DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Rare public frustration, an epic start, and drama bubbling before Indiana Sprint Week? | Daily 7-25-2024

I'm not going to say I told you so about RTJ and Rumley, but that was one hell of a start. We'll talk about that, plus McFadden's Outlaw win, Brad Sweet's frustration, tensions bubbling for Indiana Sprint Week, and more. Let's go!

It's Thursday, July 25th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

Well, I'd say the Ricky Thornton Jr., Kevin Rumley partnership is off to a good start. At Fairbury last night for the FloRacing Night in America show kicking off the Prairie Dirt Classic week, Thornton went on an epic charge through the field, going 15th to second before ten to go. And then down the stretch to the finish, he and Shannon Babb battled it out for the win, with RTJ making a move through the middle right at the white to take the lead. The 20RT and the 18 were nose to tail at the finish. Incredibly racing out front, 21 wins now on the season for Thornton, and a pretty wild ending with RTJ not having sat in that Rumley car before last night. I made sure to tune into qualifying live, and once Thornton timed in eighth in his group, I felt like that was a big sign they would be solid for the rest of the night. I don't know that many thought he would charge through the field quite like he did, but with some time to tune on things before the PDC starts on Friday, I think the expectations will be through the roof for this group. And for good reason. Let's also not forget that Thornton won the PDC a year ago, and Rumley won it in 2021 with Kyle Larson. For those out there that thought Rumley's car and operation were maybe down a bit this season, I'd be curious to hear how you view them today. With three Flo series races now complete, RTJ is back out front of the championship, leading Bobby Pierce by nine points. Pierce just missed out on the podium last night, finishing fourth behind Thornton, Babb, and Ryan Gustin. Looking ahead to the weekend, I do think that Pierce will be a factor as well. He ran fourth last night in a backup car after losing the engine in the primary during hot laps. Those guys will bolt in a new bullet and be ready to go for Friday. Last night as a whole was an interesting preview for the PDC, 65 cars in attendance. I certainly wouldn't expect that number to drop Friday and Saturday. I was surprised at who didn't do well last night, and that included Hudson O'Neal, Brandon Sheppard, and Tyler Erb. All three missed the feature. Sheppard won the PDC in 2022, and Huddy has been strong since joining SSI. Those guys with some work to do before Friday. Drop me a comment and let me know who you are picking to win the Prairie Dirt Classic on Saturday night. Do you like Pierce to bag another big pay day, can Rumley and RTJ make it happen, or are you looking at someone else like maybe Gustin or Babb? Let me know.

Before we move on, don't forget that we've got new sprint car shirts in stock over at shop.dirtrackr.com. We did something a little different this time, and got some cool art made of a sprint car and a push truck. I've got sizes small through 4XL and you can get one for $25. If you are a DIRTRACKR YouTube channel member, you can get 10% off merch all the time, like this new shirt, with your coupon code. And while you're at shop.dirtrackr.com, you can also pickup a sticker with your order. Thanks to everyone who's already picked one up. Your orders will be in your hands very soon.

Following the High Limit show at Lernerville on Tuesday, a busy sprint car week in Pennsylvania continued last night with the World of Outlaws at BAPS Motor Speedway. Four High Limit drivers were in attendance, including Jacob Allen, Brad Sweet, Cory Eliason, and James McFadden. And it was a good thing McFadden was there, as he picked up his second victory of the season. He got around polesitter Gio Scelzi for the top spot right at half way and drove on to the $12,000 score. Career Outlaw win number 12, and his first with the series since Jackson Motorplex last year. It was a good bounceback for McFadden and that Roth team after the issues at Lernerville, which included a tangle with Tyler Courtney while battling for the win. I think McFadden was probably the fastest car there, and could have easily won two in a row. Behind JMac, David Gravel did indeed extend his championship advantage with a second place run, and Sheldon Haudenschild rounded out the night in third. Unfortunately for early leader Scelzi, he finished 16th after getting involved in a crash with Brad Sweet. Those two were racing inside the top five when the incident happened. Sweet ran into the back of Scelzi into turn three, and he told DIRTVision's Connor Wade afterwards that he lost brakes. Scelzi was able to continue, but Sweet's car caught fire and he was done for the night. The Big Cat looked to maybe be limping around a bit after that one, hopefully he's feeling alright today. In those comments to Wade, Sweet also mentioned they had brake problems at Lernerville, which he talked about with his team, and that they didn't get them resolved. It was a rare bit of public frustration for Sweet, and even though he's continued to extend his High Limit championship lead, it seems as though maybe things are a bit tense with that KKR 49 group right now. Sweet did not make the feature for the Kings Royal last weekend, and is winless since May 16th, that's a stretch of 20 races. It's his longest such winless streak since he went 31 straight without a victory in 2022. I was surprised he even made the trip to BAPS, but maybe they are hoping some extra races here will help them figure some things out with the Knoxville Nationals looming. Back to the Outlaw championship battle, Gravel's lead headed to Williams Grove is now 78 over Donny Schatz, with the TSR 15 finishing eighth last night. Carson Macedo lost more ground as well, needing a B-Main transfer before going 22nd to 13th. He's now 120 back. The Summer Nationals at the Grove are Friday and Saturday, and then they will head to Weedsport on Sunday.

Elsewhere last night, the Super DIRTcar Series at Brockville was rained out. They are back in action August 12th at Brewerton.

With the Southern Nationals late models, their terrible luck with the weather continues. They are already rained out tonight at Toccoa in Georgia. They will try again this weekend with stops coming up at North Georgia and Tazewell.

At Lincoln Park Speedway tomorrow night, Indiana Sprint Week gets going with the first of seven races to come over a nine day stretch. After Putnamville, they'll hit Kokomo, Lawrenceburg, Circle City, Terre Haute, Bloomington and Haubstadt through August 3rd. Logan Seavey enters sprint week with three straight series wins, and leads the season long championship over Brady Bacon and CJ Leary. Bacon and Justin Grant are the past two sprint week champions, and Grant especially really needs a good week. He hasn't won since May 31st at Knoxville, and is out of the championship fight way down in eighth in the standings. Sprint Week is always a good time anyway, but it seems as though this bolt-on weight situation from Macon Speedway a few weeks ago continues to simmer under the surface, so we'll see if any of that drama shows itself over the next several nights.

Other open wheel action this weekend includes the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets at Arrow and Tulsa. Cannon McIntosh continues to lead that title by well over triple digits, with Ryan Timms and Chase McDermand in tow. The NARC season continues out in California with a Saturday stop at the back-from-the-dead Santa Maria Speedway. Justin Sanders holds a slight three point lead over Cole Macedo at the moment. There is a lot of other winged sprint car action as well, including the IRA, AFCS, MSTS, POWRi, and more.

Alright, we'll call that good for today, and for the week. Make sure to hit that subscribe button on YouTube or the podcast places. We are inching ever closer to that goal of 40,000 YouTube subscribers by year's end. Find the streaming schedule and more over at dirtrackr.com.

Hope you guys have a great Thursday out there, we'll see you back here on Sunday!