DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Pennsboro looking raceable, Don O'Neal back in the seat, NOS backing a new driver? | Daily 9-24-2024
Pennsboro Speedway is starting to look raceable, we'll talk about the progress and challenges still ahead, plus a dirt late model hall of famer back in the seat, NOS backing another open wheel racer, rumors about the next TKS sprint car driver, and more. Let's go!
It's Tuesday, September 24th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
So, if you aren't keeping track at home, we are exactly one month as of today away from what is supposed to be the first race back on the big track at Pennsboro Speedway in West Virginia. The Mason-Dixon 100 for the XR Super Series is slated for October 24th through the 26th. Going back to the spring, most of the 2024 schedule at Pennsboro was sacked with Barry Braun and his XR squad targeting this late October event to make something happen. After the spring flooding, there were very few updates about progress until we got deep into August. At that moment, Braun shared to social media that they would be spending September getting the track ready to go, and the first images of the current situation have started flowing out in recent days via Braun's Facebook and the Pennsboro Speedway account. They've got forklifts placing concrete barriers, dirt work going on with graders, water trucks, and other equipment, and there are campers all over the property. I don't know if all of those are XR folks, or if the space is used for other needs. But, the race track is starting to look like a race track. With four weeks to go, there is still a significant amount of work to do to make the place into a safe and raceable facility, and it's clear that not everything they had hoped to accomplish will get done. If they do indeed have the place ready to go by October 24th, I'll be super curious to see what drivers show up to try out the egg shaped half mile. There isn't a ton of competition schedule wise that weekend, outside of the $20,000 to win Fall Classic at Whynot, and the $24,000 to win Keystone Cup at Bedford. Lucas is done by that point, the Outlaws will be off until World Finals, and the Flo series doesn't end until mid-November. Bedford and Pennsboro are only about three hours apart, so that show could syphon off some of those Pennsylvania teams that may have tried it out. We'll keep you updated on progress over the next few weeks. You can see a bunch more photos at facebook.com/pennsboromagic.
In the leadup to the opening of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series championship chase beginning this weekend at Brownstown, the FloRacing Night in America Series will be on the track tomorrow night. I have yet to see any sort of event roster, but I was sent a Facebook post about the return of Don O'Neal. Supposedly he'll race tomorrow night in the Mastersbilt house car, jumping back into a major racing series for the first time since the Lucas shows at Brownstown in 2020. Back a few weeks ago, Mastersbilt shared a post from something called Raceknowhow that clearly showed O'Neal testing a yellow 71 here recently with Tader Masters. Brownstown is a race track that O'Neal has had a lot of success at in his career, so if he was going to do some one-off racing, this is the track we'd expect that to happen at. O'Neal's last significant dirt late model schedule was in 2019, and his last Lucas win came that season. He was still driving for Clint Bowyer then, and he went to victory lane at the Pittsburgher in October leading the final seven laps. Tomorrow night's Flo show is $20,000 to win and $1000 to start. We'll do more of a preview on that one on the Wednesday daily.
A couple of random open wheel notes for you. First, did you guys notice Daison Pursley's firesuit at Eldora on Saturday night? During 4-Crown Nationals action, Pursley swept the midget events on the weekend, took the USAC sprint car victory, and had a very good shot to win the Silver Crown race, before ending up fourth. Pursley though, wearing a NOS Energy Drink suit all of a sudden. None of his race cars though sponsored by NOS, as the Team AZ sprint car and Silver Crown car are sponsored by Apache Transport, and his CB Industries midget had Pristine Auction on it. Chad Boat and CB Industries have had a relationship with NOS, as Chris Windom has raced with the team with the NOS colors, and Pursley's car has carried NOS as an associate sponsor. But I don't remember previously seeing Pursley in NOS gear, and digging through some USAC, Jack Reitz, and Rich Forman photos, I can't find anything from earlier this season. I guess it could be nothing but just a suit for the series points leader, but it makes you wonder if Pursley isn't next in line for NOS support as his career advances. Besides leading the USAC midget points and running well in non-wing stuff, he's had some impressive winged starts as well, including a win at Huset's with Brandon Ikenberry's team. If I'm a winged sprint car owner looking for a driver for next season, he's a guy you at least have to take a look at right now. Especially if he comes with some NOS support.
Back to the TKS Motorsports sprint car, we found out yesterday that it was splitting with driver Hunter Schuerenberg following the Eldora weekend and 11 races together. One driver I've heard who might be in line there for some starts before the season ends is Florida racer Danny Sams. He's been running an aggressive schedule this season across sprint car racing, already appearing 59 times in 410 competition. He picked up three wins during Ohio Speedweek, recently swept an IRA weekend at Gondik Law and Cedar Lake, and has 360 wins at Lawrenceburg with the GLSS and Volusia with TopGun. He's a name that's been percolating around as a potential full timer on a national tour next season, and even with the history of short driver stints in the 2KS, it might be nice to leave his usual 24 car in the shop for a few weeks and race with someone else. I don't know that a deal is 100% done there, but just a guy to watch out for coming up if TKS decides to run some more shows.
One schedule note for you, the Super DIRTcar Series events at Atomic Speedway in Ohio that were scheduled for this coming weekend have been cancelled due to weather. The events will not be made up. We've got a storm system in the gulf that is looking like it will turn into a hurricane and then head north through the weekend, so I'm afraid this could be a common theme for certain parts of the country for the coming days. Hopefully everyone stays safe out there, especially our friends down in Florida. Up next for the Super DIRTcar Series is Super Dirt Week at Oswego that gets started on October 7th.
If you missed it over the weekend, I put out another video in the Zach Hampton sprint car build series. Earlier this year, we did a 10 video series where Zach built an entire sprint car from bare frame up. It is very detailed, and many hours of content. You could put these videos on in your shop and literally build a car side by side with Zach. Besides the full build, Zach also did a shop tour, and I posted a time lapse of the full build, start to finish, in eight minutes. The one area Zach did not cover in the build series though was the interior, because at the time, some of his seats and gear were tied up in other race cars. So this newest video is a full rundown on the seat install, he shows off seat belts, and knee guard install. It's kind of the final piece of the puzzle. At youtube.com/dirtrackr, look for the Zach Builds a Sprint Car playlist, you'll find all 14 videos there.
We'll call it good right there for today. The streaming schedule is again quiet today, but if you want to see it anytime, head over to dirtrackr.com/watchtonight. All major streaming services are included, and it's about the most comprehensive dirt racing schedule you'll find anywhere.
Hope you guys have a great Tuesday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!