DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Lucas tried to throw one by us... | Daily 12-31-2025

The World of Outlaws late model field grows and we'll talk what I know about their full timer list for 2026. Plus Lucas axes the chase, but then sort of brings it back. We've also got sprint car news and an update about the show. Let's go!

It's Wednesday, December 31st, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

If you like to play those pickem pools (Chili Bowl is right around the corner), or participate in Dirt Draft, or maybe bet USAC or High Limit or the Outlaws, or you're just a stat nerd like me, check out the analytics section at dirtrackr.com. We track both World of Outlaws series, Lucas, High Limit, USAC, the Chili Bowl, Eldora late model events, Xtreme Outlaw midgets and more. The database is now north of 2500 races worth of results, stats, and analysis. In there, you can find a ton of information for free, including full race results, driver pages, and stat breakdowns. But if you want access to even more, grab a subscription to DIRTRACKR Plus. $4.99 a month, or $49.99 a year. The year subscription gets you two months free effectively. And you can cancel any time very easily. Signing up gets you access to the Plus Dashboard which has added stat tools and visualizations. Unlock more than 25 extra features, including exclusive insights not found anywhere else. Whether you're a race fan, member of the media, or work for a series or track, DIRTRACKR Plus is the perfect resource. You can see everything Plus has to offer and sign up for a subscription over at dirtrackr.com/getplus.

Before the holiday break, we talked briefly here on the show about the World of Outlaws late model series roster, and yesterday we got another public acknowledgement of a driver and team returning. No surprise here, but Ryan Gustin and Todd Cooney Motorsports will be back with the Outlaws in 2026. Gustin was third in the standings this past season, with five wins, 14 top fives, and 27 top tens in 43 races. While the bulk of national touring teams are Longhorn, with some scattered Rockets, Gustin and Cooney have found speed and victories with the Infinity out of the Wells Motorsports shop. I'll be curious to see if their program will be elevated by Chris Madden joining Wells for their house car program. Maybe some of that information can benefit the Cooney team. Gustin has become a driver who can win on any given night, but to get closer to guys like Nick Hoffman and Bobby Pierce out front, they need to find more consistency. They were third in the standings, but a significant way off. Gustin's qualifying and feature start averages were actually down this past season, but his feature finish was more than a half spot better. That was thanks to him passing a lot more cars in those main events. His feature plus minus for 2024 was nine, but for 2025 it was 127. That was best in the series. Getting those qualifying and feature start averages back down would go a long way towards helping that consistency. Gustin joins Nick Hoffman, Trey Mills, and Drake Troutman as confirmed back. We can also add Tristan Chamberlain to this list, as his team did the job post announcement back in November. Overall though, I've been told the series expects most everybody back from 2025. There are questions around Cody Overton, Tanner English, and the Coltman Farms team, but there shouldn't be any major losses otherwise. They could start 2026 at Volusia with upwards of 20 full time drivers. We are three weeks out from the Outlaw opener in January.

On the flip side, with Lucas, did you see their announcement yesterday? They reiterated the return to the traditional season-long championship format, but have added in a late season bonus program that basically keeps the championship chase alive, sort of. The highest finishing championship driver in the top 15 will earn an additional $5000 at each of the final five races. And after Port Royal on August 29th, there is an additional championship and payout system on the line for the top five drivers. There is also one in place for positions six through 15. So winning the season-long title gets you $250,000, but the final five race quote unquote "bonus program" nets that driver $100 grand. So we've got the full season champion, plus what they are calling a mini-series champion just based on those final five races. This is clearly Lucas trying to have their cake and eat it too. They get the PR win of bringing back the year-long title fight, but they are also trying to maintain some of that late season drama that the chase provided by putting up an additional $275,000 in points payouts. We'll see if it ends up having that desired affect. It will really come down to whether or not the drivers and teams take that added bonus money seriously and try and treat it the same. Looking through the comments, I do think it's funny that nobody seems to have put two and two together about how this is structured. Yes the chase is gone, but it's sorta actually still there.

In some more news that broke while we were off for the holidays, Ian Madsen has found himself a new sprint car ride here in the US for 2026. He ran later in 2025 for TKS, and finished the season in a car for Brett Becker. But for next year he's joining Heidbreder Motorsports to drive their 19 car in a mix of races. That will include POWRi, World of Outlaws, High Limit, and Knoxville shows among others. Heidbreder started last year with Kevin Thomas Jr. in the seat, and finished the year with Clinton Boyles. Boyles though is off to do something else next year that doesn't involve driving, and his availability didn't line up with Heidbreder's, so insert Ian Madsen. He's trying to find his way back into full time sprint car driving after retiring in 2023. He didn't race at all in 2024, and ran 22 races this past season. He hasn't won a 410 race in the US though since 2021. There have been some personal challenges along the way, but supposedly he's through that and back to being healthy. I think this could be a solid spot for him to land, as we know the Heidbreder car can win races. No national tour pressure, a mix of races, and a lot of tracks Madsen knows well. In his short 2025 season, he did have a pair of second place finishes, with those coming at Jackson and Knoxville. His best national tour finish was a 14th against High Limit at Texas. And he closed strong with Becker, going third, ninth, fourth between the Short Track Nationals and the POWRi finale.

Closing out the show today with some news about the show. Today is the final Daily episode presented by Kubota Genuine Parts. As you've seen elsewhere with Hunt the Front's news, and the rumblings around High Limit and FloRacing, Kubota is not renewing all of their dirt racing deals, and this show is included. It's been a really great almost two years together, and I was proud to represent the brand and the folks that make Kubota Genuine Parts go. I don't talk about my personal life here, but this sponsorship deal came about at a critical time for the show and the DIRTRACKR project, and it really allowed me the chance to do this on a full time basis. It was an absolute game changer for me and DIRTRACKR, and for that I am incredibly grateful. To Mike at Kubota, thanks for everything you did and your friendship. He's been around since the Open Red days, and I know we'll continue to talk dirt racing well beyond this deal ending. And Tori and Logan, thanks for all the help along the way. So, what does this news mean for the show and it's future... Well, nothing. When you tune in tomorrow, things will look a bit different, and the show logo will change, but other than that, it's business as usual. We smashed every available metric for 2025, and show plays were up more in 2025, than they were in 2024. We nearly doubled total plays from 2024 to 2025. If you are curious, across YouTube, Facebook, Spotify, and the podcast places, we were north of 18 million plays for the year. And that doesn't include short form views on TikTok which was another couple million. Just to give you some idea of the scale, if we go all the way back to the beginning, 50% of the Daily show's total views and plays ever happened in just the last 12 months. That's pretty incredible. So thanks to all of you for tuning in and supporting the show. None of this would be possible without you. And we continue onward...

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