DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Clarity on Chris Madden's crew chief future, driver swap raises Rudeen questions | Daily 10-16-2024
What does the future hold for the Ricky Thornton Jr., Chris Madden driver crew chief pairing, we've got the details today. Plus Trey Starks will be at Trophy Cup driving for a big team, and it might not be a good sign for that team's current driver. All that and more, let's go.
It's Wednesday, October 16th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
So, on the show yesterday, I mentioned that we still don't have clarity about Chris Madden's future, but apparently, we do. At least a little anyway. If you aren't aware, Madden has spent the last few months as crew chief for Ricky Thornton Jr. as a diverticulitis diagnosis has dramatically slowed down his driving career. Madden went from being a full timer with the World of Outlaws late models, to a part time driver, to now a crew chief. His only driving appearances since the middle of July was a fill-in situation with GR Smith at the World 100. When Thornton was hired by Bobby Koehler in the aftermath of the SSI stuff, Kenny Payton was initially leading the 20RT team before Madden was brought in. There had been questions about how long this potential partnership could last, and earlier this season, both were very non-committal when asked about what might transpire for 2025. Headed to the Dirt Track World Championship at Eldora Speedway this weekend, Madden has the chance to be a key piece of RTJ securing his first career Lucas title, as the team enters the event with a 50 point lead on Jonathan Davenport and Devin Moran. This event derailed Thornton's championship hopes a year ago, and while he does have Eldora prelim night wins, it hasn't been a track he's been lights out at. And that included back in September, when the 20RT was 10th and 14th during World 100 prelims, and 20th in the big show. And while I doubt Chris Madden was completely checked out that week from crew chiefing, it is important to point out that he was also driving that weekend, so it's likely RTJ will benefit from a locked-in Madden come Saturday. After Eldora, the remainder of RTJ's late model schedule, at least on his website, shows World Finals and then the Flo series finale at Senoia. But when 2025 rolls around, it won't be Madden as crew chief. After last weeks' Friday night win at Brownstown, a commenter on Facebook asked if Madden was going to return next year, to which the RTJ page replied quote "No, he's going to pursue some business ventures, it was always just a partnership for 2024" unquote. So there's our answer. Hat tip to Skyler on spotting this one and pointing it out to me. The question then is who will be the next crew chief, and the answer might already be on the team with Ricky Arnold. Ricky was brought in with Madden, and he was previously Madden's team boss. He was joined also by DJ Williams, who came over from the SSI team. I'm sure there will be comments about how an RTJ, Anthony Burroughs reunion would make sense here, and I could certainly see that, but word on the street is Burroughs is likely headed elsewhere for 2025. Back to the end of this season though, it might be kind of fun to see RTJ and Madden get the title, and for Madden to call it a career, at least as a crew chief. What a record that would be, come in for a few months, score some wins, a title, and be done. Would be a pretty sweet walkoff.
A quick sidebar here, the entire scenario I just laid out for you, where something that feels like a significant piece of news is broken via a reply to a Facebook comment buried underneath a win post thanking your crew and sponsors, is the entire reason I started doing this show. And this is not to throw shade at Thornton, or Koehler, or their squad, because this happens fairly regularly across the sport. One of the most dominant late model racers the last few seasons needing a crew chief for the following year should be a much bigger story, but today, this information is nowhere, beyond a Facebook post and now this show. That feels kinda crazy to me. I've said this before, but if you see something that looks significant, feel free to tag me on social media, or shoot me a DM or email. I try my best to be in as many places as possible, but I can't see everything. I'm always open to tips though. News tips, not money tips.
Another piece of news that flew under the radar yesterday, was a sprint car driver swap coming up for Trophy Cup. The event for 360 sprint cars starts Thursday at the Tulare Thunderbowl, and as I pointed out the other day, we are going to see some different looking driver and team combos. One of those I wasn't expecting, is for the Rudeen 26 car. On the heels of two High Limit appearances this past weekend at Texas driving for Scotty Thiel, Trey Starks will climb into the Rudeen 26 for this week. He's replacing Zeb Wise, who has been the Rudeen pilot since the middle of 2022. Wise had a very strong second part of 2023, and went on win the final championship in the history of the All Star Circuit of Champions. The Rudeen team then moved up to full time High Limit competition for 2024, where I think a lot of folks, myself included, thought they'd be in the mix regularly. But something was definitely missing, and it was an absolute battle all year. Zeb ended up 11th in the standings, with just two top fives, and 17 top tens in 51 races. A season ago he had 11 410 wins, but this year just a single one, a prelim victory at Super Dirt Cup at Skagit. What this situation means with Starks in the 26 for Trophy Cup I think is yet to be determined. In a release from Shawn Miller, Starks made mention of this being a quote "one-off event" and it's my understanding that Zeb hasn't been fired at this moment. Starks hasn't raced at Trophy Cup since 2017, and after spending a few seasons traveling quite a bit, he's stayed much closer to home since 2021, racing mostly at Skagit on the weekends. No starts with the Outlaws in 2024, but he did win two High Limit races, going back-to-back at Grays Harbor and Skagit in August. If I'm seeing this correctly, the two starts last Friday and Saturday were the first of the season for Starks outside of Washington and Oregon. Add the Rudeen 26 to your sprint car silly season chalkboard as a car to watch.
On Wednesdays around here we try and share the love and hopefully help you guys discover something new in the dirt racing content space, so here are this week's podcast episodes. Winged Nation has Shane Golobic, Dirt Track Confessions has Barbara Pauch, Hoogie's Garage has Lee Goos Jr. and Zach Hampton, Turn 2 Terribles has Jordan Givler, Getting up to Speed has Dylan Thornton, and there are new episodes of the Dirt Reporters, and the Dirt Nerds. If you want to see all of these shows and links to these episodes, dirtrackr.com/podcasts is your place.
As we get later in the year, our midweek options for dirt racing start to dwindle, but you do have a few chances today to see some racing. That includes weekly micro action from Millbridge here in North Carolina, and practice gets underway from Tri-State Speedway in Oklahoma for the Spooker. Both are streaming this evening, and you can find details on the DIRTRACKR streaming schedule. That includes start times and where to watch. Things will ramp up tomorrow as we head towards the weekend.
That's the daily for today. If you want to know how I knew what Zeb Wise's High Limit stats were, or how Ricky Thornton Jr. has performed at Eldora Speedway in crown jewel events, check out dirtrackr.com's analytics section. 2,154 races worth of results, stats, and analysis. Over there we track 12 series and special events, including the top national series the Chili Bowl, and more. A lot of information is available to check out for free, with no signup needed.
Hope you guys have a great Wednesday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!