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.

Hoosier causes a stir, Outlaws partner with Hulk Hogan, Daryn Pittman and the 69K | Daily 4-15-2025

Daryn Pittman's new Knoxville deal and what it means for the Kreitz 69K, the World of Outlaws Late Model Series announces new title sponsor with interesting connections, and new dirt late model tires from Hoosier have the industry talking. Let's go!

It's Tuesday, April 15th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

For those of you headed to Knoxville Raceway this week for the World of Outlaws shows, or really any Knoxville race this season, check out today's show sponsor for a great local food and drink option. Not far away in downtown Oskaloosa is something different and delicious. Step inside the beautifully restored historic Post Office that was built in 1902 and discover two unique dining experiences under one roof! Upstairs, American Table offers an elevated dining experience Thursday through Saturday, and a delicious brunch on Sundays. Downstairs, The P.O. Box is open daily from 10:30AM to 9PM, and until 10PM on Fridays and Saturdays—serving up crave-worthy comfort food, cold drinks, and a cozy vibe. Come taste the charm at American Table & The P.O. Box—where history meets flavor in the heart of Oskaloosa. The space is also available for private events and parties. Find them at 206 North Market Street in Oskaloosa, and visit them online at americantablerestaurant.com.

Since we are talking about Knoxville, there was some driver news yesterday around Knoxville sprint car events. Lunstra Motorsports announced that Daryn Pittman will drive their number three machine this coming weekend at Knoxville against the Outlaws, and in some other races this season. That group of other races does include the Knoxville Nationals. Tim Kaeding will also drive the car in a schedule similar to what he ran last season. This Pittman announcement is significant, because it also means he won't be back in the Kreitz 69K for the Nationals. In 2024 at the Knoxville Nationals, Pittman went quicktime on his prelim night, before finishing sixth. He started on the front row in the big show, but eventually slipped to 11th. It was a big week for him and Kreitz, and yet more evidence of just how good that car and team are. In the aftermath of the Pittman announcement, I saw a bunch of folks wondering who would then drive the 69K at Knoxville, with some pointing to Christopher Bell. But just about two weeks ago, Kreitz himself told Jeremy Elliott on an episode of the Deep Dive that he isn't bringing the 69K to Knoxville this season. Kreitz saying Pittman quote "did want to run our car and I just couldn't make it happen for him." That's not to say that a driver like Christopher Bell couldn't still be racing the Nationals, but it won't be with Kreitz.

Moving on to some breaking news today. The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is set to debut a new title sponsor that begins immediately, with a multi-year deal in place. Going forward, the series will now be the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision. The late model tour under the World Racing Group banner had been without a title partner since CASE Construction departed after the 2024 season. Rumblings of a possible deal came may way in recent days, and things are now official as of today. Besides becoming the series title sponsor, Real American Beer also becomes the official beer partner of the World of Outlaws late models, sprint cars, Super DIRTcar Series, ASCS sprint cars, and Xtreme Outlaw midgets. Real American Beer will be available for purchase at select tracks throughout the rest of the season. This company was co-founded by wrestler Hulk Hogan and already has an existing partnership with the WWE, with WWE parent company TKO also becoming a minority owner in the brand earlier this year. Real American Beer's CEO is a former AB-InBev executive. There should be some interesting cross promotion opportunities here for the Outlaws, and as the Real American Beer retail footprint expands, you could start seeing World of Outlaws branding in stores. TKO, the company that owns the WWE, also controls the UFC, the sports marketing agency IMG, and the bull riding league PBR. Those could be significant connections if leveraged properly. If you want to see the full release, head over to worldofoutlaws.com. The new World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision is back in action April 25th and 26th at the Talladega Short Track.

Something we haven't talked about here on the show that has been bouncing around in recent days in the new right rear dirt late model tire from Hoosier. Dirt on Dirt and FloRacing's Kyle McFadden has been al over this story, and he's now put together two pieces on the tire and it's potential impact. Starting yesterday, these new right rear tires are available to purchase, and series will likely allow both this new right rear and the previous version for the remainder of the 2025 season. This updated right rear will still be available in the 2, 3, and 4 compounds, and no changes to the other corners are coming. According to McFadden's story and Hoosier's Shannon Rush, the new tire has a taller and softer sidewall and a more rigid carcass. The tread width is quote "virtually" the same, but the tire itself is wider. It also features different treadblocks, with dimples to aid in dispersing heat. Rush told McFadden the tire has better sidebite and balance on corner exit. Over the course of the past year, Hoosier has been testing these new tires with various teams and drivers, including a bunch of the different chassis brands. As with anything Hoosier does, this change was met with a wide range of responses, and a lot of it is negative. And dirt racing as a whole is known for very rarely having any sort of consensus on tech issues. Gateway Dirt Nationals promoter Cody Sommer posted to social media quote "The absolute last thing our sport needs is more side bite and grip in tires." Bobby Pierce told McFadden he's concerned about performance, and if this new tire isn't as good, they'll need to hunt down and stock up on the old version. And Jonathan Davenport told McFadden he thinks they made the move to compete against American Racer tires in certain open competition series and tracks. JD said quote "they're trying to win the local races. That's where they're losing sales at, is on the local and regional level to American Racer." When people start bringing up having open tire rules everywhere, the assumption is always that open rules will bring costs down, but if you remember back to your economics classes, that type of competition only brings down prices for commodity goods. Things that are easily replaceable across brands. That creates that race to the bottom for prices. But Davenport's point spotlights something that people don't think about. Open competition just creates an arms race. Hoosier isn't going to lower prices to sell more tires, they are going to make a faster tire to sell more tires. You're not going to buy the cheaper brand and get your butt kicked. Hooser's solution to getting beat by American Racer in some of these other parts of the country wasn't to lower their prices. They went to work to make a better tire. That would happen everywhere with open rules. Everyone hates having a sole tire supplier, but there are some benefits to it that people want to ignore. And if you notice, when these types of conversation happen, it's never the racers and teams saying they want open rules. It's race fans. That should also be a red flag. Over the next several weeks these tires will start to trickle out to teams, and we'll see what kind of difference it makes with the racing. Matt Cosner and Pierce clearly think it could shake up the running order. There is no national tour action coming up this week, but there is plenty of racing to keep an eye on. I would definitely recommend checking out those full pieces from Kyle McFadden. You can find them at both floracing.com and dirtondirt.com.

We'll wrap it up right there for today. Don't forget you can watch the Daily show completely ad free over at patreon.com/dirtrackr. That is one of the perks of the top tier membership I have named "reserved seating." You can sign up free as a member on Patreon, but the premium tiers do have added benefits. So check that out at patreon.com/dirtrackr.

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