DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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A possible championship-defining clash, and an unacceptable situation | Daily 9-14-2025
Heat race drama at Lernerville upsets the High Limit points, we had first time winners break through, Justin Grant stays hot on that broken foot, new champions crowned, and safety changes needed after a brutal situation in a Friday sprint car show. Let's go!
It's Sunday, September 14th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
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We'll get rolling here with two brand new winners with the Kubota High Limit sprint cars. Both Friday and Saturday at Lernerville saw drivers break through for the first time, with Tanner Thorson going 12th to the win on Friday, and Daison Pursley battling by Brad Sweet to win on Saturday. Thorson had previously won a prelim night at the Gold Cup, but those are split-field nights, so not technically an official series win. There was no question though on Friday, as he sliced his way through the field and led the final three laps. A big win for the coilover setup too. Behind Thorson, Sweet ended up second, where he finished both nights, and Pursley was third. That Friday night show also had big drama between Aaron Reutzel and Sye Lynch that ended up having big points and championship implications. Early in heat two, Reutzel made contact with Lynch and sent him over the top of turn two. Under the immediate yellow, Lynch then went after Reutzel, driving over his left front and breaking the front end. Reutzel DNF'd in the heat and Lynch was DQ'd for the retaliation. I certainly didn't think the initial contact was intentional on Reutzel's part. He was right behind the 1A of Ashton Torgerson and it looked like the 87 just got really tight in the 1A's wake. He then pushed up the track into Lynch's 42. I don't remember off hand there being previous issues between these two drivers, but Lynch was very quick to respond. It was clear he didn't care what the reasoning was for the contact. Obviously though not the first time we've seen someone take issue with Reutzel. The two drivers ended up transferring into the night's feature through the B, and Lynch went 19th to fifth for hard charger honors. Reutzel though only able to get to 17th. Combine that with a 14th on Saturday, and that RSR 87 went from leading the High Limit owner's championship, to now second, 19 points behind Rico Abreu. Rico now leading both standings headed to Lawrenceburg on Wednesday. As for Pursley, he was strong at Skagit, but struggled the week before at Port Royal. Lernerville though a big bounceback finishing on the podium Friday, and breaking through on Saturday. There have definitely been some bumps and scrapes along the way during this rookie season for Pursley, but plenty of bright spots as well showing the potential for him as a winged driver. He is on his way towards series rookie of the year as well. This High Limit championship remains a two driver fight, and three team fight, depending on which side you look at. Still a lot of racing to come though and more moves are likely.
Out west, weekend World of Outlaws sprint car wins went to Buddy Kofoid at Kern and Bill Balog at Perris. Kofoid up to 11 Outlaw wins, he topped Sheldon Haudenschild and Carson Macedo on Friday. Gravel had his first finish outside the top 10 in an Outlaw race since Plymouth back in June, suffering a late flat right rear tire. And Donny Schatz's west coast woes continued with a Friday DNF, and a 13th place finish Saturday. No Paul Silva magic for him. Balog's flag to flag victory was his third series win of 2025, and he continues to have a career season. Even a hole in his right rear tire couldn't get in his way. I don't want to diminish his incredible 10 IRA titles, but of the full time drivers, only Gravel, Kofoid, and Macedo have more wins this season than Balog. He's won more than Logan Schuchart, Sheldon Haudenschild, and Donny Schatz, who he is trying to run down in the points. More weekends like this, and that 130 point gap between the two could go away. The Outlaws close out the California trip next weekend with two nights at the Tulare Thunderbowl.
In Ohio, the All Star season wrapped with two more Cap Henry wins at Fremont, and a split championship. Kalib Henry took down the driver's title, while Cale Thomas steered the 49X to the owner championship. Logan Julien and Travis Arenz were IRA winners. Blake Nimee has a solid lead in the standings with just three IRA races to go. Brock Zearfoss won at Williams Grove, Troy Wagaman took the Weldon Sterner at Lincoln, Nick Sheridan was the Northern Sprint Car Nationals winner, and Ayrton Gennetten and Hank Davis split POWRi wins. Gennetten now in control of that POWRi championship with Joe B Miller finishg 19th at Lee County, and 11th at Callaway. And USAC sprint car wins went to Justin Grant and Logan Seavey between Circle City and the Hustler at Haubstadt. Kyle Cummins still in control of the USAC title, but JG continuing to melt faces with that broken foot. Six straight top fives, and three wins in his last five starts. Unreal stuff. Up next is the 4-Crown weekend at Eldora.
Before we move on, I like Jacksonville Speedway. I think Kenny Dobson has done a nice job over the years of bringing big events to that track, but what happened there on Friday night was just completely unacceptable. I hope they are taking a good hard look at their safety procedures and making big improvements going forward. If you didn't see the video, Kevin Newton crashed during the MOWA sprint car feature, and it took multiple laps before the race went red. The track announcer was screaming on the PA system, which was broadcast on DIRTVision, for officials to do something. It was a really bad situation, and something we just can't afford to have in these races. We had tragedy at Jacksonville last year, and now this. Sprint car racing is dangerous enough as it is, we gotta do better than this.
Moving over to late models, the World of Outlaws back in action with two shows in the south. Friday it was Needmore and Saturday to Senoia. Nick Hoffman the winner Friday, he took over from Tim McCreadie on lap 17, and went the distance, breaking Bobby Pierce's four race win streak. Saturday it was Ashton Winger leading 44 of 50 laps picking up his fifth career Outlaw win and first since 2022. Winger had been an Outlaw full timer this year, but fell off the tour in June. He beat McCreadie and Ethan Dotson to the win. The Outlaws off for a couple of weeks now with Bobby Pierce still in control of the championship.
Going back to Thursday, Jonathan Davenport won the FloRacing Night in America Scott Bloomquist Memorial at Volunteer Speedway. Things got good late, but JD able to hold off Hudson O'Neal and Camaron Marlar. Elsewhere, Jason Feger swept the MARS weekend, Dave Hess Jr. picked up ten grand with the ULMS and Fall Clash, Morgan Bagley and BJ Robinson were Comp Cams winners, Chad Becker won the WISSOTA 100, and Max Blair and Mason Zeigler were unsanctioned $10k winners at Stateline and Selinsgrove.
At Fonda, Matt Sheppard picked up his third career win in the Fonda 200 with the Short Track Super Series. It was a wild race with Alex Yankowski going out from the lead with mechanical issues. Sheppard had a flat tire under that same caution and had to drive back to the front. And numerous other cars suffered problems.
And finally, in USMTS action, Tyler Wolff won two of three at Tri-State Speedway in Oklahoma with the USMTS, including the Saturday finale. Tanner Mullens won the Friday show in between. He's still 119 points back though in the standings, trailing Rodney Sanders.
We will shut things down right there for today. Don't forget you can watch the Daily show completely ad free over at patreon.com/dirtrackr. That is one of the perks of the top tier membership I have named "reserved seating." You can sign up free as a member on Patreon, but the premium tiers do have added benefits. So check that out at patreon.com/dirtrackr.
Hope you guys have a great Sunday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!