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.
At 15 years old, he's already going toe-to-toe with dirt late model racing's best | Daily 4-18-2024
He can't legally drive yet, but man can he drive. We'll talk about that, plus updates on some late model drivers' seasons, Silver Crown full timers, Wayne Johnson's fill-in driver, what to watch this weekend and more. Let's go!
It's Thursday, April 18th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is back in action tonight, kicking off a three race weekend at Thunderhill Raceway. After tonight, they'll head to the Talladega Short Track for two nights running alongside the NASCAR weekend at the big track. Brandon Sheppard continues to lead the Outlaw standings over Chris Madden and Nick Hoffman. We'll be keeping a sharp eye on Bobby Pierce though, as following a win and a second during the Illini at Farmer City last week, he's already back to eighth in the standings. Remember he dropped out of the top 10 after the tire penalty from Volusia. At the moment he's 122 points behind Sheppard. At about 2 points per position, that's 61 feature spots he trails the B5. Depending on how the weekend goes, there is a scenario where we could see Pierce crack the top five by Saturday night, as Tyler Bruening is only 40 points ahead. Sheppard is still looking for that first Outlaw win of the year, but he's been his usual consistent self with four top fives and six top tens in six Outlaw races so far. He'll need to keep that up to hold Pierce back. This will be the debut for the Outlaws at Thunderhill, while Brandon Overton took the Talladega win a year ago. Overton's schedule on his website though shows him taking the weekend off. Another driver to mention here in terms of status is Kyle Bronson. He'd removed all the Outlaw races from his schedule, but he was at Farmer City last weekend and remains seventh in the standings. He'll be at all three races again this weekend, and for now it seems as though he's continuing with the Outlaws even in the aftermath of the tire penalty.
Someone I want you guys to start keeping an eye on as well, is another driver we'll see with the Outlaws this weekend at Talladega. And that's 15 year old Trey Mills. Mills is back for year two as a full timer with the Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series, and was the rookie of the year in 2023. We are already at a point where guys are falling off the HTF tour because it's gotten so difficult, one of which we'll get to in a minute, but Mills is very quietly sixth in the HTF standings after three races. At the moment, he's ahead of Carson Ferguson, last year's champion Josh Putnam, Ashton Winger, Zach Mitchell, Wil Herrington, and Scott Bloomquist. He only trails Brandon Overton by 40 points. Mills was 11th in the opener at Talladega, and left All-Tech with runs of 5th and 9th. This kid can't even legally drive a car yet, but he's already outrunning some of the sport's best drivers. He picked up a Hunt the Front win at Whynot last June, was the 604 track champion at All-Tech in 2020, and as just a 12 year old, won a 602 crate late model feature during the Bristol Dirt Nationals in 2021. He's already made appearances against the Outlaws and Lucas, and was a feature starter in the Lucas show at All-Tech back in February. His website says he's 5 foot 9 and weighs 105 pounds, but that hasn't stopped him from slinging around an 800 horsepower super late model against the best in the business. Trey Mills, definitely one to watch well into the future here.
One other dirt late model news item for you, this was one I missed earlier this week. Clay Harris started the season really impressive against Lucas during speedweeks, and was slated to contest the full Hunt the Front schedule this year. But after a tough start, has decided to pull back from HTF, but not to run pick and choose or more local racing. Instead, he's going the complete opposite direction and going full time Lucas racing. It's not often you see a guy struggle on a regional tour, and then decide to go on the road with the national teams. But at the moment, Harris is higher in the Lucas standings than he is the HTF points, and is the leading Lucas rookie at the moment, which is worth $20,000 at season's end. Harris has missed the features in his part four Lucas starts, so they have some work to do to find some speed and hopefully some better luck. Lucas is still off this weekend.
Both national touring sprint car series are racing this weekend as well. The World of Outlaws have stops at Paducah and Haubstadt upcoming. The last time the Outlaws were at Paducah was 2012, Joey Saldana your winner that night. Brady Bacon won at Haubstadt a year ago, and before that it was three straight for Carson Macedo. David Gravel currently has a 48 point advantage over Donny Schatz, with Gio Scelzi, Logan Schuchart, and Macedo in tow. Gravel's average finish over the last five races is second, and it's 3.9 over the last 10 races.
On the flip side, the Kubota High Limit sprint cars are still in Oklahoma for two more races, Friday at Southern Oklahoma, and Saturday at the Salina Highbanks. Corey Day is coming off back-to-back wins, while Tyler Courtney has extended his championship lead over Brad Sweet. We've only seen the NAPA 49 lead laps in a single race this season, back at East Bay on February 13th, but at the moment Brad Sweet is doing Brad Sweet things. Seven races, seven top tens, with four top fives and an average finish of fifth. The consistency is why these guys won five straight Outlaw titles, and it's on full display at the moment. Southern Oklahoma was last on a big time sprint car schedule back in 2020, when Brock Zearfoss was an All Star winner there. And Sweet was an Outlaw winner at Salina back in 2018.
Going back to last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway with High Limit, sprint car driver Wayne Johnson was injured in a crash during the night's B-Main. It was intially feared he had a broken arm, but Wayne was discharged from the hospital with what the team characterized as a quote "wound to the arm." Coming up, Wayne will be out of action, but the 2C sprint car will continue. The team announced late yesterday that Seth Bergman will drive the car in Wayne's place, and that begins this weekend with the ASCS National Tour at Super Bee Speedway. Bergman does have plans to run the full ASCS schedule, and he'll be more than capable of competing for the title. He had two wins, eight top fives, and nine top tens in just nine appearances in 2023. He ran early in the season, but had to fall off to focus on his business. Bergman and his family own a coffee company in Oklahoma. With defending champion Jason Martin currently listed as not returning to the series, Bergman and Matt Covington could be the two to watch for the title. Friday and Saturday at Super Bee are both $4000 to win, and if you can't get there, the ASCS will be live on season now on DIRTVision.
The USAC Silver Crown season gets rolling this weekend with a trip to Toledo on Saturday. Earlier this week Richie Murray put out a list of Silver Crown full timers expected for the season, and I wanted to run through those today. We know defending champion Logan Seavey is back, he'll again pilot the Rice Abacus 22. And his main competition the last several years, in Kody Swanson, will be back to chase his eighth championship driving for Doran Binks. Swanson has been dealing with a foot injury and subsequent surgery, but should be good to go this weekend. The field will also include 2020 champion Justin Grant, multi-time winner CJ Leary, Kyle Steffens, Travis Welpott, Davey Hamilton Jr., Kaylee Bryson, Dave Berkheimer, Gregg Cory, Nathan Moore, Trey Burke, Trey Osborne, Mario Clouser, and Taylor Ferns. On top of the 15 regulars, this weekend's show at Toledo will also include Dakoda Armstrong, Jerry Coons Jr., Nathan Byrd, Tyler Roahrig, Russ Gamester, Bobby Santos, Jackson Macenko, and Derek Bischak. Cars will hit Toledo Speedway Saturday afternoon.
Elsewhere this weekend, you've got the USMTS modifieds in Oklahoma for a pair of shows. They'll be at Arrowhead Speedway on Friday night, and Tri-State Speedway on Saturday. Both are $5000 to win main events. The standings are tight right now with just 114 points separating the entire top ten. Jake Timm is the current championship leader.
The MLRA late models were supposed to be at Cedar County and 34 Raceway this weekend, but all three shows have been washed out and postponed until later in the season.
The Spring Nationals have a pair of shows, one at Ponderosa and another at Lake Cumberland coming up Friday and Saturday. Donald McIntosh leading that championship right now over Pearson Lee Williams and Christian Hanger. There is plenty of other regional late model action as well including the Ultimate Southeast series, Southern All Stars, and weekly racing at places like Port Royal.
That's it for the daily show this week. Make sure to stop by dirtrackr.com/watchtonight to see your weekend streaming options.
Hope you guys have a great Thursday and a great weekend out there, we'll see you back here on Sunday!