DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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How do dirt late model teams decide? | Daily 2-11-2025

Nick Hoffman strikes at Volusia, but we might not see him back today. Plus Brian Shirley, how does this stuff keep happening to his guy? We'll also talk about how you really decide between late model national tours after speedweeks, Monday results, and more. Let's go!

It's Tuesday, February 11th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

The late model portion of DIRTcar Nationals off and running last night with a $7000 to win DIRTcar sanctioned show. Remember these first few nights are not Outlaw nights. The racing for that series doesn't start until Thursday, so no points or anything through Wednesday. Just racing for cash and information. Last night and tonight are more traditional formats. Wednesday then is triple 20 lap features, where all cars in attendance will make a show. Jumping back to racing for information, we saw Nick Hoffman do that last night, and to very good effect. His primary car stayed in the box, and last night's piece was a brand new Longhorn that they wanted to shake down a bit. With the way it ran though, they may want to keep that one on the ground all week and leave the primary in the box. Hoffman started second, drove by Cade Dillard for the lead on the high side before half way, and drove on to a nearly 4 second win. Ricky Thornton Jr. and Jonathan Davenport joined him on the podium in a race that went caution free and green-to-checkered in something like seven minutes. I think if Hoffman is going to maintain pace with Bobby Pierce this season for that Outlaw title, him running well all week at Volusia is absolutely necessary. We've seen so many times before that if you leave these early races in a hole, it's really tough to bounce back. And that was even true for Pierce last season, who lost those points from the tire penalty. 14 wins and 33 top tens still not enough to chase down Sheppard by World Finals. Hoffman no stranger to success at Volusia either. Looking around the rest of the field last night 51 cars officially participated, but there are way more cars than that hanging around. Hudson O'Neal's team was at Volusia, but they didn't race last night. Same for Jimmy Owens, and several others. We could get very close to 60 cars, maybe even one or two more than that as the week progresses. Quick sidenote, I'll be curious to see if we even get Nick Hoffman in the field tonight. He tweeted this morning he's caught a stomach bug from his kids. I guess if this was going to happen, better it happens during non-Outlaw nights. Hopefully he feels better soon. And if you are keeping track at home, Brian Shirley's horrific luck continued last night. I don't normally say bad words on this show, but I'm going to here because it's the only way to say it. Shirley's speedweeks have been absolutely shitty. I don't know what he needs to do. Burned up that car in the Hunt the Front show at Needmore. Significant crash in a show at All Tech. Nothing good at Ocala. And last night, goes out to hot lap the 3S, and burns up an ignition wire, kills his gauge panel. He scratched for the remainder of the night with his crew replacing the entire ignition system. An insane run of bad luck to start 2025.

On the USAC side, Kyle Cummins your winner in the sprint car. He started fourth, but drove around Brady Bacon on lap two for the lead, and handled business from there. Daison Pursley made a late charge to second in the debut for the Chad Boat sprint car team, and Bacon finished third driving for Chris Dyson. It was Cummins' 15th win going back through the 2020 season, but his first on a half mile track in that span. Cummins usually a short track guy, but that Petty car had plenty of big track speed last night.

Today at Volusia, both divisions will do it all over again. USAC then heads back to Ocala starting Wednesday, and the Super DIRTcar Series big block modifieds take their place at Volusia. One streaming note, DIRTVision did show both the late models and sprint cars yesterday, so the flipping back and forth was not necessary. I did post a correction in the comments to yesterday's show, and tweeted about it. It might be nice if the DIRTVision schedule and broadcast pages actually showed that. The streaming schedule at dirtrackr.com/watchtonight is correct however.

We've talked a few times over the last few weeks about the number of drivers who have effectively declared for both late model national tours, and how several of them won't make a final decision until likely sometime in March. A number of those who have done it, like Brandon Overton and Ricky Thornton Jr., we don't really expect to flip to the Outlaws. When we talk about the guys who have a serious chance to flip though, the names we keep talking about include Max Blair, Tim McCreadie, and Jimmy Owens. There still seems to be some question about Daulton Wilson, and I think maybe an outside shot for a guy like Drake Troutman. It seems at the moment, and for the past several years, that Lucas is viewed as the tougher series. And to a point, I agree. I think the top of Lucas is better, especially through the first four or five teams. Davenport, Moran, RTJ is a murderers row, and Overton looks to be on his way back to national prominence. As a whole though, I don't know that you can look at the 20 plus drivers the Outlaws will likely end up with, and think it's an easy group to slot into. And I say all of this with a guy like Tim McCreadie in mind. He's one that seems to have a very high probability of swapping allegiances. He's had some good runs with Lucas so far, including two top fives at Ocala. But some difficult nights as well see him way down in 17th in the championship, and already 365 points behind Jonathan Davenport. On the flip side, through two races, he's 11th with the Outlaws, but only 28 points back. Seems like it might be a no brainer. But is there really much to gain with a swap for McCreadie? I don't really know. There are guys out front of him in Outlaw points who probably won't be there later on, like Brandon Sheppard and Drake Troutman. But that only jumps him to ninth. And there are guys behind who will end up doing better than they have to start. That includes Brian Shirley, and Dennis Erb Jr. and Tyler Bruening have at least some hope. There is no case to be made right now that McCreadie can outrun Pierce, Hoffman, or Gustin. So it's not like he's swapping to win the title. Bronson and Dillard will be solid, Blair could be tough if he flips, and there is some chance that guys like Ethan Dotson and Cody Overton figure it out and also make it difficult. In the Lucas standings, I have a hard time believing McCreadie would stay that low for long, especially with some of these drivers in front likely to fall off. So the question is, would you rather be a fringe top ten guy with Lucas, or a fringe top ten guy with the Outlaws? That question will come down to the economics, and which schedule you like better. The next several days will go a long way towards helping that Boom Briggs team make the decision. If the nine car is lights out, it will be a no brainer. But if they struggle, like they did last night, I don't know what they do. McCreadie could very likely return full time to the Outlaws for the first time since 2015, but I wouldn't expect that to cure all his ails.

Alright, that's the show. Make sure to like, subscribe, follow, all the things, so you stay up to date on all things dirt racing.

Hope you guys have a great Tuesday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!