DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Big players call for change at Riverside, Kyle Larson out of High Limit midweek title fight | Daily 4-30-2024

Logan Seavey adds winged races to an already packed 2024 schedule, Kyle Larson's High Limit midweek title hunt comes to an end already, we've got an update on the fencing situation at Riverside, including pressure from big players, and more today. Let's go!

It's Tuesday, April 30th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

Later this week things get going in a big way at Eldora Speedway with the World of Outlaws and USAC sprint cars set for two nights. And for those of you headed to Eldora, that means another opportunity to visit our friends at The Whistle Stop Bar and Grill located just 7 miles South of the track. Don't forget they also have a sister business located in Downtown Greenville, Ohio called Sure Shot Tap House. Sure Shot Tap House is a 46 tap self pour facility featuring domestic and craft beer, ciders, seltzers, bourbons, and winess. They also have a self-serve cocktail machine that compliments their amazing food menu. Venture upstairs to the Bullseye Game Lounge which boasts Duckpin Bowling as well as 24 arcade games, making Sure Shot the ultimate destination to Eat, Drink, and Play all under one roof. New this year, they will be running buses from Eldora to Sure Shot on the Fridays of all major events. The trip includes a buffet, $15 pour card, swag bag and more! Visit www.sureshottaphouse.com/events for more information on this great day trip. Thanks to the Whistle Stop and Sure Shot Tap House for their support of the daily show.

When the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars hit Jacksonville Speedway on Wednesday, you can add a USAC champion to the list of expected entrants. It was announced yesterday that Logan Seavey will join Landon Simon Racing for an 18 race schedule, with the wing on, that will include races with the Outlaws, High Limit and Maverick. When we talked about Seavey getting his late model opportunity back in February, I told you guys that Seavey had another winged deal in the works to add to his USAC triple crown attempt, and now it's come to light. So almost 100 USAC races, plus something like 12 late model shows, and now an additional 18 sprint car events. We'll see if he adds more to this potentially with Swindell SpeedLab. Remember Kevin Swindell told Area Auto earlier this year that they were looking at some winged stuff with Seavey, and Jordan Swindell tweeted a while back that the car could come out mid-summer. Seavey has only made scattered winged sprint car starts throughout his career, as he's focused more on midgets and non-wing stuff. In 2023, he made four 410 starts, including two with High Limit, one with the All Stars, and the first ever Maverick show. He had a best finish of ninth, which happened with High Limit at Kokomo, plus the Maverick race at Lincoln Park. Seavey has run winged cars before at Jacksonville, last making stops there in 2019. He finished third there in a MOWA race that season. This Jacksonville show tomorrow could very well end up with a healthy field of sprint cars.

Jumping back to last week, the fencing and safety situation at Riverside International Speedway was in the spotlight after a wild night with the High Limit sprint cars. We had Tim Crawley knocking some fence down in turn one, and then Brian Bell completely through it not long after in turn three after riding the wall. It was clear to everyone watching that things there need to improve if they are going to continue hosting big sprint car shows, and that includes the World of Outlaws that head there later this year. I heard a rumor that there may have been a call from the Outlaws to Riverside in the days since about addressing the situation before October, and Brad Sweet commented about it publicly yesterday. In a new episode of FloRacing's High Limit room, safety was a main topic, and Sweet came right out and said the fencing there was not adequate. He said they had a conversation after the race with Riverside's owner Clayton Allen, and that the track needs to quote "make some improvements with some cables and some things to hold the fence in place." Sweet brought up the Outlaw show and said he knows WRG will be looking closely at everything, and that the changes need to be made before High Limit returns in the future. You would hope that things like this could be handled ahead of racing, but hopefully this was enough of a wakeup call for things to change, especially since we got lucky to avoid anything terrible happening. I do like what I'm hearing though from Sweet, and potentially WRG if the rumors are true. We need those at the top to use their resources and influence to make real improvements in areas like safety. Especially at a place like Riverside. I know they've taken a beating after the High Limit race, but I think it's important to point out they have made upgrades there to the wall. And with the racing we saw and fan support, there is no reason why this can't remain on national touring sprint car schedules in the future. We just can't have fences that effectively don't do anything.

The other note to come out of that High Limit room show, is that Kyle Larson will not be able to chase the full High Limit midweek championship in 2024. Through two events, he was already in a hole, down in 15th in the standings, 66 points behind Corey Day, who's won the first two races. Coming up at the end of May, the midweek schedule has a Tuesday night show at Grandview Speedway in Pennsylvania, but Larson will have to miss that race because of NASCAR commitments. There is a Goodyear tire test happening at Iowa Speedway that day, and Larson is participating in it. Iowa is new to the Cup Series schedule this season. Even with the deficit, Larson could have gone on a heater and climbed back into the fight, but missing a show will put him too far behind, especially with how good some of these other guys have been running. As long as the weather cooperates, High Limit is scheduled to be at 81 Speedway tomorrow night, with two nights at Lakeside coming up this weekend.

Next up is a neat story from Atomic Speedway, promoter Charlie Vest, and race director Dave Andrews. They've put together a 410 sprint car that they will be taking around to local area high schools there in Ohio that have automotive classes. They're going to allow students to get hands on with the car, and learn how everything works. Their first stop will be May 10th at Canton South High School, and the automotive program through the South Stark Career Academy. Hopefully we'll see some race fans created through this and maybe some future drivers and crew chiefs. That's a great way to give back to the community and share racing with the kids.

Before we close out today, I've got some interesting numbers for you regarding Devin Moran. I have Lucas results in the database at dirtrackr.com/analytics going back to the 2020 season. So far through 17 races this year, Moran has his worst average feature start since that 2020 year, but has his best average feature finish to date. Moran went on a hellacious run down the stretch of 2023 to sneak into the Lucas championship battle, and then nearly won the damn thing at Eldora. If he continues like he's going right now though, no late season charge will be needed. He's solidly in the mix right now, and it's all thanks to big charges come feature time. He's leading Lucas in feature plus/minus at the moment, and is at or near the top in two other key stats that we track. They are top five and top ten value finishes. This stat tracks basically how often you get a good finish when you don't start well. In these first 17 races, Moran has started outside the top ten nine times, and has converted seven of those to top tens, and five to top fives. That includes charges of 23rd to sixth at Ocasla, 20th to 10th at All-Tech, and 18th to fifth at East Bay. On Sunday, he went 13th to fifth at Port Royal. If that Double Down team can get him starting a bit better, there could be plenty more wins in the cards.

That's it for the show today. You do have some streaming options this evening, so make sure to stop by dirtrackr.com/watchtonight to see the daily schedule.

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