DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Christopher Bell's plans outed, FloRacing steps up behind the scenes | Daily 12-10-2024

Things continue to ramp up with Chili Bowl entries, and another major player will be back. Plus Eldora and Ohio Sprint Speedweek released their schedules, and I've got some insight into how speedweek played out behind the scenes. There is also silly season news and more. Let's go!

It's Tuesday, December 10th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

We continue to get closer and closer to having the Chili Bowl field back to full strength. We already know that Kyle Larson is back on the list, and Chase Briscoe outed his future Joe Gibbs Racing teammate today on social media. If you might remember back to June this year, Christopher Bell accidently slipped up in a press conference and revealed that Briscoe would be joining JGR for 2025. And today Briscoe tweeted quote "Guess I'll finally get him back for this, pumped to see @CBellRacing back at Chili Bowl this year" unquote. We found out a few weeks ago that the restrictions were lifting for Bell from JGR, and that he could be back on dirt in 2025. A return to the Chili Bowl makes a lot of sense for the three time event winner, who is also from Oklahoma. It's my understanding that Bell will be in a Keith Kunz car come January. So Bell is back, Larson is in, Tyler Courtney returns, Logan Seavey is in again with Swindell, and Tanner Thorson has been added to the list. The only champion from the last ten years we'd be missing is Rico Abreu. He didn't race at the Chili Bowl in 2024, as he was down under running the sprint car, and I know he's back in Australia again in December. I don't know what that schedule is though, and I haven't heard any rumblings about him returning to Tulsa. I'm sure we'll get an official announcement on Bell soon, and we are still waiting on the full rundown of KKM entries for the event.

Eldora Speedway released their full 2025 schedule yesterday, and the two biggest changes on it were that we got out first hint of what was coming for Ohio Sprint Speedweek, and a change coming to the 4-Crown weekend. The rest of it though is exactly what we've come to expect from Eldora. The Dirt Late Model Dream in June, along with the FloRacing Night in America late models kicking off that week. The Kings Royal in July featuring both High Limit and the World of Outlaws. The World 100 in September, and the Dirt Track World Championship to close out the season for both the track and Lucas. The Dream will pay $100,000 to win, High Limit is $100,000 to win in July, with the Kings Royal now $200,000 to win. The World 100 is $72 grand to win, and the DTWC is another $100k payday. Back to the changes though, Ohio Sprint Speedweek hits Eldora on June 17th for the Jack Hewitt Challenge, under the All Star banner, with non-wing sprints also on the card that day. This was our first look at the reconfigured speedweek, but it was only a few hours later we got the entire speedweek slate, which we'll talk more about here shortly. And 4-Crown in September expands to third day of racing, with USAC sprint cars and midgets running Thursday, Friday is High Limit and the Great Lakes Super Sprints, and Saturday is main events for midgets, sprint cars, Silver Crown, and High Limit. It's a solid schedule all the way around, and new track GM Levi Jones getting right to work making a few changes. You can see the full rundown over at eldoraspeedway.com.

Eldora's return to Speedweek puts them right in the middle of a new nine race setup that runs June 13th through the 21st. Attica, Sharon, Millstream, Wayne County, Eldora, Fremont, Waynesfield, Moler, and Atomic are the nine races that run straight through the week. Attica opening and Atomic closing are the same as the 2024 version, but Eldora and Moler replace Hilltop and Muskingum County. I thought maybe Portsmouth returning with the Dean Knittel Memorial was a possibility as well, but it appears as though Jeff Knittel is still searching for a spot on the schedule for his $25,000 to win show. The other major difference, is instead of Aaron Fry and FAST running things, 2025 brings speedweek back under the All Star banner, which has been resurrected in partnership between High Limit and Rich Farmer. And with the High Limit involvement, all races next season will be streamed live on FloRacing. The 2024 version was split, with some races on Flo, and the others on DIRTVision. All races in 2025 will be $7500 to win and $500 to start, with the finale at Atomic $10,000 to win. A point fund for the speedweek championship was not yet announced. Now that you know what was in the press release, here's what wasn't in the release. First, understand that Flo itself is a big reason why this all came together under Farmer. I've been told they are making a significant financial commitment to raise the purses, and it was this financial commitment that really helped bring the tracks together. That Flo involvement with High Limit is likely a major reason you saw Eldora get back in. Also, there was an attempt to either create a second speedweek, or try and supercede Farmer's effort. I was told that former sprint car team owner Janet Holbrook was working on tracks and streaming for that version, and that FAST and Aaron Fry may have been involved there as well. That deal ultimately fell apart though, and you likely won't see a second speedweek with FAST backing. In this new battle for sprint car supremacy in Ohio, this feels like an early significant win for Farmer and the new All Stars. We are still waiting on a full All Star schedule for next year, and an idea on what kind of roster that Farmer can put together to run the full season. I don't know if I've talked about this point here or not, so apologies if I have. But I have seen comments about how High Limit is off for two weeks in June, and some thinking this was because of Ohio speedweek. Understand though, this same gap in the schedule was part of the 2024 High Limit season, and it correponds with several other major sprint car events. It's not impossible that some High Limit teams could hit up speedweek, but what is more likely is the Outlaw races at Knoxville and Huset's. Huge money on the line there at Huset's. And this is the same week as the NARC run up the west coast to Super Dirt Cup at Skagit. That one drew both the Rudeen 26 and Meyers 14 last year. So I don't think I'd be holding my breath that suddenly Rico Abreu, Tyler Courtney, Brad Sweet, or the other High Limit guys will be making a nine day blitz through Ohio.

Two silly season moves for you today before we shut it down. First, Kaleb Johnson will run a 60 to 80 race sprint car schedule in 2025 for Dennis Gainey's Team DGRD. Their plan is to run for the championship at Knoxville and Huset's, and fill in with starts between High Limit and the World of Outlaws. Johnson was the Huset's track champion in 2024, and picked up a 360 Nationals prelim win at Knoxville in August. He made a bunch of late season starts with DGRD, including appearances at the National Open and World Finals. I believe Johnson is still looking for his first career victory in a 410 sprint car.

Also, Jake Swanson is returning to the USAC sprint car tour fill time next year, partnering up with Doug Dougherty to form Daming Swanson Motorsports. Swanson was last full time in 2023, when he picked up five wins and 26 top tens in 38 races. Team changes left him on the outside looking in for 2024, and he ran just 33 of 44 races, earning four top fives and 14 top tens. He's shown though that when things are right, he can stack up wins and compete towards the front. The national sprint car landscape will be vastly different next season with Brady Bacon and Daison Pursley focusing on winged racing, and more silly season changes coming for guys further down the order. Defending champion Logan Seavey is expected to return for another campaign with Abacus Racing. This could be a year where we see some other drivers step up and take advantage with Bacon and Pursley moving on.

That's DIRTRACKR Daily for this Tuesday. Hope you guys have a great day out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!