DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Wells Motorsports quiet testing, Reutzel races and shows busted nose | Daily 3-20-2025
Aaron Reutzel races with a broken nose, Justin Sanders' crap start, more late model series decisions, and Wells Motorsports goes testing very quietly. Let's go!
It's Thursday, March 20th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
Things are starting to pick up around the sport of dirt racing, and for those races you can't attend, make sure you've got access to watch from home. If you need to get a FloRacing subscription for 2025, and you want to help out DIRTRACKR at no additional cost to you, sign up over at dirtrackr.com/floracing. Flo is home to a ton of big dirt racing series and events, and they've also got plenty of paved racing, drag stuff, plus action sports. I've been a paid Flo subscriber since 2020 myself. So dirtrackr.com/floracing, or you can click the link below in the video description, or the FloRacing links at dirtrackr.com.
Kubota High Limit sprint cars at the rough and tumble Tulare Thunderbowl last night. Rain the days leading up to the event made sure things were going to be heavy and cowboy up for the night. There were even videos of haulers needing help to get into the pit area. Aaron Reutzel did end up driving the RSR 87, even with that broken nose and the stitches on his face. His car was sporting a rock screen for the night, and he detailed the situation with High Limit's Tony LaPorta. It ended up being a solid night for him, quick time overall, a dash appearance, and a top ten finish. Your top three at the end of the night ended up being the same top three from Tulare last August, just in a bit of a different order. Kyle Larson again the winner, he went sixth to the lead by lap 12, and drove away. Brad Sweet ended up second, again after leading early, and Rico Abreu was third. Corey Day the hard charger, with a big 21st to fourth charge. Tanner Holmes also in the top five. For those who think the High Limit guys get preferential treatment, Larson was sent to the dail of the dash for being late to staging. He was set to start third in that dash, and the penalty probably saved us from a 30 lap beat down by Yung Money. Larson and Day still the top two in the championship standings, but that will change this weekend. Both will be in Florida for NASCAR, and things will start to settle out. Teams are off today, with Kern County coming up Friday, and Perris on Saturday. Two other notes from last night, I thought Larson's qualifying save was pretty handy. He got up on the bike on lap two, and just drove out of it. As they say, when it doubt, throttle out. Also, Justin Sanders with a crap start to his 2025 season. Crashed on lap one last night. Missed the feature completely at Las Vegas, before subbing in for Reutzel. His NARC race at Stockton was ruined by contact with a lapper. His only real highlight was a third place run in the Silver Cup at Chico. Sanders also 25th in the High Limit race at Thunderbowl in 2025. We'll see if he can get things righted this weekend.
I do have an update today on a storyline we talked about two weeks ago. And that's the possible return of Eric Wells to super late model competition. Wells was full time with the World of Outlaws from 2013 to 2017, but hasn't made any starts in something like six years. But with the departure of Brandon Overton this year to the Longhorn house car, it seems as though that Wells team could be back soon, and with Eric in the seat. There was a social media tease early in March, and I've been told that Eric Wells has been getting in some laps lately, in a few quiet tests. One supposedly happened at Smoky Mountain Speedway a few weeks ago, and he was at Rockcastle Speedway yesterday. Rockcastle only about an hour and a half from the Wells shop. Tristain Chamberlain is a Wells chassis driver, and there were videos posted of him making laps, but sneakily, no footage of Wells, even though a source tells me he was there. No word on a possible schedule for Wells, who has one career Outlaw victory. We will see Chamberlain this weekend at Swainsboro, as he's a World of Outlaws full timer.
This Outlaw weekend at Swainsboro is the series' first stop at the Georgia track since 2012. $12,000 and $15,000 to win Friday and Saturday, and Bobby Pierce leads Nick Hoffman and Ricky Thorton Jr. in the standings. As we talked about yesterday though, Thornton expected to defend his Lucas title and head to Atomic and Brownstown. So far this season, we've had five different winners in six races, and this weekend's field will be tough. Besides the Outlaw full timers, you can expect to see Zack Mitchell and Tanner English, John Henderson in a second ASD car, Cory Hedgecock, Luke Morey, and more.
As for that list of undecided drivers, we got more confirmations today. Drake Troutman and Team 22 will go Outlaws, which will be a swap for Troutman, but not GR Smith's team. So that means they'll also be at Swainsboro. Troutman currently 10th in the Outlaw standings with a pair of top tens. Paylor Motorsports with driver Carson Ferguson has decided they are sticking with Lucas and will also be at Atomic and Brownstown. Ferguson with one top five and two top tens so far this season. He's currently 16th in the Lucas standings. He should move up though as other drivers make their choices. Another driver I was asked about this week was Tyler Erb. His name is not one I've heard as choosing a series this season. Remember he did eventually fall off the Lucas tour last year. I'd expect pick and choose from him again this season.
These two Lucas nights coming up are $15,000 and $25,000 to win. Jonathan Davenport leads Devin Moran by five points, and RTJ and Brandon Overton holding down the four chase spots. JD the defending Atomic winner, with Hudson O'Neal winning two of three before that. Moran, RTJ, and Mike Marlar were Brownstown winners in 2024. Of note, Brownstown is promoting that Daulton Wilson will be in attendance there on Saturday, so that would seem to point towards a Lucas return for him as well. He was another of the undecided drivers and teams. The last drivers we don't have clarity on include Kyle Bronson, Tim McCreadie, and Drake Troutman.
If you want other dirt late model action this weekend, the Southern All Stars are at Southern Raceway in Florida Friday and Saturday night.
Down in Texas, the World of Outlaws sprint cars have stuck around for another week, they'll be at Cotton Bowl tomorrow and Saturday. David Gravel leads Logan Schuchart by 62 and Carson Macedo by 64 points. Last weekend, Gio Scelzi and Buddy Kofoid grabbed their first wins of 2025, and they'll need more of that to keep the heat on Gravel. Gio actually a winner at Cotton Bowl last season, with Brent Marks winning the other night. Macedo and Sheldon Haudenschild also recent winners there. Even though he didn't win, Gravel did pick up two more top fives last weekend at Kennedale, and he hasn't finished outside the top five in an Outlaw race since Lincoln last October. It's a streak of 16 races. His average finish for the season through 10 races is a mind boggling 2.4. I wouldn't be surprised to see a similar cast of characters this week as we had at Kennedale last week. That should include guys like Anthony Macri, Cory Eliason, and Landon Crawley joining the Outlaws.
If you want other open wheel action, check out the POWRi midgets for the Turnpike Challenge. They'll be at Creek County tonight, and then at Port City for two nights. You've also got the season opener at Williams Grove on Friday, and the opener at Port Royal on Saturday. There is also weekly action at Attica, Lincoln, Ocean, Marysville, Placerville, and more. The open wheel schedule over at sprintcarratings.com, and the calendar at TJSlideways.com are two great places to see a full rundown of your options.
Also, in the northeast, the Short Track Super Series hits Bridgeport Speedway this weekend. They'll run for $6000 to win on Saturday for the south region championship. Dillon Steuer leads that right now after that fun win at Port Royal a week ago.
Before we shut it down today, a bit of DIRTRACKR news. We are now live over on Patreon. You can find the page at patreon.com/dirtrackr. Three membership options there, including a free tier, plus two premium tiers. All Daily shows will get posted there, along with bonus content, and whatever else I feel like. Members will have access to their own chat space, and there are perks for premium members. That includes merch discounts, and if you go for the top tier, you'll get the Daily show completely ad free. Absolutely nothing changes on YouTube, Facebook, or with the podcast, so don't go freaking out on me. I've been thinking about Patreon for a long time, and we'll do some fun stuff over there, besides the ad-free shows for those that want that. Check it out, and come join the fun if you are so inclined. That's patreon.com/dirtrackr.
That's the show for this week. Thanks as always for the support, the comments, the shares, and for stopping by each day.
Hope you guys have a great Thursday out there, we'll see you back here on Sunday!