DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Kasey Kahne doesn't need a crew chief! Plus Mike Marlar's big change... | Daily 3-23-2025

A late model chassis change has one driver humming, teams make their final series selections, David Gravel possibly headed for historic territory, the championship battle that could end up being the best in the country, and a lot more from the weekend. Let's go!

It's Sunday, March 23rd, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

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I think the past two nights of racing for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series could have been an interesting preview of what we are in for the rest of the season. I know you'll look at the box scores and see Ricky Thornton Jr. leading all 50 at Atomic, and Devin Moran leading all 50 at Brownstown and think we had snoozers. But I think Lucas could be the most intriguing championship battle we'll get this year among the four national tours, between late models and winged sprint cars. Jonathan Davenport entered the weekend as the leader, but one bad moment at Atomic running second where he tangled with the lapper of Tyler Wyant, means we leave the weekend with new guys out front. Moran and RTJ winning, plus podium finishes in the other races now see them tied atop the standings. JD is now third, 55 points back. The top three have separated themselves from Brandon Overton in fourth, and Overton has a decent gap to Daulton Wilson in fifth. I think this RTJ/Moran/Davenport trio could give us a very fun slugfest all season. I posted on Facebook last week that I think Moran isn't getting enough credit for his current form, and he just keeps pumping in good finishes. I do have an RTJ hot take which I will get to later this week as well. But at a moment where we've got dominant drivers leading High Limit and the Outlaws on the sprint car side, plus Bobby Pierce on the late model side, I would not sleep on the Lucas series. A couple of other things to point out. First, the time off hasn't seemed to help the Rocket house car. They broke an engine in their heat on Friday and hard to start 26th. They did charge up to 11th. And then last night at Brownstown, they had to use a provisional to start the feature. Brandon Sheppard with just one top five, and five top tens in 11 races so far. They are ninth in the standings, and 160 points out of the chase at the moment. Also, I said on a recent Daily show that there were rumors of chassis changes possibly coming, and a big one this weekend was Mike Marlar. He showed up to the Lucas shows not with a Longhorn, but with an Infinity out of the Wells shop. He was one of the cars testing last week at Rockcastle Speedway, and the swap seemed to pay off. Two fourth place runs and maybe the best he's looked in a while. His Skyline teammate in Tyler Bruening was still in a Longhorn however. Remember we've been talking about Eric Wells getting back in a car, and according to a Kevin Kovac piece at Dirt on Dirt, Wells will be piloting an R&D type car for Wells and the Infinity brand at select events. Ryan Gustin going well, maybe Marlar on the rise here, Infinity definitely with some things going on. Lucas quiet now for another month, with their next race April 25th at Georgetown.

In Georgia, the two World of Outlaws Late Model Series nights at Swainsboro went to Bobby Pierce and Ryan Gustin. Those two, along with Nick Hoffman, are the clear top three in the series, and Gustin and Hoffman leave the weekend tied for second behind Pierce. Gustin and Pierce now with two wins each, while Hoffman is still looking for his first. Pierce still very much the favorite on the Outlaw side, and I think there are concerns for Gustin and Hoffman, at least when it comes to keeping pace with the 32. We know when things are going well, Gustin can stack up wins. But can they stay consistent. Already two finishes outside the top 15 this season, and we've seen them have reliability issues at times. The concern for Hoffman is kind of the opposite. He and the Tye Twarog team are consistent, they have the most top ten finishes this season. But can they finish top five enough and get some more wins to really keep the pressure on. That will be the big question for them as we move forward. On the full timers front, we know Tim McCreadie and Drake Troutman decided Outlaws. Kyle Bronson also in attendance this weekend on this side, and with Jimmy Owens racing at Swainsboro, he's maintained his Outlaw status as well. Still 21 drivers at the moment listed as full timers. The Outlaws quiet this upcoming week as well, they return to racing April 4th and 5th at Atomic. The dirt late model focus this upcoming weekend will be back on the regional series. MARS has the Nippy 50 at Maquoketa, Hunt the Front goes to Whynot, plus there is Spring Nationals and Northern All Stars action.

Other weekend late model winners included Joseph Joiner in Southern All Stars action Friday at Southern, Ryan Crane won the Saturday show there. And Rick Eckert was a weekly winner at Port Royal.

Down at Cotton Bowl Speedway, a weekend sweep for David Gravel suddenly has folks wondering if he could get to 20 World of Outlaws sprint car wins this year. He's already got five in just 12 races. The last time we had a driver go over 20 wins in a season was Donny Schatz in 2018. And with how competitive this series has become, it felt like it probably wouldn't happen ever again. The closest we've gotten since was Brad Sweet with 16 in 2021, and David Gravel with 15 last year. But this kind of dominance we are seeing from Gravel harkens back to those Schatz days of him winning 20, 25, 30 races in a season and walking away easily with the championship. If he is somehow able to keep up this pace, Gravel would be flirting with 30 figuring a 70ish race season. His lead over Carson Macedo and Logan Schuchart has grown past 80 points, but if you are looking for positives, there is some hope. Things have stabilized for guys like Buddy Kofoid and Sheldon Haudenschild after tough starts. They both have been much better lately. I think those two along with Macedo and Schuchart are really the main guys to take the fight to Gravel at the moment. The question, especially for Kofoid, will be if he can overcome that tough start at Volusia. The guy we've seen the last three races, who went win, second, second, is who I think a lot thought we'd get all season. But Kofoid is 114 back, and Sheldon 164. Donny Schatz did pick up his first top five of the season on Friday, but DNF'd last night after an axle broke causing him to crash. And I'm starting to wonder what the plan is for Emerson Axsom. These guys have attempted every Outlaw race so far. I don't know why they wouldn't have declared before DCN as full time with the series, so they could get the benefits like tow money. Even if they fall off later, they've left money on the table. We are talking several thousand bucks at this point. I don't get that. And hat tip to Sam Hafertepe, two podiums in his last three races. He hadn't finished top five in an Outlaw show since 2022, and now he's been up front at both Kennedale and Cotton Bowl. The Outlaws stay around the midwest this next week with stops at Lawton and 81 coming up.

Out in California, we are now up to four different winners in four High Limit races. Friday at Kern County it was all Brad Sweet. I think the story of the night though was his boss and teammate, Kasey Kahne. Fast all night, and came home second. It was his best finish ever on a sprint car national tour, and his best run since a NOSA win at Huset's in 2023. I guess maybe he doesn't need Eric Prutzman. He backed it up with a top ten last night as well. The win for Sweet was the first with Tye Wolfgang on the wrenches. Including a third place last night at Perris, Sweet has yet to finish off the podium this season. Last night's win went to Aaron Reutzel on a rubber down track. Things went bad early, and Reutzel managed his right rear tire well all the way to the win. His second career High Limit win, and even with the broken nose and early points hole, he could still be a problem. A number of drivers did lose tires late in that one, including Tanner Holmes who was running second with five to go. If he holds on there, it would have been three straight top fives, and his best ever finish. He and Drew Warner looking really strong through this early part of the season. It's been an absolutely miserable start for the High Limit rookies. Daison Pursley crashed out on the first lap at Tulare and Kern County, and crashed out on lap two last night. And Sye Lynch has had similar luck. He's yet to finish even in the teens. And Spencer Bayston's start with Meyers not going to plan. Something broke at Kern on that car and he had an ugly crash on Friday down the backstretch. It was good to see him climb out okay. He's gone 18th, 22nd, 21st, and 17th. Headed next to Central Arizona, Sweet leads Tyler Courtney by 45, with Brent Marks, Rico Abreu, and Dominic Scelzi the rest of the High Limit top five.

In other weekend open wheel action, it was a Keith Kunz Motorsports sweep in POWRi midget Turnpike Challenge action. Cannon McIntosh, Gavin Miller, and Jacob Denney all picking up wins. Anthony Macri went home and won the season opener at Port Royal, Davie Franek and Derek Hagar split USCS wins, and ASCS Sooner region scores went to Blake Hahn and Whit Gastineau.

Saturday's Short Track Super Series win at Bridgeport Speedway went to Stewart Friesen.

That's the show for today. Hope you guys have a great Sunday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!