DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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They are finally talking publicly about the chassis | Daily 4-29-2024
The lid is finally off the Wells Motorsports dirt late model chassis, Wayne Johnson steps away from driving a sprint car, Anthony Macri is the highest earning sprint car driver so far, and I got called out... for several things. Let's go!
It's Monday, April 29th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
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We'll start first today with some Sunday racing. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series closed out an eastern swing with a stop at Port Royal. After winning back on Friday at Georgetown, Ricky Thornton Jr. just went ahead and made it a clean weekend sweep, again leading every lap and picking up Lucas win number five on the year. Mike Marlar tried to keep him honest but settled for second, and Garrett Alberson was on the podium for the second straight race. With Marlar second and Hudson O'Neal down the order for the third race in a row, we've had a change in that top four. RTJ, Jonathan Davenport, and Devin Moran remain solidly in, but Marlar has bumped Huddy down to fifth, with 20 points between them now. Fourth through ninth has really compressed here lately, with just 125 points separating those six drivers. At this moment, Marlar, O'Neal, Daulton Wilson, Jimmy Owens, Garrett Alberson, and Tim McCreadie are all very much in the mix for that fourth and final chase spot. O'Neal was fast early at both Georgetown and Port, but that new team being led by crew chief Nick Hardy has work to do come feature time. Also, hat tip to Max Blair, who's got four straight top tens now after struggling down south to start the year. Lucas is right back to it this weekend with stops at Ponderosa and Florence y'all.
By the way, on today's episode of what is Justin getting called out for, for things he said on his show, one is Lucas related. I said last week that RTJ had looked more human as of late, and I've had multiple comments about it after his weekend sweep. Like somehow I was wrong and people are trying to dunk on me. Me saying that wasn't a prediction of his future, or a hot take, it was a statement based on his recent Lucas results. The numbers speak for themselves. Longest winless streak in over a year, Davenport closed up right to him in the standings, and just two top fives in the nine races since he'd won. Those statements aren't my opinion. He certainly hadn't run poorly, but our perception of him has changed dramatically after a season where he won nearly half the series races. He's not getting compared to average anymore, he's getting compared to what he's done over the last 12 months.
I've also been called out for not mentioning race winners yesterday for two sprint car series. Driver Joey Amantea tweeted at me about not talking about the USAC East Coast Sprint Cars. As you could have guessed, he won Saturday night at Port Royal in a slider fest with Christian Bruno. And Briggs Danner your winner on Friday at Bedford. Also, Jacob Hord commenting that I didn't mention weekend AFCS winners Skylar Gee and Cap Henry. Approaching 1100 daily shows and ten million views on the YouTube channel, there are two things I know. One, I can't talk about everything that happens, and two, I can't make everyone happy. Ce la vie.
With his win on Sunday at BAPS Motor Speedway, Anthony Macri is the first sprint car driver to top $100,000 in winnings this season. According to sprintcarratings.com he's now at $102,325. He's tied for the most sprint car starts at 23 with Jacob Allen, and has the most wins with seven. Macri has won four of his last seven, including the High Limit show at Texas Motor Speedway, and three Central PA victories. His schedule shows he'll be back on the road with the Outlaws this coming week at Eldora.
Before we move on, a new issue of The Slider hit email inboxes back on Thursday. Another fantastic piece from Pat Sullivan, this one about announcing at dirt races. If you didn't read it, you can find it at dirtrackr.com/theslider. While you're there, sign up to get the emails for free. I'll have another interview later this week to send as well.
In some bummer news, it sounds like we may have seen Wayne Johnson's sprint car career come to an end. If you might remember, Wayne was injured in a crash during the High Limit show at Texas Motor Speedway, where it was intially feared he had a broken arm. The arm wasn't broken, but Wayne did undergo surgery a few days ago to repair other injuries to that arm. In a post to social media, it was revealed that he has lost some function in his right hand, and that he's facing a lengthy recovery process. The post also said Wayne quote "has no plans at this time to return to the driver's seat of the 2C but is looking forward to stepping into his new role as Crew Chief/Team Manager" unquote. Seth Bergman drove the car in the ASCS opener at Super Bee Speedway, and he will continue to drive it going forward. Bergman did win that race and is the championship leader headed to RPM Speedway this weekend.
Finally today, the lid is now officially off the dirt late model chassis coming out of the Wells Motorsports shop. This was a story we followed early in the season as Brandon Overton was telling us his 76 wasn't something different than the Longhorns they'd been running through Wells, but the community knew otherwise. He told FloRacing's Kyle McFadden in January that we were all making shit up, but then revealed to Southern All Stars announcer Dewayne Keith in early February it was their quote "little experiment." And earlier this month at Maquoketa, during a podium interview, Ryan Gustin said his Wells chassis had nothing Longhorn about it. If you weren't aware, Gustin and team owner Todd Cooney are Wells Motorsports chassis customers. In a story posted to Dirt on Dirt from Sunday, Todd Turner gave us a nice rundown on what Wells is now calling their Infinity chassis. Gustin drove one to the win on Saturday at Smoky Mountain Speedway with the Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series and told Turner that Overton was a big help in their success. In the 76, Overton doesn't have a national touring win in 2024, with his last coming at Port Royal with Lucas in August of 2023, but he does have three other wins this season. He's won with the Southern All Stars, Spring Nationals, and Hunt the Front. He's currently leading the Hunt the Front championship after four events. Don't expect though to be able to just call up Wells and get one of these new pieces. Overton told Turner that these cars will be only for a quote "close circle" and that they want guys who want to be involved that will work together and not share secrets. We'll see who else shows up with an Infinity car in the future. You can see Todd's full piece over at dirtondirt.com, it has a bunch of quotes from both Gustin and Overton.
That's it for the show today, appreciate you guys tuning in.
Hope you guys have a great Monday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!