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A late model driver suspended, who will KCP get to replace Gio, sprint car teams deal with injuries | Daily 7-22-2025

A lot has happened in the last 24 hours, including race plans for injured drivers, there are silly season updates, a late model driver faces a lengthy ban, and more. We'll update you today on everything you need to know. Let's go!

It's Tuesday, July 22nd, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

It's been a pretty wild last few weeks in dirt racing with driver suspensions, sprint car fuel tank drama, racers DQ'd, and silly season stuff. If you want to make sure you are always in the loop, hit that subscribe button on YouTube or the podcast places. You can also like and follow on Facebook. That will make sure you never miss a fresh daily, including days like last Friday where we posted a bonus episode. Video versions of the show are posted five days a week to YouTube, Facebook, and Spotify. You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and dirtrackr.com. Full show transcripts are also available at dirtrackr.com/daily. The counts right now are 44,000 plus on YouTube, and we are nearing 44,000 on Facebook. Those are both incredible numbers, so thank you for that.

Coming out of the Joker's Jackpot and Kings Royal week at Eldora, you know by now that Tyler Courtney, Aaron Reutzel, and Brad Sweet were all injured in crashes. Sunshine needed surgery and is looking at an extended time away from driving, Reutzel has a fractured foot, and while we don't know what Sweet is suffering from specifically, he definitely got his bell rung in one of those ugly crashes. This list is the top three in the High Limit standings heading into the Silver Cup at Lernerville today, and the next question becomes what do these teams do into the future. Especially knowing that Reutzel and Courtney will need to miss time. All of the future plans started to become clear over the last 24 hours with multiple announcements by the teams and series. There is a provision in the High Limit rules that allows for teams to use a medical provisional if necessary, and two of the three affected here are choosing to do that. The most important part of the rules clause reads quote "Medical provisionals will be granted to a driver that has an accident with injuries needing some extra days to heal. These provisionals will be granted in a 10-day period and that driver and/or car will receive points for their average finishing position plus five spots" unquote. So for today at Lernerville, you won't see the Ridge 87 or the Kasey Kahne Racing 49 in competition. Those teams though will still receive championship points, with the 49 getting 51 points, and the 87 getting 49 points. This effectively equates to the 49 team of Brad Sweet finishing 11th tonight, and Aaron Reutzel's team finishing 12th. That means that fourth place Rico Abreu won't be able to overhaul those two drivers even if he wins, because he's 37 back, and Rico can only gain 26. Sweet and Reutzel taking these medical provisionals will effectively give them nearly a month in between High Limit races, as the series doesn't race again until after the Knoxville Nationals; on August 15th at the Tulare Thunderbowl. The question over the next few weeks will then be is that when we see these guys again, or will they try and race the Nationals. Sweet is also entered for the 360 Nationals. I don't think anyone has those answers right now. As for the 7BC, I think it's unlikely we see Courtney again in a sprint car in 2025. The Clauson Marshall team announced yesterday that Cole Duncan will drive the car today at Lernerville, and then going forward, it will be Gio Scelzi in the seat. My assumption there is the Scelzi deal will start at Knoxville in a few weeks. There is an argument to be made for them to take the medical provisional tonight, and just wait for Scelzi, but I applaud them for giving Duncan a ride. Scelzi is dealing with a wrist injury from his Eldora crash, which is why he's not racing tonight, and this will give him some added time to let that heal. CMR will now focus on trying to win the owners side of the championship with Sunshine out. It's been a crazy last few days as these teams tried to figure out their options and plans, and there have been a lot of phone calls and text messages flying around the sport to try and get everything squared away. I don't want to make it seem like I'm overlooking the injuries and the severity, but all of this has fundamentally changed the High Limit championship. The top three are now on the sidelines, and there will be opportunities for others to rise and maybe win some of these races. Tonight at Lernerville will still be a tough field, High Limit announced that Carson Macedo and Chris Windom will join, but things will be a bit lighter than they would have been with no Sweet, Reutzel, and Sunshine. We are obviously wishing all the best for those guys as they recover.

The other situation that doesn't yet have clarity is the open seat with the KCP Racing 18 sprint car team. That ride left open by the sudden departure of Gio Scelzi last week at Eldora. In the days since, there have been a lot of rumors about who is the next driver, but the last I heard they were still trying to nail down plans. I think they were hoping to have someone lined up to run the World of Outlaws show on Wednesday at BAPS Motor Speedway. There are photos floating around online of the KCP hauler parked in Pennsylvania. The rumor mill around this ride has included a lot of names, with guys like Ryan Timms, Emerson Axsom, Justin Peck, Garet Williamson, and Cory Eliason all floated as possibles. This is a good team, with good equipment, that can win, but as I said last week on the bonus show, it's not going to be easy to find a like-for-like replacement of Gio Scelzi. I said last week to get a driver like Gio, they'd likely have to convince someone to leave their current team, and by the list of names going around, that's exactly what they are hoping for. If they do convince another driver to jump ship, that then creates another opening somewhere else, and you can start to see why Gio leaving then creates this ripple affect. By the time you watch or listen to this show, it's very possible KCP has found their guy and maybe even made an announcement. I think it's also possible that it takes more time for them to get a new deal done. The Outlaw schedule, which KCP has been following, doesn't slow down like the High Limit schedule does, with races still coming. If they are going to try and remain in the owner points there, they need a decision by hot laps on Wednesday.

Updating another story that we talked about on the Sunday Daily show, the MARS late model series has reached a decision on penalties for driver Bob Gardner. At Farmer City over the weekend, Gardner retaliated against Daryn Klein for a heat race slide job that put the 4G into the wall. That retaliation included wiping out the innocent Dylan Thornton, Gardner driving backwards onto the track with the race still green, and then flipping Klein's car on the front stretch with a hit to the left rear. In a release yesterday, MARS announced that Gardner is indeed suspended for an extended period of time. That announcement reads in part quote "As a result of the severity of the on-track incident, the following penalties have been imposed on Bob Gardner: Indefinite suspension for a minimum of 6 months from all MARS Late Model Championship Powered by FK Rod Ends events before possibly reinstating. Indefinite suspension for a minimum of 6 months from all World of Outlaws Late Model events before possibly reinstating. Indefinite suspension for a minimum of 6 months from all DIRTcar/World Racing Group sanctioned events before possibly reinstating. This penalty report is being made public due to the severity of the on-track incident, to provide clarity and transparency of the incident, and to show we do not condone this type of behavior at our events" unquote. Not long after this was made public, Farmer City Raceway also announced in a social media post that this suspension will be enforced as well at the track. So no MARS, no World of Outlaws, no DIRTcar events, and no Farmer City for at least six months. This is quite a bit less of a penalty then we saw for Taylor Farlling after the Port Royal situation, and I would argue Gardner's actions were much worse. We'll see in six months if Gardner does indeed get reinstated, or if the penalty gets extended. You can see the full penalty report from MARS over at marsracingseries.com.

In Monday racing action, the Western Sprint Tour for the 360 Sprint Car Challenge Tour continued up the west coast. Jumping back to Friday, Andy Forsberg a winner at the Silver Dollar Speedway. Chance Grasty then winning Saturday at Placerville. And last night it was Jesse Schlotfeldt leading all 35 laps at Douglas County. He topped Levi Hillier and Dominic Scelzi. Action continues for the Sprint Car Challenge Tour through Sunday, with five more races. Tonight it's Coos Bay, Wednesday is Cottage Grove, those are both in Oregon. Friday and Saturday the series heads north to Skagit, then things close out Sunday at Grays Harbor.

Looking ahead to today, it's a nice little Tuesday out there for dirt racing. That includes the Kubota High Limit sprint cars at Lernerville, the Short Track Super Series is over the border for some modified racing at Autodrome Granby, the Southern Nationals head to Toccoa, and there are some other scattered races. Things will remain busy through the rest of the week with the World of Outlaws sprint cars in action, plus things getting serious at Fairbury with the Prairie Dirt Classic on tap for the week.

We will kick it out of gear right there for today. Don't forget, if you want even more dirt racing content, make sure to follow DIRTRACKR across social media. That means Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and more. Wherever you are, so is DIRTRACKR.

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