DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Things for Logan Seavey just escalated quickly | Daily 2-28-2024
I wanted Logan Seavey to get more big time opportunities, and that's happening but not quite where I expected. We'll talk about that, plus some Ohio sprint car ride news, Brandon Sheppard's championship chances, who might be our next first time late model tour winner, and more. Let's go!
It's Wednesday, February 28th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.
A couple of notes before we get started today. I'll have episode two of the 410 sprint car build with Zach Hampton out tomorrow. We'll continue to premiere new episodes every Sunday and Thursday until the build is complete. I also have a shop tour video to throw in there as well. Also, a new Rico Rundown is in the works and should be out in the coming days as well. So besides the Daily show, plenty of content coming your way.
It was just last week I was on here talking about wanting to see Logan Seavey run more winged sprint car races in 2024, and things have developed quickly... Just not in a sprint car. A little bit ago, it was announced that Seavey will make his dirt late model debut this year in a Longhorn Chassis with Clements power owned by Texas team Chris Bragg Racing. The deal is also a partnership with Vinny Guliani and his new consulting business, VG Performance. According to FloRacing's Kyle McFadden, Seavey will test the car in early April at Rocket Raceway Park, with his first race planned for May 8th with the FloRacing Night in America series at Spoon River. Flo appearances at Lincoln and Brownstown are also confirmed, and Seavey said he'd like to maybe race 12 or 15 times this season. This won't be the first time though we've seen Seavey in a late model. If you might remember back to 2022, Seavey tested the Rocket house car at Farmer City. And that relationship with Mark Richards developed out of the iRacing stuff that happened during the covid shutdown in 2020. This slate of late model races will be in addition to the nearly 100 race USAC schedule that Seavey will tackle as he attempts a serious run at the USAC triple crown. We also know that Swindell Speedlab has talked about wanting to campaign the California driver in some winged shows this year, and I've heard another winged deal is in the works as well, with announcements hopefully coming soon. It's nice to see him getting some recognition and opportunities after this recent insane non-wing run he's been on. According to McFadden's story, it looks like Vinny went to the team with the idea, which I think is great. If you aren't aware of who Vinny is, he's been around dirt late model racing a long time. I actually interviewed him a few years ago when he was crew chiefing for Kyle Strickler. You can find that conversation on the YouTube channel and at dirtrackr.com/conversations. He's tied in with Longhorn and Bilstein, and was a key part of Jonathan Davenport's team for a few years. Seavey's calendar definitely starting to fill up, and I think 150 races might not be out of the question.
If you missed it yesterday, I sent out a new issue of The Slider email newsletter. This one featured a piece by Jacob Hord, who is a new contributor. Hord detailed the story of Ohio sprint car driver DJ Foos' 2023 season that was massively effected by a fire and subsequent burns he had to deal with. You can check that piece out over at dirtrackr.com/theslider and sign up free to get awesome pieces like this delivered right to your email. We are now up to 35 issues total of The Slider. If you'd like to contribute in the future, shoot me an email or DM.
Speaking of Ohio, area sprint car team Jay Kiser Racing is back this season with driver Cale Thomas in the seat. Thomas hopped in the 23 in July last year after parting ways with the Demyan Rudzik 49. He ended up winning in the 23 at Fremont in August, and with the Maverick Winged Sprint Series in their debut at Lincoln Park in October. Thomas told the guys over at ohiodirt.com they are planning 60 or 65 races this season, with potentially half of those starts coming against the Outlaws and High Limit. They'll fill the rest with racing around the area and maybe a little traveling. Thomas had seven top tens in 15 starts against the All Stars in 2023, including laps led at Attica. He's also got three career Outlaw top tens, and has appeared with High Limit just twice: during their initial race back in 2022 and at Wayne County last year.
Over at dirtondirt.com yesterday, they released their first top 25 of the season. I'm not usually a big power rankings guy, but I do like to see what they are saying about guys from time to time. Looking down through the list I had a few thoughts on two guys specifically. The first is Brandon Sheppard. I mentioned yesterday on the show he's already raced 23 times this season, and his early consistency makes me think he can really bring the fight to Bobby Pierce this year for the Outlaw title. 2023 was definitely a learning year transitioning to this new team and Longhorn, as Shepp told me back in December. But those guys look to be on the right track. Seven top tens at Volusia between Outlaw and DIRTcar competition and a victory. And 11 top tens in 13 Lucas races, including a win at East Bay. That's the type of consistency we used to see from Sheppard when he was in the Rocket house car winning Outlaw championships and finishing top ten in 90 plus percent of races. Pierce won the title last season with an average finish of 5th, and Sheppard is right on the mark so far.
The other driver I wanted to mention is Garrett Alberson. Now that Daulton Wilson has broken through for that first national touring win, Alberson has to be the next in line, right? We've seen him win down at the Wild West Shootout, and he led a bunch of laps at Georgetown last season in Lucas competition. He closed out Speedweeks with three top six finishes in his last four starts. I don't know how soon it might come, but it definitely feels like he's the best in the country who hasn't won yet. I think he's the only driver in that DoD top 25 at the moment missing that victory.
If you want some more dirt racing content this week, Winged Nation has Tory Wagaman Jr. and Jacob Allen, Passing Points has Landon Crawley and Chase Raudman, Hoogie's Garage has Terry McCarl and Doug Johnson, Turn 2 Terribles has Jayden Wolf, Ohio Dirt has Max Stambaugh, and there are new episodes of the Dirt Reporters, the Dirt Nerds, Quicktime, and0 Dirt Track Confessions. You can check out all these podcasts, their recent episodes, and links to listen over at dirtrackr.com/podcasts.
That's it for the Daily show today. There is some racing tonight if you are looking for a fix. Speed Sport TV is carrying North Carolina Speedweek from Fayetteville. They've got crate late models and more. You can find a link over at dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
Hope you guys have a great Wednesday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!