Local racers win Dirt Track features

PLYMOUTH – Saturday’s Plymouth Dirt Track Racing had perfect weather and an exciting night of action on the Sheboygan County Fair Park oval.

A-main winners of the 30-lap Mid-Season races were Lance Fassbender (Burnett), Sprint cars; Russ Scheffler (Waukesha), Late Models; and Brad Lubach (Elkhart Lake), Grand Nationals. The 20-lap Outlaw Compact A-main was won by Cole Fenske (Cascade).

Fassbender came from the fifth row to win the Sprint car race in record time (7 minutes, 6 seconds) in a race that was nonstop. T.J. Luedke (Plymouth) led the first lap before Ben Schmidt (Plymouth) passed him on the outside on the second lap.

Fassbender moved into third on lap eight and raced Luedke very close until taking the second spot on the 13th lap. Hooked up on the outside of the track, Fassbender would reel in Schmidt as they raced around lapped cars until on lap 18, Fassbender would take the lead and race to the win.

Luedke would pass Schmidt for the second spot on lap 27. Scotty Thiel (Sheboygan) was fourth with Jim Melis (Glenbeulah) fifth.

In the Late Model A-main, Scheffler drove the high side of the track and passed early leader Scott Sohrweide (Chilton) on the second lap. Behind him, the racing was outstanding with cars running inside and outside, and at times three-wide.

Bill Rezutek (Big Bend) started ninth and also found the outside line to work well. He moved forward and soon was behind Rick Scheffler (Waukesha) in third place. They would finish in that order ahead of Jim Schmidt (Cleveland) who started 11th.

Turk Letizia (Milwaukee) battled near the front the entire race and would finish in fifth.

Lubach’s Grand National win came after he passed Luke Scholten (Oostburg) on the 15th lap. The race was stopped early after a car got crossed up coming to the green and several cars came together behind him.

The cars of Brian Gilles (Plymouth) and Rick Hed (Sheboygan Falls) sustained damage with Gilles sustaining what appeared to be a leg injury. Scholten took the lead on the restart with Tim Warner (Malone) very close.

Lubach would pass his brother Kevin (Elkhart Lake) for third on the 11th lap and chase the leaders. Brett Wenzel (Manitowoc) then passed Kevin Lubach for fourth. Brian Kaat (Plymouth) charged from 16th to finish in sixth.

The Outlaw Compacts put on another exciting race with Fenske scoring his first career A-main win. Tim Simon (Fond du Lac) took the lead on the first lap and promptly took a commanding lead.

That lead be wiped out after a yellow flag slowed action for a car leaking fuel. On the restart, Fenske passed Simon on the inside and led the rest of the race.

Aaron Stolp (West Allis) used the outside line to pass cars and raced J.J. Pagel (St. Cloud) side-by-side until getting ahead of him on lap 13. The race came to a stop when a tire came off Pagel's car right in front of Simon – sending Simon’s car high in the air and finally stopping against the turn one wall.

Stolp would finish second ahead of Sean Mueller (Plymouth), Ben Van Wyke (Waldo) and Patrick Ciske (Sheboygan), respectively.

For more information, go to plymouthdtr.com (George’s Corner). Racing continues Saturday with opening ceremonies at 6 p.m.

July 17 will be ’50s night. Anyone who would like to park a vehicle behind the grandstand should call the fair office at 893-5751 to reserve a spot and receive two passes for that night’s races.