DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Series full timers, a track revived, sprint car silly season strikes again | Daily 10-27-2024
Zeb Wise is out, Justin Peck is in. We'll dive into that, plus where we stand on how 2025 fields are shaping up for the Outlaws and High Limit, Pennsboro's succesful soft opening, weekend results, and more. Let's go!
It's Sunday, October 27th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
Since our Thursday show, we have had some more sprint car ride changes, which were not completely unexpected. Going back to Trophy Cup at Tulare, we knew that Trey Starks took over the seat of the Rudeen 26 sprint car for that event, and that Zeb Wise's status was in question following a difficult High Limit season. Zeb took down the final championship in the history of the All Star Circuit of Champions in 2023, and we thought he and that team would be regular contenders with High Limit in 2024. That never materialized though, and just two top fives, and 17 top tens in 51 races saw the 26 11th in the standings. They went from an 11 win season in 2023, including nine with the All Stars, one Outlaw show, and a Williams Grove local win, to just a single victory in 2024. That was a Super Dirt Cup prelim at Skagit. The Starks deal at Trophy Cup was not a good sign for Zeb's future with the team, and it was announced officially back on Friday that he was out. In the leadup to that announcement, there were a few rumors that Rudeen may run two cars in 2025, but I have no idea if that was ever seriously considered. And then just about 24 hours after the announcement of Zeb's departure, Rudeen Racing confirmed the hire of Justin Peck to fill the seat of that ride going forward. There were no other details given by the team, but in an interview with Jeremy Elliott at sprintcarunlimited.com, Peck revealed he'll be in the car for the Short Track Nationals at Texarkana 67 this coming weekend, and at World Finals in a few weeks. They will then again compete for the full High Limit run in 2025 in search of a charter. Peck was available because in the aftermath of his departure from the Buch 13, his expected deal with CJB Motorsports fell apart at the last minute. Buch is bringing in Daison Pursley, and we are still awaiting official word on who will get the CJB 5, although a lot of the chatter points to Brenham Crouch getting the seat. I told you guys last week that Peck had something in the works after Trophy Cup, and he confirmed to Jeremy a meeting out there with Rudeen crew chief Tyler Tessemaker and team owner Kevin Rudeen. The deal was put together at that meeting. Peck was sixth in the High Limit standings this year with a win, 15 top fives, and 30 top tens in 51 races. I think for having lost his deal and being put into scramble mode, this is a solid landing spot for Peck. Rudeen doesn't lack for resources, although I know a lot of fans still question how good the Ford engine program is. I've been asked this before as well, but it's my understanding that the Ford engines Rudeen uses are the same TSR pieces that Donny Schatz runs, and not the Ford customer engines that were used by Chase Briscoe's sprint car team this year. Having seen Peck on the road for a full season already, and knowing what he accomplished in the 13, the pressure here I think will be on the Rudeen squad to give Peck a car he can compete with up front every night. Because to me, that's the question here with Zeb and Rudeen. Was this driver issues, team issues, or some combo of both? High Limit was no doubt tougher than the All Stars, but this team clearly took a step back. What's next for Zeb in his career, I don't know at this moment, and I don't think he does either. He shared to Twitter on Friday that he would know more about his plans in the coming weeks. Hopefully he finds a ride, because I do think he's talented, and he's good dude on top of that.
Looking at how the 2025 High Limit field is shaping up at this very early point, Peck and Rudeen now give us four confirmed High Limit cars, with them joining Buch with Pursley, the Jason Meyers 14 with Spencer Bayston, and Brad Sweet officially. I would also expect Rico Abreu and Tyler Courtney to return, bringing that list to six. If Aaron Reutzel and Ridge make the move, that would be seven. Questions still remain about Brent Marks, who confirmed via social media in recent days that he has yet to decide plans for 2025. We also don't know the future for the Roth 83, where the CJB 5 will race, what Parker Price Miller will do, and plans for Jacob Allen, and the Vermeer 55 with Chris Windom. I would venture to guess that Tanner Thorson is another candidate to return, and we know that Kasey Kahne is pulling back to pick and choose. What will happen with the Crouch team is a mystery as well. If Brenham does get the CJB car, this could be a landing spot for another driver, especially if they can bring funding. So call it eight-ish right now for High Limit, and my guess at this point in October would be they likely get to 11 or 12 for next year, barring any massive surprises.
On the Outlaw side, I know you guys will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Cole Macedo and the 2C Racing sprint car are the only publicly confirmed team there for next year. I have not heard of any major defections from this group for 2025 though, but I have heard a team or two further down the order could fall off. My guess right now would be 12ish again for next season with some possible additions.
Alright, let's talk a little bit of weekend racing. It seemed like the return of Pennsboro Speedway went pretty well over the last few days. I saw they characterized it as a soft opening after their mad dash to get the facility raceable and ready for fans. They did have some weather to deal with, but the late model shows looked entertaining, especially with Devin Moran and Bobby Pierce throwing haymakers at each other. All of the talk about the narrow track not being good for racing ended up being for nothing. Instead, it seemed like the narrow surface added to the action, especially as the leaders had to navigate lap traffic. Pierce ended up winning two of three, including the finale, and Moran scored the makeup Friday feature. Pierce rebounded in that finale from an early flat tire to score the win. Car counts looked better than I expected, I saw 31 on the final day for late models, and I heard the crowds were solid. They did make some track changes after Thursday to widen out the racing surface a bit, and more changes are planned. In a letter shared on Saturday, Barry Braun talked about extending bridges, building walls, adding permanent lighting, and more updates coming for the future. For a state that doesn't have West Virginia Motor Speedway anymore, and Tyler County losing the Hillbilly Hundred, this could be a good chance for Pennsboro to seize the attention there. This is a story we'll continue to follow.
Other weekend late model winners included Mason Zeigler taking down the Keystone Cup at Bedford. He topped Max Blair for the richest win of his career. At Whynot, Tyler Erb and Ashton Winger swapped the lead multiple times, with Erb eventually coming out on top of the Fall Classic. Daulton Wilson was a $5000 winner at Ponderosa, and Logan Roberson bagged $10 grand in crate acation at Natural Bridge.
At Riverside, the World of Outlaws only ran one of two nights. Carson Macedo dominated the Friday feature, with the track taking rubber. It was what Macedo needed to do for the championship, but with David Gravel finishing second, he didn't make up the ground he needed to. With just three nights left at World Finals and a gap of 74 between the top two, I'd say this is basically over. I know folks were outraged on Saturday with the rainout. I've had a number of messages about that one, and there has been a lot of anger expressed on social media. Just based on some of the images I've seen, it does appear as though it was probably a quick call on the Outlaws part, but I have no idea what all went into the decision. As I've said before, weather issues always suck for everyone, and I definitely don't blame folks for being upset about not getting to see racing. I will say though, the takes about the Outlaws being afraid of the locals, and of the series helping Gravel secure the title are laughable. The series doesn't benefit by who wins the championship, and I challenge people who feel different to provide any sort of argument and evidence that supports that take. Also, Outlaw teams locked out the top seven spots Friday, and national touring teams locked out the top nine positions. Neither of those are real or legitimate reasons for the cancellation. The Outlaws are off now until World Finals.
At Red Dirt Raceway, the final USAC sprint car wins of 2024 went to Matt Westfall and Justin Grant. Westfall catfished the bottom, hard charging from 13th to the win, and topping Kyle Cummins and Logan Seavey. Seavey's podium secured the USAC sprint car championship for he and that Abacus team. No season triple crown for Seavey in 2024, but he does have the career triple crown now, joining Pancho Carter, Tony Stewart, Dave Darland, JJ Yeley, Jerry Coons Jr., Tracy Hines, and Chris Windom on the list of drivers to win all three USAC national titles. JG went fourth to the win last night, topping Robert Ballou and Daison Pursley. So sprint cars and Silver Crown now complete, just the final west coast midget swing remains for the USAC teams.
In California, the NARC championship will come down to the final laps between Justin Sanders and Cole Macedo. Sanders leads by three points headed to the final race this coming Saturday at Stockton. Macedo lost the lead with a crash Friday at Kern County, but pulled it back close with the Saturday win at Hanford. Tim Kaeding won that Friday race.
At BAPS Motor Speedway, Danny Dietrich topped Brent Marks in a wild one that saw the two make contact late. And championship contenders Seth Bergman and Sam Hafertepe split ASCS wins at RPM Speedway.
In northeast modified action, Stewart Friesen won the Short Track Super Series race at Orange County Fair a few days ago, while Matt Sheppard was crowned north region champion. Mat Williamson got the Eastern States small block win, while the big block show is today.
As we close out today, if you missed it, check out the video I posted back on Friday with some footage from the Dirt Track at Charlotte testing. It's available on the YouTube channel and Facebook. Outside of a quick intro, there's no talking, no music. Just race cars and race car sounds.
Hope you guys have a great Sunday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!