DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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I was wrong about Mansfield Speedway, Rocket takes Richards testing, can Troutman pull it off? | Daily 6-17-2025
Today we'll talk Drake Troutman's ambitious 2025 schedule plan, incredible progress at this once lost speedway, Rico Abreu's new partnership, Josh Richards finally gets back in a dirt late model, and much more. Let's go!
It's Tuesday June 17th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
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The long-talked about Josh Richards return to the seat of a dirt late model finally happened yesterday. Rocket Racing shared a photo of Josh in a car, sitting beside the other Rocket 1, which is driven by Brandon Sheppard. Some sort of return for Richards has been rumored for months, and Dirt on Dirt's Kevin Kovac reported back in May that a test session was coming. The line from team owner Mark Richards back then was that they were going to test and see how Josh felt. No specific race or schedule of races was set. I've been told the test yesterday was happening at Sharon Speedway in Ohio, which would make sense, given it's only a few hours from the Rocket shop in West Virginia, and Josh himself is an Ohio resident. There is still no word or rumblings on when or if we will see Josh back in a race, but at least the first step is complete.
I did want to briefly show off the very cool partnership my friends at Kubota Genuine Parts have going this coming weekend at Huset's for the High Bank Nationals. They have teamed up with Rico Abreu to run a special wrap, and Heater really knocked this one out of the park. Rico's family has used Kubota equipment for a long time in their businesses, and what a way for the two sides to come together. Great full circle moment. Action at Hust's starts on Wednesday.
Uh, have you guys seen all the progress happening so far at Mansfield Speedway in Ohio? We talked a couple of weeks ago here on the show about racer Matt Tifft buying the abandoned race track, and I was a bit skeptical on his timeline. Tifft shared that his plan was to have racing at the track in 2026, but given the state of the facility, that felt like it was ambitious. A decent amount of the grandstands had been torn down and sold, a lot of the track's concrete walls had been knocked down, and things were just generally a huge mess. Through his Facebook page and YouTube channel, Tifft has been sharing regular updates, and he and his team have been moving fast. They've got heavy equipment working to clean up the concrete so they can start on the track rebuild. Workers have been pressure washing that big grandstand and getting new railing put up around the sides. And trucks have been coming in bringing in new bleachers and catch fencing. Tifft said the bleachers are from Michigan International Speedway, and the catch fences are from a Formula 1 event held a few years ago in Los Angeles. Absolutely incredible progress so far, and a big hat tip to this group for their commitment. This is a massive job, but they have hit the ground running. Check out facebook.com/matttifftracing and youtube.com/matt_tifft to keep up with everything they've got going on. Instead of watching reno and makeover shows on HGTV, get the family together and watch Mansfield Speedway rebuild videos.
The Summer Nationals rolled right into week number two on Monday night with racing at Wilmot Raceway in Wisconsin. Joseph Joiner and Jason Feger starting on the front row together, and it was Joiner who was out front early. It looked for a while like he might be on his way to his first career Summer Nationals win, but behind him Drake Troutman was lurking. Troutman started third, and blazed past Joiner with a power move as the race neared ten laps to go. It was all Troutman from there, with Feger ending up second, and Joiner third. Troutman earning win number two, and really looking strong at the moment. Later this week he'll return to the road with the World of Outlaws when they go to Pevely as a joint show with the Summer Nationals. He's currently fourth in the standings there, but I wouldn't be surprised to see another win or two this week. Some crazy stuff this season for Troutman, his website at the moment shows that he's already raced 70 times in 2025. That's included mostly late model stuff, but he's scattered in some modified races, including that six figure mod win at Mississippi Thunder at the end of May. The plan is for Troutman to try and get to 150 late model races before 2025 is over. According to a recent team press piece, something like this hasn't been done before. Up next for the Hell Tour is Davenport Speedway today in Iowa.
In Ohio Sprint Speedweek action last night at Wayne County Speedway, it was Bryce Lucius going back-to-back, with the young driver again outdueling Cap Henry. Danny Dietrich also on the night's podium. Definitely a messy feature, a lot of spins and incidents, and not an easy show to make. 44 cars there at Wayne County, and several names on the outside looking in before that feature. That included Devon Borden, Kalib Henry, Zeth Sabo, Greg Wilson, and Ryan Smith. Borden and Henry used provisionals to get into the feature. Headed to Eldora today, Lucius leads Henry and Zane Devault in the speedweek points. Still to come after tonight are Fremont, Waynesfield, Moler, and Atomic.
Elsewhere tonight, Eastern Storm gets started for the USAC National Sprint Cars. Six races in six days, with Grandview, Bridgeport, Big Diamond, Williams Grove, Port Royal, and Action Track USA all hosting events through Sunday. This is the same lineup and set of tracks we saw in 2024, and last year the winners were Briggs Danner, Brady Bacon, Logan Seavey, Kevin Thomas Jr., Bacon, and Seavey. Kyle Cummins is the current series championship leader, he's got 84 points on Justin Grant, with Mitchel Moles, Seavey, and Robert Ballou the rest of the top five. Seavey is your most recent winner, going back to last weekend at Red Hill. JG had been doing a solid job trying to keep pace with Cummins, but a 20th a few races ago at Bloomington, and a 14th last time out at Red Hill really allowed Cummins to extend. The 3P team has five wins, 12 top fives, and 14 top tens in 14 races so far. I said it after last week's race also, but Cummins' average finish is an insane 2.86. Both tonight's Ohio Speedweek show from Eldora and the Eastern Storm opener will be live over on FloRacing.
The other show I wanted to point out today is USMTS modifieds at Casino Speedway. Those teams have a busy week, with Casino today, then Off Road Speedway on Wednesday, before two nights at Route 66 in Texas Friday and Saturday. Rodney Sanders in a familiar place right now atop the series standings, he's got Jim Chisholm and Kyle Strickler in tow. Sanders with four wins and 12 top tens in 13 races. He leads all drivers in that win category. If you want to see the full run down on your streaming options for today, head over to dirtrackr.com/watchtonight. There we've got what's racing, where, start times where available, and links to watch.
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Hope you guys have a great Tuesday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!