DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Drivers signed, not signed, and the decision team owners face | Daily 10-9-2025
Donny Schatz, Spencer Bayston, Daison Pursley, Emerson Axsom... And there were others. If you had an open ride, would you hire potential, or experience? A discussion on that today, plus we'll sprinkle in ride and silly season news, talk weekend racing and more. Let's go!
It's Thursday, October 9th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.
If you're looking to get into some dirt racing from home this weekend, might I suggest Arrowhead Speedway live on Arrow Vision. They close out their weekly season with the third annual All American on Saturday night, featuring the All American Modified Series, OCRS sprint cars, and a full slate of weekly divisions. This will be the final chance for these racers to battle before a long winter, and championships are on the line. Hot laps begin at 6PM local time, and if you can't get be there, Arrow Vision will have live streaming coverage. 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.
There is this thing that happens a lot in sports, and I'm including racing here, where when teams go looking for their next guys, you run into this idea of potential versus experience. In baseball, do you draft the high school kid that throws 95, or the college pitcher who throws 93. In basketball, the one and done guys get all the attention, while college hoops vets often go undrafted. And in racing this would be choosing the rookie or young driver over the seasoned racer. There is obviously going to be some compromise made when making that choice, and it comes down to are you choosing the evil you know, or the evil you don't. The veteran racer is available because things were likely not going exactly to plan. But the vet is likely reliable, if maybe not lightning quick all the time. On the flip side, the rookie or young driver is shiny. New. Full of potential. But young drivers can be expensive. They crash your stuff while they figure out how to both be fast and make it to the end of races. They might win, but a lot of nights they're going to struggle. And this current silly season that we are in for sprint car racing offers examples on both sides. Of the drivers on the move, the top talent was easily Rico Abreu. But was Rico actually ever truly a free agent. I don't think so. I think Rico only moved because it was Tony Stewart. So he kinda doesn't count in this discussion. From there, Sheldon Haudenschild was the next on the list, a lot of wins, a proven contender, but even he was on the move for a reason. Will he be better with KCP versus SJM, I think a lot of folks have their doubts. We'll certainly see. If you want spectacular wins, he's easily the guy. But can he ever grow into a championship contending driver? The jury is still out. The third driver I'll mention before we move further into this discussion, is Gio Scelzi. Gio is a race winner. Steady. Still young, room to improve. We'll see if he can take steps forward with a veteran crew chief. He was likely high on a lot of race team driver lists. Gio though quickly snatched up, and he'll drive for this Spire/CMR team. That veteran crew chief tapped to lead Gio? Eric Prutzman. I don't know if we've said that anywhere. The Prutzman signing for CMR and Spire could turn out to be one of the biggest gets of the 2025 season.
Going deeper here, there are a few other drivers I want to talk about, and really two in particular. Two land on one side of the young versus experienced, and two on the other. Donny Schatz is obviously WAY experienced, but he's the ageing quarterback on the move late in his career. Like Joe Montana, or Peyton Manning, or Tom Brady. Is there still any magic left. And I know some out there are going to think it blasphemous that I throw Schatz into this comparison, given he's a 10 time Outlaw champion. And usually, I'd agree. But I'm not talking about the driver Schatz was years ago, I'm talking about where he is right now. And right now, he's got ten top fives and 34 top tens in 66 races, and hasn't won a sprint car race in a year. There is a solid possibility Schatz goes winless for the first time since 1997 on the Outlaw tour. I don't know what to believe out there right now about Schatz's situation, because for a few weeks it sounded like his 2026 season was all but buttoned up, but questions have emerged here in recent days, and I'm not sure where he is currently with a new ride. He might still be available, and he might not. On the other side is Emerson Axsom. Just his second full year in a winged 410, and for all intents and purposes, all the talent and potential in the world. Already 410 wins at Eldora and Knoxville, and near misses with the big tours. It didn't go super great though with KCP, and he's back to the Klaasmeyer Petry car, with rumblings that team could go full time Outlaw racing next year. As I keep going here, those two guys could be interchangeable for the other two I want to dig in on. And the other two are Spencer Bayston and Daison Pursley. These two are a very interesting comparison, and if the choice came down to the two of them, a lot of debate would happen. Bayston's actual future is still unknown. I'd heard he was a candidate for the 17 SJM car to replace Sheldon Haudenschild, then heard a deal wasn't going to happen, but now maybe it's still possible. I don't know. And Pursley is effectively off the market. He's with the Buch team currently, and was headed for that 17 car, that was until another team called. All signs right now are pointing towards Pursley at Kasey Kahne Racing for next year. This has turned into a really poorly kept secret in the sport. Nobody will say anything publicly, but it's pretty much everywhere at this point. I don't know when we'll get an official announcement. But, if Pursley was still available, are you picking him or Bayston? Sprintcarratings.com has Bayston 39th and Pursley 40th. They are $5000 apart in season winnings. Bayston 0 wins, eight top fives, 21 top tens in 61 races, just a tick under $167,000 earned. And Pursley... 1 win, eight top fives, 24 top tens in 68 races. Bayston's average finish for all races is 15.2, Pursley's is 16.9, call it 17. The main difference is this is Pursley's first season with a wing on, and he's not yet 21 years old. Bayston is 26, and has been a full time wing racer since basically 2021. He'd made 138 410 appearances too between 2016 and 2020. Bayston's run well in big events, has five career Outlaw wins, and has seen every dirt track in the country that a major 410 race will happen at. But he's in this position because of a tough stretch with CJB, and a not great run this season in the Meyers 14. His stock definitely down. So, Bayston and his experience, or Purlsey and the potential? It's shouldn't surprise you that the industry liked Pursley over Bayston. The potential and the shiny-ness effect is real. But, very similar results this season, and Pursley is still very unproven. He looks like he's got the makeup to be a star, and a team like KKR could unlock that, or he could struggle. I think it's a fascinating debate, and I'm glad I don't have to be the one to decide which direction to go when it comes to choosing drivers like this. Feel free to chime in below.
Before we call it a week here on the show, let's run through some of the racing going on over the next few days. The biggest late model payday is with the World of Outlaws late models at Boothill. They race Friday and Saturday, with $50,000 on the line Saturday. This one is a dual sanction with the Comp Cams Super Dirt Series. Bobby Pierce has 108 points on Nick Hoffman, and Tim McCreadie and Dennis Erb Jr. are the two most recent winners on tour. Ryan Gustin won at Boothill back in 2024.
At Cherokee Speedway in South Carolina, the Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series will crown their champion after two nights of racing. The finale pays $35,000 to the race winner. Jimmy Owens currently has just two points on Zack Mitchell, with Cory Hedgecock 32 back in third. Joseph Joiner is 54 out, and Dalton Cook is 72 back. This is Blue Gray 100 weekend, and this one could draw some extra names. I've seen Carson Ferguson will be there, Clay Harris, and I'm sure there will be others. Should be fun with that title on the line.
Up in New York, Super Dirt Week continues through Saturday night. Prelim action is ongoing right now, the pro stocks and 358s have their finales on Friday, and the sportsman and big blocks race on Saturday. Racing's Biggest Party is in full effect.
The World of Outlaws sprint cars are in the northeast for another week. They race at New Egypt on Friday, and Lincoln on Saturday. We're coming off of the really entertaining National Open that saw Chase Dietz win his first ever Outlaw feature, and Sheldon Haudenschild become a bit of shock National Open winner over Bill Balog. David Gravel still well in control of the Outlaw title fight.
After some time off, High Limit returns to action this weekend with two nights at Lakeside Speedway. They've got just five races left to decide the 2025 champion, and Rico Abreu is out front right now. With all of the rumors hanging around Brad Sweet, can those guys get something going over these final nights and steal this title. Sweet hasn't won with High Limit since Florence back in July, but does have seven straight top ten finishes, including two seconds and laps led at Lernerville a few weeks ago. Rico will also be under pressure from Aaron Reutzel and the RSR 87 for the owner's championship. A-Aron last a winner during 4-Crown, but he's coming off a tough night at Path Valley where he was 17th. After this weekend, it's Lucas Oil Speedway the following Wednesday, and then the finale at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track.
Other open wheel action to check out includes the final POWRi midget weekend, with Port City on tap. Jacob Denney the POWRi midget champion for 2025. The USAC sprint cars head to Lawrenceburg for two nights, with $6500 to win on Friday, and a very nice $20,000 payday on Saturday for the winner. Kyle Cummins has control of the series championship with six races left. There's also ASCS at Salt City, Kansas, NARC 410s at Antioch on Saturday, a tight championship battle there as well, and local action at tracks like Selinsgrove, Lernerville, and Atomic. If you want a full rundown on your streaming options, make sure to stop by dirtrackr.com/watchtonight to see the full daily schedules.
That's the Daily for this week. If you've gotten all the way to this point in the episode, and you don't already subscribe to the show, maybe consider hitting that button. You can subscribe for free on YouTube and the podcast places, and like and follow on Facebook. New shows are posted five days a week to those platforms, plus dirtrackr.com.
Hope you guys have a great Thursday out there, we'll see you back here on Sunday!