DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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SUNDAY SPRINT CAR STUNNER! Plus how Dale Earnhardt's grandson did in his dirt late model debut | Daily 4-28-2025
Ashton Torgerson shocks the sprint car world, RTJ stays hot, Alberson solidifies his spot, JG scores, and Dale Earnhardt's grandson makes his dirt late model debut. Let's go!
It's Monday, April 28th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
We'll start your week off with the stunner that was 410 sprint cars Sunday at BAPS Motor Speedway. Davie Franek and Troy Wagaman Jr. your front row, with Wagaman quickly to the lead. Lurking though was Ashton Torgerson in that Shark Racing 1A. He started fourth, was third on lap one, second by lap two, and he drove by Wagaman for the lead on lap seven. He led the rest of the way from there for his first career 410 sprint car win. It was a 1.6 second margin of victory over Chase Dietz, with Danny Dietrich going 14th to third. Torgerson shocking the sprint car community going into Central PA and winning in just his second start in the 1A, a ride that I think it was clear a bunch of people thought he didn't deserve. It's been a wild ride for Shark Racing in recent weeks, with Jacob Allen announcing his sudden retirement, then the team hiring Cale Thomas only to fire him three races later after two crashes, and then to replace him with Torgerson. This move to hire a young driver with so little experience drew a bunch of criticism last week, which put especially Jacob Allen on the defensive. He popped up in a few places online defending the move and going at some of the commenters. I also had some folks tell me he called out some media types, including me, for our coverage of the situation. It's funny though, I don't remember rendering an opinion on the subject, except to say that it sucked for Cale Thomas to quit a ride, only to get fired. Imagine how mad Jacob would have been if I'd actually said something negative. Anyways, I don't think there is a soul in America who thought Torgerson could leave the weekend with a victory, but yet on Monday, here we are. I've already seen comments from folks trying to diminish what Shark did yesterday, but make no mistake, Torgerson beat Chase Dietz off the start, then flat drove by Davie Franek (a guy with a lot of 360 success), and Troy Wagaman Jr. He then was able to hold off Dietz and Dietrich down the stretch, with those guys being two of the top drivers in Central PA right now. And this wasn't a rubber down track, or a rain shortened race, or a lucky superspeedway finish at Daytona or Talladega. Torgerson was fast, he was aggressive, and he didn't do what a lot of drivers often do in situations like this, and that's screw it up with mistakes. This is a win that's going to have folks talking for a while. Going forward, I still think expectations should remain low, even with the success. This is still a driver with not much experience, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the competition around him take him a bit more seriously. But what a way to arrive on the scene. It does sound like the 1A seat might still be fluid though, and the last I heard is that Torgerson isn't guaranteed to be in it every week as the season progresses. Last night's performance might have them rethinking things a bit though. Bobby Allen did tweet this morning that their plan for this week is to take Torgerson to Eldora to race against the World of Outlaws. The young driver has made just four attempts with the Outlaws, but none since 2023. He made the feature on his Gold Cup prelim night that year, but ended up with B-Main results in the Gold Cup finale, and subsequent appearances at Hanford and Placerville.
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The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series closed out a three race weekend last night at Port Royal, and Ricky Thornton Jr. stayed hot. He slipped by polesitter Jonathan Davenport to lead lap 15, and was unchallenged from there. Lucas win number six on the season, and his fourth in his past seven races. RTJ hasn't finished off a Lucas podium since night two at Ocala back in February. JD settled for second, with Devin Moran making a late move to the podium, and Garrett Alberson good again. He ran as high as second, before finishing fourth. With Brandon Overton and Daulton Wilson finishing down the order, that fourth for Alberson really padded his margin for that final chase position. He's got 65 on Overton headed to Circle City and Florence later this week. Alberson has finished sixth or better in five of his last six starts, and that's what's vaulted him to fourth, combined with some tough luck for Overton. And Brandon Sheppard looked to be headed in the right direction Friday and Saturday with two top five finishes, but he was out early last night after suffering damage to the right front. I didn't see a replay on Flo, but the right front was killed on the Rocket 1. He's now nearly 200 points behind Alberson for that chase spot.
At Kokomo yesterday, Justin Grant picked up his first USAC midget win driving for Chad Boat. JG moved from RMS to CBI in the offseason, and he ended up battling his old car last night with Steven Snyder Jr. in the seat. A second place run for Snyder was his best career result. Grant leads the way too early standings over Cannon McIntosh after two races. The USAC midgets are back in action again in a few weeks at the Belleville Short Track. The USAC sprint cars at Eldora this week along the World of Outlaws, and Silver Crown hits the highbanks of Winchester on Sunday.
Other Sunday winners included Kyle Cummins in the sprint car feature at Kokomo, and Tim Shaffer won the season opener at Lernerville. Shaffer was again driving the Michael Dutcher 17GP. He's been in that car three races now since Landon Crawley departed to take over Johnny Herrera's 45X, with that team parting ways with Jace Park. Shaffer was fourth in the opener at Tri-City last week, he ran third at Muskingum County on Saturday with FAST, and now the Lernerville win. This might be a sweet spot here for both driver and owner.
One final thing for today, we talked a while back about Wyatt Miller making his dirt late model debut, and that start came this past Saturday night in a 604 at Natural Bridge Speedway in Virginia. If you aren't aware, Miller is the son of Kelley Earnhardt Miller and LW Miller, he's Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s nephew, and that all obviously makes him Dale Earnhardt's grandson. The 13 year old runs a variety of car types, including micros at Millbridge, off road trucks, and pavement late models. He got a chance to try out dirt late models because of the Earnhardt family's relationship with Longhorn Chassis owner Steve Aprin. Miller made his debut in the Whittier Motorsports ride, which serves as the Longhorn Factory Team for crate competition. Team owner Tony Whittier is an employee at Longhorn, and that 00 machine competes regularly with Ethan Wilson in the seat. Wilson the younger brother of Daulton Wilson. He's already bagged a couple of wins this season, including during the Sunshine Nationals at Volusia. Miller qualified seventh of 20 cars, and ended up fifth in the feature behind a Justin Williams win. It sounds like Miller will get another shot with Longhorn and Whittier in the coming weeks. I don't know that the young driver has a significant future in dirt late model racing, but it's great to see him expand and get some experience in a bunch of different types of racing.
That's the show for today. Stick around this week, as I've got some more interesting tech things to share, including some things on the late model side. There is also some midweek racing coming up.
Hope you guys have a great Monday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!