DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Ride changes never stop, Reutzel the villain, why didn't more Outlaws go to Port Royal? | Daily 5-26-2025
Aaron Reutzel embracing the villain role in sprint car racing, why didn't more Outlaws use a free pass, silly season musical chairs continues, and more on this holiday edition of the Daily. Let's go!
It's Monday, May 26th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
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Big money on the line last night at Port Royal, with the Weikert Memorial getting a late bump to $100,000 to win. We ended up with three World of Outlaws drivers using a free pass to come race against High Limit. That included David Gravel, Logan Schuchart, and Zach Hampton. I honestly thought we might get a few more given the pay bump, but it is interesting to note how little success Outlaw drivers have had at Port in the recent past. The last full time Outlaw driver to win there back when it was on the schedule was Donny Schatz in 2019. The previous nine Outlaw stops at the track were all won by Posse guys or outsiders. Gravel with the best average finish at Port among full timers over the most recent 12 Outlaw races at about 7.2. Guys like Gio Szelzi, Sheldon Haudenschild, Carson Macedo, and Buddy Kofoid all with average finishes outside the top ten. I did a show almost a year ago about the best homefield advantage in dirt racing, and the title definitely goes to Port Royal. This Port situation also makes me go back to the whole free pass thing in the first place. 12 sprint car teams were six hours away yesterday, and decided to not tow to race for $100,000 to win. Maybe the added freedom isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially for certain teams. At the checkered last night, it was Aaron Reutzel taking down the big money for the Ridge and Sons Racing 87 team. He led all 40 laps from the pole, but did have to battle at various points with Anthony Macri. Macri actually led after the fuel stop, but the move was negated by a red flag, and then he led very briefly again later on, but couldn't hold it. He ended up settling for second, with Lance Dewease going seventh to third. Gravel went 10th to fifth, and Schuchart was eighth after starting fifth. The other Outlaw driver in Hampton had one of the uglier sprint car crashes we've seen this season. On the restart after the fuel stop, he got over Brian Brown's right rear into turn one and crashed really hard. Was glad to see him get out and walk away from that one. It was a shame, because he was hanging around in the top ten. He shared to social media a little bit ago he'll be racing tonight at Atomic, continuing his Outlaw season. Back to Reutzel, that was High Limit win number three, and as we kind of talked about early on, he's showing himself to be the problem we thought he could be. He's fast often, and if they can continue the type of consistency we've seen over the last five races, they can continue to climb the rankings. He's still trying to dig a bit out of that hole from Las Vegas when he got hurt and had to miss the feature. Reutzel's really embracing the villain role also. The Posse fans certainly not afraid to show their disdain for him, especially after he tangled with Kody Hartlaub last week at BAPS. But last night in victory lane, he made sure to acknowledge his detractors and called out the quote "stupid shit on social media." When was the last time we had a bit of a villain driver in high level dirt racing? I certainly remember Donny Schatz getting booed a lot, but that was because he won. And Brad Sweet talked on the Flo series DIRT II about being a sprint car villain, but it seems as though Reutzel has risen to another level, and he's okay with it. What other examples can you think of? The $100k score was easily the biggest payday of Reutzel's career, and it's almost hard to believe that was the first every six figure payday in Central PA. That was what FloRacing's Tyler Burnett talked about before racing got started yesterday with Gravel. Looking ahead, Lawrenceburg and Butler next for High Limit coming up Friday and Saturday. No change atop the standings, Brad Sweet still leads Tyler Courtney. Brent Marks, Rico Abreu, and Reutzel the rest of the top five. If the season ended right now, the six additional High Limit franchises would go to the RSR 87, the Rudeen 26, the KKR 9, the Meyers 14, the Rod Gross 88, and Chase Randall's 9.
Moving on to some silly season stuff, because we know that never ends, Ohio sprint car driver Trey Jacobs revealed in recent days that he's been let go from the Demyan Rudzik 49X ride. Jacobs made just two starts in that car, which included a 10th place finish in the All Star opener at Attica, and a 13th place finish about two weeks ago at Sharon. Jacobs was a late call-up for that ride, as Cale Thomas was originally slated to drive it for a full All Star run. Thomas though quit the deal to take the Shark Racing 1A seat after Jacob Allen retired, which as you might remember, lasted just three races. Thomas was sacked after crashing the car twice, and was replaced by Ashton Torgerson. Since then, Thomas made three High Limit starts in the Beaver 12X. Jacobs shared that he will continue driving his family 3J while also seeking other opportunities. He was a winner at Wayne County last weekened, and finished 15th against the Outlaws on Saturday at Attica. Word on the streets is that the 49X may be going right back to where it started for it's next driver. Racing does happen in circles after all. If the 49X is indeed sticking with the All Star plan, their next race would be June 6th at Williams Grove.
Other Sunday sprint car winners included Brandon Spithaler with FAST at Knox, Scotty Thiel was an IRA winner at 141, Kaleb Johnson won again at Huset's, Justin Sanders capped off a big weekend with an SCCT win at Marysville, and Tanner Holmes picked up win number three on the year with the 360 score at Cottage Grove. It was a good bounce back for Holmes after a tough start to the summer in his own 18T with several nasty incidents.
In late model action, Max Blair took down more PA cash with the $7600 win at Eriez. Some wild photos of his night there. Tyler Erb was an Iron-Man winner at Crystal, and Mike Marlar and Dennis Erb Jr. were $5000 winners with the Ultimate and MARS series respectively.
And modified winners from yesterday included Stewart Friesen and Cade Dillard. Friesen won with the Super DIRTcar Series at Weedsport, bouncing back from a broken shock during hot laps, with the car needing to be towed back to the pits. The SDS right back to it today with a stop at Thunder Mountain. And Cade Dillard wrapped the USMTS weekend at Mason City Motor Speedway with the victory, fresh off racing with Lucas at the Show-Me 100.
Other action to check out today includes the World of Outlaws sprint cars at Atomic. There is also Short Track Super Series, 410s at Huset's, and more. To see a rundown on your streaming options, stop by dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
That's the show for today.
Hope you guys have a great Monday out there. Enjoy the Memorial Day Holiday, and we'll see you back here tomorrow!