DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Where do we stand with skewed dirt late model bodies headed into 2025? | Daily 12-2-2024
Crazy dirt late model bodies were a hot topic earlier this year, but we haven't really heard anything since the summer. So where do we stand today on that template system in development and potential rule changes? I'll give you full update today, including several new developments. We'll also talk some more Dome stuff, updated Chili Bowl entries, and more. Let's go!
It's Monday, December 2nd, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
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I had an email last week from a show watcher asking me if there had been any updates to the situation around dirt late model bodies. Because of that, I wanted to dive back in to see where we are, as there have been some updates. If you are a regular watcher or listener of the show, you know that the skewed bodies are something we've talked about multiple times in 2024. And it went all the way back to the start of the season when that wild photo of Devin Moran's car made the rounds online after a test day at Golden Isles. The photo was taken by Chris Anderson, and it stirred up a bunch of conversation about how skewed and twisted the bodies had become. I even compared them on this show to the twisted sister bodies we saw in NASCAR in the early to mid 2000s. Back then, NASCAR reigned them in with a template system that combined all the individual area templates into a large car template that was called the claw. Later in the year, I got word that there was a template system being developed for the late model bodies, and it had started to appear at various races. We first talked about it on the show in April, and then again in June when I got some photos of the templates from the Dirt Late Model Dream. My guy Paul Arch got some good shots of it on Austin Kirkpatrick's car. AK, if you aren't aware, not afraid to experiment when it comes to building dirt late models. That June show was when we learned that World of Outlaws tech director Kenny Kenneda had parted ways with the series, and previously, he was one of the main drivers behind the project. Since that June show, I hadn't heard much about progress, or if the template system was still being used and developed. Kenneda popped back up later, but on the sprint car side, as the tech director for High Limit after they parted ways with Kevin Nouse. Since then though, the templates have appeared elsewhere, and remain in the control of World of Outlaws series director Steve Francis. They were used again at the World 100 at Eldora in September, supposedly to tech every car. Initially, the templates were being used on basically a fact-finding mission, to see how they addressed the various problems, with plans on continued development, and potentially full implementation in the future. But there were rule changes put in place sometime late summer before the World 100, and those rule changes were not highly publicized. In the unified dirt late model car construction book, under section eight for the bodies, additional language was added to subsection B for nosepieces; subsection E for front fenders, fender flares, and hood; and subsection G for quarter panels. The additions addressed bracing and the orientation of certain pieces in those specific areas. The rulebook on the Lucas site shows those areas highlighted in red if you want to see them for yourself, but the Outlaw rulebook does not have them highlighted. As for the future of the templates, work continues, and conversations are ongoing about changes and improvements to them. It's likely that when everyone is together at the PRI show in a few weeks, that more will be talked about. Some friends in the industry have heard the templates will be in use during speedweeks come January. In between though, I have been told that not much change is expected for the car construction rules. Another point I want to bring up here, and this one is not my original idea, this was brought up by a late model friend. But the almost complete lack of an offseason now in dirt late model racing has created this curious issue where rule changes are likely harder to implement. Especially bigger ones. When the offseason was a few months, it gave the series and the teams time to work through ideas and changes. But with only a handful of weeks between the Dome and Wild West Shootout, that timeline is drastically smaller, and with the holidays, probably not large enough to really make anything big happen. The series can obviously still make changes when they feel it's necessary, like the ones we just discussed, but sweeping or drastic alterations become much more difficult. Looking ahead, beyond what was changed in 2024, it sounds like some other areas under scrutiny for future added regulation include the decks and the body sides. So, here on December 2nd, that's what I know at the moment after conversations with several folks. Rules are always a moving target, and everyone has very strong opinions about what works and what doesn't, and areas that should be being looked at. I know cost containment continues to be a hot topic of discussion, and for good reason.
Over to the Gateway Dirt Nationals. Racing starts there on Thursday, and it looks like they are about done with the track build. They had most of the track itself done before Thanksgiving, and worked through some detail stuff over the weekend, like fencing. It's pretty crazy to see just how much dirt there is as part of the build. With the banking in the corners, they are two jersey barriers tall there to hold it all in. A quick Google search says jersey barriers are 32 inches tall, so 64 inches means the the track is more than five feet deep at the top. And since we've been sharing paint schemes, here is Brandon Sheppard's B5 for the Dome, just released yesterday. This one another Nightowl design. It definitely makes you hope that the Rocket house car itself could get a refreshed look, but I don't know that we should hold our collective breaths.
If you are a Chili Bowl fan, entries there have risen to 122. This week is the final week to get in on the discounted pre-entry process, with the deadline set as Friday. Afterwards, teams can still enter, but it's a little more expensive. Some recent additions include Blake Hahn, who has five career main event starts. Sprint car driver Sye Lynch is entered for the first time ever. And Jeff Taylor will have a pair of late model drivers in his cars, including Nick Hoffman and Gordy Gundaker. Gundaker will be a rookie, while this will be Hoffman's fifth Chili Bowl. He's still looking for his first main event start, with his best result coming last year where he was 18th in a Saturday B. You can find the full entry list at chilibowl.com, and you can see a lot of history and stats for the event, including results for every feature going back to the beginning in 1987 at dirtrackr.com/analytics/chilibowl.
Alright, that's the show for today. We will keep digging all offseason long with the show, but I did want to throw out there, if you have ideas or topics or suggestions for things you'd like to see me talk about here, feel free to lob those out. This is the time of the year where we can do some other stuff, maybe deep dive some things, do Q&As, things like that. So drop your suggestions in the comments, or email or message me. After this week the racing really goes quiet for the rest of the month, and then we'll have to wait until January for things to get rolling again.
Hope you guys have a great Monday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!