DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

Dirt racing news, results, discussion, analytics. Sprint cars, late models, modifieds, you name it. From national series, to top local shows. Brought to you five days a week. Email the show at info@dirtrackr.com.

Was Rudeen experimenting, or is not using the Ford 410 engine a permanent change? | Daily 3-4-2025

David Gravel sweeps and looks set for another big season, where did the Ford engine go in the Rudeen sprint car, and SSI makes their crew chief hire official. Let's go!

It's Tuesday, March 4th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

Before we dive into everything today, a quick word from today's show sponsor...

Are you ready to be part of something bigger? A team that's built to win? Second Law Motorsports is looking for passionate, skilled professionals to join them on the road to victory! They've made their mark in a short time-winning races across multiple disciplines. But they're just getting started. Now, they need dedicated team members to help take them to the next level! Current positions available include Crew Chief, to lead the charge, make the calls, and steer them to victory. Car Chief, to keep their machines dialed in and race-ready. Tire Specialist - Speed, grip, and precision start with you. And Truck Driver- No CDL? No problem! Get them to the track and in the fight. At Second Law Motorsports, this isn't just a team-it's a family. Built on passion, grit, and the relentless pursuit of excellence. If you've got the drive, the skills, and the hunger to win, now's your shot! They are looking for hard-working, motivated individuals who want to be part of something special. Together, they'll dominate on the track and inspire off of it. If you think you've got what it takes, the track is calling. Join Second Law Motorsports today! You can apply now at https://2ndlawmotorsports.com/jointheteam Second Law Motorsports. Winning is just the beginning.

World of Outlaws sprint car action at Volusia Speedway Park wrapped up last night with the second of two shows around Daytona Bike Week. David Gravel your winner again, but he didn't just get out front and set sail like he did on Monday. He started third, dropped back a bit at the start, then picked his way back to the front, taking the lead from polesitter Gio Scelzi on lap 15. Logan Schuchart was fast again, going sixth to second, and Scelzi ended up third. It was a much needed podium result for Scelzi and the KCP 18 after a tough DIRTcar Nationals. The bad thing for those guys, is after just six races, they are already 128 points behind Gravel out front. Scelzi hadn't been on an Outlaw podium since Bakersfield last September, a span of 17 races. As for Logan Schuchart, it's really a shame he ran out of fuel late on Monday night, because if he hadn't, he'd be probably 20 points closer to Gravel there in second in the standings. He and that 1S machine looking like a different team than we saw in 2024. Hopefully new crew chief Kyle Pruitt can keep him going in the right direction. Jacob Allen had another top five run last night, and a nice recovery drive for Chris Windom, who went 22nd to 10th in the Sides car. Back to Gravel, he and Cody Jacobs are just at the peak of their powers right now. Six Volusia races, two wins, five podiums, and six top fives. They are riding a 17 race top ten streak at the moment, which is the longest active streak of any driver with a major dirt racing series. Outside of when Kyle Larson and Paul Silva pull into a pit area, Gravel is going to be the favorite at a lot of races this year. 16 wins and an Outlaw title a season ago, and absolutely zero signs of slowing down. And Jacobs clearly rising up into the group of top crew chiefs in sprint car racing. I know there has been some pissing and moaning about six straight races to start the season at Volusia, but I thought we saw some good racing last night. I also don't know where else you can race in late February or early March and have any hope of the weather cooperating. I will say it's tough to get a sense of where everyone is right now, because of six races at one track. I feel like we have a decent idea of the pecking order, but it's tough to say anything definitive until we get to some other race tracks. Headed next to the Talladega Short Track and Magnolia Motor Speedway, Gravel leads Schuchart by 44, with Carson Macedo 46 back. Donny Schatz and Buddy Kofoid effectively tied for fourth, both 82 back. The Outlaws back in action Friday and Saturday.

I do want to mention one technical thing I and others noticed the last two nights at Volusia. And that was the Rudeen 26 of Justin Peck not running the Ford 410 sprint car engine. Peck swept the three nights of 360 ASCS action at Volusia back in January, but there isn't a Ford 360, so those were wins with another builder. He did run the Ford as far as I can tell by images at DIRTcar Nationals. Some solid runs in February, making the feature all four nights, and finishing top 10 in three of them. Sunday night and Monday night though, no Ford. A traditional Chevy-based 410 under the hood of the Rudeen car. If you want to know how to spot this, look at the headers on the car. The left photo here is Peck at World Finals with the Ford, the right is the car yesterday. It didn't seem to pay dividends on night one, with the 26 missing the feature. And then last night, they started 14th in the main event, but got caught up in a crash and DNF'd. So it's tough to judge where they were last night, although qualifying wasn't much better than night one. A six to four in the heat put him in the show. It's been my understanding that since Rudeen switched to the Ford, they were getting the same pieces as Tony Stewart Racing, and not the Ford customer version available through Shaver that Chase Briscoe's car had in 2024. Ron Shaver himself admitting in an interview last year that the TSR version and the customer version were different. It's possible the Rudeen team wanted to do some experimenting in advance of the High Limit season starting, and you could get a decent comparison between the two Volusia events. If they do eventually go away from the Ford, it would leave the TSR 15 again as the lone Ford powered sprint car. This might be a story to watch moving forward for this group.

An interesting stat note for you. I just said David Gravel has the longest top ten streak in the country, but there is a bit of a caveat. At the moment, my streakers stat that is available with a DIRTRACKR Plus subscription shows Devin Moran with 32 straight Lucas top tens. What's a bit odd though, is the February 5th race at Ocala. That was a non-points night, Moran finished third in his heat, but then scratched for the remainder of the night after engine issues. He would have started in the top ten in that feature, and could have picked up a 33rd top ten that night. So does that not count as a 32 race streak? I'll let you be the judge. Either way, Moran has been incredible lately. His last Lucas finish outside the top ten was a 17th in a Firecracker 100 prelim, way back in June of 2024.

In dirt late model news, SSI Motorsports officially announced Jason Durham as their new crew chief yesterday, which we told you was coming back on the Sunday Daily show. Durham had been partnered up with Stormy Scott, which included serving as his crew chief, and also partner in the Category 5 race cars brand. Scott though in recent days announced his return full time to modified action, where he'll drive cars built by Cade Dillard. As we talked about a few days ago, Stormy's release mentioned current Category 5 customers can still get support from Durham out of his Kentucky-based shop, but some industry friends have told me the future of Category 5 is seriously in doubt. Over the last few days, I did reach out to SSI, O'Neal, and his representation through various channels for comment on the Durham move, but as they say, I was ghosted. Dirt on Dirt and FloRacing's Kyle McFadden suffering a similar fate according to his story. Nice to see I'm not the only one who gets ignored. O'Neal, who was the 2023 Lucas champion, had an up and down speedweeks, which included three Lucas finishes of 16th or worse, but also six top tens, and a best run of second at Ocala in the SSI car. They are currently eighth in the Lucas standings, and 200 points behind Jonathan Davenport. O'Neal also had a dominating win at Needmore in Hunt the Front action, but that was driving for Kevin Rumley. And at Volusia, during DIRTcar Nationals, O'Neal missed the feature all three Outlaw nights. Durham replaces Nick Hardie as O'Neal's crew chief at SSI, and I was told Hardie was spotted elsewhere this past weekend. Hardie had been with O'Neal since he started his own deal last year, following him then to SSI. When Anthony Burroughs departed SSI at season's end to take the crew chief gig with Brandon Overton at Riggs Motorsports, Hardie was elevated to that spot. Now though, he's out after two months in the job. Durham's resume with Jonathan Davenport included crown jewel wins, Lucas titles, and crew chief of the year awards. Things much quieter though with Stormy, just three late model wins in two seasons. That included a Summer Nationals score and a Northern All Stars victory in 2023, and a Comp Cams Super Dirt win in 2024. Durham though will bring veteran experience to SSI, who hasn't won a Lucas show with O'Neal since their opening stretch together when O'Neal went back-to-back at Eagle and Shelby County. This group will be up against it to try and battle back into the Lucas championship picture, especially during a season where the top of the series is ultra-fast and ultra-competitive. The Lucas season doesn't get started again until March 21st at Atomic, but O'Neal's website shows them racing again March 14th and 15th at Smoky Mountain with the Outlaws.

We'll call it good right there for today.

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