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An Outlaw team change, Rocket XR2s trickling out, Ballou doesn't mince words | Daily 7-30-2025

Robert Ballou is always good for a spicy quote, a World of Outlaws team is looking for a new crew chief, and an update on who's currently got Rocket XR2s, with more showing up soon. Let's go!

It's Wednesday, July 30th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

Today's Daily show is being supported by our friends at American Table & The P.O. Box, two unique dining experiences not far from Knoxville Raceway. It is officially 360 Knoxville Nationals week, with cars on track starting Thursday. When you're in the area for the races, and you want something good to eat, check out American Table & The P.O. Box. They proudly support the racing community, and their historic location in Oskaloosa, Iowa offers two dining options under one roof. Inside the beautifully restored Post Office that was built in 1902, you'll find an elevated experience upstairs with American Table, featuring a great menu and Sunday brunch.Downstairs you've got The PO Box, open Monday through Saturday, serving up crave-worthy comfort food, cold drinks, and a cozy vibe. Whether you're refueling after the races or grabbing a bite before heading to the track, they've got a spot for you! Find them at 206 North Market Street in Oskaloosa, Iowa, and visit them online at americantablerestaurant.com.

When it comes to a good sound bite, Robert Ballou is a driver that rarely disappoints. And after getting beat very late in last night's feature by Briggs Danner, he came through yet again. Ballou has looked like a completely different driver here as of late. He's led laps in every Indiana Sprint Week feature so far, he won back on Friday at Lincoln Park, and looked to be headed for his second win in three races last night at Kokomo. And if you want to go back a bit further on the USAC sprint car calendar, Ballou has led laps in six of the last seven races. He started third last night and was around Chase Stockon, don't call him Stockton, for the lead on lap 10. He set sail from there, leading the next 20 laps. On the white flag circuit though, Ballou was held up by the lap car of Kale Drake, and sixth starting Danner used it to his advantage. He closed quickly on the Mad Man, went high in three and four, and beat the 12 back to the checkered in a drag race for career USAC win number four. On the cool down lap, Ballou was not happy with Drake for holding him up and showed his displeasure. And then we got Ballou's take in the post race interview with Drake York. Ballou said quote "Kale Drake, he's like a dart with no feathers. He is normally good for a couple of reds, or definitely a couple of cautions. In a few years he'll be back in Oklahoma flipping whataburgers. So we won't have to worry about him for too long" unquote. Just a classic Mad Man quote. Drake is currently in his rookie sprint car season, driving the Benic 2B. It's been a bit up and down, as you'd expect for a rookie. Five top fives and 16 top tens in 26 races. He has led laps, and he was second over the weekend at Lawrenceburg. Drake also currently fourth in the midget standings driving for Keith Kunz. He's got two wins on that side. Ballou though with high praise for Danner, who continues to be one of the more underrated young dirt racers in the country. As for Justin Grant, even though he suffered that broken foot the other night, he did attempt to race at Kokomo. The team fitted up a solution so he could use hand controls for the brakes, and JG hot lapped and qualified the four car. Even though he scratched from the heat, and just took start points for the feature with a provisional, it was pretty wild to see him back in a car so quickly after the injury. He shared to social media he just couldn't get comfortable with the brakes. Unfortunately for him, the sprint week schedule is relentless, so we'll see what his plan is going forward. The USAC sprint cars are on track at Circle City tonight. Briggs Danner leads Logan Seavey and Robert Ballou for the sprint week title.

In other action last night, Matt Sheppard made it a clean sweep of Autodrome Drummond, winning $10,000 and the feature after starting fifth. He topped Mat Williamson and Alex Yankowski. Sheppard is trying to claw his way back towards the front of the Super DIRTcar Series standings after the season started a bit uncharacteristically slow. He sits third after last night, trailing leader Williamson by 63 points. The time over the border in Canada continues today with a stock at Brockville.

Lately when we've talked about silly season stuff, it's been drivers on the move, but crew members are not immune to movement themselves. And yesterday it was one of the World of Outlaws teams that saw a change. Vermeer Motorsports and their 55 car is on the hunt for a new crew chief with Clinton Boyles deciding to step down from that position. It sounds like things are amicable, with both parties saying nice things about each other in separate social media posts. Boyles had been with the team for the past four-plus seasons, and he'd led the 55 with drivers Hunter Schuerenberg, Kerry Madsen, Chris Windom, and Buddy Kofoid all having seat time. The 55 was a full time High Limit team in 2024 with Chris Windom, and then in the offseason, Vermeer brought Schuerenberg back, and flipped to the Outlaws. It's been a difficult go this season though, with Schuerenberg currently 12th in Outlaw points. Just one top five and ten top tens in 44 races. That top five was at Atomic back in May, and they are coming off a 22nd place finish at Weedsport. They did finish seventh at BAPS, but missed both Outlaw features at Eldora during the Kings Royal, and the Brad Doty Classic before that. I don't think anyone expected this team to set the world of fire against the Outlaws, but there definitely seems to be something missing when it comes to their speed. Schuerenberg has six career All Star wins on his resume, but is still seeking his first victory with either the Outlaws or High Limit. No word yet on what's next for either side, but this is a crucial time of the sprint car season, with the Knoxville Nationals just days away. I'm sure Boyles will have plenty of opportunities to work elsewhere if he wants, and I'm sure he'll do some more racing as well.

Finally today, I wanted to do a bit more on Rocket's new XR2 chassis design. We've obviously been following this story the last few weeks, and we talked the other day about it officially being called the XR2, moving on from the XR1 moniker that the dirt late model chassis builder has been using for so many years. Brandon Sheppard and the Rocket house car team have been using this new design since Atomic in early July, and their are starting to make their way into the hands of other customers. We know that Ed Carley in New York had a couple come through, as he's a Rocket dealer. We shared that on Monday. And I've had a few comments and messages about Matt Cosner driving one to a win at Bedford just a few days ago. I'd seen that Cosner talked about a new car, but I didn't dive into what it was. Looking through photos, it does have the XR1.2 sticker on it, but if you look at the bar configuration around the driver, it certainly looks like the XR2 we've seen Sheppard driving. Clearly Cosner found speed with the new design, as that Bedford score was his first win anywhere since winning at Bedford way back in April of 2023. I've also been told that Dan Ebert will be rolling out an XR2 this week at Cedar Lake for the USA Nationals. He does have an XR1.2 for sale at the moment. Being from Wisconsin, it would make sense that Ebert would want to bring out the best possible piece for a good showing in front of his homestate fans. And Dennis Erb Jr. was quoted earlier this week at Dirt on Dirt, telling Kevin Kovac he's getting one soon. Erb has been on a tear lately, racking up podiums with his current Rocket, so maybe he won't be in a big hurry to swap. The other high profile Rocket drivers in Jimmy Owens and Tyler Erb still have unknown plans, but Owens did look pretty good in a Longhorn with Big Frog during the Southern Nationals. This looks like it could potentially be the beginning of a Rocket resurgence.

That is the daily show for today. Hope you guys have a great Wednesday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!