DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Who will get the first High Limit charters, and why Jeremy Elliott and Chase Raudman are wrong | Daily 1-30-2024

High Limit will award five charters after this season. We'll dive in today and predict who's getting them, and tell you why Jeremy Elliott and Chase Raudman are wrong about their choices. Plus we'll talk two dirt late model veterans looking for good runs this week at Ocala. Let's go!

It's Tuesday, January 30th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.

The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is back in action tonight at Ocala Speedway after having Sunday and Monday off following Golden Isles. Monday wasn't really an off day though, as teams had the chance to hit Ocala for open practice. 45 cars on the property, and Jimmy Owens had the quickest single lap at 13.860 according to MyRacePass. Ricky Thornton Jr. and Tim McCreadie were two others who broke under the 14 second barrier on the night. Owens was quick at Golden Isles starting towards the front both nights and finishing 6th on Thursday. They had issues though Saturday and were out early. Owens hasn't won with either national touring series since 2022. He picked up two Outlaw wins in September that year, and his last Lucas victory was at Smoky Mountain in June of 2022. They struggled a bit at Volusia earlier this month, but it definitely seems like they are finding some pace with that Koehler Motorsports car here more recently. As for McCreadie, not a great start to the year over the weekend, with finishes of 20th and 26th. It's been pretty rare the last few seasons to see that car finish 20th or worse two straight nights. Those guys have some work to do this week, but last night's lap time was promising. They haven't won a Lucas show since June of 2023, a winless streak of 28 nights. The 39 team missed out on the Lucas chase in 2023 after winning back to back series titles in '22 and '21. This season, they are no longer the Longhorn house car team, and you have to wonder if Golden Isles was just a bump in the road, or a sign of other issues. I will point out 2021 though, they started the season with finishes of 20th, 25th, 28th, and 15th, before roaring back to win the championship. We'll see what they can do to bounce back. Last year, these two nights at Ocala were split by RTJ and Jonathan Davenport, and those two have already had a run-in this season, with things getting spicy back on Saturday night. We'll see if that tension continues through speedweeks. If you aren't in the neighborhood tonight, you can watch Lucas live from Ocala on FloRacing.

If you're more of a modified fan, Flo has that tonight as well, with UMP Modifieds and the WinterNationals continuing from East Bay.

As we approach the beginning of the first ever High Limit season as a big time, national series, I've been promising a look at the possible championship fight and the charter lock-in teams for this first go. I feel like today is a good day to dive in here, because we've seen two others post their predictions in recent days. And those two I'm referring to are sprint car curmudgeon Jeremy Elliott, and the tallest man in sprint car racing and voice of High Limit, Chase Raudman. Back last Friday, Jeremy predicted a Brad Sweet championship, with Rico Abreu, Brent Marks, James McFadden, and Tyler Courtney grabbing charters. He also had Justin Peck, Cory Eliason, Zeb Wise, Spencer Bayston, and Corey Day on the fringes. And then yesterday, Raudman went through his top ten prediction for the year, choosing the same five to earn charters, but Rico winning the title over Sweet. I agree with both guys in terms of the top two. Brad and Rico are, I think, a pretty clear step above the rest of the field at this moment. Brad's resume speaks for itself, and you cannot beat his consistency. Over the past seven season, 503 Outlaw races, he's averaged a feature finish of 5.47. That's insane. I don't know how you pick against him, but here is what I'll say. High Limit is not a well-oiled machine just yet. They've brought in some great people to run it, and hopefully Brad can just focus on racing each night. But... If there are issues early, and distractions on race days, somebody like Rico might be able to get out front early and seize control. So I do think there is a scenario where Brad can be beaten. Even so, I'm still going Big Cat for the title, with Rico a close second. I also agree with both that Tyler Courtney gets in. He should be in the mix for that third place in the standings, and here's why. Each season out the with the All Stars, he got better, and even though he missed out on the 2023 championship, last season was his best by far. 35 top tens in 37 starts, and an average finish of 4.92, with nine wins. And you might say Justin, that was against the All Stars though. What about against Outlaw fields? Consider this. At the end of 2023, in his final eight Outlaw races, he had an average finish of 5.13, a win, three podiums, six top fives, and seven top tens. And those performances came against big fields at Eldora, Williams Grove, Port Royal, and Charlotte. A lot of the High Limit tracks are places Sunshine has been to regularly, and he's ready to break out against tougher competition. But here is where both Jeremy and Chase went wrong with their selections. Neither had Corey Day getting a charter. Jeremy had him on the fringes, and Chase had him way down in seventh. I get it, young kid, never traveled the country before, will be up against tough competition. But this is different. His car owner was only one of two guys to beat Donny Schatz during a span of time where the TSR 15 knocked down 10 Outlaw titles in 13 seasons. Jason Meyers beat Schatz at the peak of his powers. He knows how to put a traveling team together. This is an Outlaw level team, ready to compete now. As for Day, 10 410 wins in 2023, including nine on his way to the NARC championship and his first Outlaw victory, a score at the Gold Cup. Can he win on big stages? Yes, see the Gold Cup and Chili Bowl. Can he be consistent? Yes, six Outlaw top fives in seven races down the west coast last year. Can he figure tracks out quickly? Yes. Strong High Limit runs at Eagle and Kokomo, plus a top five at Pevely last year, and strong finishes with the All Stars in the midwest last summer. There will be mistakes and missteps along the way, but he will also be fast often. As for the final charter spot, I think it's a toss up between James McFadden and Brent Marks. My concern with Marks, and his crew chief Heath Moyle will be mad at me for this, is really three things. First, his 14 Outlaw wins have come at six race tracks, only one of which is on the High Limit schedule. Second, he hasn't been a touring regular in a few years, that's not nothing. And third, Brent Marks hasn't been to the west coast since 2019. That part of the country makes up nearly 20% of the High Limit schedule, you can't afford to not run well out there. Those things concern me. As for McFadden, 2023 was a career year, and there is an argument to be made that he's the better pick. Especially after three straight seasons against the Outlaws. We know he can win anywhere, and that TRD engine seems to make plenty of steam. The issue with McFadden is consistency. Can he keep that 83 car clean, and have they made enough improvement to the TRD 410 to keep it from suffering those rapid unscheduled disassemblies so often. Those are big questions, and I think I'm giving the edge to Marks just based on consistency. So, Brad, Rico, Sunshine, Day, and Marks are my five charter teams for year one. Drop me a comment, let me know what your predictions are and why I'm smarter than Jeremy and Chase.

We'll call that good for today. Make sure to hit up the streaming schedule at dirtrackr.com/watchtonight, and hit that subscribe button wherever you tune in. Tomorrow on the show we'll talk Lucas at Ocala, and maybe even break a little sprint car news. So stay tuned for that.

Hope you guys have a great Tuesday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!