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The Reaper wins, but not with Cody Mallory; when it rains, it pours for Daison Pursley | Daily 6-18-2025

Daison Pursley and his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad winged sprint car night. Ryan Gustin wins, but with a new crew chief. We'll discuss. Plus a World of Outlaws Huset's preview, and more. Let's go!

It's Wednesday June 18th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

Pennsylvania Speedweek presented by Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews is almost here! From June 27th to July 6th, the Keystone State is the place to be to see some of the best sprint car drivers in the nation battle it out on Pennsylvania's most iconic dirt tracks. This year each race pays a minimum of $10,000 to win with the Mitch Smith Memorial at Williams Grove on July 4th paying $20,000! New this year, is the first ever Speedweek kick-off event on Sunday, June 22nd at the Latimore Valley Fair. Come out and see your favorite drivers, get first dibs on buying the 2025 Speedweek t-shirt and stay for an auction of racing memorabilia. In the heart of the PA Posse's home, Central PA's marquee event, Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek, has a storied history of being the most anticipated week of racing. The coveted title has been won by hall of famers and future hall of famers alike including, Fred Rahmer, Greg Hodnett, Danny Dietrich and Lance Dewease. Can Anthony Macri make it three Speedweek Championships in a row? A feat that only Fred Rahmer has on his resume. Bring the whole family and experience the most electrifying week in racing. Pennsylvania Speedweek – ten nights, one unforgettable experience! For more information go to pa speedweeks dot com or find them on Facebook and X!

I'm starting today off with Daison Pursley. It's not been a spectacular first season in winged sprint car competition for the young Oklahoma driver, after dominating the USAC midget series a year ago. He took over the Buch Motorsports 13 after the departure of Justin Peck, and that team is full time with the Kubota High Limit sprint car series. Coming into 2025, Pursley had just 25 career winged starts, with 20 of those coming in 2024. This is very much a driver still trying to figure things out, and we've seen the transition from non-wing to winged go well for some, and not so well for others. Tyler Courtney seemed to catch on quickly when he jumped full time, but it's taken a guy like Chris Windom more time to get comfortable. For Pursley, it's been a slog so far. 30 races this season, after last night's race at Eldora, and just five top tens. He had a season best sixth place run two weeks ago at 141 Speedway with High Limit, but hasn't been better than 17th in the four races since. He's way down in 11th in the High Limit standings, and last night's Ohio Sprint Speedweek race at Eldora was a chance to build some confidence on a track he's been successful at before. Things started well, a solid qualifying run, a heat race win, a dash spot, and a front row starting spot. He even won the night's non-wing feature. But sometimes motorsports has a cruel way of testing your resolve. While leading four laps into the race, and with a comfortable lead over second place running Emerson Axsom, things got real weird. Brandon Spithaler crashed in between turns one and two, and as Pursley approached the stricken 22 machine, the rear bumper of the 22 started tumbling down the track. It had obviously detached during the crash, and as luck would have it, Pursley couldn't avoid it. I don't know what the odds are of that bumper being right where it was as Pursley came through, or what the odds are that Pursley then hits that bumper in the exact right way to poke a hole or cut a line in that 13 machine. But they'd have to be extremely low. Under the red flag, fluids were seen leaking from the Buch machine, and it was pushed back to the truck, done for the night. We were shown a picture on FloRacing of what looked like oil streaming out from under it. An insane way to lose a shot at a win, especially at a track like Eldora, where clean air is king. A battle between Pursley and Axsom would have been fun to watch, but Pursley's chances were pretty good. In a season where nothing seems like it's going right, last night had to have been a gut punch. I hope those guys will keep him pumped up though, knowing they had the speed to win. Pursley being done made way for Axsom, and he led the rest of the way for the win, with Brock Zearfoss and Cap Henry on the podium. Ohio Speedweek points haven't been updated after last night, but Cap Henry will takeover the points lead from Bryce Lucius. Lucius had issues in hot laps, it looked like he blew a right rear before hitting the wall. Instead of fixing it though, that team scratched for the remainder of the night. A bit of an odd deal, especially given that Lucius had won the first two races of the week. Speedweek actions shifts to Fremont tonight.

Last night's Summer Nationals win went to Ryan Gustin. He dominated Davenport Speedway for his first career Hell Tour score, topping Jake Timm and Ashton Winger. Gustin had been winless since Swainsboro back in March with the Outlaws, and he's had an up and down season. I had a reply yesterday on social media about Gustin and crew chief Cody Mallory, because it appeared as though Mallory is no longer with the Todd Cooney Racing squad. Josh James has a photo of Mallory still with the Cooney team at the Flo series show back at La Salle in May, but I couldn't find anything public about the sides splitting. In some traded messages this morning, Todd Cooney's team shared with me that Mallory and the team split before the Dirt Late Model Dream at Eldora. No reason was given for the split, or who's choice it was. With Mallory, Gustin had two wins and 10 top tens in 16 World of Outlaws up to this point, and they currently sit third. Gustin ended up struggling at the Dream, going out in a Saturday B-Main, but last night's win has to be a shot in the arm. In his post race interview last night, Gustin thanked Noah, Poptart and Dave for getting the car right. Their plan is to continue through the week with the Summer Nationals, which also includes the joint Hell Tour/World of Outlaws races at Pevely, plus the Sunday show at Lincoln. Both Drake Troutman and Jason Feger were down the order last night, so Gustin could be set up well here for a run at the week two championship.

Eastern Storm not off to a great start for the USAC sprint cars. Last night's race at Grandview was lost to weather. They will try again today to get things going with a stop at Bridgeport Speedway.

In Tuesday USMTS action, Tanner Mullens nipped Reece Solander right at the line to bag the win at Casino Speedway in South Dakota. Mullens had led a lot of that race, before Solander made a move after a restart. It was USMTS win number one on the year for Mullens, while championship leader Rodney Sanders rounded out the podium. The modified teams are right back to it today with action shifting to Off Road Speedway in Nebraska.

Later today at Huset's Speedway, the big High Bank Nationals weekend gets started with a $20,000 to win show. Both today and Friday are $20 grand to win, Thursday is $100,000 to win for the Huset's Hustle. And then Saturday night will pay a very nice $250,000 to the winner. We talked earlier this week about some of the entries, and we know that Skagit and the Super Dirt Cup have lured away guys like Brent Marks, Sye Lynch, and Danny Sams. The list the World of Outlaws shared yesterday though is north of 60 cars though, and most of the big national teams will be at Huset's. That obviously includes all the full time Outlaw teams, plus a lot of High Limit guys. We'll also have Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell in the pits for today and Thursday. They won't race the weekend because of NASCAR. Going back to 2020, Sheldon Haudenschild and David Gravel have the most Huset's wins with three each, Larson has a pair, as does Buddy Kofoid and Carson Macedo. Others with wins include Tyler Courtney, James McFadden, Aaron Reutzel, and Spencer Bayston. Gravel is just very slightly ahead of Kofoid for best average finish. Those of you who are interested in the conversation around High Limit vs the Outlaws, and who is the best in the business will have something to talk about this weekend, as these big shows get everyone together. We've documented Larson's struggles as of late, and while he's won at Huset's, it hasn't always been kind to him. Gravel will want to win on home turf for car owner Tod Quiring, and he's gone to a new level this season. Sweet's been better in recent weeks after having some bad luck and losing his big advantage with High Limit. And after getting a nice payday at Eagle, Kofoid could easily stack some money this weekend. Drop your Huset's win picks below.

That's it for the show today. Don't forget you have a bunch of options when it comes to tuning in to these episodes. If you're around the house or scrolling your phone, you can watch on YouTube and Facebook. Or if you are out and about, maybe at work, or mowing the lawn, you can also listen in across podcast platforms. The Daily is available on Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio and more. You can also read the Daily over at dirtrackr.com/daily. So tune in and subscribe wherever it's easiest for you.

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