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DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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A look at the growing fleet of trucks needed to put on World of Outlaws races | Daily 6-4-2024

Big racing series are no doubt traveling circuses, and today we'll look through the fleet of trucks it takes to put on a modern day World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series show. Plus we'll talk High Limit, Indiana Midget Week, and the Super DIRTcar Series. Let's go!

It's Tuesday, June 4th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

Later this week the Dirt Late Model Dream gets rolling at Eldora Speedway, and another big Eldora event means another opportunity to visit our friends at The Whistle Stop Bar and Grill located just 7 miles South of the track. Besides the Whistle Stop, 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 wines. 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 the first of these bus trips is this week. The trip includes a buffet, $15 pour card, swag bag and more! Visit sureshottaphouse.com/events for more information on this great trip.

I had an email this week from someone I hear from regularly, and they were asking me about a new truck and trailer that they noticed on the road this season with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series. They also mentioned other trucks and trailers, like for DIRTVision, and I thought this would be a good show topic. To run through the whole fleet of trucks that it takes to put on a current day World of Outlaws show. In dirt racing at the moment, I don't believe any other series brings the amount of people and equipment to a show as does the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series. For this video, I'm going to cover just what the series and World Racing Group itself brings, but understand that it's much larger even beyond this. There are obviously trucks for all the teams, plus driver and team merch trailers, and marketing setups from sponsors like NOS Energy Drink. Motorsports has always been a traveling circus, but in recent years, things have continued to expand. Gone are the days of a single trailer behind a pickup truck, and in are the days of big screens, dedicated spaces for each business function, and show pieces. The main truck and trailer you've been seeing at World of Outlaws races for years is the series command center. A standard 53 foot trailer that is the base for series officials through the course of a race night. Driver's meetings happen out the back, timing and scoring screens are present, officials are in and out all night, and if someone wants to yell at series director Carlton Reimers, you can usually find him nearby. Space up top is dedicated to storage for series golf carts and equipment, and at certain tracks, you can find a who's who of drivers and crew chiefs standing on the top roof deck scoping out race tracks. The other truck and trailer for series operation is the tech trailer. This is not a new addition to the series, as this second trailer has been around for a long time, but things got upgraded this season with a new piece. You you can often find the scales setup next to it, it also hauls vehicles and equipment, and the old one had space for a workshop inside, which I'm sure this one does as well. Tools, plus parts and pieces for fixing things on the road. So much trailer space is necessary for side-by-sides, four wheelers, and all the golf carts used. The third trailer that's stickered up very similar to these first two is the Outlaws' merch trailer. If you've been to an Outlaw race, this one is parked in the midway where you can find Wes Irwin slinging all sorts of Outlaw goodies. I'd shutter to think how many miles the merch trailer and command center trailer have on them at this point, as both have been in service a long time. Beyond these three, the next several we'll discuss are much newer additions to the road. Because of the explosion in streaming, DIRTVision needed it's own dedicated space, and things have expanded to also include the big screen. So DIRTVision has two trailers at each race, one is the screen, and the other is the production trailer where all of the video feeds from around the track are piped into, before then being beemed back to the production facility at the WRG office in Concord, NC. The DV crew has all of their own equipment, including the cameras, audio gear, and miles of cabling needed to tie it all together. The other big trailer you'll find often parked out front of Outlaw shows is the newer event operations setup. We actually talked about this one on a daily show back when it was being put together. It provides space for the events and marketing teams, and with windows off the side, is used as a mobile ticketing center for fans. If certain tracks on the schedule don't have great infrastructure, the Outlaws just bring their own. The final vehicles I'll spotlight here, are also more recent additions. The first is the pace truck. You'll see matching pickup trucks across the three main traveling series under the WRG banner thanks to their deal with Toyota. Wrapped with full light bar setups and perfect for fan and hospitality experiences. The next is another we've talked about on the show, and that's the new safety team truck. New this season, the Outlaws bring this setup everywhere that includes a full complement of safety and rescue equipment in the back, to go along with a series official with a background as a fire fighter and paramedic. This is in addition to side-by-sides and four wheelers geared out with safety equipment. The final one I'll show here is another truck that's been around a long time, and that's the show truck. This one has been rebranded several times, from STP, to Craftsman, to now NOS Energy Drink. It totes around show cars and can be seen at some races, stores, gas stations, or wherever it's needed to get some attention. And it's hard to miss with it's wild paint job. So in total, we've got three series trailers, including merch, plus two for DIRTVision, the event operations trailer, two pickup trucks, the show truck, and wide array of trackside support vehicles like scooters, golf carts, and side by sides. And again, this doesn't include other marketing setups, plus team and driver rigs.

Before we close out today, there is a bunch of racing to get into tonight. First, the Kubota High Limit sprint cars will be at Davenport Speedway for $20,000 to win and another midweek series race. The initial pre-entry list shows 32 cars, with all the High Limit full timers, plus Kyle Larson, Anthony Macri, some midwest guys and more. I know that Davenport has pretty regularly hosted the NRA Sprint Invaders, but I think this will be the first 410 sprint car show there since the National Sprint Tour was there in 2006. So nobody in the field will have any sort of notes on this one. Hot laps are slated for 6:30pm central time, and racing can be watched on Flo if you aren't going.

At Circle City, Indiana Midget Week kicks off tonight for the USAC National Midget teams. Six races in six days, with stops at Circle City, Lawrenceburg, Lincoln Park, Bloomington, Haubstadt, and Kokomo coming up. 27 drivers are expected to contest the full week of racing, and Logan Seavey will be looking to repeat his midget week title from a year ago. There are only three USAC midget races complete so far in 2024, with Cannon McIntosh, Daison Pursley, and Seavey the three winners. A lot will change in the standings over the next six nights, and I'm sure there will be plenty of wild action. Keep up with everything via USAC's social channels, and on FloRacing.

And the Super DIRTcar Series has the first of a back-to-back starting tonight at Big Diamond Speedway. They'll then head to Selinsgrove tomorrow. Anthony Perrego and Mat Williamson have the first two victories in championship races this season, and Peter Britten is the points leader. Both shows are 75 laps and $10,000 to win, and the winners of each will also be guaranteed starting spots into the feature at Super DIRT Week 52 in October. You can watch Big Diamond tonight on DIRTVision.

That's it for the daily show today. Make sure to stop by dirtrackr.com for all the latest news, dirt racing stats, plus the streaming schedule on the watch tonight page.

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