DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Paul Silva, Ricky Warner, and just what is that piece on Kyle Larson's car | Daily 8-5-2025

Today on the show we'll talk Front Row Challenge and Kyle Larson's dominance. But then things will take a strange and winding turn. We're going down a rabbit hole today that involves a sprint car aerodynamics piece, Larson, Paul Silva, Rico Abreu and Ricky Warner. Let's get weird...

It's Tuesday, August 5th, 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. Knoxville Nationals week is here, and prelim nights start tomorrow. When you're in the area for the races, and you want something good to eat, check out American Table & The P.O. Box. Some of my friends have been there already this week, including MRN's Steve Post. Perfect for the Postman to hit up a restaurant in an old post office. American Table and The PO Box proudly support the racing community, and their historic location in Oskaloosa, Iowa offers two dining options under one roof. Inside you'll find an elevated experience upstairs with American Table, featuring a great menu and Sunday brunch. That brunch would be good next Sunday after the Nationals. 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.

Terry McCarl's Front Row Challenge went down at the Southern Iowa Speedway last night in Oskaloosa. And as expected, 26 cars signed for the $21,000 to win show. They also had 19 305 sprint cars for the undercard. Corey Day and Kerry Madsen on the front row for the main event after the foot race on the frontstretch. Instead of running a dash, or a pole shuffle, this foot race has become a bit of a tradition the last several years at Osky. I don't think I want to see this happen everywhere, but it's a fun, event specific wrinkle for this race. Another thing that's become a tradition is Kyle Larson winning this event. Coming into last night, he'd won three of the last four, and after a brief battle with Corey Day before half way, he made it four out of five. On a restart following a spin for Anthony Macri, the sixth starting Larson pounced, throwing a slider from Des Moines on the 14BC machine. Literally one of the biggest sends you'll see, and he cleared it easily. Day battled back, but Larson eventually came out on top and drove away to a three second margin of victory. Day settled for second, with James McFadden going tenth to third. Buddy Kofoid went 11th to fourth, and Ryan Timms was hard charger, going 16th to fifth. Yung Money now with five total wins in the event, and podium finishes in nine of the 11 times he's run it. This Knoxville Nationals week starting very similarly to last year, with Larson topping Day at the Front Row Challenge. Now the focus will turn towards Knoxville, to see if he can pick up his fourth career Nationals and third in a row. The only drivers to win three or more Nationals in a row are Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz. Kinser had two stretches of three in a row, and a string of five straight Nationals wins. Schatz went four in a row from 2006 to 2009, and then did five in a row from 2011 to 2015. If you are curious as well, Lee Goos Jr. won last night's 305 main event. He went sixth to the win over Trevor Serbus and Jeff Wilke. No sprint car action today around Knoxville, but if you want to see some racing in the area, there is outlaw kart action at English Creek. That track is about 15 minutes south of the big track.

Alright, moving into the meat of today's episode. I'm about to take you guys on a serious journey, because we've been down a rabbit hole all morning. Some of you out there are going to make fun of me for what I'm about to dig into, but just know now, I don't care. Your comments will go ignored today. For the rest of you, let's go. So, it's been almost exactly one year ago today that we did the daily show about Paul Silva using the turned up exhaust headers on Larson's sprint car. Today is obviously August 5th, and that show came out on August 6th, 2024. Those headers showed up a time where Larson went on an insane run, where he won both nights at Pevely (one from 12th and one from an insane 21st), then the Front Row Challenge, followed by his prelim night, then the Nationals, and a High Limit show at Tulare. That sighting and subsequent run of success really set off one of my favorite dirt racing hobbies, which is trying to figure out what Silva is doing next. He's already this elusive figure that refuses to do interviews. I've done a show talking about how even people around him won't talk about him. But I think he's one of the most interesting characters in the sport. I like that he pushes boundaries, especially at a time where so many sprint cars are nearly identical. Besides the headers, we've also talked at length about the silver qualifying wing, him trying extra aero bits at Knoxville, only to have officials tell him no. And we've seen other oddities on the car. Whenever we talk about these types of things on the show, people love to comment that everything is just a distraction from what these crew chiefs are really doing. The things you can't see. I'm sure that's true to a point, but some of the stuff you can see also likely makes a difference. That very long winded introduction brings me to today, and me initially thinking I'd found something new he was doing yet again. But what I've discovered, is the idea was someone else's, and it's been around for three years. We'll get to that in a bit. Last night at Oskaloosa, I noticed something odd about the right side bodywork on the 57. My friend Paul Arch posted a shot to his @usasprint account of Larson during qualifying, and strangely, you can see daylight through the right side arm guard. I couldn't tell if I was seeing things, or it was a weird shadow, but when I watched qualifying on FloRacing, there is definitely something there. It wasn't on the car for hot laps, and it was gone after qualifying. I shot Paul Arch a message this morning asking about it, and he sent me another shot of the car as Larson was rolling off the track from qualifying, and you can see what very clearly appears to be a vent in that arm guard. With the driver in the car for such a short period of time for qualifying, I have a hard time believe this is for cooling. This has to be something Silva is doing for aero effect. Initially, my thought was this was Silva trying something at a one-off, unsanctioned race, but to my surprise, this wasn't the first time this vent has been on the car. I feel a bit stupid having not noticed it previously, but it's been used on and off for most of the season. It wasn't on the car way back at Volusia, but it appears as though it first was there at Las Vegas in March. There are tracks where it wasn't used, like Attica, Huset's, and Eagle. But a lot of other races it's been in place. It would be hard to spot though, because it's on the car for such a short period of time. Early in the day, when the car is sitting in the pits, the normal arm guard is installed, and then the vented piece goes away after qualifying. So most of the videos and photos we'd have you wouldn't see it. And for it to be in photos, the shooters would have to be outside the track to catch the right side. I sent a few messages out to some friends in the pit area to ask about it, and one replied quote "oh yeah, gotta keep up with Rico." It didn't dawn on me at first, but as I started writing all of this it hit me. Has Rico been doing this also? And this is where the rabbit hole really started to get deep. Digging into photos, I've got shots in my archive of this same vent on Rico's car at Eldora, Butler, and Ransomville from this year. So then I hit the streaming services and started going through qualifying of older races. It's on Rico's car for a lot of 2025 shows. What about 2024? Yep, there too. I went all the way back to the beginning of 2023 to what feels like the origination point. Devil's Bowl Speedway in late March. Late in 2022, it's not there at Eldora, or the Grove, or World Finals. Rico started the season at Lincoln, then went to Talladega and Magnolia. Still not there. But in qualifying on March 31st, there it is. That right side arm guard vent. This wasn't a Paul Silva idea, this was a Ricky Warner idea. By that point, Warner and Rico had been together for a full season. 2022 was solid, six wins in 66 races. But 2023 was a breakout year, and the start of what's been a very good stretch for the 24. 13 wins in 71 races, and over half a million in earnings. Rico's qualifying average in 2022 was 11.3. For 2023 though, it dropped to 7.14. Do I think all of that can be equated to one tiny vent piece on an arm guard? Absolutely not. But it must not hurt, especially knowing they are still using it in 2025, and now they've got Paul Silva on the plan. And you know what, others have tried it too. It looks like Tanner Thorson has used it, Jimmy Light, Tanner Holmes and the Tarlton car, and even Donny Schatz. I was told those that believe in it think it might be worth a tenth, and if you look at time trials last night at Osky, Larson was nearly two tenths clear of the field. Obviously not a magic bullet, but likely not nothing either. Thanks for coming along this journey with me.

In other Monday action, Mat Williamson was a Short Track Super Series winner at Can-Am Speedway. He led 28 of 51 laps, and had a massive, nearly seven second margin of victory at the end over Tim Fuller. Domination for Money Mat. With Stewart Friesen out, Matt Sheppard now takes over the north region championship lead. He was fifth last night. That means the 9S sits atop both Short Track Super Series championships at the moment. Action today shifts over to Mohawk International Raceway for a $10,000 to win show.

That's the Daily for today. Hit that subscribe button on YouTube or podcast places, and follow on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram for more dirt racing content.

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