rode the outside groove to a fourth-place showing after starting 12th, and 11th starter Dustin Weiss of Iron Ridge rounded out the top five.
The first eight laps of the B Mod main event featured a heated duel between polesitter Brad Buckman and outside front row starter Tony Gates of Chilton. Buckman worked the inside lane while Gates skillfully worked the outside line, with both drivers swapping the lead lap after lap.
Gates led lap 8 before Buckman finally grabbed the top spot for certain on lap 9. At the same time, former PDTR B Mod champion Tim Sheppard of West Bend soared into second after starting third.
Sheppard briefly challenged Buckman for the lead on lap 13 before dropping back and ceding the runner-up position to Jonathan Hitsman of Malone in the car normally driven by Tim Warner, who started fourth, on lap 24.
Buckman held on to collect his first-time PDTR B Mod A-main victory worth $500, including additional purse money from PDTR. Hitsman was second, Sheppard placed third, Gates wound up fourth, and 2024 PDTR B Mod champion Travis Schmidt of Cascade came up from the 10th starting spot to finish fifth.
After a two-car incident on the opening lap, which prompted a complete restart, the remainder of B Mod A-main ran non-stop.
In the 20-lap Midwest Legends Dirt Series main event, Eric Blumer bolted into the lead on the drop of the green flag and quickly built up a solid edge over second starter Hayden Schmuhl of Beaver Dam.
Blumer entered lapped traffic on lap 12, but it didn’t slow him down, and he pulled away to secure his second career Midwest Legends Dirt Series A-main victory at the Plymouth Dirt Track.
The lone caution flag came out for a single-car spin on the opening lap, which led to a full restart. The race went caution-free from then on.
Schmuhl was second, seventh starter Austin Winkel of Sheboygan Falls finished third, Ryan Mech of Greenfield placed fourth after starting sixth, and Ty Olson of Mandon, N.D. completed the top five from the 12th starting position.
Bill Taylor of Boltonville came out on top in the 12-lap 360 Sprint Car A main.
Adam Zellmer of Horicon won the 12-lap Midwest Legends Dirt Series B main.
Bill Taylor claimed overall 360 Sprint Car fast qualifier honors with a lap of 12.789 seconds.
The event attracted a field of 102 total entries, including 31 26 360 Sprint Cars, 31 Midwest Legends Dirt Series entries, 20 Grand Nationals, and 20 B Mods.
Mayer Automotive served as the evening’s trophy sponsor.
PDTR returns to action on Saturday, May 2, with the first event of the 2026 Seubert Calf Ranches Super Six Late Model Series, along with the PDTR Akright Auto 360 Sprint Cars, Oostburg Automotive Grand Nationals, and Sheboygan Flooring B Mods.
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
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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]
Oostburg Automotive Grand Nationals
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A Main (25 Laps): 1. 24K-Tyler Kulow [2]; 2. 13-Josh Pierce [1]; 3. 5M-Jeff Muehlbauer [4]; 4. 80-Luke Scholten [12]; 5. 53W-Dustin Weiss [11]; 6. 15M-Justin Miller [3]; 7. 95-Donny Kulow [14]; 8. 47-Nick Schumacher [10]; 9. 11-Dylan May [6]; 10. 16-Will Schumacher [13]; 11. 15-Derek Kaat [8]; 12. 6-Dick Hed [17]; 13. 52W-Jack Wiroll [18]; 14. 53T-Tanner Lorenz [16]; 15. 42-Jason Juech [19]; 16. 93-Mavrick Ruh [7]; 17. 54-Austin Yancey [5]; 18. 53B-Brad Weiss [9]; 19. 14X-Will Sorce [15]; 20. (DNS) 45-Trent Bogart
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 24K-Tyler Kulow [1]; 2. 80-Luke Scholten [3]; 3. 93-Mavrick Ruh [2]; 4. 5M-Jeff Muehlbauer [5]; 5. 16-Will Schumacher [7]; 6. 53T-Tanner Lorenz [4]; 7. 42-Jason Juech [6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 53W-Dustin Weiss [3]; 2. 53B-Brad Weiss [5]; 3. 54-Austin Yancey [1]; 4. 15M-Justin Miller [2]; 5. 95-Donny Kulow [6]; 6. 6-Dick Hed [4]; 7. 45-Trent Bogart [7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Joshua Pierce [1]; 2. 47-Nick Schumacher [3]; 3. 11-Dylan May [2]; 4. 15-Derek Kaat [5]; 5. 14X-Will Sorce [4]; 6. 52W-Jack Wiroll [6]
Sheboygan Flooring B-Mods
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A Main (25 Laps): 1. 11B-Brad Buckman [1]; 2. 03W-Jonathan Hitsman [4]; 3. 29S-Tim Sheppard [3]; 4. 5X-Tony Gates [2]; 5. 3-Travis Schmidt [10]; 6. 12T-Tim Thrun [5]; 7. 66-Steve Lorier [13]; 8. 27L-Brendan Ostrowski [11]; 9. 48-Matt Urban [8]; 10. 59S-Spencer Long [14]; 11. 9L-Hunter Larson [7]; 12. 31W-Kelan Wolfe [16]; 13. 85B-Kevin Braaksma [9]; 14. 26P-Ryan Pafford [6]; 15. 19-Parker Glander [18]; 16. 17-Brandon Knepprath [12]; 17. 0-Bill Shavlik [19]; 18. 96Z-Nick Zdroik [15]; 19. (DNS) 73-Rory Welch; 20. (DNS) 4-Justin Blackburn
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 29S-Tim Sheppard [2]; 2. 5X-Tony Gates [5]; 3. 17-Brandon Knepprath [6]; 4. 85B-Kevin Braaksma [4]; 5. 66-Steve Lorier [7]; 6. 31W-Kelan Wolfe [1]; 7. (DNF) 19-Parker Glander [3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Travis Schmidt [3]; 2. 48-Matt Urban [2]; 3. 12T-Tim Thrun [4]; 4. 11B-Brad Buckman [6]; 5. 59S-Spencer Long [1]; 6. 4-Justin Blackburn [5]; 7. 0-Bill Shavlik [7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 03W-Jonathan Hitsman [3]; 2. 27L-Brendan Ostrowski [1]; 3. 9L-Hunter Larson [4]; 4. 26P-Ryan Pafford [5]; 5. 96Z-Nick Zdroik [2]; 6. (DNS) 73-Rory Welch
Midwest Legends Dirt Series
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A Main (20 Laps): 1. 6E-Eric Blumer [1]; 2. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl [2]; 3. 88-Austin Winkel [7]; 4. 29M-Ryan Mech [6]; 5. 7T-Ty Olson [12]; 6. 87-Dallas Ross [4]; 7. 19-Ayden Erickson [3]; 8. 4C-Connor Carey [8]; 9. 45-Hunter Cardinal [14]; 10. 14T-Talyn Neuman [15]; 11. 80H-Art Hahn [11]; 12. 4S-Chris Sleep [10]; 13. 7-Lilly Fassbender [5]; 14. 117-Adam Zellmer [21]; 15. 5K-Keith Carey [9]; 16. 00B-Oliver O’Brion [18]; 17. 17F-Faith Zellmer Schultz [17]; 18. 33S-Mike Swenson [20]; 19. 78-Carson Grob [19]; 20. 76W-Mark Wellman [22]; 21. 51F-Tim Franz [23]; 22. 19C-Cadon Schmitz [24]; 23. 54-Nate Werner [13]; 24. (DNS) 37-Daniel Mech
Fastline Design and Graphics B Main (12 Laps): 1. 117-Adam Zellmer [4]; 2. 76W-Mark Wellman [7]; 3. 51F-Tim Franz [5]; 4. 19C-Cadon Schmitz [6]; 5. 27-Russell Loof [1]; 6. 80L-Jacob Loof [8]; 7. 28-Cauy Beck [3]; 8. 6X-Ryder Geist [10]; 9. (DNS) 19X-Cal Swenson; 10. (DNS) 34G-Brandon Grob; 11. (DNS) 17C-Clayton Ottman
NS Towing Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 6E-Eric Blumer [2]; 2. 87-Dallas Ross [4]; 3. 5K-Keith Carey [1]; 4. 54-Nate Werner [7]; 5. 17F-Faith Zellmer Schultz [5]; 6. 27-Russell Loof [3]; 7. 51F-Tim Franz [6]; 8. 6X-Ryder Geist [8]
NS Towing Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Austin Winkel [6]; 2. 29M-Ryan Mech [5]; 3. 4S-Chris Sleep [3]; 4. 45-Hunter Cardinal [2]; 5. 00B-Oliver O’Brion [1]; 6. 19X-Cal Swenson [7]; 7. 34G-Brandon Grob [8]; 8. 80L-Jacob Loof [4]
NS Towing Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 4C-Connor Carey [3]; 2. 19-Ayden Erickson [2]; 3. 80H-Art Hahn [1]; 4. 14T-Talyn Neuman [5]; 5. 78-Carson Grob [6]; 6. 28-Cauy Beck [4]; 7. 19C-Cadon Schmitz [7]; 8. 17C-Clayton Ottman [8]
NS Towing Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 59S-Hayden Schmuhl [1]; 2. 7-Lilly Fassbender [3]; 3. 7T-Ty Olson [7]; 4. 37-Daniel Mech [5]; 5. 33S-Mike Swenson [6]; 6. 117-Adam Zellmer [2]; 7. 76W-Mark Wellman [4]
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