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.

Mike Marlar not an invert guy, should Eldora outlaw tire changes? | Daily 6-9-2025

Today on the show we're talking tires and pit strategy at Eldora, Mike Marlar really hates inverts, plus Sunday results and more. Let's go!

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

If you need to do an oil change this summer on your car, or grab a set of brake pads, maybe a new battery, or some cleaning products, let me help you out. Head over to dirtrackr.com/advance, and use code "GEARUP" at checkout to get 15% off any order, or 20% off an order of $100 or or more with Advance Auto Parts. You can order online, and they will ship your goodies right to your house. That's code "GEARUP" at checkout at dirtrackr.com/advance to save some money this summer with Advance Auto Parts. I'll also leave the link in the video description below.

Coming out of the Dirt Late Model Dream at Eldora, there are a couple of things I wanted to talk about around the event format and how rules affect things. First, I had a comment on yesterday's show about Bobby Pierce pitting on Saturday night to fix his right rear tire right around half way. The 32 pulled up lame with what appeared to be a flat, and went to the infield to get it fixed. Pierce was then obviously able to drive back through the field to finish second behind Jonathan Davenport's win. The comment from yesterday pointed to Eldora needing to make rules to not allow drivers to put new rubber on. Pierce's post race comments sort of made it sound like he ran the first half hard, knowing he was likely going to get new rear tires put on. Unlike a national series like say Lucas, it doesn't seem as though the Eldora crown jewels have a rule about tires needing to be flat to be changed. That is the case with Lucas, but at Eldora, as long as you can change the tire before the field is set to go green, there is no such restriction in place. That didn't necessarily apply to Pierce, given the right rear issue, but it is an interesting discussion point. Should dirt late model racers be allowed to have some measure of a pit strategy in these longer crown jewel events. Davenport was able to dominate and win by more than 10 seconds on his original tire, so obviously it's not necessary to change. But Pierce was able to make it work. I wonder though if that's possible for anyone. It seems like we often see guys get that tire changed, head back out to tag the tail, and then not be able to drive through the field. The comment suggested that if a driver has a flat, their night should be done. I don't know that I feel strongly one way or the other here, but making someone put it on the truck for a flat tire seems a bit harsh. There was another comment that suggested maybe only allow them to swap to a used tire if they come in. I certainly see the point about not allowing tire changes, but I don't think it really bothered me that Pierce had fresher tires. It didn't really work out for him in the end anyway. Maybe if he could have gotten a late caution to wipe out Davenport's lead he would have had a shot, but there is certainly no guarantee. I think if it was really that big of an advantage to do it, you'd see everyone pitting for fresh rubber when they had the chance on some of the cautions. Of the front runners, I think only Pierce got tires. I know Hoffman pitted early for damage, but I don't know if they put a tire on or not. I'm curious though to know where the rest of you stand on this one.

The other thing to mention was Mike Marlar bemoaning the inverts after the Friday night prelim feature. He started fourth in a heat that he would have been on the pole of given no invert, and he ended up with damage. He posted to Facebook quote "Eldora Speedway, why bother working to get what you earn?? Had to start 4th in a heat race I should have been on the pole of. Now we're fixing a wreck. There is plenty of good competition to see a good show WITHOUT INVERTS!!! No need to penalize guys who work hard. #dobetter #invertsgottago" unquote. That post at this moment is well across 700 comments and drew mixed reactions. People complain all the time about the lack of inverts with a series like the World of Outlaws sprint cars. But here you have a competitor going the other way. Inverts are obviously a way to try and create passing in heats, but when cars are so equal these days, it does make things tough for guys buried. And it's not been uncommon to see drivers play qualifying games to hit the inverts just right. It's not like inverts at Eldora are a new thing though. These guys know what they are getting themselves into when they show up to run these Eldora shows. So do you agree with Marlar, or do you like the inverts at Eldora?

No World of Outlaws sprint car show on Sunday. The Angell Park Speedway race was rained out, and postponed until October 19th. Up next for the Outlaws is two days at Knoxville Raceway this coming Friday and Saturday. In between, we do have High Limit at Eagle for $55,000 to win, and we'll see if any Outlaw drivers decide to invade that one to try and win back some of the money the High Limit guys swiped off the Outlaws this past weekend. Last year, Eagle drew Carson Macedo, Gio Scelzi, Logan Schuchart, and Buddy Kofoid. Not that I looked super hard, but I haven't seen anything publicized just yet on who could be attending. I would assume a bunch of the High Limit teams will be in action at Knoxville next weekend.

In Sunday racing that did happen, Ryan Timms was again a sprint car winner at Huset's. He and Chase Randall went at it, with the elbows out there a few times. Timms has now won four times in his last seven races, picking up scores at both Huset's and Knoxville. We'll see if he can parlay this success into some better results against High Limit and the Outlaws coming up.

At Kokomo, Indiana Midget Week wrapped up with Jacob Denney charging from 17th to the win. Kale Drake and Drake Edwards battled for the lead throughout, but Denney got in there late and stole it. The rain-ravaged midget week title was won by Kale Drake, with only three races getting completed. Drake impressive so far this season with seven top fives in eight races, and already two wins. He hasn't finished off the podium in five straight races. Leaving midget week though, Justin Grant still leads the championship by 21 points over Drake. Cannon McIntosh and Denney aren't far behind. Up next for the USAC midgets is the BC39 at Indy July 1st and 2nd.

If you missed it over the weekend, I sent out a new issue of the Slider, our free email newsletter. This one featured a piece by Pat Sullivan where he talked about non-wing sprint cars at Knoxville, and where streaming blackouts fall into our current situation. If you don't get the newsletter, you can sign up for free over at dirtrackr.com/theslider. You can also see Pat's piece there, and all past issues.

Before we close out, thanks for 43,000 subscribers on YouTube, and 40,000 followers on Facebook. We are getting ever closer to our goals for the year. If you haven't done so yet, and would like to, hit that subscribe button on YouTube and the podcast places, and like and follow on Facebook.

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