DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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New chassis deal a game changer for Hunt the Front? | Daily 9-3-2024
Coming up, Hunt the Front makes a big change and it's coming with help, plus outsiders headed for the Tuscarora 50, Monday results and much more. Let's go!
It's Tuesday, September 3rd, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
The World 100 at Eldora is officially here. The Flo series is on track tomorrow, and then World prelim nights start Thursday. While you're in town for the races, make sure to stop by The Whistle Stop Bar and Grill to get some good food and good drink. It's located just 7 miles south of Eldora Speedway in Ansonia, Ohio. And 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. Head upstairs to the Bullseye Game Lounge for some Duckpin Bowling or play one of the other 24 arcade games. Sure Shot is 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, and that includes 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.
At Port Royal yesterday, the locals had their last chance to get right before the Tuscarora 50 starts on Thursday with the Kubota High Limit sprint cars. No Anthony Macri in the field after his Sunday win at Lincoln. They had the Saturday Port Royal show on their original schedule, but it was rained out. 40 other cars though in attendance, and I think that's a good sign for car count later this week. Remember this is the first year of the High Limit sanction for the Tusky, as it was previously an All Star show. Brian Brown won the big money a year ago. Yesterday though, it was all Logan Wagner. He led every lap from the pole in the Kreitz 69K, and I think he could be one to watch this week. He was ninth in the Weikert here back in May. Chase Dietz and Michael Walter also on the podium. Looking ahead, besides the High Limit teams and the locals, some others are headed in to try and steal the cash. Last year's winner Brian Brown does have it on his schedue, TKS Motorsports shared this morning that they are bringing the 2KS machine and driver Hunter Schuerenberg, and Ryan Timms' stretch of driving other sprint cars continues. He'll be in the Curt Michael Heffner 27 this week. Timms just picked up two top six finishes in USAC midget action at Angell Park, and before that was strong in Guy Forbrook's sprint car. He finished sixth in the season finale at Knoxville, won the Bull Haulers Brawl at Huset's, and was 5th and 11th against the Outlaws last Friday and Saturday. The Curt Michael 27 was last at the 360 Knoxville Nationals, where it finished 13th with Justin Peck in the seat. We'll see if anyone else decides to make the trip.
Speaking of the USAC midgets, they closed out the Firemen's Nationals last night at Angell Park. Zach Wigal led the first lap, and then it was all Cannon McIntosh. It was his first USAC win since the season opener back in May. He's trying to run down Daison Pursley for the points lead, and the gap between the two is now 51 after weekend finishes of second and first for McIntosh, and fifth and second for Pursley. There were a couple of nasty crashes last night, including one for pole sitter Thomas Meseraull and a wild one for Frankie Guerrini. Both drivers were okay. Up next is the 4 Crown Nationals at Eldora later this month. This USAC midget schedule definitely heavier on the backside of 2024, with 12 races still to run, nearly half the schedule. They go all the way through November 30th at Ventura for Turkey Night.
In Short Track Super Series action last night at Utica Rome, Matt Sheppard got around Alex Payne late to score the $10,000 win in the New Yorker. Payne finished second with Anthony Perrego third. Sheppard actually got to the finish with a broken shock tower, but somehow kept the 9S pointed in the right direction and won anyway. Sheppard leads the overall Short Track Super Series standings, and the north region. Alex Yankowksi is in front in the south. The Fonda 200 is next in a few weeks. That one pays $53,000 to win.
Other Monday winners included John Ruggiero Jr. in crate action at Wythe, that one was good for $10,000. And Dylan Thornton took the late model win on night one of the IMCA Super Nationals at Boone. He started sixth and beat Cory Dumpert and Anthony Roth. Today's Super Nationals schedule includes a full show for the sport compacts, plus more prelim action for northern sport mods and hobby stocks. Cars will again be on track at 2PM central time.
I've had a few folks ask in recent days what's up with Hunt the Front and a potential chassis swap, and that news got made official yesterday. Starting this week at Eldora, Joseph Joiner will be back in a Capital chassis, switching over from a Longhorn for the World 100. This is a return to Capital for the team, which previously ran them up through 2022. This new deal though isn't just a chassis change, as the team will get support from Capital and JRI Shocks for setup and race day info, and they will help with the development and testing for the cars. Shane Clanton and Chad Smith took control of Capital this year from Marshall Green, and originally had Tony Jackson Jr. signed as their house car driver. Jackson started the season full time out with Lucas, but dropped off the tour after Atomic in March. In 15 Lucas starts, he made just nine feature appearances, with a best finish of 16th. He returned to a regional schedule, but the deal with Capital fell apart at some point in June. Since then, Jackson has been running Longhorns with support from Mikey Kile and Vinny Guliani. He picked up Comp Cams and MLRA wins in August. On the Capital side though, Clanton himself went to victory lane with the Hunt the Front Series a few weeks ago at Senoia. He told Kevin Kovac back in July in a piece at Dirt on Dirt that they wouldn't have anyone else in a Capital house car going forward. This deal with Hunt the Front wasn't characterized as a house car deal, but it's clear that they will have close ties even without that official stamp. Joiner's 2021 World 100 main event start came in a Capital, so we'll see if that's a good omen for this week. He was out in a B-Main at the Dream earlier this year, and had the same fate at the World in 2023. As these guys have risen through the ranks, it seems like real technical support has been something they haven't had a lot of, so this could be a game changer. For all the heat they take, I think Joseph is a solid driver, and he's shown that a bunch. Fifth in Hunt the Front series points right now against a very tough group, and a couple of wins this season. The Hunt the Front group teased this move in a recent YouTube video, but the change was outed early because of the World 100 entry list. By the time this Daily show goes out, their video talking about all of it will likely be live. At the moment, that World 100 entry list sits at 103 cars. You can see the whole thing over at eldoraspeedway.com.
That's it for the show today. To keep up on all the latest news and happenings from around dirt racing, make sure to visit dirtrackr.com. The front page there has the latest from all the biggest series and news websites. It updates automatically throughout the day, so as soon as news breaks and releases drop, it will be right there.
Hope you guys have a great Tuesday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!