DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Another injury, sprint car series choices for 2026, a "false" rumor? | Daily 9-23-2025
Anthony Macri sidelined, we'll predict High Limit and World of Outlaws drivers and teams for 2026, update the Mike Marlar chassis situation, and more. Let's go!
It's Tuesday, September 23rd, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
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A show topic I've had on my ideas list for a few weeks that I want to tackle today is to talk through sprint car series choices for next season, and do some predictions and some speculating on what could happen, given what we know right now with driver and team changes. We will get the second round of High Limit franchises awarded following the final races of the year at Texas, and we know they've got big plans on future expansion for payouts for team owners. This year, the High Limit champion will get $250,000 from a point fund of a bit over a million total. But next year will see significant increases, with the top team in two year average points finish earning $425,000 from a pool of franchise money that rises to $2.6 million. Those payouts are scheduled to continue rising through 2029, with that top spot then worth $625,000 from a $3.7 million pool. The 10 High Limit franchises at this moment do and would belong to the Rico Abreu 24, the Kasey Kahne 49, Brent Marks 19, the Clauson Marshall 7BC, and then the Rudeen 26, the Rod Gross 88, the Ridge and Sons 87, the Buch 13, the CJB 5, and the Meyers 14. A big question mark, is if and how World Racing Group will respond to those numbers from High Limit. Will they up the ante as well, or keep the status quo. WRG has pretty consistently raised payouts in recent years, which some want to equate to the expansion of High Limit, but those numbers were going up before the second series came into existence. It's possible we won't know what the plans are for a while, but I'm sure there will start being rumblings nearer to World Finals.
So, with all that said, let's get into some predictions. Of the 10 teams we know that have franchises, I expect probably eight to return. We already know that Rico's franchise will be leased to TSR for his new deal. Barring a shock retirement or scaling back of his schedule, Brad Sweet and the KKR 49 return. I also think the added cash will bring Brent Marks back even though he's pondered his options in past offseasons. There have been a few rumblings about Justin Peck, but I'd think he'll be back with Rudeen next season. I don't know right now that there is a better option for him, and Rudeen is all in on High Limit. I also wouldn't expect changes for Aaron Reutzel and RSR, or Tanner Thorson and the Rod Gross team. And as long as Tyler Courtney is healthy, he'll be back on tour with the 7BC. The two biggest question marks right now are the CJB 5 and the Meyers 14. One of those two could sell their franchise to CMR slash Spire for the Gio Scelzi car that has been rumored. Outside of running Corey Day in some indeterminate amount of races in 2026, we have zero idea right now what the 14 team will do. They have been at the center of the chatter for a franchise sale to CMR, and I think it's most probable they are not full time next season. And the CJB rumors keep percolating. Will Crouch return, do they start a second team, bring in a veteran driver, flip to the Outlaws. All things I've heard. I will throw one more team in here as a small question mark, and that's the Buch 13. There are no indications that the plan will change for this team, but if for some reason Daison Pursley gets poached, we don't know where that could leave them. For now, I'll lean High Limit return for them. The non-franchise teams I think are all a coin toss on a returning. That means Sye Lynch, Chase Randall, and Danny Sams. I could see all or none returning, but their paths to franchises would be difficult. High Limit could award up to five more franchises beyond the initial 10, but their plan back from before said that wouldn't happen until 2028. That would mean these three needing to race in 2026 and 2027 as non-franchise teams making less money. And with no guarantee at earning a franchise.
On the Outlaw side, I think it's status quo for David Gravel with Big Game, Buddy Kofoid with Roth, and Logan Schuchart with Shark. I would also assume that Bill Balog will be back for year three. The Outlaws will lose Tony Stewart Racing, but I think it's very possible that Donny Schatz stays Outlaws when he finds a new ride. I don't see him flipping to High Limit, or going pick and choose. If Schatz secures a new deal, which sounds more and more likely, I think he stays here. That would negate a team loss with TSR flipping. At the moment, I know nothing and have heard nothing about future plans for Garet Williamson, Cole Macedo, or Chris Windom. I can't see the Sides car racing anywhere but the Outlaws though, and I don't know that the 2C or the 23 would buy a franchise. For now, I'll predict they all stay. There is question around Vermeer's plans, but I think it's most plausible that they keep a car on tour. Whether Hunter Schuerenberg drives it, or maybe Kerry Madsen, I think is still TBD. Further down the order, I think anything is possible for guys like Zach Hampton, Skylar Gee, and Conner Morrell. I wouldn't be surprised if any stayed or departed. I don't see a reason though for why a Bill Rose owned team wouldn't be back for another season. The question marks on this side right now I think are the JJR 41 with Carson Macedo, the KCP 18, the Stenhouse Marshall 17, and Emerson Axsom. It might be surprising to hear that about the 41, but there has been quiet talk in recent weeks this team is waiting to see what the 2026 Outlaws package is before making a series decision. If they could be convinced to flip, this could be a team that buys a franchise from either a Meyers or a CJB. The 18 and 17 are questions given we don't know publicly who will drive them. My guess would be the 17 stays if they put a new deal together post-Sheldon Haudenschild and Kyle Ripper. They obviously need a driver and a crew chief. I've heard those two, Sheldon and Ripper, to KCP is effectively done but the series choice remains an open question. I don't think I'd be surprised if they went either way. As for Emerson Axsom, if he his indeed out of the KCP 18 after World Finals, him returning to the Klaasmeyer Petry team makes the most sense, and a full Outlaw run could be in the cards. This team ran a good portion of the Outlaw schedule in 2025 before Axsom got the KCP deal, and there were rumors all through the first half of the season that them signing a platinum agreement was imminent. It didn't materialize, which was probably better for Axsom anyway, but they would be better positioned in 2026 for a full pull given the experience this year.
To wrap up, if there are new teams looking to join a series, I think the Outlaws are better positioned for providing those opportunities. There will be point fund and travel money available from High Limit for new teams, but as I said before, unless teams have the money to buy a franchise and a willing team to sell one, the future path to a franchise through earning one is long and tough. Teams joining the Outlaws wouldn't need to play the franchise game, and are pretty quickly at full strength for getting all of the available benefits and being able to participate in the full point fund. Outside of a possible full run for Axsom though, I'm not aware right now of any credible information on teams looking to jump in. I know this was a lot to digest, but chew through it, and let me know your thoughts.
Moving on, unfortunate news late last night for Anthony Macri, as the sprint car driver revealed he'll be out three or four weeks with that fractured vertebrae we mentioned on the show yesterday. That means the Kings Royal winner will miss this weekend's High Limit shows at Bridgeport and Path Valley, plus the National Open at Williams Grove, and the Outlaw shows at New Egypt and Lincoln. FloRacing's Kyle McFadden reported that Macri could return on October 17th. That weekend, the World of Outlaws are at Lincoln Park and LaSalle, while High Limit has their finale at Texas. There is also action at Lincoln Speedway that Saturday if they wanted to stay closer to home. Macri was trying to chase down Rico Abreu back on Friday for the lead in the High Limit show at Eldora during the 4-Crown when he crashed and was injured. Macri now on a not great list of drivers that includes Aaron Reutzel, Tyler Courtney, Brad Sweet, and Gio Scelzi, who were all injured at Eldora this season. He's currently won the fourth most money this season in sprint car competition, north of half a million dollars, thanks to 14 wins in 74 races and that Kings Royal crown. Hopefully he's able to heal up quickly.
Updating the Mike Marlar, Ronnie Delk, Rocket chassis stuff from yesterday... When we talk about rumors and chatter here on the show, I'm always happy to make corrections if necessary, and in this case, the information I had doesn't seem like it was entirely incorrect. We'll get to that in a second. Mike's brother Camaron posted a Facebook comment on the episode yesterday that just read quote "False." Since he didn't offer any other information or words, and didn't reply back to me after that, I'm assuming he's referring to the Rocket chassis part of the segment. Everything else that I talked about there was public knowledge. Another source told me today that Marlar will likely drive a Longhorn with Cornett power coming up with Delk, but the information I had about the Rocket situation is interesting still. A very good source told me that Ronnie Delk has his name on a new chassis at Rocket, and given Marlar and Delk's history, and the struggles this season, it made a lot of sense that it could be for Marlar. Venture down a different path to try and spark some performance. And Marlar not racing yet could be because they were waiting on it to be finished. The other possibility is that the car could be for Delk's son Jared, who races crate late models around the southeast. He's made something like 15ish appearances this season according to MRP, including a 604 win at I-75 in April. It looks like he's been racing a Sniper Chassis though, which is Ricky Weiss' deal that are constructed in the Brucebilt Shop. Delk was featured on the Sniper Facebook page for a win in July at Golden Mountain Speedway. So maybe a Delk car swapping, but not Marlar. We'll see. I'm going to put a pin in this one and we'll double back to it in the future.
Closing out today, hat tip to late model driver Shane Sabraski on 1000 career feature wins. He accomplished that mark in recent days. That's a lot of wins over 25 years of racing.
Also, a big thank you from me for 50,000 followers on Facebook. We crossed over that mark yesterday. Super cool, and the YouTube channel is hopefully next.
That's the show for today. Hope you guys have a great rest of your day out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!