Julien, Kuxhouse, Neau notch Wisconsin Sprint Car Championships victories
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) September 27, 2025 – It was a night of firsts to cap off the 2025 Akright Auto Plymouth Dirt Track 360 Sprint Car season as Chris Clayton of Waldo posted his first career A-main win and Kevin Karnitz of West Bend nailed down his first PDTR 360 Sprint Car season championship before a large, enthusiastic crowd at the eighth annual Wisconsin Sprint Car Championships at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, Sept. 27.
After earning a runner-up showing in the 25-lap 360 Sprint Car main event, Ben Schmidt of Plymouth earned his third overall and second consecutive Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car championship.
In the 30-lap Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Car Series A-main, Logan Julien of Oconomowoc raced to victory in the IRA Rick Schmidt Memorial Race. At the same time, Blake Nimee of Yorkville, Ill. nailed down his first IRA series title.
Tyler Kuxhouse of Antioch, Ill., racked up the win in the 20-lap Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car main event as Adam Taylor of Wheatfield, Ind., wrapped up his first series championship.
Mike Neau of Pleasant Prairie secured the 20-lap IRA Lightning division A-main victory, and Brian Strane Jr. of Paris posted his first career season championship.
After the initial start was negated when polesitter Chris Larson of Franksville spun in turn one, original outside front row starter Chris Clayton blasted into the lead on the drop of the green flag in the PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car A main.
Clayton wasted no time in building up a solid lead along the inside lane of the third-mile semi-banked clay oval. Meanwhile, fifth starter Ben Schmidt mounted a charge to work his way into fourth on lap 3 and third on lap 4. Three laps later, Schmidt vaulted into second in his quest to capture the 2025 MSA season title.
Clayton went on to earn his first career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory and second career MSA main event win in his 13th season of competition.
“I like running the bottom,” Clayton said. “I really don’t run anywhere else. I just catfished around the bottom and it worked well tonight.”
Schmidt came home second to complete his third overall and second consecutive MSA title. Fourth starter Brandon Berth of Cascade wound up third, Tony Wondra of Campbellsport worked his way up from the ninth starting spot to place fourth, and third starter Billy Kreutz of Kiel completed the top five.
“The guys gave me another great car,” Schmidt said. “I wasn’t sure how the track was going to shape up. The car has been awesome all year. We had two motor DNFs, which kind of took us out of the Plymouth points. I want to congratulate Kevin [Karnitz] on his Plymouth championship. Last year, we had it locked up before the last night. This year, it was a little more exciting being separated by only four points. I hope you guys liked that little battle we had tonight.”
On the strength of his ninth place finish, Kevin Karnitz claimed his first career PDTR 360 Sprint Car championship.
“This feels great,” Karnitz said. “I want to thank the crew and Dan and Debbie [Mayer] for giving me the opportunity to drive for them and all our partners. We couldn’t do any of this without them. These things are won in the shop. We had zero DNFs this year due to anything mechanical or anything else. I couldn’t be happier. I finally did it at my home track - my first championship. Thinking back to when I used to sit in those stands, it’s bittersweet.”
Logan Julien utilized a huge jump along the low line to catapult into the lead from the third starting spot on the opening lap of the IRA 410 Sprint Car main event. The second year IRA competitor wasted little time in opening up a substantial lead over the field before the red flag was displayed on lap 3 for a four-car incident in turn two involving Travis Arenz, Max Guilford, Justin Erickson and Cruz Dickerson.
Following the restart, the 16-year-old Julien worked the low groove to build up a solid cushion over fourth starter Joel Myers Jr. of Santa Rosa, Calif., before the slowing car of Jack Dover drew a yellow flag on lap 15. Another caution flag appeared on lap 26 when Max Guilford spun in turn two.
Julien and Guiford dueled in close quarters over the final five laps. However, Julien held off Guilford’s advances to record his fourth career IRA A-main victory and a $7,000 first-place prize.
Myers Jr. had to settle for second, fifth starter Jordan Goldesberry was third, Kyle Schuett of Philo, Ill., who started second, placed fourth, and ninth starter Blake Nimee tallied a fifth place showing to secure his initial IRA season championship.
Polesitter Allen Hafford of Beach Park, Ill., got the jump on the initial start of the 20-lap Wisconsin wingLESS main event, while fifth starter Greg Alt of Watertown, Adam Taylor, who started fourth, and third starter Tyler Kuxhouse mounted a duel for second. The pace slowed on lap 8 when Rusty Egan contacted the turn two wall, on lap 14 for debris, and for the stopped car of Eric Wilke on lap 15.
Hafford paced the first 13 laps before Kuxhouse used a low move in turn three to gain the top spot shortly after the lap 14 restart. He never looked back on the way to his third A-main triumph of the 2025 season.
Hafford wound up second, Ryan Zielski of Oconomowoc mounted a huge charge from the 14th starting spot to place third, second starter Tim Cox placed fourth, and fourth starter Adam Taylor reeled in his first Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car title with a fifth place showing.
After the original start was waived off when Matthew Gifford flipped his machine in turn two, outside front row starter Mike Neau bolted into the lead at the start of the 20-lap IRA Lightning Sprints main event. He was never headed on the way to his first A-main victory of the 2025 campaign.
Brian Strane Jr. moved up from the fourth starting spot to place second on the way to his first career IRA Lightning Sprints season title. Chad Stouthamer of Big Bend started and finished third, polesitter Jacob Irwin of Genoa City finished fourth, and Mark Heinert of Waukesha advanced from the 13th starting position to complete the top five.
Ben Schmidt claimed overall fast time honors in PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Car hot-lap-group qualifying in 12.511 seconds.
Jack Dover of Springfield, Neb., won the 12-lap IRA 410 Sprint Car B main.
Logan Julien earned the overall fast qualifier award in IRA 410 Sprint Car Series qualifying with a top lap of 11.410 seconds.
Brian Strane Jr. of Paris seized the fast qualifier award in IRA Lightning Sprints qualifying with a lap of 13.950 seconds.
The final event of the 2025 PDTR campaign, sponsored by Schwaller Painting & Staining and Jensen Sales & Service, attracted a field of 92 total entries, including 33 IRA 410 Sprint Cars, 22 PDTR-MSA 360 Sprint Cars, 22 Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Cars and 15 IRA Lightning Sprints.
The 2025 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Awards Ceremony will take place Saturday, Oct. 11, at Racers Hall in Plymouth at 7 p.m. The event honors the top three points finishers, along with the rookie of the year and most improved award winners in the PDTR Late Model, 360 Sprint Car, Grand National and B Mod divisions.
Off-season news and information about the 2025 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing season 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.
AKRIGHT AUTO PLYMOUTH DIRT TRACK RACING 360 SPRINT CARS
A Main (25 Laps): 1. 2-Chris Clayton [2]; 2. 1-Ben Schmidt [6]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth [4]; 4. 11-Tony Wondra [9]; 5. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [3]; 6. 46-Steven Ruh [8]; 7. 27G-Donny Goeden [11]; 8. 33M-Shane Wenninger [10]; 9. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [5]; 10. 69-Bill Taylor [17]; 11. 16-Anthony Knierim [7]; 12. 69S-TJ Smith [12]; 13. 24X-Eric Wilke [14]; 14. 57-Tristan Furseth [15]; 15. 51-Chris Larson [1]; 16. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [18]; 17. 12P-JJ Pagel [13]; 18. 98M-Ron Malec [16]; 19. 59-Ethon Stear [21]; 20. 20R-Chad Stouthamer [20]; 21. 68P-Frank Perko [22]; 22. 55S-Ryan Sawusch [19]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 46-Steven Ruh[3]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth[4]; 3. 33M-Shane Wenninger[1]; 4. 24X-Eric Wilke[2]; 5. 12P-JJ Pagel[5]; 6. 98M-Ron Malec[6]; 7. 20R-Chad Stouthamer[8]; 8. 55S-Ryan Sawusch[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3BK-Billy Kreutz[1]; 2. 1-Ben Schmidt[4]; 3. 2-Chris Clayton[6]; 4. 51-Chris Larson[5]; 5. 69-Bill Taylor[2]; 6. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach[3]; 7. 59-Ethon Stear[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Anthony Knierim[2]; 2. 63K-Kevin Karnitz[4]; 3. 11-Tony Wondra[1]; 4. 27G-Donny Goeden[3]; 5. 69S-TJ Smith[5]; 6. 57-Tristan Furseth[6]; 7. 68P-Frank Perko[7]
Qualifying 1: 1. 20R-Chad Stouthamer, 12.917[8]; 2. 22B-Brandon Berth, 12.933[4]; 3. 46-Steven Ruh, 12.980[5]; 4. 24X-Eric Wilke, 13.019[6]; 5. 33M-Shane Wenninger, 13.108[7]; 6. 12P-JJ Pagel, 13.113[1]; 7. 98M-Ron Malec, 13.143[2]; 8. 55S-Ryan Sawusch, 13.731[3]
Qualifying 2: 1. 1-Ben Schmidt, 12.511[3]; 2. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 12.814[1]; 3. 69-Bill Taylor, 12.890[2]; 4. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 12.899[6]; 5. 51-Chris Larson, 13.125[5]; 6. 2-Chris Clayton, 13.200 [4]; 7. 59-Ethon Stear, 13.220 [7]
Qualifying 3: 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 12.656 [6]; 2. 27G-Donny Goeden, 12.758 [2]; 3. 16-Anthony Knierim, 12.776 [4]; 4. 11-Tony Wondra, 12.941 [5]; 5. 69S-TJ Smith, 13.094 [1]; 6. 57-Tristan Furseth, 13.115 [3]; 7. 68P-Frank Perko, 13.291 [7]
BUMPER TO BUMPER INTERSTATE RACING ASSOCIATION 410 SPRINT CARS
A Main (30 Laps): 1. 85J-Logan Julien [3]; 2. 19-Joel Myers Jr [4]; 3. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [5]; 4. 9K-Kyle Schuett [2]; 5. 79-Blake Nimee [9]; 6. 2W-Scott Neitzel [6]; 7. 25-Danny Schlafer [1]; 8. 7-Scotty Thiel [14]; 9. 09-Clayton Rossmann [11]; 10. 87A-Austin Hartmann [13]; 11. 47-Todd King [7]; 12. 3N-Jake Neuman [16]; 13. 10V-Matt VanderVere [18]; 14. 53-Jack Dover [21]; 15. GR8-Will Gerrits [10]; 16. 3-Justin Erickson [22]; 17. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [23]; 18. 12-Corbin Gurley [19]; 19. 24-Scott Conger [24]; 20. (DNF) 1NZ-Max Guilford [17]; 21. (DNF) 96-Jake Blackhurst [12]; 22. (DNF) 25T-Travis Arenz [8]; 23. (DNF) 4D-Cruz Dickerson [15]; 24. (DNF) 99-Tyler Brabant [20]
B Main (12 Laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover[1]; 2. 3-Justin Erickson[6]; 3. 3BK-Billy Kreutz[3]; 4. 24-Scott Conger[4]; 5. 21H-TJ Haddy[10]; 6. 4K-Kris Spitz[5]; 7. 43-Jereme Schroeder[9]; 8. 26-Tyler Tischendorf[2]; 9. 68-Dave Uttech[7]; 10. (DNS) 52-Cody Schlafer; 11. (DNS) 55P-Brady Portschy; 12. (DNS) 4-Alex Pokorski; 13. (DNS) 70W-Logan Wienke
Dash 1 (4 Laps): 1. 25-Danny Schlafer[2]; 2. 85J-Logan Julien[3]; 3. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[5]; 4. 47-Todd King[4]; 5. 79-Blake Nimee[1]
Dash 2 (4 Laps): 1. 9K-Kyle Schuett[2]; 2. 19-Joel Myers Jr[4]; 3. 2W-Scotty Neitzel[5]; 4. 25T-Travis Arenz[3]; 5. GR8-Will Gerrits[1]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 79-Blake Nimee[2]; 2. 87A-Austin Hartmann[1]; 3. 47-Todd King[3]; 4. 1NZ-Max Guilford[5]; 5. 85J-Logan Julien[4]; 6. 3BK-Billy Kreutz[6]; 7. 68-Dave Uttech[7]; 8. 21H-TJ Haddy[8]; 9. (DNS) 4-Alex Pokorski
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Joel Myers Jr[4]; 2. 09-Clayton Rossmann[2]; 3. 25-Danny Schlafer[3]; 4. 12-Corbin Gurley[6]; 5. 99-Tyler Brabant[7]; 6. 26-Tyler Tischendorf[5]; 7. 43-Jereme Schroeder[8]; 8. 53-Jack Dover[1]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. GR8-Will Gerrits[1]; 2. 2W-Scott Neitzel[3]; 3. 4D-Cruz Dickerson[5]; 4. 3N-Jake Neuman[2]; 5. 25T-Travis Arenz[4]; 6. 4K-Kris Spitz[7]; 7. 3-Justin Erickson[6]; 8. (DNF) 55P-Brady Portschy[8]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 9K-Kyle Schuett[1]; 2. 96-Jake Blackhurst[2]; 3. 7-Scotty Thiel[3]; 4. 10V-Matt VanderVere[5]; 5. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[4]; 6. 24-Scott Conger[6]; 7. (DNF) 52-Cody Schlafer[7]; 8. (DNF) 70W-Logan Wienke[8]
Qualifying: 1. 85J-Logan Julien, 11.430[5]; 2. 19-Joel Myers Jr, 11.487[17]; 3. 25T-Travis Arenz, 11.554[12]; 4. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 11.653[14]; 5. 47-Todd King, 11.666[11]; 6. 25-Danny Schlafer, 11.698[18]; 7. 2W-Scotty Neitzel, 11.719[28]; 8. 7-Scotty Thiel, 11.729[10]; 9. 79-Blake Nimee, 11.751[13]; 10. 09-Clayton Rossmann, 11.762[20]; 11. 3N-Jake Neuman, 11.792[9]; 12. 96-Jake Blackhurst, 11.813[31]; 13. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 11.821[1]; 14. 53-Jack Dover, 11.824[3]; 15. GR8-Will Gerrits, 11.863[15]; 16. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 11.868[21]; 17. 1NZ-Max Guilford, 11.888[33]; 18. 26-Tyler Tischendorf, 11.903[24]; 19. 4D-Cruz Dickerson, 11.924[6]; 20. 10V-Matt VanderVere, 11.937[25]; 21. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 11.962[26]; 22. 12-Corbin Gurley, 11.971[19]; 23. 3-Justin Erickson, 12.065[4]; 24. 24-Scott Conger, 12.208[16]; 25. 68-Dave Uttech, 12.212[30]; 26. 99-Tyler Brabant, 12.213[22]; 27. 4K-Kris Spitz, 12.263[23]; 28. 52-Cody Schlafer, 12.269[32]; 29. 21H-TJ Haddy, 12.317[7]; 30. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 12.360[27]; 31. 55P-Brady Portschy, 12.673[2]; 32. 70W-Logan Wienke, 12.805[8]; 33. (DNS) 4-Alex Pokorski
Hot Laps: 1. 1NZ-Max Guilford, 00:11.715[33]; 2. 96-Jake Blackhurst, 00:11.816[31]; 3. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 00:11.943[28]; 4. 25-Danny Schlafer, 00:11.949[18]; 5. 7-Scotty Thiel, 00:11.955[10]; 6. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 00:11.973[26]; 7. 19-Joel Myers Jr, 00:12.016[17]; 8. 68-Dave Uttech, 00:12.047[30]; 9. 10V-Matt VanderVere, 00:12.131[25]; 10. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 00:12.135[14]; 11. 25T-Travis Arenz, 00:12.137[12]; 12. 09-Clayton Rossmann, 00:12.160[20]; 13. 99-Tyler Brabant, 00:12.178[22]; 14. 85J-Logan Julien, 00:12.209[5]; 15. 47-Todd King, 00:12.307[11]; 16. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 00:12.310[21]; 17. GR8-Will Gerrits, 00:12.320[15]; 18. 12-Corbin Gurley, 00:12.355[19]; 19. 26-Tyler Tischendorf, 00:12.407[24]; 20. 79-Blake Nimee, 00:12.408[13]; 21. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 00:12.440[27]; 22. 3N-Jake Neuman, 00:12.533[9]; 23. 4K-Kris Spitz, 00:12.552[23]; 24. 53-Jack Dover, 00:12.589[3]; 25. 4D-Cruz Dickerson, 00:12.626[6]; 26. 52-Cody Schlafer, 00:12.636[32]; 27. 24-Scott Conger, 00:12.739[16]; 28. 21H-TJ Haddy, 00:12.819[7]; 29. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 00:12.844[1]; 30. 70W-Logan Wienke, 00:13.117[8]; 31. 55P-Brady Portschy, 00:13.355[2]; 32. 3-Justin Erickson, 00:13.434[4]; 33. (DNS) 4-Alex Pokorski
AUTOMETER WISCONSIN WINGLESS SPRINT CARS
A Main (20 Laps): 1. 711-Tyler Kuxhouse [3]; 2. 38-Allen Hafford [1]; 3. 14Z-Ryan Zielski [14]; 4. 14-Tim Cox [2]; 5. 8T-Adam Taylor [4]; 6. 22-Greg Alt [5]; 7. 41-Dennis Spitz [10]; 8. 29J-Ralph Johnson [6]; 9. 7D-Josh Davidson [15]; 10. 26-Preston Ruh [19]; 11. 99J-Seth Johnson [11]; 12. 70-Chris Klemko [12]; 13. 29OG-Tom Eller [17]; 14. 17-Bryce Andrews [8]; 15. 11-Austin Hansen [16]; 16. 7-Trinity Uttech [18]; 17. 21T-Mitchell Reich [20]; 18. 4G-George Gaertner III [7]; 19. (DNF) 24-Eric Wilke [13]; 20. (DNF) 50-Rusty Egan [9]; 21. (DNF) 10V-Nathan Crane [22]; 22. (DNF) 69-TJ Smith [21]
Heat 1 (12 Laps): 1. 99J-Seth Johnson[2]; 2. 70-Chris Klemko[4]; 3. 24-Eric Wilke[5]; 4. 14Z-Ryan Zielski[9]; 5. 7D-Josh Davidson[1]; 6. 11-Austin Hansen[8]; 7. 29OG-Tom Eller[3]; 8. 7-Trinity Uttech[7]; 9. 26-Preston Ruh[11]; 10. 21T-Mitchell Reich[6]; 11. (DNF) 69-TJ Smith[12]; 12. (DNF) 10V-Nathan Crane[10]
Non-Qualifier Hot Laps: 1. 99J-Seth Johnson, 00:15.406[2]; 2. 11-Austin Hansen, 00:15.599[8]; 3. 14Z-Ryan Zielski, 00:15.761[9]; 4. 26-Preston Ruh, 00:15.837[11]; 5. 69-TJ Smith, 00:15.855[12]; 6. 29OG-Tom Eller, 00:15.925[3]; 7. 7D-Josh Davidson, 00:16.445[1]; 8. 10V-Nathan Crane, 00:16.841[10]; 9. 21T-Mitchell Reich, 00:17.176[6]; 10. 70-Chris Klemko, 00:17.336[4]; 11. 24-Eric Wilke, 00:17.396[5]; 12. 7-Trinity Uttech, 00:17.954[7]
A Qualifier Hot Laps: 1. 14-Tim Cox, 00:15.014[3]; 2. 29J-Ralph Johnson, 00:15.131[6]; 3. 38-Allen Hafford, 00:15.175[4]; 4. 41-Dennis Spitz, 00:15.235[10]; 5. 50-Rusty Egan, 00:15.317[9]; 6. 711-Tyler Kuxhouse, 00:15.338[2]; 7. 8T-Adam Taylor, 00:15.550[1]; 8. 17-Bryce Andrews, 00:15.589[8]; 9. 4G-George Gaertner III, 00:15.633[7]; 10. 22-Greg Alt, 00:15.713[5]
IRA LIGHTNING SPRINTS
A Main (20 Laps): 1. 16-Mike Neau [2]; 2. 22S-Brian Strane Jr [4]; 3. 5S-Chad Stouthamer [3]; 4. 63-Jacob Irwin [1]; 5. 55H-Mark Heinert [13]; 6. 13-Tucker Richards [6]; 7. 11S-Colin Sivia [8]; 8. 17-Jordan Funderburk [10]; 9. 18-Nick Petska [5]; 10. 9-John Kirk [14]; 11. 01-Ron Brannam [9]; 12. 74M-Max Brannam [12]; 13. 74-Tim Brannam [11]; 14. (DNF) 18G-Matthew Gifford [15]; 15. (DNS) 11-Derek Fortier
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 63-Jacob Irwin[2]; 2. 22S-Brian Strane Jr[4]; 3. 16-Mike Neau[3]; 4. 11S-Colin Sivia[5]; 5. 13-Tucker Richards[1]; 6. 55H-Mark Heinert[7]; 7. 74M-Max Brannam[6]; 8. 18G-Matthew Gifford[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Nick Petska[2]; 2. 17-Jordan Funderburk[6]; 3. 11-Derek Fortier[1]; 4. 5S-Chad Stouthamer[4]; 5. 01-Ron Brannam[5]; 6. 74-Tim Brannam[3]; 7. 9-John Kirk[7]
Qualifying: 1. 22S-Brian Strane Jr, 13.950[8]; 2. 5S-Chad Stouthamer, 14.064[4]; 3. 16-Mike Neau, 14.071[1]; 4. 74-Tim Brannam, 14.167[13]; 5. 63-Jacob Irwin, 14.178[2]; 6. 18-Nick Petska, 14.201[7]; 7. 13-Tucker Richards, 14.214[9]; 8. 11-Derek Fortier, 14.334[10]; 9. 11S-Colin Sivia, 14.335[3]; 10. 01-Ron Brannam, 14.424[11]; 11. 74M-Max Brannam, 14.492[15]; 12. 17-Jordan Funderburk, 14.541[12]; 13. 55H-Mark Heinert, 14.595[6]; 14. 9-John Kirk, 14.821[5]; 15. 18G-Matthew Gifford, 15.328[14]
- Jeff Pederson on Sep 28, 2025
- Article Date: 9/28/2025 by Jeff Pederson - Pedal Down Promotions