DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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World of Outlaws, High Limit not done; big late model questions | Daily 1-16-2025

Favorites led the way at the Chili Bowl on Wednesday, and I've got some thoughts on why I think the driller could end up in the hands of one of these drivers. Plus the Lucas season begins this weekend and questions surround several championship hopefuls, another driver goes full time with a sprint car series, and an update on rumors about who could be next. Let's go!

It's Thursday, January 16th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

So, if Tuesday at the Chili Bowl was the surprise day, then Wednesday was exactly the opposite of that. I wouldn't call it the boring day, but the results went about as chalk as you could have expected when the night began. Emerson Axsom did pick up his first ever Chili Bowl prelim win, but I don't know that anyone was surprised by it. He's already got a bunch of drillers from the Shootout, and he's ran well on prelim nights and Saturdays before. It really felt inevitable. It was about as clean a night and on schedule a night as you can have in the expo. Seven to three in the heat and four to one in the qualifier put him on the front row of the main event with Daison Pursley. Pursley's six to one in the heat, and six to three in the qualifier just edged out Axsom for the pole, also a very strong night. In that main event, Pursley led the first three, and then Axsom pounced on lap four, and he went the distance from there. The track not quite as good as we'd seen the first few nights, and that showed itself in some of the numbers as well. We did have Corey Day going eight to three, and Blake Hahn's big charge from 19th to sixth, but overall it was the fewest position changes from start to finish we'd seen through three nights in a main event. I don't even know that I think that Axsom was significantly faster than Pursley, I just think he played it really well. So those two join Kyle Larson, Shane Golobic, Landon Brooks, and Brenham Crouch as locked in for Saturday's big show. Day will start at the front of a B with a good shot to transfer. No crazy drama though last night and no big players way down the order. If you were looking for anything at all, maybe Jake Swanson down in tenth after locking in a year ago. Even that feels like a stretch though in terms of any sort of surprise. Looking at this locked in group, as we maybe put an eye towards Saturday, I like the chances for Axsom and Pursley. Axsom made good decisions last night, and seems primed for a potential big showing. And I don't know if it's just me, but I'm really digging Pursley's vibe here. He seems confident, kind of has that quiet swagger, really calm. I know he was disappointed to not win last night, but it was a smooth performance all the way around. This kid started fourth in a D-Main a year ago, and drove all the way to fourth in the main event. This year with a top ten start coming his way, he could be a serious challenger for the driller.

Looking at today, same Bat time, same Bat channel. Just with different characters. Tonight might actually be the toughest prelim night of the event looking down through the list of entries. I don't think it's a leap to say that Christopher Bell is the favorite, but he won't have an easy path. Also going tonight are Tanner Thorson, Chris Windom, Ryan Bernal, Jacob Denney, CJ Leary, Brady Bacon, Karter Sarff, and Spencer Bayston. Bell has three drillers, and Thorson a driller. And among just those guys I named are 49 Saturday main event appearances. Someone in that group is going to be very disappointed by the end of the night. Hot laps again at 4PM central, with heat races at 5. If you need a FloRacing subscription to tune in, and want to help me out, navigate your way to dirtrackr.com/floracing and sign up. It's a good time to get in with Chili Bowl happening, and late model speedweeks coming in hot.

Speaking of late model speedweeks, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series season gets rolling this weekend at Golden Isles in Georgia. Cars will be on track tonight for open practice between 5 and 8PM eastern, and then racing starts on Friday. They've got $12k to win Friday, $25k to win on Saturday, and $10k to win on Sunday. Multiple local divisions are also on the card each night. These races were right around 50 cars last year, and I don't see any reason why the entry list would be any smaller than that. I think most signs are pointing towards Ricky Thornton Jr. beginning his title defense, especially with a Saturday C-Main start on the cards for the Chili Bowl. If the weather goes sideways, RTJ could end up back in Tulsa for the weekend, but I don't know that you give up Lucas status for a Chili Bowl C-Main start. The guys who will most likely be challenging Thornton in the championship battle include Devin Moran, who's been second each of the last two years. If Jonathan Davenport does indeed sign on, he'll be right in the mix, and then from there I think several others have some question marks to start the year. Hudson O'Neal wasn't lightning fast to end 2024, and now he doesn't have Anthony Burroughs leading that SSI team. Tim McCreadie was in the chase a year ago, but he's not in the Rocket house car anymore, joining up with Boom Briggs this offseason. Brandon Sheppard moves over to Lucas after winning the Outlaw title in 2024, but both he and Rocket are trying to claw their way back into regular, nightly contention. Remember Sheppard hasn't won an outdoor late model race since last summer, and the Rocket house car had one win with McCreadie in it. And Brandon Overton and the Longhorn Factory Team are joining Lucas for 2025 with Burroughs leading the way. But I don't know that we have any idea what to expect here. Burroughs and Overton have never worked together before, and Overton had just a single national touring win in 2024, a score at Smoky Mountain with Lucas in June. The last Lucas win before that was at Port Royal in August of 2023, and his last Outlaw win was at Talladega in April of 2023. We've certainly seen this driver and crew chief have boat loads of success in the past, but against this group of full timers, they don't have a long grace period to try and figure it out if they want the championship. So there are a lot of interesting storylines to watch at the top, and then down through the field the question will be who can take steps forward. Looking at guys like Garrett Alberson, or Max Blair, or Daulton Wilson. And what can a guy like Dan Ebert do in year one? I don't believe there will be any video of tonight's action, but Flo will have streams all weekend long starting Friday.

The other late model event that was supposed to happen this weekend, the Hangover at I-75, it's been cancelled because of weather. They had already postponed this one once, and now it's off completely.

In sprint car roster news, the Kubota High Limit full-time list grew again yesterday with the addition of Sye Lynch. The Pennsylvania driver becomes High Limit rookie number three, joining Daison Pursley and Danny Sams in the class. Lynch's addition also pushes High Limit to 13 total drivers. In 2024, he made 43 appearances on the season, with a significant number of those, 26, coming against High Limit. His average finish in those series events was 16th, and he had three top fives and five top tens. He finished second twice, both at Lernerville, and led laps at both Lernerville and Lucas Oil. Rumblings about Lynch potentially joining a national tour persisted all summer, with crew help and sponsorship the two things he needed to work out. Lynch added some fuel to those rumors on New Year's Eve when he posted a photo to social media with him and some friends next to the High Limit sign in a casino. Just like we talked about with Danny Sams, this is a big jump for Lynch, and he'll see a bunch of tracks for the first time. Expectations won't be high, but we've seen he has the speed to run up front when things go his way. Looking between the tour national tours, I don't think we are done just yet with announcements. Chase Randall remains a High Limit possibility as they work towards building out their own team for 2025. And with the Outlaws, not counting Bill Rose's team, who would bring them up to 12, there are a few interesting rumblings out there. They could potentially be adding maybe two more before Volusia begins in a few weeks, bringing them to 14. I was told an announcement for one of them is quote "coming soon." The other one could surprise a few people.

That's the Daily for this week. A quick thank you to all of our new subscribers, we did go across 39,000 on YouTube this week. That's very cool. We'll just keep plugging away at our goal there for 50,000 by the end of 2025.

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