DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Sprint car series eyes dormant track return, tough few weeks for XR events | Daily 11-21-2024

Today we'll dive into the just released World of Outlaws sprint car schedule, plus news from Calistoga Speedway and where it might fit into the national sprint car landscape, Carson Macedo's drama-filled sweep, XR taking a beating again, news from POWRi, and more. Let's go!

It's Thursday, November 21st, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

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I told you guys yesterday on the show to expect the World of Outlaws sprint car schedule very soon, and that very soon is today. The series just announcing a 90 race season from February 8th through November 8th in 2025. Open at Volusia for DIRTcar Nationals, close at World Finals at Charlotte. In between, all the usual crown jewels, including the Knoxville Nationals, the Kings Royal, National Open, High Bank Nationals, and the newer Dennis Roth Classic. Also back are usual stops at Pevely, Eldora, races in Central PA, and more. The one new track is Mississippi Thuner being added in August. And returning after being off the schedule, are Perris, New Egypt, Vado, Deer Creek, Angell Park, and Plymouth. There is also a trip over the border to Canada in May to race at Ohsweken and Cornwall. And the reopening of LaSalle Speedway is being awarded with an Outlaw show in October. This schedule is very similarly structured to what we had in 2024, with a few alterations along the way. As they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. There are still TBAs on September 26th, that's right before a race at Sharon in Ohio, and October 17th. That's before the LaSalle date. If you are curious, tracks that are getting both the Outlaws and High Limit in 2025 include Perris, Bakersfield, Tulare, Vado, 81, and obviously Eldora. As for purse money and point fund, nothing was released today, outside of some of the bigger paydays. I would expect a future release with that information. I don't know if there will be any bumps to the Outlaw money, or if things will stay status quo, so we'll stay tuned there. If you want to see the full schedule for yourself, head over to worldofoutlaws.com.

We had sprint cars and midgets after dark last night at the Tulare Thunderbowl. 360s and USAC's national midgets on the card. It turned into a sweep for Carson Macedo, as he won the 360 show in the Tarlton machine, and the midget race in the Sean Dyson car. It wasn't without plenty of drama though. In the 360 feature, Macedo tangled with the lap car of Seth Standley, and somehow his car survived. Standley though went head on into the turn two wall. His car was destroyed, but he did walk away. Definitely a slider gone wrong. Behind Macedo's win, Dominic Scelzi, DJ Netto, Tyler Courtney, and Caeden Steele completed the top five. In the night's midget feature, Macedo was comfortable out front after starting on the front row, but something happened to his car with five to go and he slowed suddenly in turn four with what looked like a dead engine. He got hit from behind by a lapper, and somehow his car refired. And then for the subsequent restart he blended in second behind Jacob Denney, and was eventually able to get back to the lead. That's about as lucky as you can get. It was Macedo's first USAC midget win since Merced in 2022. Denney and Cannon McIntosh joined him on the podium. Looking at the USAC midget championship battle, I told you guys yesterday the gap between McIntosh and Daison Pursley was 87, and that Cannon Mac needed 17.5 points a night through Ventura to take the lead. He did much better than that last night. With Pursley only running 11th, McIntosh picked up 26. So with two shows at Merced, one at Bakersfield, and Turkey Night still to come, the gap is down to 61. We could have a little championship intrigue here down to the wire. The teams are off today and back to racing Friday and Saturday at Merced.

Sticking with California, the Calistoga Speedway saga looks like it might be headed for a good conclusion. Calistoga Speedway sits in the NAPA valley, north of the San Francisco area, if you aren't aware. I went back through my old daily shows, and we first started talking about potential issues at Calistoga back in 2021. Things went sideways there during covid, and the track sat empty for several years. Earlier this summer, a sale of the facility was completed, with the city of Calistoga buying the speedway and fairgrounds from NAPA County. And then this week, the city council unanimously approved a plan to begin negotiations with HMS Promotions on bringing racing back to the track. HMS, owned by Tommy Hunt, promoted the speedway for 12 years previously. There are hurdles to overcome, including repairs and updates that are needed to bring the facility back to usable condition. One story I saw had estimates in the low six figures for cost of repairs. But racing at the 1/2 track is possible for 2025, and I know Hunt is hoping to bring back the Louie Vermeil Classic. Another situation to watch with Calistoga is for a big winged sprint car show. There is a certain national tour, cough High Limit cough, that has an August TBD on it's schedule. There are rumblings that date could be for a Calistoga event, with another possiblity being High Limit at Hanford. We haven't seen national touring sprint cars at Calistoga since the Outlaws were there in 2019. Good news though for sprint car fans in California.

As of today, we are two weeks from the Gateway Dirt Nationals at the dome in St. Louis getting started. Special paint schemes for a bunch of teams are in the works, and one of my favorites so far is Jonathan Davenport's. Dylan Braddy doing nice work to highlight Davenport's Dirt Dollar Ranch on the Landers 49. Go find the Nightowl Design Facebook page and zoom in on the details on this car. Big fan of this look. Also, Brandon Sheppard shared a photo of Rocket chassis back in his BSR shop. His B5 will have a special wrap as well, but we haven't seen it just yet. Looking at the comments, we can expect some sort of combination it looks like of Valvoline, Realtree, and Busch Light on that car. The dome will be Sheppard's first race back in a Rocket, and we know he tested in the Rocket house car at Golden Isles last week. There were videos of that floating around online. If you need a FloRacing subscription to watch the Dome coming up, or the Tulsa Shootout, or Chili Bowl, click the Flo links below in the video description on YouTube, the Flo links at dirtrackr.com, or hit up dirtrackr.com/floracing. That gets you all that Flo has to offer, and helps me out at no extra cost to you.

In the battle for territory in regional winged sprint car racing, we know that POWRi has plans to expand their footprint in 2025, and we already talked about their addition of Honest Abe as series sponsor. We are still waiting for a schedule, but they did announce yesterday their Elite 16 program for next year. Drivers who quote "commit to the full season or perform at a high level" unquote will be in line for several benefits. That list includes a $150,000 point fund, free POWRi membership, free streaming pass, a Hoosier right rear tire given away at each event randomly, the ability to sell merch at the POWRi trailer, provisionals, tow money, and free pit passes. The standard purse for races is $5000 to win, and $500 to start. These types of things are standard with other series, especially at higher levels, but with POWRi formalizing them, it's clear they are hoping to draw some teams to sign on for next season. This all goes back to the hole left by the All Stars ending after 2023, and the gap between local and regional racing and the two national tours. There are plenty of smaller players in the space, including some sort of return of an All Star branded series, but POWRi is trying to fill some of that space. You can see full details over at powri.com.

If you want other dirt racing this weekend, the 36th annual Gobbler has happening at Duck River in Tennessee. This was supposed to be the $15,000 to win finale for the XR Super Series, but earlier this week that part of the event was called off, and now the super late models will run unsanctioned for $6000 to win and $500 to start. The track and series said the sanction was dropped quote "due to forecasts calling for cool temperatures." As you might have expected, especially with the beating that XR has taken lately, there are plenty of comments about this move. XR is coming off of the Duel in the Desert at Las Vegas where they had a couple of hundred cars last weekend. But maybe just for quieting some of the negativity, it might have been worth it to stay on with the Gobbler, regardless of the forecast. In XR's place, Hunt the Front TV will handle streaming for the event.

That's the show for today and for this week. Thanks as always for the support, and we will be around all next week for a full slate of shows, even with the Thanksgiving holiday.

Hope you guys have a great Thursday and weekend out there, we'll see you back here on Sunday!