DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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These late model guys didn't give a sh*t... | Daily 2-15-2024

The Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series field of full timers continues to grow, plus Wednesday results, USAC this weekend, and dirt late model racers just not giving a damn. Let's go!

It's Thursday, February 15th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.

So, last night at Volusia, you thought it would be a pretty quiet night. Four late model features, not really big money on the line, three of those features were split field. I was actually looking elsewhere for something to headline my show today. And the night started off as expected. Bobby Pierce and Mike Marlar dominate features one and two from the pole, led all the laps, etc. But then things took a turn in feature three. Devin Moran led most of the laps from the outside front row, but Ricky Thornton Jr. was able to run him down late and take the lead. With two laps remaining, Moran made a slider for the lead into turn one and cleared the 20RT, but on corner exit the two came together. Moran ended up with a shredded left rear tire, and RTJ's nose piece was basically destroyed. Moran took a trip to the work area for new rubber, but RTJ tried to close it out. On the restart into one, the 20RT just would not turn, I'm not sure if that was because of bent suspension, or just no air on that killed nose piece. He jumped the cushion, and Brandon Sheppard drove by and went on to the win. It sounds like neither Moran or RTJ were thrilled about the incident, but both got their stuff repaired and ready for the night's finale, which was the makeup feature from Monday. Thorton led that race to green from the pole, and was in control right at the start. He'd driven out to a two second lead, but again things got weird right before half way. The lap car of Tyler Bruening didn't appear to be happy with how the 20RT put him a lap down on lap 11, so just one circuit later he took his revenge with a haymaker slider into one that resulted in contact and damage to Thornton's car. By the time he gathered it back in, his two second lead was gone, and he had lost the top spot to Bobby Pierce. We then had a wild lap where we had a three car battle for the lead, with Mike Marlar also in the mix, and RTJ ended up getting dirtied again, this time by the 157. After a caution for a slow Thornton, Pierce then assumed the lead and was able to drive on to the win. Thorton eventually bowed out of the feature before the end, maybe for bent parts and pieces, or maybe just because his fun meter was pegged. On the Dirt on Dirt Drive Home, Rigsby alluded to what will probably be a lost Ricky Thornton Jr. interview, because he was so fired up that he asked Rigsby to basically come back later after he had calmed a bit. I ran through all of this though to make a point. Last night's triple features were $5000 to win, and the makeup show at the end of the night was for $7000. These weren't six figure-paying main events. These guys were throwing haymakers and pissed off about races that didn't even pay that much. And why were they doing that? Because racers race. They don't give a damn about what it pays once they climb in. This was some of the best guys in the game right now, RTJ, Pierce, Moran, Sheppard, Marlar, McCreadie, all throwing down because it was a Wednesday. They didn't need any other reason than that. Yes, we need to keep finding ways to help the racers stay funded properly, but it's nice to see once in a while money not be a factor or part of the conversation and just guys going to war because they want to be the first to the checkered. That's why we watch.

A couple of other notes from last night. Matt Sheppard picked up his 500th career feature win, topping Anthony Perrego and Erick Rudolph in the Super DIRTcar Series opener. On the show yesterday I talked about 12 drivers that are signed up as full timers with the SDS for 2024, but it sounds like my list was a little short. At the moment, there are as many as 19 drivers who have made commitments with the series. So we'll stay tuned for more of those announcements. Looking ahead, lots of folks are talking about poor Saturday weather in Florida, and we know that East Bay has already altered their schedule. So Thursday and Friday could be the final DIRTcar Nationals nights. We'll get the big blocks back for two more programs, and the rest of the week, the late model portion of things now shifts to World of Outlaws nights. We'll see if Brandon Sheppard can hold on to his very slight points lead, or if Pierce stays hot.

Before we move on, one more thing. Volusia with a curb is bananas. The speed there, plus a big, ol, fat, nasty cushion is something to watch.

At East Bay on Wednesday, Aaron Reutzel drove up from eighth to win the King of 360s opener, topping Tim Shaffer and Devon Borden. 62 cars signed in there, which included a ton of guys who ran with High Limit on Monday and Tuesday, plus plenty of newcomers. This event continues through the weekend, and you can watch it live on FloRacing.

After just one day off, the USAC National Sprint Cars are back to racing tonight, returning to Ocala Speedway. They have three nights scheduled to close out this week, before the series goes quiet until April. Through four races, Justin Grant has two wins, and Logan Seavey has two wins. Seavey leads the way too early championship standings over CJ Leary and JG. Some guys who are further down the order who need a good weekend include Brady Bacon and Jake Swanson. Bacon has had crap luck and been involved in multiple incidents and is outside the top ten. And Swanson had a brutal two nights at Volusia, and only has one top ten in four races thus far. Besides Seavey and Grant, I like what I've seen so far from Leary, he's got four top fives. Kevin Thomas Jr. looks to be plenty fast in the Rock Steady car, and Briggs Danner has four top tens during this trip south. If you aren't headed for Ocala, all three nights will be streamed on FloRacing.

Finally today and for the week, I wanted to run you back through the full list of Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series full timers, because that field has grown significantly since we last talked about it. And that includes a big pickup today. Back a few weeks ago, we talked about the first 12 commitments, which included Sam Seawright, Clay Harris, Joseph Joiner, Jackson Hise, Cameron Weaver, Carson Ferguson, Ashton Winger, Josh Putnam, Bo Slay, Dalton Cook, Trey Mills, and Stacy Boles. That right there is already a serious group of drivers to contend for this championship in year two. But the expanded schedule and added money are proving to be attractive, and in recent days they've added six more drivers. That includes Alabama's Caden Mullinax who joins the rookie class for 2024, North Carolina drivers Trent Ivey and Jeff Smith, Ironman South champion Josh Henry, and past Ultimate Southeast and Carolina Clash champion Zack Mitchell. And then just this morning it was announced that Tanner English and the Viper Motorsports 96 team have also signed on for the year. English was a guy we thought would be on the national stage, either Outlaws or Lucas, but this is appears to be a change of plans. English and the 96 are not at Volusia this week, so clearly no Outlaw run, and they struggled through the opening Lucas stretch, with just a single top 10 in 12 appearances. The Hunt the Front schedule is only 25 races, so this team will be able to run a sizeable pick and choose schedule around that, which will likely include regional events, and plenty of national tour stops. We are this moment one month from the start of the Hunt the Front season, March 15th at the Talladega Short Track. You can find more news and series details over at htfseries.com. Make sure you check out the new Hunt the Front podcast YouTube channel as well. Those guys have been pumping out content there over the last several weeks, and providing a bunch of good insight.

Alright, that's it for the Daily show this week. Thanks to everyone for the continued support and for tuning in regularly. On top of the daily shows, plenty of other cool content is coming. Episode two of the Rico Rundown is in the works, so stay tuned for that in the coming weeks. I've also started work on a new limited series of sprint car videos that I'm excited about. All the content has been shot, I just need to get the editing completed. If you have a business that would be interested in working with me on a brand integration for that series, drop me an email or DM. It's a great opportunity for promotion, and to get in front of a fantastic group of dirt racing fans and industry people who tune into my channel.

Hope you guys have a great Thursday out there, we'll see you back here on Sunday!