DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Is Hunt the Front buying a track? Plus are the Morans ruffling feathers, another sprint car commit | Daily 12-8-2025

Is Hunt the Front buying a dirt track? I talked to them about it and will share what I know. Plus High Limit gets another commit, USAC hires a new president, and Muskingum County announces a race that might ruffle some feathers. Let's go!

It's Monday, December 8th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

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One of the intriguing bits of, I guess maybe potential news, to come out of the Gateway Dirt Nationals, was FloRacing's Ben Shelton hinting at Hunt the Front maybe buying a race track. During the Thursday broadcast at the Dome, he said quote "What if I told you the Hunt the Front gang that they're about to buy a racetrack?" Dustin Jarrett then replied quote "well, I knew that but yeah. What if we told the world that something is happening." What was curious, was the conversation basically stopping right there. Nothing else was said, not what track, or any other details. Then, later on Friday, Trenton Berry interviewed Joshua Joiner during the Dome broadcast on Flo, and both he and brother Jonathan were incredibly non-committal on the subject, saying they couldn't confirm or deny any deal for a track. There are internet rumors that it could be Southern Raceway, which is just about 10 miles from the Hunt the Front shop in Florida, and I saw a comment or two on my show about it yesterday. Hunt the Front obviously the Joiner brothers, with Joseph driving and Jonathan running the very successful YouTube channel. They have parlayed that success into their southeastern based dirt late model touring series, that Joshua runs, plus their own streaming service. Adding a track to their line of dirt racing businesses wouldn't surprise me, and it would make a lot of sense. I reached out to Joshua today to get details on a potential deal, or to see if he would comment. He told me quote "Ever since our YouTube channel began to grow back in 2019, the idea of operating a racetrack has naturally been something we're interested in exploring. We feel like it would be a meaningful way to contribute to the sport beyond what we're already doing. That said, the right opportunity at the right time simply hasn't come along yet. If it ever did, we'd certainly be open to it. But to be clear, no, we haven't purchased a racetrack" unquote. So there you go, straight from Hunt the Front. I do think it's important to note here that just because a deal to purchase a race track hasn't happened at this moment, that it's not possible in the future. I guess we'll just have to wait though to see what comes of this story.

On the show yesterday we talked about High Limit flipping Kerry Madsen and the Vermeer team from the Outlaws to their side full time for 2026. And today came word that Danny Sams and his 24 team will be back with the series next year. At World Finals, we'd heard that Sams was likely going to be back with a tour next season, but that they were mulling their options between High Limit and the Outlaws. It seems there are a number of teams that talked to both sides, doing their due diligence, before making choices. Sams was 11th in the final High Limit standings this year, with a win, one top five, and four top tens in 50 starts. He added two other top tens between the Outlaws and a late season unsanctioned race at Atomic. His High Limit win came in the rain-shortened feature at Bridgeport late in September. That victory made it 11 career 410 wins for the driver from Florida, who really broke out in 2024, winning multiple times during Ohio Speedweek. His team and family then took a big leap for this season, choosing to go full time on a tour like High Limit. Sams now joins Madsen and Vermeer as two cars committed to High Limit that are without franchises. Unfortunately for Sams, running this past season doesn't give him any advantages towards trying to earn a franchise over the next two season going into 2028. Just like with Madsen, he'll need a top eight finish both years, or a top three finish one season to earn one. That top eight requirement is an important thing to understand here. These non-franhcise teams aren't just battling each other for one of those franchises in the future. They are battling the whole High Limit field. With Sams back, the only two we aren't sure about are Chase Randall and Sye Lynch. Although I'm sure they discussed it, I'd be surprised if Lynch went Outlaws. Just speculating here, but I'd think they'd stay High Limit. Randall is a question mark though, and there are some rumblings about his team. Stay tuned on that.

There was more leadership news today from USAC. It was just a few days ago we were talking about Kody Swanson taking over as series director from Tommie Estes for the USAC Silver Crown Series, and today it's a new president for all of USAC. Starting January 1st, Kasey Coler will take over from Kevin Miller, who has been president of USAC since 2007. Coler comes to USAC from the NHRA and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. He's also had past stints with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar, and the PBR. Miller is leaving USAC to take over as president of ACCUS, which is the Automobile Competition Committee of the United States. This body represents the major American motorsports sanctioning bodies globally, and Miller will also be involved in FIA sanctioned events in the US, including Formula 1 and Formula E. Obviously if you are watching or listening to this show, you know USAC ast sanctioning major non-wing races, but they are also involved in road racing, off-road, and youth events. Coler is just the 10th president of USAC going back to 1955.

The final thing for you today. Over the weekend, Muskingum County Speedway in Ohio announced an unsanctioned dirt late model race for next June. They are calling it the Dirt Cup, and it will be what they are describing as a Ryder Cup-style event, pitting the top 10 in Lucas standings against the top 10 in Outlaw standings. Teams will be paid show up money, and the race is $20,000 to win. Drivers will get points based on where they finish, and one side will be declared the winner. June 10th is the Wednesday after the Dirt Late Model Dream at Eldora, and before the World of Outlaws head to West Virginia Motor Speedway. No other cars or teams will be racing, just the 20 late models, split from the two series. I'm assuming that show up money will be helpful in getting those teams to commit. I don't want this to come off as negative against the Morans or the track for putting this event together, but I think it is important to point something out here. This is the type of event that drives the series crazy. Neither Lucas nor the Outlaws are actually involved in any way, but this event will be promoted as the two sides against each other. People always ask about exclusivity agreements, and teams being barred from not racing at certain tracks within a certain period of another event, and shows being promoted like this is why. We've heard Lucas series director Rick Schwallie say in the past he wasn't thrilled about the Flo series races scheduled in between national tour races, and we know where WRG stands on things like this. Dirt racing doesn't do a great job as whole respecting intellectual property, but if this was a bigger stage, I promise you lawyers would be involved. Cease and desist letters would already be in the mail. And maybe here they already are. I like the idea, it's an interesting promotion, but doing this unsanctioned is going to ruffle some feathers.

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 Sunday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!