DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
Dirt racing news, results, discussion, analytics. Sprint cars, late models, modifieds, you name it. From national series, to top local shows. Brought to you five days a week. Email the show at info@dirtrackr.com.
A name that keeps popping up, a big score, JMac's last weekend? | Daily 8-28-2025
On this Thursday we'll talk a big $100,000 score for a young driver, some interesting entries and driver stuff around High Limit at Skagit, what to watch this weekend, and an important player in the sprint car free agency game who's name keeps coming up. Let's go!
It's Thursday, August 28th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
Today's Daily show is being supported by our friends at ArrowVision. They've got a tripleheader of Comp Cams Super Dirt Series races streaming live this weekend. Friday and Saturday is the 11th Annual Ron Jenkins Memorial from Lucas Oil Speedway. Those are $7000 to win and $10,000 to win. That Wheatland track is one of the nicest facilities in the country. And Sunday, action shifts over to Springfield Raceway for a $6000 to win feature. The Rex McCroskey Memorial will also feature fireworks after the show. Billy Moyer continues to lead the series championship over Morgan Bagley, with BJ Robinson, Eli Ross, and Kyle Beard making up the rest of the top five. Beyond the series regulars, some other drivers expected to race this weekend include Ryan Gustin, Cade Dillard, Dillon McCowan, the Gundakers, and Chris Simpson. All season long, ArrowVision is the streaming home for the Comp Cams Super Dirt Series, the All American Outlaw Modified Series, and Arrowhead Speedway. You can grab an account and tune in over at www.arrowvision.live.
As we talk about sprint car free agency and team changes for 2026, there is one player that I think could be a key cog in how things shake out. This guy won six sprint car championships in a row, but has been away from the national spotlight all season. I am of course talking about crew chief Eric Prutzman. The original plan was for him to lead Kasey Kahne's nine team at KKR all season, but we know that went sideways right before the High Limit opener at Las Vegas back in March. Prutzman then spent some time helping Doug Hammaker in Pennsylvania, and has been aiding in Ryan Newton's summer in the US. Newton won a weekly show at Lernerville a few weeks ago, and has top ten runs against the All Stars and FAST. I bring Prutzman up here, because his name is one that keeps popping up in the rumor mill around changes for teams. Prutzman had all of that success at KKR with Brad Sweet, and before his time at KKR, was a crew member at Tony Stewart Racing. This is a guy that knows how to run sprint car teams at a high level on the road. World of Outlaws and High Limit titles, the Kings Royal, the Knoxville Nationals, and so many race wins. If a team was in need of a big time crew chief, they couldn't do much better than Prutzman. If you want to compete at the top levels of sprint car racing, you really can't do it without some serious know how in the pits. Look around at the top teams, and all have notable crew chiefs. David Gravel and Cody Jacobs. Buddy Kofoid and Dylan Buswell. Carson Macedo and Philip Dietz. Rico Abreu and Ricky Warner. Anthony Macri and Joe Mooney. There aren't a lot of these guys available, so if Prutzman has any plans to return to the touring life, he's going to be a hot commodity. So where he could he go? Well, I think outside of KKR, and the established relationships I just mentioned, there are any number of possibilities. If Tony Stewart decides Todd Devnich isn't the guy, could they convince him to go there. If Clauson Marshall does indeed decide to start a second team, they would certainly need a boss for it. Prutzman would be a solid choice. Could he pair up with Donny Schatz somewhere, wherever he ends up. I do think there are some intriguing options. As things continue to shift, and move, and develop over the next several weeks, don't sleep on Prutzman and his potential influence on where drivers could go.
At Sports Park Raceway last night, Dallon Murty was undeterred by having names like Ryan Gustin and Ricky Thornton Jr. battling him for the $100,000 XR Stock Car Rampage win. His 99X was dominant out front, and at the end he topped Ryan Gustin by more than two seconds. Cayden Carter, Jake McBirnie, and RTJ were the rest of the top five. Easily the biggest win of Murty's career, and he's had a very strong stretch here lately. If you might remember back a few weeks, he swept a Malvern Bank SLMR weekend, with three straight wins at Park Jefferson, Shelby County, and US 30. I don't know if Murty has racing plans this weekend, but he will definitely be in the field when the IMCA Super Nationals get started at Boone Speedway on Monday. I believe he's entered in both the stock car and modified classes. He's a two-time winner of the stock car portion of the Super Nationals, back in 2021 and 2022. Murty's double digit win total this season includes scores in the stock car, plus pro and super late models.
In sprint car action at BAPS Motor Speedway, Anthony Macri went fourth to the win, throwing a late slider on Danny Dietrich for the dub. Dietrich ended up second, with polesitter Chase Dietz third. A bit surprised to see that one only draw 17 cars. That was by far their lowest car count of the season. The previous low for a sprint car show was 30 way back in March. I get that it was a Wednesday, but you would think they could have gotten across 20 at least. There is a full slate of Central PA racing coming up this weekend with the Grove, Lincoln, and Port all in action.
Alright, let's jump in and talk about some of the other racing coming up this holiday weekend. The Kubota High Limit sprint cars finish out their west coast trip with the three days of the Skagit Nationals, with action getting rolling today. $10k to win today, $20k to win Friday, and $126,000 to win on Saturday. FloRacing shared a pre-entry list for the event yesterday, with 37 cars listed. This is pretty close to what they had last year, with 41 signed in for day one. A couple of notes on entries, as we talked yesterday, Daryn Pittman is driving the Jason Meyers 14. Gio Scelzi and Justin Sanders continue their fill in roles with the 7BC and 87. This could very likely be the final race weekend for James McFadden in the Tarlton car before he returns to Australia. And Dominic Scelzi is listed in a second Trey Starks car, the 55XL. Going back to last year, Rico Abreu won two of three nights, including the finale. He's been really quiet as of late, including four finishes outside the top ten through the High Limit California swing. He'll be looking to turn that around this weekend. And he'll need to, if he wants to stay in the thick of his championship battle. Things remain tight between Sweet's 49, the RSR 87, the CMR 7BC and Rico's 24. After Saturday, the High Limit teams will then super truck back across the country to begin the Tuscarora 50 at Port Royal a week from today.
It's a busy weekend at Huset's with three sprint car races on tap. Friday is $7500 to win for their weekly 410 series, and then Saturday and Sunday are World of Outlaws sanctioned. That Friday night show is notable because Ryan Timms is trying to run down Kaleb Johnson for the track championship. They are separated by just 12 points. For the Outlaws, this is their last race before they head west to begin their own west coast stretch. Carson Macedo has won three of the last five Outlaw races, with Buddy Kofoid and David Gravel grabbing the other two wins. Over the last five races, Macedo's average finish is 2.4, while Gravel and Kofoid's is 2.8. Donny Schatz is still seeking his first Outlaw win of 2025, and I wouldn't sleep on Ryan Timms. The Knoxville Nationals champ swept the ASCS shows a week ago, then won at Huset's on Sunday. He could be very strong.
Also in action this weekend is the USAC midgets and Silver Crown cars. I almost forget the midgets existed. We haven't seen them since July 12th. Cannon McIntosh leads a tight battle over Justin Grant and Jacob Denney in the standings. They are at Bloomington on Friday, and Angell Park on Sunday. In between, the Silver Crown cars hit DuQuoin on Sunday for the Ted Horn 100. Out west the Louie Vermeil Classic at Calistoga features the NARC and USAC CRA sprint cars. Calistoga hasn't seen racing since 2019, and we talked yesterday about the possibility that Paul Silva brings two cars to this one. DJ Netto the NARC championship leader, and Ricky Lewis out front with the CRA. Ayrton Gennetten leads a tight POWRi battle over Joe B. Miller as they hit 34 Raceway and Lake Ozark this weekend. There is also three nights of IRA, and All Stars at Attica and Wayne County.
Weekend late model action is headlined by the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Lernerville for the Hillbilly 100. The return of Josh Richards to dirt late model competition, Joseph Joiner back again with JCM, $30,000 to win on Saturday, and just a few races left for drivers to make their way into the chase four. Ricky Thornton Jr. and Jonathan Davenport are way good, while Brandon Sheppard and Garrett Alberson have very small outside shots to try and get in over Devin Moran or Hudson O'Neal. If I was a betting man, I'd say Moran and O'Neal keep the spots. RTJ swept the Port Royal races last week, and Davenport took the Topless 100 before that. JD won at Lernerville earlier this year taking the Firecracker 100.
Not to be overshadowed by losing the Hillbilly 100, Tyler County in West Virginia is hosting the Country Roads 100 Friday through Sunday. This one is drawing Max Blair, the Carpenters, Eddie Carrier Jr., and there will be a Hudson O'Neal appearance on Sunday. He's going to run Kevin Rumley's car in the finale. There is also the aforementioned Comp Cams weekend, plus the start of the new Fall Clash series. This one is led by Jim Bernheisel, who also has the Appalachian Mountain Speedweek. They're running 12 races from August 29th through November 1st. They've got stops at Bedford, Selinsgrove, Bridgeport, Action Track USA, Winchester, Potomac, Hagerstown, and Georgetown. All races between $6000 and $25,000 to win, and ten grand to the series champion.
If you want to see a full rundown on your weekend streaming options, which includes tonight's Super DIRTcar Series race at Lebanon Valley, head over to dirtrackr.com/watchtonight. That will be a busy page for the next several days.
We will shut things down for the week right there. Thanks as always for tuning in and following along.
Hope you guys have a great weekend out there, we'll see you back here on Sunday!