DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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This once lost speedway is trying to host racing again in 2024 | Daily 4-8-2024

Mike Marlar gets out the broom, Chase Dietz wasn't even going to race, the ASCS gets an upgrade, and a California race track is rising from the dead. Let's go!

It's Monday, April 8th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

Did you know that right now CJ Leary has the most top tens in a row with the USAC sprint cars? Or how about that Donny Schatz has moved forward the most in World of Outlaws features so far this season? Or that Jonathan Davenport leads the Lucas regulars in heat race average finish in 2024? All of these stats and more can be found easily with a subscription to DIRTRACKR Plus. Like I'm sure you do, I watch a ton of racing action each week, but that's not enough to understand everything that's happening around the sport. Which is why I built DIRTRACKR's analytics section. It's got race results and stat breakdowns for all the top national series and special events, and at this moment is approaching 1900 races worth of data. And if you want access to every tool and number I use for these shows, grab a subscription to DIRTRACKR Plus. $4.99 a month, or $49.99 a year. The year subscription gets you two months free effectively. And you can cancel any time very easily. Signing up gets you access to the Plus Dashboard which has added stat tools and visualizations. Unlock more than 25 extra features, including exclusive insights not found anywhere else. Whether you're a race fan, member of the media, or work for a series or track, DIRTRACKR Plus is the perfect resource for current dirt racing data to elevate your knowledge. Both World of Outlaws series, all three USAC National divisions, the Chili Bowl, High Limit, Lucas and a lot more. See everything Plus has to offer and sign up for a subscription over at dirtrackr.com/getplus.

At Volunteer Speedway on Sunday, Mike Marlar made it a clean sweep of the XR Super Series opening weekend, bagging $12,000 to go along with the $30 grand he won on Saturday night. And just like the night before, he had to hold off a late charge from Devin Moran to get it done. Marlar now up to four wins on the season, including a DIRTcar score at Volusia, the Lucas win at Golden Isles, and now his first two career XR victories. In his past six appearances, Marlar has three wins, two seconds, and a third. I'd say those guys have their package dialed in at the moment. Remember that Marlar is chasing the Lucas championship this season, and at the moment is just one spot out of that all important final four. If that Skyline team keeps this speed up, they could be a tough out all year. The next time we'll see the XR Super Series is May 16th through the 18th at Ogilvie Raceway in Minnesota. Later this week, you'll have plenty of dirt late model action to get into, including the World of Outlaws at Farmer City for the Illini 100, the MLRA at Lucas Oil Speedway for the $20,000 to win Spring Nationals, Hunt the Front at All-Tech for $15 grand and more.

In some Sunday sprint car action, Chase Dietz wasn't even originally scheduled to race at Lincoln according to Jeremy Elliott, but he loaded up his own car and went racing and it was a good thing he did. A flag to flag victory earned him $5000. He topped Matt Campbell and Danny Dietrich in the 30 lapper. Dietz is running the Zemco machine at Port Royal all season, and finished 6th there on Saturday in his debut. He did say that he would be filling in other races in his own car. He seems to have found something at Lincoln, where he also won twice last season. I haven't seen updated standings, but I believe Dietrich maintains the Lincoln points lead.

One other sprint car note for you, World Racing Group's investment in the ASCS continues to get better as they announced in recent days the addition of a traveling fire and rescue team for the national tour. This new team will be led by Billy Hurt, who is a career firefighter and EMT, who has also been around the ASCS Warrior Region for several years. WRG has been ramping up their fire and safety efforts in recent years, and that also included the addition of a dedicated safety team and safety truck for the World of Outlaws sprint cars. Tyler Bachmann, who is also the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series director has been leading a lot of those efforts across the organization, and he himself is a trained firefighter. I really like that we are seeing more track and safety folks in firesuits and helmets at tracks around the country, and more investments made in this particular area. Dirt racing needs to continue pushing for more and better safety measures for tracks, cars and drivers, and first responders. After losing the first two weekends of the season, the ASCS National Tour kicks off April 19th and 20th at Super Bee Speedway in Louisiana.

In my ongoing quest to spotlight good news for dirt tracks, I've got a story for you today about a track in California planning on rising again from the dead. It seems like we regularly deal with tracks closing and bad news, so where possible I want to highlight some places with good things happening. Last week it was Arrowhead Speedway where the Outlaws raced on Saturday night, and today it's Santa Maria Speedway. Back in 2021, the 1/3 mile Santa Maria Raceway shut down during the summer admist a battle with the very nearby neighborhood over noise complaints. The previous operators had purchased the facility with hopes of building out a complete entertainment facility that would host racing, concerts, and more. But the battle with the neighborhood and eventually San Luis Obispo county created a legal situation that the speedway couldn't afford to fight coming out of the pandemic. So instead of continuing the fight, they shuttered the race track. Since then, they did run three races in 2022, including for the USAC/CRA, western states midgets, and a lighting sprint race. There was also a deal to purchase the facility and turn it into a storage company that fell through, and efforts to revive the race track again started later in 2023. A local karting club had been using the infield for some events, and now a plan is in place to have a 2024 schedule of big shows. The first race is scheduled for April 27th and includes IMCA categories. The rest of the season includes stops for the USAC/CRA sprint cars, a NARC 410 show, and races for the new Ultimate Sprint Car Series. According to a story in the Santa Maria Times, longtime general manager David Castaneda will operate the track in 2024, while Tony Pombo, who is known in the racing circles out there, is in the process of buying the facility. They hope to have a full schedule in 2025. Back on Friday, a new Facebook page popped up for the speedway, that is being renamed from Santa Maria Raceway to Santa Maria Speedway. And they posted several photos of progress. There is a significant amount of water on the track from recent storms and flooding from a nearby creek, that they are trying to pump out, and work is ongoing to clean up the track surface and reclaim some clay. If you aren't aware, Santa Maria sits right on highway 101, just north of the town of Santa Maria, and about two hours west of Bakersfield. If you want to keep up with the progress, find Santa Maria Speedway on Facebook. You can also read more in the Santa Maria Times and in a recent story over at sprintcarunlimited.com.

That's it for today's Daily show. Dirt racing news all the time at dirtrackr.com. Streaming schedule at dirtrackr.com/watchtonight. Social media things happening all the time across platforms @dirtrackr.

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