By Jeff Pederson
Pedal Down Promotions
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) July 9, 2021 – In his fourth season behind the wheel of a B Mod, Shane Long of Sheboygan Falls appears to be finding his groove in weekly competition at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis.
Long, who is a semi-truck driver by trade, has been making some significant noise in the Plymouth Dirt Track Racing B Mod division where he currently stands a strong third in the point standings through the first seven points races of the 2021 PDTR campaign, 36 points behind point leader Justin Bauer of Sheboygan Falls and 24 points out of second place, which is currently held by Trevor Frank of Sheboygan.
So far during the 2021 PDTR campaign, Long has collected five top-10 and three top-five A-main showings, including a season-best third-place finish on May 22, in seven B Mod points events at The Plymouth Dirt Track.
“My 2021 season has been going pretty good,” Long said. “I have been an up-front driver, but I have also had some rougher nights. I know I need to take the good with the bad. I can’t wait for the next race to try our luck and try to capture a feature win. It’s been great dialing the car in with Vince Engebregtsen and Kyle Schroeder, along with help from Jeff at Ultimate RaceCars. It’s been fun running Plymouth on a weekly basis and hopefully we will start moving up a couple spots in the tight points race.”
Long, who is a volunteer firefighter and first responder with the city of Sheboygan Falls Fire Department, first caught the racing bug after attending races at The Plymouth Dirt Track as a child.
“I used to go to the races at Plymouth with my father when I was young,” Long said. “I also always wanted to drive one. One of my friends, Justin Green, had a 4-cylinder race car and I got into helping him at the shop and the track. When he moved into the Grand National division, he let me jump in the car and hot lap it once and I was instantly hooked. His words were, ‘Are you sure you want to do this? I’m telling you that you will be hooked and want one.’ He was right as not too long after, we went and looked at a Grand National and bought one.”
After purchasing a Grand National car, Long took the big leap into the dirt track racing lifestyle head first.
“I started racing in 2014,” Long said. “I raced in the Grand National division for four years and I am currently in my fourth season in a B Mod.”
In reflecting on his eight-year racing career, Long points to a few clear high points.
“One of my career highlights so far is being the Grand National rookie of the year at 141 Speedway,” Long said. “Another highlight would be being able to be a front-running car at most tracks I go to, including 141 Speedway, Plymouth Dirt Track and Beaver Dam Raceway. I’m still looking for my first career feature win, but we are getting very close.”
Long credits the sport of dirt track racing with helping to forge and solidify several key friendships in his life.
“What I enjoy most about racing is how it’s such a tight-knit group and that everyone looks out for one another and is willing to help any racer out at any track you go to,” Long said. “I like how racing brings people together and I also enjoy gaining friends and family because of the sport. I enjoy that it has given me a great group of friends. Justin Green, Spencer Long, Glen Blanke and myself actually all share a shop together.
“We all race together and help each other out and just enjoy it all together as a group from racing to just watching from the stands,” he said. “I love the competitiveness of the sport and the fact that anything can happen. I also love living in Sheboygan Falls and in this part of Wisconsin since there are so many dirt tracks around the area.”
Long has his sights set on a few key goals in the B Mod ranks before he considers making any advancements in his racing career.
“My goals for this year are to get my first career feature win, be a top driver at the track, chase winning a championship and also be a clean driver,” Long said. “My plans for the future are to stay in the B [Sport] Mod division to build my knowledge in the class more. I would like to win some features and hopefully possibly a championship before I would consider changing divisions. I love the B [Sport] Mod class and the fact that we can load the trailer and pretty much go anywhere and be able to compete.”
Long’s pit crew members include Kyle Schroeder, Justin Green, Macy Scholten
Jacob Long, Spencer Long and Vince Engebregtsen.
“I want to thank all my fans, friends and family [Curt and Diane], who come out to watch me every week no matter where I decide to go race,” Long said.
Long’s sponsors are Diverse Tooling Inc., Homestead Heating & Cooling
Ultimate RaceCars, Falls Ace Hardware, Osthelder Saloon, RHR Motorsports and Diamond Dog Wraps.
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The 11th PDTR racing program of the 2021 season at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis., which will be sponsored by Jensen Sales and Service, will feature 360 Sprint Cars, Late Models, Grand Nationals and B Mods on Saturday, July 10.
Grandstand gates open at 4:30 p.m. with hot laps at 5:30 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m.
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.
Pedal Down Promotions is a full-service public relations and media services company devoted to helping clients effectively communicate with targeted audiences through a diverse array of promotional strategies and methods, including 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.pedaldownpromotions.com or call 920-323-7970.
