DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Everyone winning in dirt late model racing has these on their cars | Daily 2-26-2025
The technical battle in dirt late model racing isn't just about chassis. Today we'll dive into another key area and one specific player that just can't stop winning. We'll also talk news from USAC, schedule updates, and more. Let's go!
It's Wednesday, February 26th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
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Through this early part of 2025 where we've been talking about non-stop Longhorn chassis dominance in dirt late model racing, there is another common demoninator to all of these wins that I think is important to point out. And don't get me wrong, I know there is a portion of my audience whose eyes glaze over and they start to tune me out when I talk about technical things in dirt racing. There is clearly at least some subset of race fans who don't care about this stuff, and don't want to hear about it. They just want to believe that racing is driver versus driver, and all they care about is what happens on track. Unfortunately though, that's not how any of this works, and I find it a bit strange personally that folks can choose to like a sport where equipment is such an important piece, and yet they don't care one bit about that equipment. Two things that we know are true in any form of motorsports: you can put the best driver in the worst car and they won't win. And you can put the worst driver in the best car, and they won't win. Clearly you need some mix of both to be successful. Chassis, and engines, and shocks, and setups, and tires, and bodies, and steering boxes, and rear ends, etc etc etc. This is what your favorite race team is doing all day, every day. In shops all over the country at this exact moment, guys are pouring over shock sheets, looking at dyno curves, and wearing out tape measures. So while maybe this stuff doesn't matter to certain fans, it's everything for the teams. Jumping back to the open, and this discussion about late models, while Longhorn does have most of the super wins this season, so does another vendor of important bits. And that's Bilstein Shocks. Of the 30ish races that have happened to this point, I count three that weren't won by Bilstein equipped cars. That was Sam Seawright at Talledga. He's in a Longhorn, but on Penske Shocks. Cory Hedgecock's I-75 win in his BMF chassis was on Keyser Integras, and I believe that Michael Page's win at Fort Payne was also on Penskes. That would make sense since he and Seawright are effectively teammates. Every speedweeks win down south was on Bilsteins, they swept the Wild West Shootout, plus took the Winter Freeze weekend at Screven, and the Hunt the Front show at Needmore with Kevin Rumley and Hudson O'Neal. All of those also Longhorn victories, except Ryan Gustin's Volusia win. He's in the Wells Infinity chassis, but on Bilsteins. If you want specifics, these teams all running Bilstein's AS2-R package. Looking around through a quick Google search, a full AS2-R package for your car will run about $6400. That will include one each for the front corners, a right rear, two for the left rear, and the extra fifth. So six shocks total. That fifth shock mounts to the front of the lift arm assembly. If you only want one shock for the left rear, you'll spend around $5200. When we discuss domination for a specific group, it's worth pointing out that one specific part and piece isn't a magic bullet. In this instance, the combination of Longhorn and Bilstein is obviously melting faces right now, and the two sides work together closely. Kevin Rumley at the center there, as he consults for both sides. Going forward, I'm going to keep pointing out these tech things as I hear about them. I think it helps with a lot of context around what's actually happening on track. And stay tuned, in the coming days I've got some other things to share and some recent developments in a few other key areas of dirt late model racing that are helping some of the top guys stay on top.
Moving on, some interesting news from USAC yesterday as they've announced a partnership with a company called GPX Stream to help them deploy onboard camera systems across their racing series. Apparently development of this started last year with their sportscar stuff, but supposedly it is coming to the dirt racing side this year between the three national divisions; sprint cars, midgets, and Silver Crown. Onboard cameras are nothing new in motorsports, having been around for many decades at this point, and they don't currently get used heavily in live productions that we see from providers like FloRacing and DIRTVision. There are a number of ways to tackle onboard cameras for race cars, but this GPX Stream setup uses cellular networks, so as to not need any local infrastructure. Onboard cameras can be a difficult proposition in dirt racing, especially for longer races, because of, well... The dirt. With races being so short also, it's not like the streaming productions need to fill time or find other ways to entertain fans. I'll be curious to see how this gets used by USAC, because if I remember correctly, they are heavily involved in the control and production of their FloRacing broadcasts. A shot here or there might be nice, but I don't know that we need this to suddenly be a big part of their shows. I don't think I've ever been watching a USAC race and suddenly yearned for some onboard footage. The release from USAC does mention race control using it as well. Maybe something to keep an eye on as the year progresses.
One schedule note for you, the Northern All Stars late model opener at Brownstown Speedway that was supposed to happen on Saturday has been pushed back. Weather not cooperating in Indiana, so they will try again on March 8th. That one will be $5000 to win and $500 to start. James Essex also adding modifieds this season, and they will race for $1500 to win as well on March 8th. Josh Rice the 2024 Northern All Stars champion, and James Essex has 14 races on the schedule this year. All $5000 and $10000 to win shows. Check out northernallstarsseries.com for more info and to see the full schedule.
That's the show for today. Hope you guys have a great Monday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!