DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

Dirt racing news, results, discussion, analytics. Sprint cars, late models, modifieds, you name it. From national series, to top local shows. Brought to you five days a week. Email the show at info@dirtrackr.com.

Why don't dirt late model tours go west? | Daily 9-17-2024

Coming up we'll talk Jock Goodyer's first 15 US sprint car starts and compare it to Ricky Thornton Jr's debut. Plus, why don't the late model tours go west to California? Let's go!

It's Tuesday, September 17th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

The 4-Crown weekend is up next at Eldora Speedway. Two nights of High Limit sprint cars and all three USAC national divisions. It's going to be a great two days of racing, and if you're going to be in town, make sure to stop by The Whistle Stop and grab something good to eat. It's just a seven mile ride straight south of the race track to Ansonia. If you cross the train tracks, turn around you've gone too far. You can get breakfast, lunch, dinner, pizza, and they've got a full bar so you can enjoy a nice adult beverage. Andrew and his staff do a great job, so if you stop in, tell them DIRTRACKR sent you. If you want to ride a little further south, head to Sure Shot Tap House in Greenville, Ohio, a great place to eat, drink and play. They've got a full menu, plus all sorts of adult beverage options on tap, self pour, plus the Bullseye Game Lounge upstairs with duckpin bowling and 24 arcade games. When you're not at the track, keep yourself fed and entertained with these two establishments, the Whistle Stop and Sure Shot Tap House. Thanks to them for their support of Eldora, this show, and dirt racing.

I've got a couple of topics today to chew on, and I want to start first with Jock Goodyer and Ricky Thornton Jr. I know that you're going to be asking me how those two are connected, but just stay with me here for a few minutes. Goodyer is the 23 year old Tasmanian driver who is in the US right now running west coast sprint car races with Paul Silva in the Works Limited 57W. And quickly, before I get these comments again, I'm aware his name is not Goodyear. But when you say it at normal speed, Goodyer sounds similar. I'm not Australian, so it won't come out as Goodyah. Anyways, based on his original schedule, this coming weekend at Tulare with the Outlaws is his final for this trip, and up to this point he's appeared 15 times. That's included eight High Limit races, four Outlaw shows, and three 360 races. He finished top ten in the 360 show leading into the Gold Cup, and was a 360 winner at Placerville during the Nor Cal Posse Shootout. In 410 competition though, it's been a tougher go. And not unsurprisingly. He made four of eight features against High Limit, with a best finish of 13th at Douglas County. He did break through for his first national touring top 10 against the Outlaws with an eighth back on Friday at Bakersfield. His other three Outlaw finishes were 23rd, 16th, and 15th. I said back in August that he was going to be in the deep end against the Outlaws and High Limit making his US debut, and that's exactly what we've seen. Toby with Sprint Car Hub had Goodyer as his number one driver in Australia during the 2023/2024 season, where he racked up 17 wins, but it was unrealistic to think he'd come to California, to tracks he'd never seen, and against that group of full timers and one of the toughest groups of locals in country and just suddenly be amazing, even with Paul Silva on his side. It's not a knock against Goodyer, or Silva honestly, as Goodyer clearly has talent and is a star in the making. It just takes time for these guys to get acclimated to racing against the best on the planet. We saw similar with James McFadden. He's as accomplished as it gets in sprint cars down under, but it was several years of US summer trips before he scored his first Outlaw win in 2017. I think though, it was the right move for Silva to throw Goodyer to the wolves. Put him out there, and let him figure it out. And the same is true of Ricky Thornton Jr. I've seen some comments about how RTJ's sprint car debut shouldn't have come against a series like High Limit. Something along the lines of it's too much too quickly. But I disagree. RTJ has done just about everything there is to do in a late model, he's run well at Chili Bowl, and run a boat load of micro races. He's smart enough to know how to stay out of trouble, even in a car he has little experience in, but let him see where he stacks up against those guys. The next times he does it, he'll be a better driver for it. Thinking either Goodyer or RTJ would be amazing out of the gate was silly, and shows a lack of understanding about how good everyone else really is. So far though, I like what we've seen out of both, and I'm buying stock on the potential. Goodyer has a bright future, and I think RTJ could too, although I don't know that we'll ever get him full time in a sprint car given just how good he is in a late model. I also think it's likely we could see Goodyer take a significant step forward when he returns home for the dirt racing summer in Australia. Jumping in against the best early certainly isn't the right path for every driver, but it these two guys are clearly different.

Real quick before we move on, there is a new issue of The Slider in your email as of last night. This one features an interview with Gio Scelzi from Jordan Wilman. Scelzi talks about his progress this season, the current state of sprint car racing, and more. If you don't get The Slider and would like to, sign up for free over at dirtrackr.com/theslider. I send them out periodically, and they feature the writing of some contributors you know, and others you likely don't. It's a way for me to help elevate some other voices while providing you guys some more great dirt racing content. Through 50 issues we've already done, there has been a wide variety of pieces included, so check them out. dirtrackr.com/theslider.

Jumping into topic number two. A few weeks ago, I got sent a rumor about one of the late model national tours concerning their schedule for next season. The rumblings were that the schedule would expand to nearly 80 races, and that a potential west coast trip was being discussed. Things like this come my way pretty regularly these days, and as crazy as it might sound, you can't necessarily write stuff like this off on first glance. Wilder things have certainly happened. In this particular case, I did reach out through the proper channels, and was told this isn't true. It did get me thinking though about the hypotheticals and potential for the future. Looking at the number of races first, the World of Outlaws Late Model Series will likely get into the 40s for race count this season, while Lucas could get into the lower 50s. Jumping up to nearly 80 would take a complete rework of the schedule, and would mean stepping on a lot of toes. I don't know that I ever see either series holding that many races. It would only be possible I think if there was just a single tour, and I wouldn't put money on that happening any time soon. As for a trip to California, I do think there are some interesting possibilities there, especially with the tracks that would be available, I'd just wonder about support. There isn't really any late model culture on the west coast, and very few tracks even have any sort of weekly late model racing. The closest thing we have in recent times is the Wild West Shootout. It was previously in Arizona, before moving to Vado Speedway Park in New Mexico in 2022. They've had solid car counts, in the 40s and 50s, but that happens at a time of year when nothing else is going on, and fans in the stands continues to be an issue. Would a spring or fall trip to California draw that many cars, I don't know. And it's not an insignificant difference in mileage to Vado versus California. For example, the Silver Dollar Speedway is another 1200 plus miles from Vado. I think you'd have to do something for your traveling teams in terms of extra tow money, and I'd have serious concerns about whether or not the tracks could sell tickets. Look at the Silver Dollar Nationals at Huset's even. Just barely full fields this year, and nowhere near sold out. It's a very heavy sprint car area, like California, and it's only in South Dakota. That's a long way to drive for such big risks. And that drive is something I haven't brought up here either. There would be serious logistical challenges to getting a national late model tour to California, and it's a big reason why we've seen the sprint car series scale back. The Outlaws now only do one west coast trip, and they know what to expect. It would be cool to see big late model shows happening all over the country, but I think unless something big changes with media coverage or series sponsorship, which would bring in dramatically more money, California just doesn't feel realistic. Drop me a comment, let me know what you think on this one.

That's the Daily show for today. Hope you guys have a great Tuesday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!