DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Jacob Allen, who always did things a bit different, abruptly calls it a career | Daily 4-3-2025

A fan favorite sprint car driver calls it a career, but even though he's still young, it shouldn't come as a surprise for a driver that usually did things a little differently. Plus we'll preview what could be a stout Hunt the Front show at Talladega and more. Let's go!

It's Thursday, April 3rd, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

A quick update today off the top of the show about our road to 50K in 2025. As I write this we are at 41,783 subscribers on YouTube, and we've added 3,467 so far this year. On the Facebook page it's 33,332 followers, and an 8400 follower gain. So we need about 8200 on YouTube, and not quite 17,000 on Facebook to hit 50K on both platforms for the year. If you haven't already, please hit that subscribe or follow button. That's a free way to help out DIRTRACKR, and it will keep you in the loop on the all things dirt racing.

Jumping in, the news from Wednesday that has everyone talking was the announcement from Jacob Allen that his sprint car career has come to an end. The Pennsylvania driver, and son of sprint car hall of famer Bobby Allen announced yesterday that effective immediately his time behind the wheel is over. He shared quote "With having a family now I feel it's best for me to focus on being there for them" unquote. He also shared that while he's done driving, his team will continue to operate, and that he plans on being heavily involved in the Shark Racing operation. Jacob's career comes to a close having made 755 appearances with the World of Outlaws, picking up five wins along the way. Although not his best points finish, 2022 was definitely his best season. Four of those five victories came that year, including a win at the Gold Cup at Chico, and overall it was his best statistical season. On top of those official Outlaw wins, Jacob also has a Knoxville Nationals prelim night win on his resume, plus a High Limit score, wins in Central PA, and against the IRA and Maverick series. The 30 year old driver is probably somewhere near 1000 sprint car races, maybe a bit more, in his career that started in 2009. He and Logan Schuchart started as World of Outlaws full timers in 2014, and we really watched them grow up and figure it out on the road against the best in the business. The two Shark Racing teams though went separate directions in 2024, with Schuchart staying Outlaws and Allen going High Limit. And then for 2025, Allen's 1A was planning a pick and choose schedule, with the team making eight 410 starts already, plus some scattered 360 shows. He picked up a podium and a top five during the second Volusia weekend for his best runs of the season. A few days later though, he had a heat race crash during a weekly show at Lincoln and we hadn't really seen him since. That was until this past Saturday at Port Royal, when Allen dropped in for some weekly action there. He ended up 19th after starting 22nd. With the wife and baby now, and the mental health break he ended up needing in 2023 in the midst of a tough Outlaw campagin, a schedule where he could decide when and where to race really felt like the right move for him. But you have to wonder if that crash at Lincoln made him start to really reconsider driving at all. Word about a potential change for Jacob started getting around earlier this week, and then we got Allen's official announcement yesterday. As much as it bums me out to see him go, because I think he's a great character for sprint car racing, and I've been around for basically his whole career, I applaud him for making the tough decision. He could have easily continued plodding around the country half hearted for a bunch more years. But 410 sprint car racing, especially at the highest levels, requires insane levels of commitment and focus, and I think it's great that he's recognized that at this point in his life, the family is just more important to him. He's always been a bit of a different cat, so I'm not surprised to see him go out his way. Going forward, the 1A team will continue to operate, and I've been told the next driver has already been hired. I don't know when that announcement will come, and I'm not going to spoil it for them, but the driver they hired I think will surprise some folks. I would expect that car to be back out on the road very soon though, maybe as early as next weekend, and I think they will be competitive. The guy the are supposedly getting is a race winner, and we know that car is capable of running well. Happy trails though to Jacob Allen in his retirement.

Looking around the country this weekend, your dirt racing options continue to shrink. We've already lost about the World of Outlaws sprint car and late model events, High Limit, plus NARC and POWRi. We can add to that list USAC sprint car action. Friday's race at Paragon Speedway is cancelled outright, and the Saturday show at Red Hill has been pushed to June 13th. Up next for the USAC sprint cars is an Indiana double April 11th and 12th between Lincoln Park and Lawrenceburg. Also, the season debut for the IRA sprint cars will have to wait a few more weeks with the two weekend shows at 34 Raceway cancelled. They will try again April 26th at Beaver Dam. And coming off the Nippy 50, the MARS series was set for racing at Paducah and Clarksville, but those are off as well. The MARS modifieds will next race at the Illini 100 at Farmer City, and the MARS late models go again April 17th at Cedar County, followed by two nights at 34 Raceway. And finally, down in Louisiana, the USMTS Cajun Clash at Boothill is off. They are working on trying to find a reschedule date for that one, with the next USMTS show set for April 11th and 12th at Hamilton County. Make sure you check with your local track and series in advance this weekend before heading to the track. I'm sure we aren't done just yet with races being called off because of weather.

Now that the crap news is out of the way, it does look like things should be full go for the Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series at the Talladega Short Track Friday and Saturday. Two races complete so far, with Ricky Weiss and Dalton Cook grabbing the two early wins. Cook currently with a two point lead on Weiss, with Zack Mitchell, Jimmy Owens, and Trey Mills the rest of the top five. Last week at Whynot Owens with the provisional to podium charge you don't see very often. The late model teams will have open practice tonight for a few hours, and then action starts Friday with $8000 to win, and continues Saturday for $12,000 to win. The Hunt the Front tour made two stops at Talladega last season, with Brandon Overton winning in the spring, and Ethan Dotson and Zack Mitchell splitting the October weekend. Mitchell is an HTF full timer now, and Overton and Dotson are expected to be in attendance. Other travelers coming in include Ryan Gustin, Tyler Erb in Matt Tifft's car, and Dale McDowell. Overton might not be a bad win pick for the weekend, as he's also got previous wins at the track with the Southern All Stars and World of Outlaws. He led late last week at Whynot, and was the Spring Natinals winner at East Alabama. That Longhorn Factory team with Riggs Motorsports maybe building some momentum right now. This weekend's action will be included on the streaming schedule at dirtrackr.com/watchtonight, and that's the place to keep up with your options over the next few days. We are trying to add cancellations there as they come in.

We'll call it right there for this week. Thanks as always for the support and tuning into the show, wherever you choose to do that. The comments, likes, shares, reposts, etc are all appreciated also.

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