DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Thoughts on High Limit, dirt tracks in trouble, Stevie is back! | Daily 8-20-2024
On the show today we'll talk High Limit charters and some things to watch in the coming weeks, plus some sprint car news and rumblings, race tracks shutting down, racing today, and much more. Let's go!
It's Tuesday, August 20th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
If you're headed out to a dirt race this weekend, make sure you are looking good with a DIRTRACKR sprint car t-shirt. They are in stock now over at shop.dirtrackr.com. The shirts are soft and breathable, with a classic fit. Sizes small to 4X are available, and while you're at shop.dirtrackr.com, grab a daily show or logo sticker to add to your back window or cooler. If you order today, I will ship today.
I've got a bunch of odds and ends for you today, including some news bits and racing to check out today. First though, just a few High Limit thoughts that were rattling around my brain today. The initial three west coast races are done following this past weekend, and I think it's notable that all 16 full time teams made the trip. There were whispers here and there recently, I think especially from the anti-High Limit crowd, that there could potentially be some teams that chose not to make the trip. Especially with a tough Skagit to Port Royal run coming up in a few weeks. But none of that materialized, and all 16 are in California. High Limit started 2024 with 17, and have only lost one so far. That was Conner Morrell very early on. We are at a point where teams and drivers are starting to make plans for 2025, and I think it's a good sign that High Limit has held on to this many, this deep into the season. Following the Skagit Nationals, the season will wind down quickly for the first year series, with Port Royal, Lernerville, Eldora, Florence, Atomic, I-70, and Texas Motor Speedway all that will remain. I will be very curious as well to see how the charter situation plays out. We still have a lot of unanswered questions about how the charter system will actually work and benefit teams into the future, but the first five will be awarded after Texas in October. If the season ended right now, they'd go to the KKR 49, the 7BC, Rico's 24, Brent Marks, and the Jason Meyers-owned 14. At this point, the only other two teams with a realistic shot at breaking into the top five before the season ends are the Roth guys with James McFadden, and the Justin Peck driven Buch 13. What's interesting, is all three teams on or near the bubble have question marks for 2025. We know Corey Day is full bore into NASCAR and the pavement world, and nothing is settled right now for Roth and Buch. A charter could be awarded to a team that may not be full time next season. It's something to keep an eye on as silly season progresses here into the fall.
Staying with sprint cars, ahead of this weekend's Gold Cup, sprint car driver Chase Randall posted to Facebook that he's headed west to run the event with the High Limit sprint cars. Randall announced just last week that he was parting ways with the TKS Motorsports team in the midwest, with no announcement yet on his future. Randall is not listed with the Gold Cup entries, and the already released prelim night fields, and said he'd announce plans for this weekend soon. But as some have pointed out, it appears as though he might be racing with Tiner Hirst and their 94TH team. Apparently one of the many dirt racing pools has Randall listed in that ride for Gold Cup. That 94TH car has had both Braden Chiaramonte and Corbin Rueschenberg in it this season, and Rico Abreu drove for Tiner Hirst at Trophy Cup last season. That should be an interesting combination for the weekend, with both driver and team capable of running well. As for TKS and their 2KS sprint car, Kelby Watt drove it at the Jackson Nationals, making the feature both nights, and ending up 17th on Saturday. There are rumblings though about potentially another driver in the seat here very soon. Stay tuned for that news, which could potentially break today. TKS plans on racing Saturday night at Knoxville for their season championship night.
If you missed it on Monday, a not so great announcement if you're a dirt racing fan up north. Beaver Dam Raceway in Wisconsin is ceasing all weekly racing at the track following the conclusion of this 2024 season. It doesn't sound like the track is closing completely though, as they pointed towards a special event schedule for 2025. The track has regularly hosted the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, with Gio Scelzi and Sheldon Haudenschild winners at the track this season. I had heard through a source that things weren't great at the track recently, and it sounds like maybe a sale either was being explored, or maybe still is. It would be a shame to lose another dirt track, but clearly it's a tough business, especially for weekly programs. And this comes not long after the loss of 411 Motor Speedway in Tennessee. That track had hosted events this season, but it was supposedly sold at some point late in 2023, but things were not final yet as they waited on zoning approval. The sale was made official earlier this month, with racing being halted abruptly. Michael Moats at Inside Dirt Racing said it was sold to a quote "car parts company." Tell me where you've heard that one before. The McCarter family had operated the track since 2010.
Some good news from USAC yesterday ahead of this weekend's Smackdown at Kokomo for the national sprint cars. Stevie Sussex will be back behind the wheel of the Tyler Sturgeon 77S following that nasty fire at Lincoln Park last month. If you might remember, during the Indiana Sprint Week opener, Sussex was forced to the infield late and had to bail out of the 77S after it caught fire. It was a very scary scene, and Sussex did suffer burns to his hands, arms, legs and feet. I was told that a fuel line had come loose on the car, which is what led to the issues. He was back to the track that same weekend though, and it will be good to see him racing again. That Lincoln Park appearance was his first national sprint car start of the year, and it was actually going pretty good until it went really bad. Sussex had run in the top five, and was ninth when the fire started. He has made several appearances at Kokomo for Smackdown, including last season when he ended up 20th in the big Saturday show. Smackdown starts Thursday.
If you want some dirt racing in your life today, you do have a few options. First, the Super DIRTcar Series is at Ransomville tonight for $7500 to win. Matt Sheppard has stretched his championship lead a bit over Mat Williamson, with the gap now 32. Jimmy Phelps in third is the only other driver within 100 points of the lead. Alex Yankowksi is the most recent series winner, from back on Wednesday last week, taking the victory at Fulton in the final SummerFAST event. At this event one year ago, Erick Rudolph picked up the win over Sheppard and Williamson, so we'll see if we can get another different winner tonight. After today, the next SDS show is August 31st at Lebanon Valley. Tonight's race is live on DIRTVision.
Also in New York tonight is a $10,000 to win super late model show at Stateline Speedway. They are expecting over 30 cars, and this one may come down to Max Blair vs Dave Hess. Some others in the field include Chub Frank, Brian Ruhlman, Boom Briggs, and former NASCAR driver Matt Tifft. Definitely a few guys in this one that we'll see coming up this weekend with Lucas at Port Royal. I do not see that there is streaming for this race, so you'll have to get there if you want to watch.
Elsewhere, there is local action at Fulton and Beaver Dam, plus outlaw karts at Millbridge. Hit up the streaming schedule at dirtrackr.com/watchtonight to see start times, and links to watch.
One winner for you from Monday night. DJ Foos topped Craig Mintz and Dustin Stroup in sprint car action at Fremont Speedway during the fair. And yes, Foos did kiss the cow afterwards. Also, don't say I never talk about 305 sprint cars.
Alright, that's it for the daily today. Don't forget as well that dirtrackr.com is your place for all the latest dirt racing news and the analytics section. That front page of dirtrackr.com updates automatically, so as news breaks through the day, it will be there right away.
Hope you guys have a great Tuesday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!