DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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A racer DQ'd from a win, but nobody told us why... | Daily 7-13-2025
Hall of famer Billy Moyer was handed a late model win on Friday because of a DQ, but the series didn't tell us why. We'll dig in on that today and what I've been told about the situation, plus we'll talk weekend racing and more. Let's go!
It's Sunday, July 13th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
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It was just last week here on the show where we did some digging around on the new chassis that Rocket has put together. On the Monday Daily we pointed out the significant differences that are evident on the Rocket house car, and we did that in light of Brandon Sheppard winning his first Lucas race in well over a year. Over the weekend, results were solid Thursday and Friday, 9th at 34 Raceway, 10th at Lucas Oil Speedway. But Saturday he was back in victory lane again. He started sixth, was around Gordy Gundaker by lap 15, and went the distance from there. Atomic and Wheatland are obviously two very different race tracks, so if you are a Rocket fan, this has to be an encouraging sign of what's possible. It was 49 races between wins previously, but now just four races. Looking around, I don't see that any of the other higher profile Rocket teams have one of these new cars yet, but I'm sure Mark Richards is already starting to field calls given the last two weeks. The Thursday win at 34 Raceway went to Garrett Alberson. That was his first series win since Port Royal back in August of last year. Ricky Thornton Jr. won the Friday race at Wheatland, which was a bounceback from a rough night at 34. That 20th place finish for RTJ allowed Jonathan Davenport to take over the Lucas championship lead. He's out front now by 30 points. Hudson O'Neal has slipped by Devin Moran for third on the strength of 18 straight top ten runs. Moran still has a 160 point cushion, but that Double Down team continues to struggle. Just two top tens in their last six Lucas races. That Hunt the Front and Northern All Stars win at Florence was a bright spot, but with Alberson now winning, and Sheppard finding speed, these guys could be in trouble if they continue to finish down the order. It's a short break for the Lucas teams this week. They race again on Tuesday at Shelby County, and then head to Huset's for the Silver Dollar Nationals.
Weekend World of Outlaws late model wins went to Bobby Pierce and Mike Marlar. Pierce dominant Friday at Sharon Speedway, and looked to be headed for another win Saturday night, but Marlar ruined the sweep. He got by Pierce inside ten to go and won his first series race since World Finals way back in 2023. Pierce's championship lead back out to nearly triple digits with Nick Hoffman finishing down in 18th last night. The Outlaws are off now for about two weeks with the Prairie Dirt Classic up next on the schedule.
Did you guys see this deal from back on Friday with the Comp Cams Super Dirt Series at Old No. 1 Speedway? Kyle Beard started third, and led the final 21 laps to pick up the win. Except he didn't. In tech inspection after the race, Beard was DQ'd for an infraction and Billy Moyer was elevated to the $5000 win. The curious thing though, is officially, we weren't told why Beard was DQ'd. And word didn't come out about the situation until Saturday. The series didn't post the race release until Saturday afternoon, and all it says is that quote "Unfortunately, Beard was disqualified in postrace inspection for a tech infraction." Dirt on Dirt reported that Beard's father Gary said the series deemed the winner's right rear shock to be illegal. Supposedly Beard on Penskes, and in asking around a bit, it sounds like the series called that right rear a thru-rod shock. Thru-rod setups are not allowed in the unified car construction rules in dirt late model racing. If we jump back to early 2024, you might remember that there was some commotion over thru-rod shocks in the dirt late model world, with both Lucas and the Outlaws closing some loopholes over what was and wasn't considered thru rod. Back then, we knew that thru-rod shocks were illegal, but some of the manufacturers had come up with designs where the rod could still pass through the shock body, but the top of the shock was capped, so the rod was technically not exposed. Both series said no on it, and I don't think we've heard anything about it since then. The reason this type of shock could be beneficial is because of displacement of oil inside the shock body. In a standard shock, as the rod goes in, it displaces some of that oil, which creates added spring rate. A thru-rod shock doesn't have that problem, because the same amount of rod is always inside the body, so no added oil displacement, and no extra spring rate. This image on screen is what a more typical thru-rod from Penske looks like, and then this image is of the product they'd release before the late model rules loophole was closed. I do not know exactly what Beard was running on Friday. I've been told Comp Cams officials tore the shock down, and even spoke to Penske Shocks folks via phone in the process. Beard eventually DQ'd, and Moyer declared the winner. All of this information I've put together from a few different sources, and I did send a message to Ernie Leftwich with the Comp Cams series seeking comment, but as of today haven't heard back. Outside of what I've been told, I can't really make any sort of judgement on the situation. If the series said it's illegal, then so be it. But I do think some added transparency would go a long way here. Officials open themselves up for scrutiny when details aren't provided in instances like this. It might even be helpful to do a NASCAR-style show-and-tell of the illegal parts. Billy Moyer currently the series championship leader by 115 points over Timothy Culp.
In weekend sprint car action, mother nature a winner a lot of places. The World of Outlaws only got one of three races completed, that was last night at Wilmot. Buddy Kofoid led all 40 laps from the pole to earn Outlaw win number seven on the season. Championship leader David Gravel was second, and Carson Macedo third. Chris Windom also picking up his fourth top five of the season. The Outlaw teams back at it on Tuesday for the Brad Doty Classic at Attica.
A similarly on the High Limit side, just one race completed of two at Florence. Brad Sweet the Friday night winner, he led all 25 laps topping Tyler Courtney and Rico Abreu. Headed to Fremont tomorrow, Sweet is back in front in the title fight, but by just three points over Aaron Reutzel. Just 56 points separate the top five.
Other weekend open wheel winners included Gavin Miller and Cannon McIntosh in USAC midget action at Jefferson County, Brian Brown went an incredible 16th to the win at Knoxville, Billy Dietrich was a sprint car winner at Clinton County, Tim Kaeding won the NARC show at Petaluma, Carl Bowser was a FAST winner, Troy Wagaman won at Port Royal, and Rees Moran was a POWRi winner at Texarkana 67.
Other late model winners included Mark Whitener, and Zack Mitchell twice with the Summer Nationals. The late model portion of the Hell Tour ends today at Wayne County. Jason Feger has already done enough to capture the overall 2025 championship, while Trey Mills leads Mitchell and Whitener for the week five title headed into today. Southern Nationals wins went to Ross Bailes and Chris Madden.
Still plenty of weekend dirt racing to come today, so make sure to stop by dirtrackr.com/watchtonight and check out the Sunday streaming schedule.
We'll call it good there for today. Hope you guys have a great Sunday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!