DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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One of sprint car racing's most potent driver-crew chief combos splits | Daily 11-19-2025

A silly season move flew under the radar recently, and it could have a big impact on sprint car racing next year. We'll talk about what went down, and who's affected. Plus Merced adds a midget night, Chili Bowl entries roll in and more. Let's go!

It's Wednesday, November 19th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

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There was a silly season move that happened a few weeks ago in sprint car racing that's really flown under the radar. I've seen a few comments about it, and gotten a message or two, but I'm surprised it hasn't been bigger news that one of the most potent driver-crew chief combinations we've seen over the last four seasons has split. Following World Finals, and ending a four year run together, Brent Marks and crew chief Heath Moyle went different directions. I'm told it was Marks' decision to part, and when the 19M went to BAPS this past weekend, it was pretty much with an entirely different crew. Long time crew member Dennis Crist, who most people know as Fud, departed the team earlier this year, and Moyle and Jared Goodling were done after World Finals. After the Saturday win, Marks thanked new guys Robert, Graham, and Tom. In a post race interview, Marks told Sprint Car Unlimited's Jeremy Elliott quote "I felt like for where I wanted to be with with this team and my goals, I felt like moving in a different direction was best" unquote. Given all the success we've seen Marks and the 19M have since 2022, this one surprised me a bit, even if Marks hasn't been quite as dominant as a full time member of High Limit. Looking at some numbers, with Moyle on the wrenches, Marks won just about $1.7 million in prize money, and that doesn't include his High Limit point fund payouts. Overall, it was 44 wins, 143 top fives, and 227 top tens in 313 races. Wins included the Kings Royal and Historical Big One, the National Open, Dirt Classic, Morgan Cup, the Dean Knittel, and scores at places like Knoxville and World Finals. If I did my math correctly, the only big time sprint car drivers with more wins than Marks since 2022 are Anthony Macri, David Gravel, Rico Abreu, Carson Macedo, and Danny Dietrich. Marks was fourth in the points in year one with High Limit, and third this year on the driver side. He was fifth both years in owner points. Marks and Moyle were the number one guys during that first year together in 2022. 18 wins, and they led the country in earnings with $642,000. The game though is much different when you pick and choose versus running a series, but even with the drop in stats, they were still a solid team. As a driver running big time series full time, Marks was solid from 2015 into 2021. He'd bag a few wins a season and have some nice runs. But he really started to figure it out after leaving CJB in 2021. From 2021 and through 2022 back in his own car, Marks really became one of THE guys in sprint car racing, and it's hard to not equate at least some of that success to Moyle. Headed into next year, I'm going to be super curious to see where Marks ends up, especially with High Limit not getting any easier. Rico Abreu will have the added support of Tony Stewart Racing, Aaron Reutzel and Tyler Courtney will hopefully be back to full strength, and you're adding Gio Scelzi into the mix with Eric Prutzman as crew chief. Even with Brad Sweet out, I don't see that title being any easier to win. Marks' average finish in 2025 with High Limit was 8.6, and he's going to need to get that likely into the fives to have a real shot. Rico was at 6.8, which was unusual for a champion. For reference, Brad Sweet was 5.2 the season before, and David Gravel was at about 4.1.

As for what's next for Heath Moyle, he's joining up with Sye Lynch for 2026. I think that's a huge pickup for Lynch, and I would be shocked if he didn't take a big step forward next year. Moyle has been around a long time, and he knows how to run a touring team and win big shows. Lynch had three top fives, and 10 top tens in his rookie campaign with High Limit, but he didn't have a guy like Moyle in his corner. We know that Lynch is currently mulling which national tour to run next year, but I'd expect a return to High Limit. I've heard he's considering the Outlaws, but that feels like it's just maybe due diligence. With High Limit, knowing that you need two top eight finishes in the standings the next two years to earn a franchise, I think with Moyle, Lynch could be a darkhorse to be in the mix there. He was 208 points out of eighth in 2025, which is a tick over four points per night. That's basically two positions. So if he can improve his average finish up a bit closer the top 10 from 14th, he'd have a real shot. He's still looking for his first national tour win, and is winless since 2022. I'd definitely expect that to change next year. Knowing how difficult it is to find top level sprint car crew chiefs, and really just crew guys, I think this is a big coup for that 42 team to get a guy like Heath.

Yesterday on the show I mentioned that the Friday USAC midget race at Tulare had been cancelled because of wet grounds, and since then, Merced Speedway has had a date added to their weekend. Originally, Merced was going to host the midgets on Saturday, but now the 1/4 mile facility will hold full programs on both Friday and Saturday. Friday is midgets only, and Saturday, which is the Chase Johnson Classic, will feature the midgets plus 360 sprint cars. That Merced staff with GM Doug Lockwood, is working overtime to get that place ready to race, and happy to see them rewarded with two shows. We'll do a full event preview on the show tomorrow.

Speaking of midgets, the first round of entries for the Chili Bowl in January has hit their website. 108 are already entered, including the Matt Wood Racing cars, Alex Bowman's pair with CJ Leary and Briggs Danner, and other notable drivers like Daryn Pittman, Danny Sams, Chase Randall, All Star champion Kalib Henry, Ricky Thornton Jr., and more. The list will continue to be updated over the next eight weeks or so, and you can see it for yourself over at chilibowl.com. 108 now, but likely well over 300 come January in Tulsa.

That's it for this episode of the Daily. If you're a channel member or Patreon member, drop in and leave your questions or show topic ideas on those new posts today. Would love to hear from you on things over the last week. I'll try and mix some of those things in on the show tomorrow.

Alright, hope you guys have a great Wednesday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!