DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Bad blood brewing between these two sprint car stars | Daily 4-21-2024
Coming up, is a feud brewing between David Gravel and Buddy Kofoid? We'll talk about it after their second straight weekend of having a run-in. Plus James McFadden's wild ride, news from Coltman Farms and Hunter Schuerenberg, and more. Let's go!
It's Sunday, April 21st, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
Well, it was another weekend of World of Outlaws sprint car racing, and another weekend of David Gravel versus Buddy Kofoid. Last week at Pevely, it was Kofoid throwing a slider at Gravel that didn't clear, and Gravel nearly crashing. This week it was Gravel upset at Kofoid for a two-for-one slider that resulted in both Gravel and Brock Zeafoss upside down. Friday night at Paducah past half way, Kofoid tried to pass both Gravel and Bill Balog racing for second, and was basically successful. The problem was Balog had to take evasive action to avoid Kofoid's 83, and when he turned left to miss Kofoid, Gravel was there. He ended up spinning down the track and collecting Zearfoss, with both going for a ride. In the aftermath, Gravel was quickly out of the Big Game 2 and ran across the infield to go have words with Kofoid under the red flag. Nothing physical, just words, and series director Carlton Reimers was right there to supervise. It was definitely an ambitious move from Kofoid, but nowhere near as agregrious as the slider attempt the week before. Kofoid did clear Balog with no contact, Gravel just ended up on the short end of the stick running so closely behind. I think if this was an isolated incident, you wouldn't have seen the response from Gravel. But because this came on the heels of what happened last week, Gravel was upset. Kofoid did apologize after the Pevely deal, but he was not apologetic in his podium interview on Friday. He pointed towards Gravel trying to run him over on track, and said he didn't understand why Gravel was upset at him, as he didn't make contact with Balog. Looking around, opinions are really mixed, with some saying Kofoid's move was poor, and others saying Gravel was overreacting. It probably depends on where folks' allegiances lie to how they feel about it. Gravel did take a hit in the standings because of the DNF, but coming back and leading laps and finishing second on Saturday at Haubstadt sees his lead over Donny Schatz still at 34. I think what we are seeing here is a few things at play, number one being Gravel is viewing this as his championship to lose. There is going to be some pressure that comes with that, plus the back-to-back weekends with run-ins. On the other side, Kofoid is super fast and hyper aggressive, and is going to take his shots when he can. We've seen him do it all throughout his career so far. And it's working out. That team struggled through Volusia, but has now been on the podium in four straight races, and a current top ten streak sitting at 10 races. It's clear there is no love lost between these two, and I'd put a decent amount of money on the fact that this probably won't be the last time they tangle this season. I think also this split between the Outlaws and High Limit has a bunch of guys looking at some of these opportunities to win races and take steps forward, and it's ratcheted up the intensity. There is less courtesy out there, and guys are grabbing everything they can, when they can. The racing definitely feels different this year. The weekend Outlaw wins went to Sheldon Haudenschild at Paducah, and Brady Bacon came out on top of the battle with Gravel at Haubstadt. Up next for the Outlaws is two nights at Knoxville next weekend that should draw plenty of teams.
With High Limit, Brad Sweet finally broke through with his series, sweeping the weekend between Southern Oklahoma and Salina. Both nights he had early battles, but was mostly comfortable by the end. Tyler Courtney couldn't get there on Friday, and Brent Marks tried a later slider at Salina, but came up short. The wild moment from the weekend was the incident between Sweet and James McFadden last night. With the two battling for the lead, they made contact, and McFadden ended up out of the ballpark in turn three. Sweet was to McFadden's inside on corner entry, and it looked like maybe he wasn't expecting the 83 to stay lower. Sweet had to make a correction, and just ended up moving up the track right into McFadden. It was a big ride for JMac, pretty wild to watch, but Sweet did apologize in victory lane. Contact and incidents like that are't something we see the NAPA 49 involved in often. I still don't love these race tracks where cars can completely leave the facility, because you have no idea where they're going to end up. Salina is a big fast place, and there are some places around the track that are big sketchy. Sweet did make up ground on Sunshine for the champoinship lead, with the gap between them now just 14. The Kubota High Limit sprint cars are right back to it on Tuesday night at Riverside.
Elsewhere this weekend, the World of Outlaws Late Model finale at Talladega was rained out. Dylan Knowles and Max McLaughlin won the two Friday prelim features. The Talladega race will be made up on September 15th, taking the date previously occupied by Rome Speedway. It was a shame because they had a nice field there, 48 cars, included Kyle Larson, Ricky Thornton Jr., Jimmy Owens, Brandon Overton, and Dale McDowell.
Other weekend late model winners included Jason Feger on Friday at Paducah, Camaron Marlar was a $10,000 Spring Nationals winner at Lake Cumberland, Ross Bailes bagged $7500 at Ultimate Motorsports Park, and Tim Shaffer won a RUSH feature at PA Motor Speedway.
In open wheel racing, Anthony Macri won the big $20,000 Weldon Sterner at Lincoln, leading all 40 laps from the pole. Justin Sanders bagged a Sprint Car Challenge Tour win at Merced, Tim Estenson won the IRA show at Beaver Dam, and Seth Bergman won the ASCS opener at Super Bee filling in for Wayne Johnson.
Weekend USMTS wins went to Jim Chisholm at Arrowhead, and Rodney Sanders at Tri-State. Jake Timm maintains the championship lead.
Before we close out today, a couple of news items to hit on from the past few days. First, Hunter Schuerenberg is taking over the Brandon Ikenberry Deuce 5 sprint car. This will be Schuerenberg's fourth deal of the season, including the Hayward 19, the Heidbreder 19, and some recent races with Josh Ford. Schuerenberg takes over from Kerry Madsen who had been filling in since the departure of Lachlan McHugh. Knoxville's weekly season was supposed to start on Saturday night, but it was too cold, so they cancelled.
Also, interesting to see Tanner English go to Talladega with Coltman Farms colors on his 96. The Coltman Farms team had parted ways with Ethan Dotson not long ago, and English has been racing sort of on his own since parting with Viper. English told FloRacing's Kyle McFadden he isn't sure where this deal will go beyond Talladega, but it sounds like it could turn into a longer term deal. There were definitely plenty who thought this could be a landing spot for Hudson O'Neal, but English sliding in would seem to point to that not being true. Lucas is back to racing this Friday, so we should know something about O'Neal's future soon.
That's it for the Daily show today. There is some regional racing going on, so make sure to check the streaming schedule over at dirtrackr.com/watchtonight to see your options.
Hope you guys have a great Sunday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!