DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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The Outlaw field grows, what sprint car drivers are in play, let's talk streaming news | Daily 12-10-2025

The World of Outlaws add a new rookie commit, and their roster is starting to come into focus. We'll also talk what other sprint car drivers are still out there that could choose a tour. Plus I've got a bunch of streaming and media updates and thoughts including notes on FloRacing, DIRTVision and Knoxville, and the situation in Central PA. Let's go!

It's Wednesday, December 10th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

The sprint car series commitments are starting to come in fast this week with the PRI show getting rolling tomorrow. On the Outlaw side, we obviously know Donny Schatz has shored up his plans, partnering with CJB. And the Outlaws added another today with the announcement that Scotty Thiel will join Greg Wheeler Motorsports and head out on tour with the Outlaws in 2026. Thiel will be an Outlaw rookie, but he's not a stranger to the touring sprint car life. The Wisconsin driver had a stint with the All Stars in 2023, and was the IRA series champion in 2024. The bulk of his success has come with the IRA, where he's won 32 times in his career and has 171 top tens in 232 races. After winning that IRA title though, his deal fell apart, and he ran just 25 410 shows during the 2025 season. He did win four times though, and added three 360 wins, and made scattered starts with several series, including the Outlaws and High Limit. Thiel becomes the second rookie to sign on, joining Ashton Torgerson who is tackling the full Outlaw run with Shark Racing. This will be a step up for Wheeler as well, who just parted ways with driver Max Guilford. That news came out around 2:30 AM eastern time this morning, but Guilford is back in Australia for the season there, so that explains the time. Thiel has made 73 career appearances against the Outlaws, and has six top tens. The last of those came in 2024 at Beaver Dam Raceway. He's also got a top five and two top tens in nine appearances against High Limit. These guys will certainly be up against it in 2026, but there is an existing blueprint for an IRA champion to have sucess and compete for wins with the Outlaws. Obviously I'm referring to Bill Balog. I'll be curious though to see how they can do.

Pulling back a bit, this should put the World of Outlaws right around that 12 mark currently. Thiel and Torgerson as rookies, plus David Gravel, Donny Schatz, Spencer Bayston, Cole Macedo, and Chris Windom. Logan Schuchart and the series announced he'll be back for year 13, so that makes eight. I think we can add Buddy Kofoid, Carson Macedo, Sheldon Haudenschild, and Balog to this. That's 12. From there, Garet Williamson is still an unknown, we don't know what will happen with the Bill Rose car, or Conner Morrell's plans. I kind of doubt Skylar Gee is back given he's ride searching currently, and we know the Vermeer 55 flipped to High Limit. That covers all the 2025 teams. I don't really see Sye Lynch flipping this way, but Emerson Axsom is still out there also. I know Jeremy Elliott has mentioned that Central PA driver TJ Stutts is potentially mulling an Outlaw run, and there are others who have been mentioned here and there. Could Austin McCarl jump to a series, or will Hank Davis and Michael Dutcher run a tour. I wouldn't be shocked to see the World of Outlaws go to Volusia next February with 14 or 15. For comparison, I've got High Limit at 12 right now. Those are Rico Abreu, Daison Pursley, Brent Marks, Justin Peck, Tanner Thorson, Aaron Reutzel, Tanner Holmes, Brenham Crouch, Danny Sams III, Sye Lynch, Tyler Courtney, and Gio Scelzi. The one remaining question there is Chase Randall. I know some are going to ask again about Gio Scelzi since I put him here, and I'm including him because his deal is done. An announcement for him should come tomorrow. His car with it's wrap for next year is sitting inside the trade show at PRI as we speak. So that's where we are at the moment on series choices. Going down the list of drivers at sprintcarratings.com, I don't really foresee anyone else making the jump, but there could maybe still be a surprise out there beyond what I've mentioned here.

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One of the larger topics I've had on my list for a hot minute is to talk some streaming and media updates. This might wander a bit, but there are a bunch of things to touch on, on several fronts. First, we know last week ahead of the Gateway Dirt Nationals, FloRacing announced they had put a deal together to air their 24/7 channel on Amazon Prime. The same content will also be on Fubo. Thursday night from the Dome was live there free to wach, and going forward there will be select other events available on that channel through the season. We've seen Flo do the same on their YouTube channel, making certain events and live look-ins available for free. And that's the case here. That channel on Prime and Fubo doesn't require a FloRacing subscription, but it also won't have everything. These channels are called FAST channels, FAST standing for free ad supported television. It's my understanding that these types of deals with FAST channels aren't super big money makers, but they can be a solid way to market a service's content. Another motorsports example of a FAST channel is Speed Sport 1. It was pretty cool to open Prime on that Thursday though and see Flo front and center. I think they are hoping they can use it to grow their subscriber base and get more eyes on the racing. Prime if you aren't aware, has something like 200 million subscribers. Even at a very small percentage, that could be a nice opportunity to boost viewers on Flo. Speaking of eyes on the racing, USAC's outgoing president Kevin Miller was on the EPARTRADE Race Industry Week cast last week, and he said USAC averages 40,000 viewers a night for their races on Flo. What actual viewership looks like for these streaming services is always a bit tough to find out, but that feels like a solid number for USAC. I know High Limit, Lucas, and big events on Flo do much better than that. We talked a bit about those numbers in the aftermath of High Limit being on FOX Sports 1. And I've heard rumblings that there could be more Flo stuff showing up on FOX Sports 1 in 2026. Again, a chance to expose a larger audience to the programming, similar to what World Racing Group does with their CBS Sports Network broadcasts. Speaking of WRG, going back to last week, Jeremy Elliott dropped on a 90 at 9 that the DIRTVision contract with Knoxville Raceway is coming up for renewal. That's one that could be hotly contested, as it was the first time around between Flo and WRG. The Knoxville Nationals is a massive draw for streaming, and FloRacing put up a significant offer years ago to try and get it. Knoxville could be a key battleground between the two sides well into the future, knowing the Nationals has long been Outlaw sanctioned, but if that track and event flipped to High Limit, it would be a huge win, I mean monumental. The Outlaws adding more races there could be because of this impending situation. I have no inside information on this one, but I don't see things changing at Knoxville with this next immediate deal, but it is something to watch in coming years. Finally on the streaming front, there is a new player in Central PA, with PAPosse.TV being announced back around Thanksgiving. This service will carry select PA Posse 410 series events, along with all races from Lincoln Speedway outside of the Outlaw shows. This means that Lincoln will no longer be available on FloRacing. If you want to watch every PA series race next year, you'll need to access to four services; DIRTVision, Flo, Sprint Car Unlimited.TV, and this new deal. PAPosse.TV didn't announce a pricing structure, but I've heard it will most likely be a pay per view model, meaning buying each race separately. Lincoln will certainly give up some visibility not being on Flo, but it might be worth it if they can make more money with their own service. With so many options now though, will the fans actually buy weekly shows there regularly? I think it's a question mark. It's a model we haven't seen for any of those big area tracks previously.

Alright, that's all for today. The PRI show opens tomorrow, and Thursday is often a big breaking news day. I would expect at least a few announcements today, and maybe a surprise or two. We'll obviously recap everything on the Thursday show. But, that's all for today.

Hope you guys have a great rest of your Wednesday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!