DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Sprint car drivers want their inch back | Daily 2-26-2024

On this Monday show we'll talk sprint car wicker bills, Lincoln's Icebreaker, another update on the current plight of the American Sprint Car Series, and more. Let's go!

It's Monday, February 26th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.

We'll kick your Monday off with some news today around the ongoing ASCS saga. I talked on the Sunday show about several signs that were pointing towards the opening weekend at Corpus Christi's South Texas Race Ranch being in jeopardy, and now we know the fate of that event. The ASCS announced here just a little bit ago that the season opener for both the national tour and Gulf South region is in fact cancelled. There was no acknowledgement of what's actually happening behind the scenes, with the release just mentioning quote "several unforeseen circumstances." They also said quote "work is ongoing to preserve the 2024 season." But as we've talked about, Terry Mattox is out as the owner and operator of the sanctioning body for 360 sprint cars, and the Hahn family is back at the helm. Rumors have pointed towards a possible upcoming sale of the American Sprint Car Series assets, with some claiming that a deal was already in place for World Racing Group to acquire it last week. But no sale has happened as of yet, and I'm told the process is ongoing to resolve the future of the organization. The next two events on the 2024 ASCS National Tour schedule are set for March 15th and 16th at RPM Speeday in Texas, and there is hope that the event could still happen. Stay tuned friends...

The Central Pennsylvania sprint car season is off and running with the Icebreaker at Lincoln Speedway kicking things off yesterday. It was still pretty cold, but they had a big crowd at Lincoln to watch the action. 25 sprint cars on the property, and it was Troy Wagaman Jr. going the distance for the victory. He held off Danny Dietrich at the end, with Freddie Rahmer also on the podium. Dietrich wasn't great in the opening stretch of the feature, but that red flag for fuel allowed them to make changes, and it worked out for Dietrich, who charged back to second. As for Wagaman, he continues to be fast in the Heffner 27. He joined that team in June last year, and won three times before the year was over. Twice at the Grove and once at BAPS. He also racked up a bunch of top fives, and looks set to continue that pace this season. Yesterday's opener wasn't without hiccups though for Lincoln, as there were complaints about the scoreboard and no timing and scoring data available on the apps. That also meant no timing and scoring on FloRacing, or a lap count. I feel like I can survive without the running order as long as the announcer does a decent job, but the lap count thing does suck. Announcers rarely mention what lap it is, so it's tough sometimes to know where you are in a race without it. Yesterday was also the debut of the new virtual flagging system at Lincoln. The track did still have an actual flagman in the stands, which they said they would do during a transition period. Opinions from the fans will continue to be mixed, and they were yesterday. I saw some positive and some negative comments. As for what it looked like from the driver's seat, I did message with a few drivers today that raced yesterday, and the main point was that the screen was not easy to see with the sun. It's something that won't be a problem for most of Lincoln's night racing, but some adjustments may need to be made for days shows and action before the sun is completely down. I'm aware that in saying that, there will be comments about how this is already a failure, and this proves it won't work. But let's maybe give them some time to figure this out before we completely lose our minds. Lincoln is back in action this coming Saturday.

Speaking of Central PA, one driver we won't get to see there this season after all is Justin Henderson. He was originally slated for a sizeable schedule with Don Kreitz and the 69K, but Jeremy Elliott reported last week that engine issues have already thrown a wrench into that team's 2024 plans. Logan Wagner will still drive the 69K at Port Royal, but Henderson is out, and Daryn Pittman will run the car during the six World of Outlaws shows at Williams Grove. The team popped an engine late in 2023 at Port Royal, and when they sent it into Rider for repairs, it was discovered it was hurt worse than originally expected. Kreitz will start the year with two engines, and he told Jeremy they won't be at full strength in that department until PA Speedweek. Henderson will still race in the midwest in his own car for the time being, but is open to other rides and possibilities. Wagner's season in the 69K begins in a few weeks at Port, on March 9th.

Before we move on, there are a couple of new videos on the YouTube channel I wanted to point you towards. Yesterday I posted the first episode of the 410 sprint car build series featuring driver Zach Hampton. These will be in-depth episodes, featuring all the details of building a car. New videos in the series will drop each Thursday and Sunday until the car is completely built. So stay tuned for more of those. Also, this morning I posted a pit walk video from Saturday at Golden Isles. This video though is a little bit different, as you can actually control the camera angle throughout the walk. I filmed it using my 360 camera while engine heat was underway, so there are plenty of race car sounds and you can look around all over as we go from end to end. Check it out and let me know what you think. I'll link to both videos below in the show description.

As this 2024 sprint car season has gotten underway for the national tours, one car element that has been under scrutiny has been the wicker bills on the wings. If you might remember back to early January, the World of Outlaws announced they were going to try a one inch wicker bill at several tracks this season, including the opening stretch at Volusia during DIRTcar Nationals. High Limit also went this direction, with one inch wickers being mandated by that series for their first few events. But after several races now, it's starting to sound like maybe this change is not having the desired affect. The hope initially was that reducing the wicker bill size would lessen the affect of dirty air, and allow cars to follow closer. It would also take away some downforce and unhook the cars a bit from the race track. The idea then being that we'd see more passing and better racing. If you aren't sure what a wicker is, check out this image. Wickers are pieces of metal placed along the back of the flat part of the wings to catch the air and add additional downforce. But so far, with four races complete on both the High Limit and Outlaw sides, the drivers aren't convinced. I spoke with a few at Golden Isles who think the series should go back to two inch wickers, and the conversation has spilled out to social media. Cole Macedo posted yesterday to Twitter that he thinks the dirty air is worse, Parker Price Miller said he thinks they should move the front wings forward, and High Limit's competition director Mike Hess acknowledged he's heard similar things from other drivers. The Outlaw release on the trial did say that they would gather feedback and evaluate everything before making an official rule change. No word or indication on if the one inch bill will be in affect this coming weekend as the Outlaws return to Volusia.

Finally today, Tri City Raceway Park in Pennsylvania has new owners. The track was listed for sale, but the owners had posted to social media back in January that they still planned on opening for the 2024 season even if buyers weren't found. And they did release a full schedule last week, with their usual Sunday Thunder program, and scattered special events, including a PA Speedweek stop. The track is located 50 or 60 miles south and a bit east of Erie, PA. The new owners are Josh and Kyrsten Shiffer, who are actually Central PA residents, and not Western PA where the track is located. Tri-City opens April 13th with an enduro event, and then hosts the FAST Series sprint cars on May 5th.

That's it for the Daily show today. I have a new piece for the email newsletter to send out soon, this one from a writer we haven't featured before. So if you want to sign up free to get some cool dirt racing content right to your inbox, head over to dirtrackr.com/theslider. While you're there, you can also checkout all of the 34 past issues we've sent.

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