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.
With Brandon Overton gone, what does Wells Motorsports do now? | Daily 11-11-2024
We are still unpacking all of the news from around World Finals, and today we'll talk the future of Wells Motorsports following the departure of Brandon Overton, plus series full timers, what's next for Ryan Timms, the TKS sprint car, and more. Let's go!
It's Monday, November 11th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
Your Kubota machine can be transformed into a powerhouse of versatility with their full line of implements and attachments. You can customize your Kubota for any job, from digging to lifting, land clearing to landscaping and more. Whether you need a grapple, bucket, or other implement, each is designed for seamless compatibility and peak performance. Enhance your productivity by pairing your Kubota with the perfect attachments. Contact your local dealer to discover what's available for your machine now. If you need to locate one of the more than 1000 dealers nationwide, open up the myKubota app or visit kubotausa.com.
Before we get started, Happy Veterans Day out there. A big thank you to all of you who have served.
There was a lot of happenings around the racing at World Finals last week, and I want today to run back through a bunch of the news items, because it's easy for some of that stuff to get lost in the shuffle. With one of the big dominoes to fall during late model silly season finally getting cleared up back on Wednesday with Longhorn and Riggs Motorsports announcing the addition of Brandon Overton and Anthony Burroughs, that has now created situations elsewhere. A big one being what happens now with Wells Motorsports. Overton's departure leaves a hole there, and the question becomes who fills it, if anyone. Over the past year or so, Wells had diverted away from running Longhorn chassis, and instead developed their own in-house, Infinity chassis. They tried to keep it quiet late in 2023 and into 2024, but eventually it was sniffed out and they went public about it in the spring. Overton was obviously running them, as was the Todd Cooney team featuring Ryan Gustin. Gustin actually racking up more wins along the way than Overton did driving them. One of the rumors out there was that Gustin could be in line to replace Overton with Wells next season, and something like that would make sense given his familiarity with the cars. But that rumor was put to bed last Thursday. In a release from the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, it was revealed that Gustin will be back on tour with the Outlaws in 2025, and he'll do so with Todd Cooney Racing. 2024 was his first season with Cooney, and he ended up sixth in the standings with five wins and 25 top tens in 41 races. Gustin also had wins with the MLRA, XR Super Series, and at Eldora. The team struggled down the stretch, and if they are going to contend for an Outlaw title next year, they will need to find some more consistency, like we saw from them through the summer months. But with Gustin confirmed for this spot next season, I'm not sure where that leaves Wells. If they hired someone to just run regionally, I wouldn't be surprised, and if they decided to not hire anyone at all, I wouldn't be surprised. No other names have really been connected to that deal. If I was a driver looking though, it would certainly be a call I'd make.
Besides Gustin, and the already confirmed Nick Hoffman, we know a couple of other drivers will be on tour with the Outlaws next year as well. Brian Shirley is another we know will be back for another go. Seventh in the standings, also with five wins, Shirley and that Bob Cullen Racing team really came alive late in the season. Four wins in seven races from August 14th to September 28th, and 16 top ten runs in their final 18 races. Shirley's success seemed to ramp up after a mid-season switch from Rockets to Longhorns, although they did run a Bloomquist car at the World 100. Shirley told the Outlaws his team has already started building cars for next year, and if they can keep up the pace we saw from them over the final few months, they'll be in line for plenty of wins in 2025.
Joining as an Outlaw rookie next year will be Daniel Adam. This team started out 2024 with plans to run the full Lucas schedule, but fell off that series after making just five main events through the first 15 races. They ended up running a bunch of Summer Nationals shows, and finishing seventh in the final MARS standings, picking up a win with that tour at Tri-City.
And as we get deeper into the offseason, another driver to keep an eye on is Tanner English. He told FloRacing's Kyle McFadden that his Coltman Farms team is preparing for a national tour campaign next season, they just haven't decided yet between Outlaws or Lucas. English bounced around between rides early in 2024, before settling with Coltman Farms, and had three wins; two with the Summer Nationals and one with Hunt the Front.
On the sprint car side, we found out late on Saturday that Ryan Timms will continue with the Shane Liebig owned team into next season, with plans to run a pick and choose schedule. Jeremy Elliott reported they are looking at a 50 race slate with races against both national tours and the main midwest tracks like Knoxville and Huset's. Timms ran four High Limit races in October in the Liebig car, and was strong, picking a second, a third, a fifth, and a ninth. He was then back in the 10 car at World Finals after a few weeks out west running for Roth, and a Bridgeport appearance with Curt Michael and Heffner. Two top seven finishes in three races, and features made all three nights at Charlotte. This version of Ryan Timms is what we thought we'd be getting after that 2022 season, but 2023 and a lot of this year have been a struggle for him in the sprint car. Things started to look better though after they parked the family-owned 5T, and Timms started racing elsewhere. He had some strong runs with Guy Forbrook, including an MSTS win at Huset's, and then these races with Liebig. Timms still with a bunch of racing to do though, as he's closing out the USAC midget year out west with Keith Kunz. One thing this does confirm also, is that the Timms and Roth rumors were nothing but rumors. Timms ran Trophy Cup and two NARC shows in that second Roth car in recent weeks, and there were a few rumblings maybe he could be the guy there for next year. It seems more and more likely that the second Roth entry will be much quieter next season.
Another thing I wanted to point out was the TKS car this weekend with Cory Eliason in the seat. Fairly average performances, two 19th place runs and 12th in the finale. But that car looked different at World Finals, as the Albaugh sponsorship was not on it. Albaugh is the Iowa-based ag company that appears on Carson Macedo's 41 sprint car, and had sponsored TKS. I would expect Albaugh to continue with Macedo and JJR, but there has been a lot of talk about this second Albaugh sponsorship being on the move, with the possibility it could remain with Chase Randall if he finds a ride elsewhere. As for the 2KS, that car had a bunch of different drivers in it after Randall left, including Kelby Watt, Danny Sams, Hunter Schuerenberg, and Eliason. No word yet on a direction for them going into 2025, but they did share to Twitter today they will be pick and choose for a schedule again next season.
Finally today, I've been tagged and sent the Peyton Taylor, Barry Braun XR Facebook stuff a bunch of times in the last 12 hours, so I feel it's necessary to at least address it. I'm going to avoid any sort of comment or opinion, but we'll run you through what's out there and what Barry told me. If you don't know, Peyton Taylor is the car owner that Ricky Thornton Jr. drove for when he won the $100,000 stock car show at 300 Raceway a few months back. Taylor alleges his team still hasn't been paid for that win, and he took to the replies of a now deleted Braun Facebook post to complain. Taylor's comments continued on another post that appears on his page, and he's pointed to some sort of future video, maybe with more commentary, I guess. I'm not sure what's true and what isn't here, as others have been paid for XR shows, including Cade Dillard. On Taylor's post, Dillard said it took him longer to get paid than he would have liked, but he still got the money. I asked Barry specifically about these situations, and he says the Taylor money was paid last week, and he shared a screenshot of a Fedex tracking page showing something delivered last Thursday. He also told me they have had a handful of guys reach out, and that they have been squared away. Barry pointed towards mail and W9 issues for some of the delayed payments, and waiting to get back tire tests. So that's what's out there and what I know about the situation at this current moment. I don't know if Taylor or Braun will have future public comments or updates or not, but I guess if they do, we'll keep you posted.
That's the Daily show for today. Hope you guys have a great Monday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!