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Could this be the next WRG vs. FloRacing battleground | Daily 1-9-2025

DIRTVision... Promoting FloRacing?! It's happening and we'll talk about it, plus midwest sprint car news, Corey Day's NASCAR deal official, racing coming up this weekend, and more. Let's go!

It's Thursday, January 9th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

I want to talk about this DIRTVision Chili Bowl situation off the top today. If you didn't see it yesterday, DIRTVision announced they are going to be doing a daily pre-race show every day next week for the Chili Bowl. Connor Wade and Dave Rieff are going to go live from 4 to 5PM eastern with the show streamed on DIRTVision, but also YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. This is obviously curious, because DIRTVision and World Racing Group don't have a Chili Bowl relationship. Racing from Tulsa the past several seasons has been live streamed by FloRacing. And it's no secret that WRG and it's streamer DIRTVision have made it a point to not do much promotion of events on other platforms. It's something that a portion of the fanbase loves to point out, how WRG entities don't engage in any cross promotion. I don't really think it's that big of a deal, I mean you don't see McDonalds promoting Burger King, Budweiser promoting Miller, or Chevy promoting Ford. It does get awkward at times when announcers are mentioning drivers and other race wins, and it does give those fans another reason to hate on WRG. I was curious though how often in recent years the DIRTVision Twitter account has actually had a FloRacing mention in a tweet, and the numbers might surprise you. Or maybe they won't. Eight tweets in 2024 had a Flo mention, with those happening around Ohio Sprint Speedweek that was streamed on both platforms, plus mentions of the USAC stuff at DIRTcar Nationals. There were no tweets in 2023 or 2022, and just one in 2021. Quiet also in 2020, with mentions much more frequent in 2019. Back then though, the Super DIRTcar Series was part of the FloRacing offerings. Why this is happening now, I'm not really sure. It could just be an opportunity for DV to offer some content at a time of the year when they don't really have much going on yet, and Connor Wade has lots of experience inside that building doing reporting. They can jump in on some of the excitement around the event, grab some audience, and expand their offerings. There are also Chili Bowl fans at WRG, including Brian Dunlap who campaigns cars there with his dad Mike, and WRG CEO Brian Carter has actually raced Chili Bowl. He made five appearances there between 2007 and 2011. His best result was a G-Main appearance in 2011. It seems as though some think this could be a preview of an attempt by WRG to get the Chili Bowl streaming rights. And that wouldn't be hard to fathom while connecting some dots, especially given the WRG ties to the Hahn family, which included the sale of the ASCS to WRG in 2024. It's important to point out here though that FloRacing announced a ten year deal for Chili Bowl and Tulsa Shootout rights back in 2020. So barring some sort of out for the Hahn and Edwards families in that contract, which we wouldn't be privvy to, these rights won't be back on the market until something like 2030. It might be a situation worth paying attention to, but likely a few years down the road.

One sprint car silly season note for you today. I've been asked a few times about Scott Bogucki's future, and he announced back on Tuesday a new deal for 2025. He'll chase the Knoxville track championship during a 40 to 50 race campaign around the midwest, that will also include World of Outlaws and High Limit appearances. And he'll do so driving for Justin Giddings. If you don't know Justin Giddings, he'd been partnered up with Brandon Ikenberry for the Deuce 5 team, but there is no mention of Ikenberry here. There had been chatter towards the end of 2024 that Ikenberry and Giddings were splitting, and this seems to confirm that. There is even mention in the release of the car switching from the number 25 to the number 78 to quote "mark a fresh start in the sport for both Bogucki and Giddings." This should be a solid addition to that weekly Knoxville field, as Bogucki was a winner there last season, along with victories with the MSTS, IRA, and at Huset's. Bogucki also had top fives and top tens against POWRi and the Outlaws. What's next for Ikenberry, I'm not sure. He closed out 2024 racing with Parker Price Miller when PPM's own deal dried up. I have heard a rumor or two that Ikenberry is working towards a new deal, but nothing solid there just yet.

Earlier today, Hendrick Motorsports made it official that they have Corey Day under a multi-year contract to start his pavement development. A specific schedule was not released, but they did mention NASCAR Xfinity and Truck Series starts, ARCA, and Trans-Am appearances. There is a two-day ARCA test at Daytona that begins today, and runs through Friday. Day is on the entry list in a Spire Motorsports car. He'll obviously run there before heading to Tulsa. Some other guys with dirt links expected at that test include Gavan Boschele and Brent Crews. Bob Pockrass from FOX Sports reported quote "nearly 30" events in 2025 for Day, which is fewer races than I would have expected. 30 pavement starts means there would still likely be plenty of opportunities for Day to race sprint cars with Jason Meyers. We know the plan is to field a second car alongside full time driver Spencer Bayston when Day is available. Day's 2025 season will begin next week at Chili Bowl in Willie Kahne's car. These two won Turkey Night together, and a Chili Bowl prelim in 2024. They will definitely be a stout combination this year. With Day running this ARCA test, as long as everything goes to plan, my assumption would be he'd race at Daytona next month.

If you want racing coming up this weekend, the main focus over the next few days will be the Wild West Shootout at Vado, as there really isn't much else going on besides that. The late model show at I-75 was postponed, and things don't get started at the Chili Bowl until Sunday. Bobby Pierce has won the first two at Vado, topping Garrett Alberson in the opener, and Brandon Sheppard last Sunday. The Wednesday program was pushed to tonight, so you'll have racing there straight through Sunday. All $10k to win shows, except the finale on Sunday, which is $25,000 to win. I would expect more of the same in terms of guys out front. Pierce is clearly the favorite, with BShepp and Alberson lurking. If you want to go beyond that, I'd look at Tyler Erb, Drake Troutman, Ethan Dotson, and Cade Dillard as some others who could jump up there and win. I do think I'd put some money on BShepp getting a win before the week is over. Also, I've seen comments again about the crowd sizes at Vado, and this is certainly nothing new. Vado is an incredible facility for racing, sitting just about half way between Las Cruces, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas on Interstate 10. But this area just isn't a big hotbed for dirt racing. The track really exists because of Royal Jones and his love for racing. These shows every year will draw a few locals, and a few travelers, but it's never had packed grandstands. This event really seems to survive off sponsorship and the streaming side of things. And I'd guess based on the lack of competition this time of the year, that the streaming numbers are probably fairly decent. If you can't get there over the next few days, action will be live on FloRacing. If you need Flo subscription, sign up at dirtrackr.com/floracing.

Your best bet for open wheel racing this weekend is down under. In the west, you've got the end of the USA vs WA Speedweek at Perth, and a lot of the Americans are still there, including Brad Sweet, Gio Scelzi, Cole Macedo, Cory Eliason, and Brock Zearfoss. The next two nights from Perth are live on Clay Per View. In the east at Toowoomba, they were supposed to have their Red Hot Summer Shootout this weekend, but action has been postponed to April because of weather. After this weekend, the focus in Australia, at least for a lot the Americans, will start to shift east, as many will start working their way across the country to race the Grand Annual Sprint Car Classic at Warrnambool towards the end of January. The Classic is usually the finale for the American drivers before they head back to the states to begin the 2025 season here in February.

If you want a full run down on your streaming options all weekend, make sure to stop by dirtrackr.com/watchtonight. Full daily streaming schedule, where to watch, what's on, and links to watch.

That's the Daily for this week. Hope you guys have a great Thursday out there, and we'll see you back here on Sunday!