DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Decorated late model crew chief on the move, Tanner Holmes' impressive drive | Daily 3-2-2025
Tanner Holmes quiets the haters, a big time dirt late model crew chief change could be coming, the Outlaw field officially grows, and a lot more. Let's go!
It's Sunday, March 2nd, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
We're going to talk some news things off the top, then roll through some weekend racing. But before we do a quick message from today's show sponsor...
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The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series hits Volusia today to kick off two nights coinciding with Daytona Bike Week. I wouldn't expect the big car count we had a few weeks ago during DIRTcar Nationals when we got across 50, but I also wouldn't expect as low as 19 like we had during this event last year. The series is bringing 15 in just full timers, we'll get back to that in just a second. And we'll also see travelers like Brock Zearfoss, Anthony Macri, Bryce Lucius, and the Outlaws mentioned Austin McCarl and Jacob Allen. We'll also see some High Limit guys, which I didn't think would happen. That includes Aaron Reutzel, Spencer Bayston, Daison Pursley, Danny Sams, and Justin Peck for sure. We might get near 30, which I think would be really solid for this standalone race weekend. Back to that full timers list, I told you last week that Emerson Axsom and Conner Morrell were still in play to join the series full time, and Morrell was indeed announced yesterday as the 15th driver to join the roster. He'll race the 28 with his usual sponsors, but this is in some sort of alliance with Bill Rose. The Outlaw release said Morrell has been hired by Rose, but based on what I've been told, this is more of a partnership. This move does not affect Zach Hampton in the six car. We will have to wait and see what Axsom and the 27 team decide. As for the racing, Kyle Larson your current Outlaw points leader, but obviously he's racing Cup cars at COTA today, so he won't stay there. David Gravel the defacto championship leader over Logan Schuchart after DCN. Some contenders who are in desperate need of a good finish include Sheldon Haudenschild and Gio Scelzi. They are 15th and 20th in the standings respectively. Buddy Kofoid also down the order after just one top ten back in February. If you are the betting type, David Gravel the favorite to win tonight. Aaron Reutzel at plus 3000, and Justin Peck at plus 4000 might be solid flyer bets with those kind of odds. Racing live on DIRTVision tonight.
Before we talk some other weekend racing, there is a story out there to keep an eye on. Back on Friday there was a release that late model driver Stormy Scott is moving to Texas, and he's set to drive Cade Dillard-built modifieds, taking his focus back to that division. We'd seen Stormy run national tours, and in recent years he and crew chief Jason Durham had started their own chassis company in Category 5. It's a builder we had spotlighted here a few times, and there were even rumblings this past offseason that Jonathan Davenport was going to switch to them away from Longhorn. Whether it was ever seriously considered, I don't know, but it didn't obviously end up happening. JD off to a monster start to 2025 in the Longhorn. It sounds like Stormy is out of the Category 5 deal, as the release said any customers can still get support from Durham out of his Kentucky-based shop. And I've been told that the future of Category 5 and any new builds is very much in doubt. Remember too, Jason Durham was Jonathan Davenport's longtime crew chief, but he split with the Lance Landers team late in 2022. With Stormy out, and Category 5 in question, there are rumblings that Durham has been hired by a top team and could be back on a national tour very soon. We are still a few weeks away from the Outlaw and Lucas seasons getting rolling again. I've reached out to the rumored team and driver that Durham is supposedly going to through various avenues in recent days, but have yet to get a response. Stay tuned here, this could be a significant pickup, especially given Durham's past resume with Davenport. The rumored driver is obviously not JD, and after a tough start in their main ride, even though they did win in another car, this driver could benefit from Durham's experience.
On to weekend racing... It sure didn't take long for Tanner Holmes' move to Tarlton Racing to pay off. And last night's win should quiet some of the comments, at least for a while. That wasn't a win from the pole on a rubber down race track against a field of 11 race cars. That was a solid drive through a tough main event. He started sixth, drove around Tanner Carrick right before ten to go, and won the Silver Cup at Chico in just his second start in the 21. Shane Golobic finished second, and Justin Sanders was third. That 360 feature also included names like Andy Forsberg, Dominic Gorden, and Kalib Henry. Pretty cool as well to see that Chico crowd pumped up to watch the 21 with Holmes go to victory lane. I think having an experienced crew chief on the wrenches, like Drew Warner, should continue to pay dividends for Tanner moving forward. I would also not be surprised to see this performance and speed leak over to the 18T. They will definitely learn things they can apply to their own program. I will for the life of me never understand why dudes like Tanner take the heat they do, just because they share their racing journey to social media. Over the last few seasons, Holmes has just as many top five finishes with the World of Outlaws as Chase Randall does, and more than Garet Williamson. But we don't talk about him in the same breath as those guys. He's a hard worker, he's a racer, and he deserves the success. I think this could be a breakout season for him. Tanner and the 21 will be at Stockton next weekend for the NARC opener before joining High Limit at Las Vegas in a few weeks.
Other weekend sprint car winners included Marcus Thomas, Noah Gass, and Sam Hafertepe in Elite Outlaw action in Texas. These are POWRi sanctioned, but not part of their 410 series. There are some co-sanctions this season, but they are two separate series. That will likely get confusing at some point in 2025. Matt Covington and Mark Smith were USCS winners, and Ricky Lewis won the USAC CRA show at Perris. He beat Jake Swanson and Kevin Thomas Jr. who are both staying busy early in the year.
Looking around at late model results from the weekend, Ricky Weiss was the super late model winner at the Toilet Bowl Classic at Clarksville last night. It was his first win in a super since he bagged the Baltes Classic at Eldora back in 2023. He topped Jason Riggs, who won the Friday prelim, and Allen Weisser. Interesting to note as well from Clarksville, Dennis Erb Jr. not driving the Capital race car this weekend. He was back in the Rocket chassis after running the Capital for all of speedweeks. I'll be curious to see if this switch back is permanent, and the Capital experiment is over. Or if Erb went back to the Rocket just for this weekend, seeing as how he'd had success at Clarksville previously. He was third in Friday race, and 22nd last night.
In Spring Nationals action, Chris Madden dominated the 40 lapper on Friday at Swainsboro, topping Wil Herrington and Trey Mills. And last night it was Cody Overton leading all but three laps at Senoia to score $10k and his second super late model win of 2025. Ethan Dotson and Ashton Winger joined him on the podium. There is more late model action today, and you'll likely see the southeastern based teams split between Cherokee for $15,000 to win, and East Alabama for $10,000 to win. Both should have good fields.
Also, if you're keeping tabs on the Brian Shirley saga, he won Friday night at Springfield. His speedweeks was marred by crashes and mechanical gremlins, but he led all 30 on Friday night to pickup $5000. Dillon McCowan and Tony Jackson Jr. finished second and third.
And for the USMTS fans, it was a Chisholm brother sweep at Heart O' Texas Speedway. Friday Jim won, and last night it was Joe. The USMTS mods are right back to racing this coming weekend with two nights at Rocket Raceway Park.
That's the show for today. Hope you guys have a great Sunday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!