DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Rumblings point towards big Hunt the Front changes | Daily 8-20-2025

Today on the show, a bunch of sprint car odds and ends including the Outlaws at Mississippi Thunder, the Donny Schatz/TSR number situation, and notes on Kerry Madsen and Justin Sanders. We'll also talk Hunt the Front's future, and some interesting rumblings on where we could see them in 2026. Let's go!

It's Wednesday, August 20th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

When I put these shows together five days a week, I do a ton of research each day, usually multiple hours to try and bring you the best possible picture of what's going on in dirt racing. I watch a ton of racing action, but that's not enough to understand everything that's happening. Which is why I built DIRTRACKR's analytics section. It's got race results and stat breakdowns for all the top national series and special events, and at this moment is nearing 2400 races worth of data. And if you want access to every tool and number I use for these shows, grab a subscription to DIRTRACKR Plus. $4.99 a month, or $49.99 a year. The year subscription gets you two months free effectively. And you can cancel any time very easily. Signing up gets you access to exclusive insights not found anywhere else. Whether you're a race fan, member of the media, or work for a series or track, DIRTRACKR Plus is the perfect resource for current dirt racing data to elevate your knowledge. Both World of Outlaws series, all three USAC National divisions, the Chili Bowl, High Limit, Lucas and a lot more. See everything Plus has to offer and sign up for a subscription over at dirtrackr.com/getplus.

The World of Outlaws sprint cars made their series debut at Mississippi Thunder Speedway last night, and this one was pretty highly anticipated given some of the late model shows we've seen there, and other sprint car races. Some rain coming in though in that area, and we didn't quite end up with the feature we were hoping for. Things didn't widen out in time, and is often the case in situations like this, right as things do start to get better, the race is over. Three lead changes in the first nine laps was great, but even though Buddy Kofoid tried to make some moves late, it was basically just David Gravel to the end. I certainly hope the track gets another shot next year to try and show what I think a lot of folks hope could be a really good sprint car track. Kofoid and Logan Schuchart joining Gravel on last night's podium. Kerry Madsen had his best finish so far in the TSR 15, finishing seventh, but he actually backed up after starting on row two. It's really hard to watch that car go around right now and get it straight in my brain that it's not Donny Schatz. That will definitely take some time getting used to. Outlaw teams have today and tomorrow off to reset and travel, and they'll be back racing Friday and Saturday in North Dakota, with stops at River Cities and Red River Valley.

Real quick, I had a question in the YouTube comments yesterday about the car number stuff with Schatz and the TSR ride. TSR switching officially to the 15S and Schatz keeping the 15 number. I've been told that it's believed the two sides worked the number thing out amongst themselves, and the Outlaws don't have a rule for owner's points or anything that the number must remain the same all season. I do think it's likely the TSR ride changes numbers next season, maybe back to Tony's 14 or 20, because the 15 was always Schatz's number. The TSR ride hasn't actually been restickered or anything, it's just the 15S for timing and scoring reasons. With only 20ish races left, and I'm sure still lots of 15 decals purchased and in stock, it's just easier for TSR to finish the season as the 15, even though it would make sense for them if they decided to change. I would imagine wherever Donny ends up next year will likely adopt the 15.

A couple of sprint car notes to point out here before we move on, Jeremy Elliott of sprintcarunlimited.com is reporting that Kerry Madsen will indeed be in the TSR 15 this weekend. The original release said he was going to stay in Iowa and run the final weekly show at Knoxville, and that Tony Stewart Racing would find a replacement driver. But according to Jeremy, that plan has changed, and Madsen is sticking with the 15 instead. Madsen had been running Knoxville weekly this year in that second Vermeer-backed car, and is currently third in the track championship. Austin McCarl though has wrapped that championship up, so it does make sense that Madsen would be okay not running. Knoxville's 2025 sprint car season wraps up on Saturday with the final weekly show, and then all that's left is the Late Model Knoxville Nationals which comes up later in September.

Also, as expected, Jeremy reporting yesterday that Justin Sanders will indeed stay in the Ridge and Sons 87 sprint car through the High Limit west coast swing filling in for the injured Aaron Reutzel. Publicly, they were signaling that Sanders would run a few races, and then maybe Reutzel could come back sooner. But we talked at the beginning of this that Port Royal was likely the earliest Reutzel could realistically return with that broken foot, and that maybe it could even go further than that. RSR and Reutzel hoping that the Tuscarora 50 can be his first races back, with those events coming up in early September. Even though he hasn't been driving, Reutzel has been a presence with the team at these races, and was seen a lot at Knoxville. Sanders was 16th in the 87 during the Cappy at Knoxville, but struggled through the Nationals. Back out west though on his home turf, much better this past weekend. Fifth at Tulare on Friday, and his first High Limit win at Placerville on Saturday. Sanders should be a serious contender this week at the Gold Cup, and then he'll get starts in the 87 at Douglas County, and the three days of the Skagit Nationals. Skagit another track where Sanders could shine. The 87 currently just 15 points behind the 49 in the High Limit owner standings.

Last night's SummerFAST Super DIRTcar Series event at Land of Legends was rained out. They are trying to find a reschedule date, so things not completely cancelled as of yet. SummerFAST was supposed to close out today at Fulton Speedway, but as of this morning that one is cancelled. No makeup date is coming there. Peter Britten and Tim Sears Jr. winning the two completed SummerFAST races during this big block mini speedweek. Mat Williamson the SDS points leader through 17 races, with Alex Yankowski trailing by 88 points, and Matt Sheppard 129 back in third. The series returns to action August 28th at Can Am Speedway.

Final item for today. We know that after Spencer Hughes and JCM Motorsports parted ways, JCM brought in Hunt the Front's Joseph Joiner to run their car at the Topless 100 last weekend. JCM had been a full time Lucas team all season, although they needed a waiver to keep their status after missing the North South 100 at Florence. The Hunt the Front car was going to be on the shelf for the weekend anyway, so a solid opportunity for Joiner to get some extra racing in. He finished seventh in his Friday prelim feature, and ended up 18th in the Saturday big show after some tire issues. Hunt the Front announced yesterday that Joiner will return to the team's 10 car this weekend for the Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series at North Georgia, but his time with JCM isn't done. The plan right now is for Joiner to be back in the 19M when Lucas heads to Lernerville August 29th and 30th. That is confirmed by both sides. Word on the streets though, is this partnership will continue beyond that. Joiner will be conflicted out of running the Lucas weekend at Brownstown in September as he continues to chase that HTF series championship, but he will likely run Knoxville, PA Motor Speedway, and the Dirt Track World Championship with JCM. All of those Lucas races. I would not be shocked to see that announced in the coming days or weeks. And as we start looking towards 2026, there are rumblings that Hunt the Front and JCM could partner to tackle the entire Lucas schedule next year. JCM already with an established team in place, and Hunt the Front with Joseph can bring their sponsors and promoting prowess to elevate everything. And JCM based in Birmingham, Alabama, which is only a little over four hours from Hunt the Front's base in Florida. I think this deal would make a ton of sense for both sides. On it's own, Hunt the Front doesn't have the resources to tackle an entire national tour season, but a partnership like this would be a game changer for them. And JCM gets a solid driver who can bring some help on various fronts. The JCM team has Rockets with Durham power, which would be a transition for Joiner who has been running Capitals, but it didn't seem to bother him at Batesville. And in terms of promoting and fan draw, I think having Hunt the Front out with Lucas all the time would be a solid addition to that series. Nothing is confirmed as of yet, but this is definitely a deal to watch down the stretch.

That's the show 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 Wednesday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!