DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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The legend of Paul Silva grows yet again | Daily 8-11-2024
Kyle Larson is getting the attention today for the Knoxville Nationals win, but I've got some thoughts on Paul Silva and him finding some magic to make it happen. We'll also talk more from the 63rd Nationals, plus yet another big score for Bobby Pierce, and more. Let's go!
It's Sunday, August 11th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
Later this week the Case Construction World of Outlaws Late Model Series begins a busy stretch, and when they hit up Spoon River Speedway on Thursday, I want to help you save a little money. I've partnered up with the Outlaws to get you $5 off each ticket you buy to Thursday's action. And the discount is good for both general admission and reserved seats. Use code "DIRTRACKR" to get the $5 off deal when you purchase, that's D I R T R A C K R. Head over to dirtrackr.com/spoonriver, or click the links below in the video description and enter the code before you select your seats. Spoon River has hosted series like MARS and the Summer Nationals plenty of times before, but this will be the first time the Outlaws have ever raced at the Illinois track. Don't miss out on your chance to see Brandon Sheppard, Nick Hoffman, Bobby Pierce and many more battle it out. Especially with a tight championship fight going on. So dirtrackr.com/spoonriver, or links below in the video description, code "DIRTRACKR" for $5 off.
The 2024 Knoxville Nationals is in the books, and it was yet again a dominant Kyle Larson performance. Including his win from the pole in 2023, the Paul Silva owned 57 has now led 100 straight laps in Nationals feature competition. So back-to-back for this group, and now three career Nationals scores for Yung Money, who will be right back to Richmond today to run the NASCAR Cup Series race. There were moments during the main event where we might have had challenges out front, including early from Daryn Pittman, Carson Macedo was up in the mix, and Gio Scelzi. But nobody could mount a serious charge. It's clear that there is a group who are not super thrilled by the dominance, and the lack of any real challenges out front, and I've seen complaints today about the track and the setup, but I don't really believe any of it. I think we are just seeing a guy at this best. It's also interesting to hear some boos starting to mix in with the cheers, because they were louder last night. Behind Larson, Gio Scelzi was impressive finishing second. I know a lot of folks picked him to win this week, and he was emotional afterwards. I do think it's true that sometimes you have to lose one or two of these before you win, and Scelzi will definitely get there. Also on the podium was a hard charging Corey Day, who went 11th to third. Another strong finish from the young driver who is on his way to the top. Carson Macedo and Anthony Macri were the rest of the top five. From there, I was impressed with what we saw out of Scott Bogucki. He was in the main event a year ago, but this time, he showed he can race on the big stage, finishing eighth. He deserves more attention than he's getting today. We did as well see big charges from David Gravel and Donny Schatz, who had to start deep after their issues, but neither were ever in contention. And it's clear that Brad Sweet and Eric Prutzman still have work to do with the 49 car. They transferred in from the B, but finished 19th and were a lap down. This west coast trip for High Limit could be coming at a good time for them. And Rico Abreu was solid before the half way break, running inside the top ten, but they DNF'd after mechanical issues. They ended up in the infield not long after the break, and I was a little surprised it kind of went unnoticed on the broadcast. But Rico still looking for his first career top five finish at the Nationals. And a hat tip to Emerson Axsom for rookie of the year. That kid is going places.
I did as well want to give a quick update on McKenna Haase following her nasty Friday night heat race crash. She's been released from the hospital in Knoxville and is headed home as of today. Hopefully she heals up quickly from what was a scary deal. Also, hopefully Tony Bokhoven is feeling better after missing out on being in the booth yesterday with illness.
Jumping back to Kyle Larson and Paul Silva. Anybody who says they saw this run of success coming is lying to you. This group hadn't won a sprint car race since June, had a nine race stretch that was marred by five finishes of 13th or worse, and they didn't even make the feature at the Kings Royal. Larson was seven spots out of a feature transfer in that Friday night B-Main. And that first night at Pevely was more of the same. A subpar qualifying effort, missed the feature transfer in his heat race, and Larson had to hustle to make the main event through the B. But something was different following that insane 21st to the win charge. The 57 hasn't won five straight like this since that magical 2020 season where Larson ended up just racing dirt the whole year. An Ironman 55 sweep, the Front Row Challenge, his prelim night, and the Nationals. Very different performances, very different race tracks, but all the same result. I asked Jeremy Elliott on the live stream we did on Saturday if the turned up exhaust we've seen on the 57 recently was a talking point in the pit area through the week, and he said it wasn't. And maybe it's nothing, maybe it's a distraction, or it's had no effect. But I do know that since that car showed up with it, it's won five straight big time sprint car shows. That's one hell of a coincidence. Silva not changing the right rear tire on the car at the break got a bunch of attention last night as well, and you can be sure that those tires will make an appearance again somewhere else down the road. The guy is notoriously frugal, but that move last night was not about saving money. It was about making the right decision for the moment, and that meant not bringing in another variable when the tire on the car was still good and plenty fast. If you noticed as well, Larson came out of the pits after the break and spent a lap driving with the right side tires over the cushion. That felt really deliberate, and was likely an instruction from Silva. Maybe a chance to cool that tire a bit before the final 25 laps. As we've discussed before, there is no doubt Paul Silva is an enigma. He doesn't do interviews (I've tried multiple times, as have others), he's clearly got his own way of operating, and people are fascinated by him. His relationship with the best driver of the generation has produced an insane amount of wins, and they aren't done yet. Silva doesn't spend money on things he doesn't need. Larson doesn't have the best of everything. Contrary to popular opinion, this idea that Larson's millions are fueling this success are just categorically false. And I think sometimes that even if Larson didn't give Silva any feedback coming off the race track, he'd still know exactly what he needed to do. It's just the right combination at the right time, and I don't know what they've figured out over the last two weeks, but it turned what was a mediocre season by their standards around in a hurry. I've seen as well the comments about Silva not winning with other drivers, and maybe that's true. Maybe he isn't some sprint car whispering genius. And maybe if you put Larson with Philip Dietz, or Ricky Warner, or Cody Jacobs, he'd still dominate. What I do know though, is that Larson trusts Silva, and isn't interested in going sprint car racing without him. That's not nothing. And clearly whatever it is between Larson driving and Silva wrenching, it works. Really well.
Drop me your thoughts in the comments on the Nationals as whole, what you think of Larson and Silva, or whatever else is on your mind post Knoxville.
In Kentucky last night, the North South 100 for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series definitely went a bit overshadowed by the proceedings at Knoxville. Bobby Pierce led 75 of 100 laps, and picked up the $75,000 score. It was his second win in a row at the event, and third career. Devin Moran kept him honest late, but finished second, and Drake Troutman had a very strong 23rd to third charge. 28 wins on the season now for Pierce, and 13 in his last 20 appearances. With all of the recent drama and changes in dirt late model racing, Pierce has very clearly established himself as the guy to beat right now. He's still got work to do on the Outlaw side to get back into the title fight, but more races like this and that will happen sooner rather than later. We did see some issues last night for several guys, and that included Hudson O'Neal. He was in the mix late for a top five, but had a flat and ended up 15th. That finish pushed him back outside of the Lucas top four, with Tim McCreadie back in that final chase position. Since that hellacious week to start with the SSI team, where he finished second at 34 and bagged wins at Eagle and Shelby County, O'Neal has come back down to earth a bit. Missed features at Fairbury, some solid but not great runs at places like Huset's, and then last night's problems. McCreadie hasn't been lights out in the Rocket house car, and is still without a win, but he has been insanely consistent. That could be a problem for O'Neal as time starts to run out. The big shows just keep on coming for Lucas, with the Topless 100 weekend up next. Action starts at Batesville on Friday.
There are a lot of other stories and topics to get into, but we'll save some of that for tomorrow and later this week, and call it good for there today. There is a bunch of local and regional dirt racing today, so stop by dirtrackr.com/watchtonight to check out your streaming options.
Hope you guys have a great Sunday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!