(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) May 8, 2019 – With anticipation and emotions running high, Josh Walter and his Torque Racing team opened the 2019 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing and Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car season at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis. on Saturday, May 4.
The season-opening program, which drew a huge field of 39 PDTR 360 Sprint Cars, produced a mixed bag of results for Walter and his Torque Racing comrades, including a pair of spins in heat race competition, an impressive B-main victory and a strong run in the first half of the A main yielding to an early ending to the evening.
After a poor pill draw put Walter in the sixth starting spot in the fifth PDTR 360 Sprint Car heat race, Walter passed Paul Pokorski and Josh Teunissen to move into fourth place on the first lap of the 10-lap race.
After a caution on lap 2, Walter restarted fourth. However, he spun his machine in turn four shortly after the restart and was forced to restart at the rear of the field. One lap later, Walter was involved in another incident in turn two to bring out the third caution of the race. On the restart, Walter passed Preston Ruh and Josh Teunissen to advance to fifth place, which is where he ended up at the conclusion of the event.
“The heat race started our night off rocky with another stellar pill draw and my head wasn't quite in the game,” Walter said. “I was overdriving with frustration and let my emotions get the best of me. Had a run in with Brandon McMullen at one point and immediately went to apologize after the race. Racing is a mental game and I wasn't in the right state of mind early in the night. That's 100 percent on me.”
Walter lined up second in the 12-lap B Main and worked the low groove to perfection to slip past Al Schlafer on lap 10 on the way to the victory and a berth in the 25-lap A main.
“By the time the B main rolled out, I was able to curb the emotions and gain the composure I needed to drive for the win,” Walter said. “My crew did a stellar job and I couldn't be happier with the support of them and my fans. I owe it to them to be the best racer and person in and out of the car.”
Walter started the 25-lap A main from the 16th position and quickly worked his way through the field on the wide, smooth and slick track surface. A five-car incident in turn two on lap 2 forced all five cars to retire from the race, which helped Walter advance several spots toward the front of the field.
On lap 4, Walter used the high groove to power into seventh place. One lap later, Walter slipped past Tim Haddy to take over sixth. However, sensing something was not right with his machine, Walter pulled into the infield just after the halfway point of the race, which relegated him to a 14th-place finish.
“For the A main, we were scheduled to start 18th, but got moved up to 16th when a rookie was mandated to the tail of the A,” Walter said. “I had 100 percent confidence in the car and felt pretty good coming off the win in the B. We made our way through the field and had some help with others piling up in turn 2, which thankfully we were able to avoid.
“We were running well, but late in the race the car just didn't feel like it was running correctly and with safety in mind, I decided to pull into the infield,” he said. “It wasn't worth doing more damage to the car if I didn't need to. We're assessing the issues and getting things situated. We feel pretty confident after an opening night win and being able to drive up through the field.”
With the opening night jitters now hopefully behind them, Walter and his Torque Racing squad will head back to The Plymouth Dirt Track for more PDTR 360 Sprint Car racing action this Saturday, May 11. The program, which will honor all police, fire and EMS personnel with free admission for all credentialed fans, is set to begin one-hour earlier with spectator gates opening at 3:30 p.m. and racing to start at 5 p.m.
“We're looking forward to the next race and hopefully be able to outperform last week’s results,” Walter said. “Now that we're so far back in points, they're no longer a concern at this point so early in the season. Now it's time to just concentrate on wins, which should make an exciting event each week for our fans to watch.”
Torque Racing sponsors for the 2019 season include JDV Lawncare, Brittany's School of Dance, Sheboygan by Owner, Plymouth Tap, Platinum Restoration Services, Doug's Quality Beef, Tiffany's Wildtree, Cow Pies, Full Throttle Ink, Lakehouse Bar & Grill, Home Transitions, Oostburg Concrete, Kombucha Brothers, Ruh Custom Woodworking, RC Custom Design and Pedal Down Promotions.
Torque Racing Sponsor Showcase – Sheboygan by Owner, Home Transitions
Sheboygan by Owner was created in 2003 to give sellers of real estate in Sheboygan, Calumet and Manitowoc Counites an avenue to sell their own home, while having a presence on the internet and access to real estate partners at a low flat fee rate, which allows them to keep more money in their own pockets.
Sheboygan by Owner also gives buyers a quick glance at “for sale by owner” properties at the convenience of their homes/phones without having to call on every home they drive by or hear about.
“Homebuyers can search the web to see what the homes have to offer, and then call on only the ones they have an interest in, saving them both time and money,” said Allison Smith of Sheboygan by Owner.
Smith is thrilled to be involved with sponsoring Josh Walter and Torque Racing for the 2019 racing season.
“This a great opportunity to both help Josh and his racing team and to have another avenue to promote our business,” Smith said.
For more information and to view Sheboygan by Owner properties, visit www.sheboyganbyowner.com
Home Transitions began in 2002 as a referral and buyer-only real estate company. By 2008, it blossomed into a full-service real estate company serving customers located mainly in Sheboygan and Manitowoc counties, while reaching out to other outlying areas upon request.
“Home Transitions works best on referrals and the goal is to make the home buying and selling transition go smoothly for all parties,” Smith said.
For more information and to view Home Transitions properties, visit www.hometransitions.us
Pedal Down Promotions is a full-service public relations and media services company devoted to helping its clients effectively communicate with targeted audiences through press releases, newsletters, profile and feature articles, website and social media content development, printed media, editing and layout, graphic design and book publishing services.
For more information on Pedal Down Promotions, email pedaldownpromotions@gmail.com, visit www.pedaldownpromo.com or call 920-323-7970.
2019 Josh Walter-Torque Racing Upcoming Schedule
Saturday, May 11 – Plymouth Dirt Track, Plymouth, Wis.
Saturday, May 18 – Plymouth Dirt Track, Plymouth, Wis.
Saturday, May 25 – Plymouth Dirt Track, Plymouth Wis.
Saturday, June 1 – Plymouth Dirt Track, Plymouth, Wis.
Sunday, June 2 – Angell Park Speedway, Sun Prairie, Wis.
2019 Josh Walter-Torque Racing By The Numbers
Total Events – 2
IRA events – 1
MSA events – 1
A-Main Victories – 0
B-Main Victories – 1
Top Five A-Main Finishes – 0
Top 10 A-Main Finishes – 0
Heat Race Victories – 0