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.

Series comments on restrictions, snooping at the dirt track | Daily 4-9-2025

Another sprint car deal comes apart, I've got more on the All Star restrictions including comments from Rich Farmer, and just what exactly was happening at the Dirt Track at Charlotte yesterday? Let's go!

It's Wednesday, April 9th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

If you needed any further proof that silly season in dirt racing is just all the time now, we did have a driver and team split on the sprint car side last night. Landon Crawley announced he's parted ways with Michael Dutcher's team and the 17GP ride. Crawley was a full time World of Outlaws driver in 2024, running the full season with the Jason and Paul Sides team. But he moved to Dutcher's car for 2025, with plans to run a pick and choose schedule around the country. Through 14 races togther though, things had been tough for the squad. They made nine appearances with the Outlaws, making just three main events; one at Kenndale, and both at Cotton Bowl. Their best finish was 21st. They also ran the two High Limit shows at Central Arizona, making one of two features. Their best runs were against the POWRi Elite Outlaw Series over three nights in Texas, including a ninth place finish at South Texas Race Ranch. It seems clear via the social media announcement that this was Crawley's decision, and we don't know what's next for either side. It's already been a busy year with sprint car changes, including crew chief swaps, teams switching engines, and of course ride changes. And we are just barely into April. Crawley joins Zeb Wise and Dylan Cisney as probably the top drivers on the hunt right now for sprint car rides.

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. They've got a big schedule of racing coming up this weekend. So dirtrackr.com/floracing, or you can click the link below in the video description, or the FloRacing links at dirtrackr.com.

Going back to yesterday's show about the restrictions from the All Star Circuit of Champions on it's full time drivers that could have come into play for the Sunday FAST show at Millstream. I say could have, because as of this morning, that Sunday show is actually cancelled. Too wet at Millstream to run on Sunday. But, I did trade messages yesterday with Rich Farmer from the All Stars and he did confirm the policy is in place, and that it's basically the same one the All Stars had used previously under Tony Stewart's ownership. For reference, I did say that part about it being in place previously on the show yesterday, which seemed to go unnoticed by a few folks out there. It was a good reminder that some want to react to just a thumbnail, or just a headline, and don't bother to hear what I actually say. Farmer reiterated that the policy is in place for the day before and after an All Star show for any races within 150 miles of the event. He did say that races that pay the same as an All Star event are excluded from the restrictions. The justification for using these types of policies is the series wants to protect the tracks that invest in having a series event. Those tracks pay a higher purse, tow money, and a sanction fee, and keeping drivers from racing somewhere else the next day for less money protects that investment. I've even heard stories of tracks asking for this policy to be enacted and/or enforced by series to protect certain races. Farmer told me quote "If they (meaning the teams) are willing and able to race down the street for much less and for no tow money what did the track that raced the night before pay for?" Those are all valid points, and I personally am fine if series want to implement rules like this. As long as the teams know what they are signing up for in the beginning, like with the World of Outlaws, then they shouldn't be surprised or complain when the rules are enforced. For those of you in the audience who've been around a while, you know I've said this exact same thing about the Outlaws. I think what needs to be understood here though, is that there will always be some portion of the community who are going to react negatively to these types of rules. The comment sections on my show yesterday are proof of that. And really, it doesn't seem like any of the reasons out there for why these rules are in place are enough to satisfy those that don't like them. There is also nothing close to consensus on whether or not this actually works or is effective. Like a lot of things, I doubt anyone has ever done a real study to learn if this is actually needed or not. Late model racing doesn't use it at all, which is why you'll see all the national touring guys race with the Flo series the day before a big touring weekend at a track not far away. Is that good or bad? I don't know, it's not clear to me. But those guys seem to be doing okay. And for the series that don't have restrictions in place, they are going to use it against those that do. If you were paying attention yesterday, the FAST series made sure to point out what was happening this weekend against the All Stars. And a major selling point for High Limit all along has been that teams have the freedom to race where they want on off days, unlike how things are with the Outlaws. So folks can be upset at me all they want for pointing it out, but I didn't put these rules in place. And it is noteworthy and newsworthy at a time where there are lot of things happening in the regional sprint car space, and competition is fierce for tracks and drivers and areas.

One schedule note for you, this weekend's Super DIRTcar Series show at Can-Am Speedway has been postponed because of rain and snow. No makeup date has yet been announced. The big block modified tour will be on track again April 18th at Albany Saratoga. Stewart Friesen the winner of the lone points race so far, and he leads the championship at the moment.

Finally today, a little behind the scenes fun for you. I've got some sneaky spy photos of a NOS Energy Drink promotional day that took place over at Charlotte Motor Speedway yesterday, including things going on at both the big track and the dirt track. Nick Hoffman was there with his late model, as was Sheldon Haudenschild, Justin Grant with the CB Industries midget, and a number of other NOS sponsored drivers. Haudenschild posted a video to his social media with guys getting a golf cart to do a wheelie, and he tagged Chris Forsberg, Ronnie Anderson, RJ Anderson, Tyler Courtney, Chris Windom, Ryan Bernal, and Shane Golobic as well. We thought intially that maybe there was some quiet testing going on, but it was NOS doing a little filming. I'm sure we'll see the results down the road.

That's the show for today. If you've watched all the way to this point and you aren't yet subscribed or don't follow DIRTRACKR, hit that button. It's free, and on YouTube we are very close to 42,000 subscribers. The goal for the year is 50K on both YouTube and Facebook, and you can help us get there.

Alright, hope you guys have a great Monday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!