DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Engine swaps, mixed messages, and an uncertain future | Daily 3-30-2025

The Ford engine is out of Donny Schatz's sprint car at Tony Stewart Racing. So, how did we get here? Why are we getting mixed messages? And will this really bring the ten time World of Outlaws champion back to prominence? Let's talk about...

It's Sunday, March 30th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

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Back on Friday came the news that I think a lot of sprint car fans were wondering hadn't happened sooner. And that was the announcement of an engine switch for Donny Schatz and the Tony Stewart Racing 15 team. TSR first started using the under development Ford 410 engine in 2019, and the piece has been blamed heavily by fans for Schatz's significant drop in form in the years since. Schatz last won a World of Outlaws championship in 2018, and even though he was second in 2019, the Ford power didn't really come into the mix heavily until 2020. That was the first full season with the engine, but Schatz still ended up third that year with five wins. Then came the steady decline each season through 2023, with that really being the worst year. Sixth in the Outlaw championship, four wins, and an average feature finish that was over nine. Schatz hadn't finished that low in the Outlaw standings since he was seventh way back in 2002. For 2024 though, the performance did bounce back. Not all the way to where we had grown used to seeing Schatz run during his championship campaigns, but it was better. They were still not qualifying great, but features were much better, and their average finish jumped nearly three positions to the mid sixes. The 15 was never in the same ballpark as David Gravel and the two team, but a third place run in the final points was a dramatic improvement. From 2020 through 2024, the 15 won 24 Outlaw races, two All Star shows, and won the Jackson Nationals, the Kings Royal, the Knoxville Nationals, and a National Open. I say that to keep this in perspective. This team wasn't suddenly the worst in sprint car racing, but it was a bit jarring for those that remember Schatz winning 31 times in 2015 alone. Since 2020, we have documented a lot of the journey for this team and the Ford power on this show, including the expansion to other race teams, Ron Shaver's own comments, Schatz expressing public frustration in 2023, and the rumors of him looking elsewhere for 2024. Along the way, it absolutely cannot be ignored that there was another massive change to this race team. And that was the departure of Ricky Warner after 2018. Steve Swenson was bumped up from car chief to crew chief then, and he lasted all the way through 2024. How much of this decline can be attributed to the Ford engine, and how much is because one of the greatest crew chiefs to ever live was suddenly not around? None of us, and even likely those within TSR, could answer that question well. Despite the improved form last year though, wholesale changes came to TSR for 2025. Swenson was gone, which was maybe an admission that the crew chief stuff was a bigger deal here, car chief Todd Devnich was promoted to crew chief, and two new crew members were hired. Schatz's car has moved over to running FOX Shocks from Factory Kahnes, and I've heard rumors of the team exploring their options in the chassis department. All of these moves made in an effort to find a combination that worked with the Ford power. Through the opening 12 races though, things have been worse. Even worse than 2023. Seven top tens were okay, but just a single top five, and an average finish north of 10.5. Rumblings of this engine swap started making the rounds last week, and the team eventually put out an official statement on Friday. The statement itself just said that development will continue on the Ford engine, but that the 15 would stop running it in points-paying races. Lawton and 81 Speedway the past two nights were the first races with a more traditional Chevy-based 410 back in the TSR 15. This whole situation is a bit strange no matter how you look at it though. By the statement, this feels like a performance change. And I think a lot of the fans are taking it that way. Things are worse than ever, and this was the final place really that they can make a move. But in Jeremy Elliott's story, which has quotes from Schatz himself, this is characterized as a parts-shortage issue for Ford. Chevy-based 410 engines were ordered months ago because it was clear that this shortage was coming, and they needed a backup plan. Rico Abreu also asked on Facebook if the team would run Fords at Eldora during the High Limit nights, but TSR corraborated Jeremy's story when they replied to Rico quote "There is a parts shortage and Ford is working very hard to get things caught up. We're still in a partnership with Ford and will test when they feel the engines are ready for us to do so" unquote. But supposedly Rudeen Racing is continuing with their Ford engines with Justin Peck and the 26 car. So is it parts, or is it performance? And then there are other strange signs. Schatz's car still had Ford Performance on the body panels this weekend, as does the TSR website and X account. But the Ford logo was removed from the top wing, Ford Performance was Photoshopped off the car in the TSR Facebook header graphic, and the Ford logo removed there. And Johnny Gibson did not include Ford in his mentions of Schatz on Friday. So is Ford still a partner with development continuing, or is this whole experiment just over? The signals are incredibly mixed. Going forward, based on a lot of the reactions I've seen online, it seems as though some think this engine swap will bring the TSR 15 and Schatz back to prominence. But it's not as simple as pulling out those 2018 notebooks and just letting it rip. A lot has changed in the last seven years. I think these guys will be back to square one on a lot of this, and if there is improvement to be found, we could be weeks away from anything meaningful in terms of results. Friday at Lawton, they were 15th in qualifying, finished fifth in heat three, and went 15th to 10th in the main event. Last night at 81, it was eighth in qualifying, a fourth place finish in the heat after starting third, and they were likely going to start 11th in the main event. It was obviously a windy night, so who knows how representative any of that was. Until we see otherwise though, I'm going to keep my expectations fairly low for this team. I'm not convinced the Ford was as big a problem as some think, and I don't believe you just swap powerplants and start winning again. And even if they do suddenly find pace, let's not forget that David Gravel is melting faces, Carson Macedo has been insanely consistent, Logan Schuchart is finding it again with new crew chief Kyle Pruitt, and Buddy Kofoid and Sheldon Haudenschild are back to where we expect them to be after slow starts. This feels like that scene in Ocean's 11 where Reuben is talking to Danny and Rusty about all of the failed past casino heists. His line is qoute "I'm sure you can make it out of the casino. Of course, lest we forget, once you're out the front door, you're still in the middle of the effing desert!" They might find speed, but they still need to beat all of these other guys. Color me skeptical here.

We'll end the show there for today. I know there was a lot that happened the last few days around the country, so understand I'm not glossing over any of it. We'll talk about a lot of those stories in the coming days.

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