DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

Dirt racing news, results, discussion, analytics. Sprint cars, late models, modifieds, you name it. From national series, to top local shows. Brought to you five days a week. Email the show at info@dirtrackr.com.

Who's the new guy? | Daily 3-17-2024

On the show today, a current status check on things surrounding Rocket Racing and the departure of Hudson O'Neal, including who will likely replace him. Plus we'll update you on the guys busted for tires and their plans, a new crew chief for Cory Eliason, and more. Let's go!

It's Sunday, March 17th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.

There was obviously a bunch of racing this weekend, but I'm pushing most of that stuff to the Monday Daily. I want to focus instead today on the quite large news items we've had hit in the previous several days. So if you are looking for racing chat, there will be some of that tomorrow.

Alright, I know by now, most of you know and understand the situation around the Rocket house car and driver Hudson O'Neal. When we last left things on Thursday with our last daily show of the week, the rumors were flying, but nothing was yet official. And in the days and hours since then, we got the announcement that O'Neal was indeed departing the Rocket 1 with car owner Mark Richards. O'Neal was quoted as saying "Without divulging any details, I have decided to part ways with Mark Richards Racing Inc. and Rocket1 Racing. As hard of a decision as it was for me to make, I believe this was the best decision for myself." The rumors about why this split happened have been pretty crazy, and there is a decent chance we never get actual confirmation on what went down, but O'Neal took things a step further on Friday in a Facebook post. He shared quote "As far as my departure from Rocket1, there are no secrets! It was just a difference in where I thought my career and life needed to be! There was nothing that took place that caused mine and Rocket1’s split other than just a difference in vision! We hope that this is going to take all of the rumors to an ease" unquote. Obviously this won't slow any of those rumors, but this is in line with some of the things I've been told from people on the late model side that I trust. O'Neal did say that he has a temporary deal lined up for the next two Lucas races at Atomic and Brownstown, which will keep him going in the Lucas standings, where he is still second. Beyond those two races, we don't yet know what's next for Huddy, and it's clear this move happened with neither side having the next thing lined up.

As for Rocket Racing and filling the seat, all signs are pointing towards Tim McCreadie replacing O'Neal. It seems clear that Richards wants to continue out full time with Lucas, and to maintain some hope of getting into the Lucas championship chase, he needed someone who'd run all the races and was at least still in some measure of contention. That ends up being a fairly small pool of drivers, with most in the Lucas top ten set in their current situation. Everything with McCreadie and Paylor Motorsports was even fine, but the chance to get into a seat like at Rocket is something that doesn't come around every day, and Paylor seems to have taken a bit of a step back without the support of Longhorn as their house car. We still haven't gotten any sort of comment out of Rocket Racing, but it was announced on Friday that McCreadie had departed Paylor, and that the team will now focus solely on Carson Ferguson and the 93 car. Ferguson had previously signed on to run the full Hunt the Front schedule, but the release from the team points to more national touring races, including the upcoming Lucas weekend. McCreadie departing Paylor is a big sign that the deal with Rocket is done and should be announced soon. McCreadie does have past experience driving Rockets, going back to when he first broke into dirt late model racing with Sweeteners Plus, and he shouldn't have a problem going toe-to-toe with Mark Richards, who can be tough on drivers. This will be a shift in the direction for how Richards has handled drivers in the past, where he's usually chosen younger guys to pilot the Rocket 1. From Josh Richards, to Brandon Sheppard, to O'Neal. McCreadie will be 50 soon, and is not a guy who Richards will mold. TMac is who he is. The question will be how quickly can McCreadie get rolling with Rocket, as he's already 215 points behind Ricky Thornton Jr., and 90 points back of that final chase spot, which Daulton Wilson has at the moment. Can he climb all the way up there, and can O'Neal maintain a spot while searching for his next full time deal. For Richards specifically, you have to wonder as well if this signals that he's getting close to the end of his own career, out on the road with this team. By going with an older driver like TMac, the focus will be on winning now, and not necessarily well into the future with a younger driver. So now we'll wait on the announcement from Rocket, which should come at any time. Lucas is back to racing this coming Friday at Atomic, following a few weeks off after Golden Isles.

Before we move on, new stickers are in stock over shop.dirtrackr.com. These are 5 inches and are ready to ship now. I will hopefully have some more new merch options in the shop here in the coming weeks.

It was certainly a wild week in dirt late model racing, and things remain fluid with the drivers who were involved in the tire doping penalties from World Racing Group. Devin Moran and Double Down Motorsports have also denied altering tires, and they are currently investigating the appeals process. As we said before though, they won't be super affected by this, as they are running full time with Lucas. Kyle Bronson was set to run full time with the Outlaws in 2024, but that plan now seems to be out the window. He was penalized during a DIRTcar sanctioned event, and while he hasn't lost any Outlaw points, he will take a step back because the suspension will apply to Outlaw races. The team has removed any sort of future schedule from their website, with plans now unknown, but I'd guess that means no Outlaw run. We are still waiting as well on what the future will look like for Bobby Pierce.

The other news from late in the week came from the sprint car side, with the Ridge and Sons Racing team parting with crew chief Tyler Swank. He and driver Cory Eliason hadn't gotten off to a fast start with their full time High Limit run, and in some Outlaw shows, and the team made the move official on Thursday. By Friday though, that open crew chief spot had been filled, with Jeremy Elliott at sprintcarunlimited.com reporting that Jim Shuttlesworth had taken the role. Shuttlesworth worked with Devon Borden a season ago in Central Pennsylvania, and was previously the crew chief for Anthony Macri. Shuttlesworth was on the sidelines so far this year after parting ways with the Stehman team and Borden after the 2023 season. If the weather goes their way, the RSR 8 car will race in Central PA for a few weeks, so Eliason and Shuttlesworth can get comfortable together, before the High Limit season starts back up again in April. They have some work to do in the High Limit standings, as Eliason is currently down in 18th, 111 points behind Tyler Courtney after the first four races. Remember that everyone is gunning for those first five charter spots that will get awarded after this season. The other Ridge machine, with driver Aaron Reutzel, spent the weekend in Texas racing against the Outlaws. He had finishes of fifth and 11th.

Also, even though the opening ASCS weekend was rained out, World Racing Group did make a few hires for that series official late in the week. Lonnie Wheatley has been named series director, and Cody Cordell will be tech director going forward. Wheatley previously was the ASCS Media Director for a decade, while Cordell had been the crew chief for Noah Gass and their sprint car effort. Both will have some time to settle into their roles, as the next ASCS national tour event isn't until April 19th and 20th at Super Bee Speedway.

We are going to call it good there today. Don't forget that Williams Grove is opening today with their first 410 sprint car show of the season. The new backstretch bridge is in place as well, and you can tune in on DIRTVision of you can't get there.

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