DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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A surprise late model announcement, 2026 plans, a Shootout ejection | Daily 1-1-2026
Today on the show we take a look at the full time Lucas late model field so far, including a surprise rookie announcement. Plus RTJ gets a Wild West Shootout ride, we'll talk James McFadden's 2026 sprint car plans, and more. Let's go!
It's Thursday, January 1st, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.
2026 is here and racing is already happening over on FloRacing. The Tulsa Shootout continues all weekend, and then in just a few short days we'll be into the Wild West Shootout and the Chili Bowl. If you want to tune in and need a Flo subscription, head over to dirtrackr.com/floracing and sign up. That gets you all the action and helps out DIRTRACKR. Flo is your home all season for Lucas late models, High Limit sprint cars, USAC, the Short Track Super Series, and a whole lot of other racing on both dirt and pavement. And did you know that your Flo subscription works for all of the other FloSports apps and sites also? That means you can check out FloFootball, hockey, baseball, hoops, wrestling, and way more all with the same login. To grab a subscription for 2026, sign up now at dirtrackr.com/floracing.
Yesterday on the show we opened by going through what we know about the World of Outlaws late model field for 2026 so far, and today we'll flip and do the same for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. Drivers who have already made it known publicly they'll be back with Lucas this season include defending champion Devin Moran, Garrett Alberson, Cory Hedgecock, and Dan Ebert. All have posted on social media or elsewhere talking about their plans. For others like Ricky Thornton Jr., Jonathan Davenport, Hudson O'Neal, and Brandon Sheppard, my assumption would be they are all returning. Davenport's Lance Landers team just announced a new primary sponsor, and that sponsor is also becoming a Lucas series sponsor and they are partnering up with Lucas Oil Speedway. That seems to be a decent indicator of what the 49 will do. And Rocket 1 Racing just shared the Lucas schedule on their Facebook account a few days ago. Nothing from O'Neal and RTJ though, but if any were going to flip, I'd say RTJ would be the most likely, although I have no information that's actually a possibility. His name has been mentioned before as an Outlaw possibility, which is why I say that, but I still think he stays Lucas. Further down the order, Brandon Overton and Riggs Motorsports' plans aren't known, and they could be a possible flipper. We also don't know plans for the new pairing of JRR and Josh Rice. I'd assume Paylor is back with Carson Ferguson, and depending on what Donald McIntosh does with Coltman, that's last year's top ten. We did today get one more confirmation, with West Virginia's Freddie Carpenter announcing his intentions to follow the series full time. In a post to Facebook, he said quote "It's been a dream of mine for more than 30 years to TO RUN WITH THE BIG DOGS. I don't know how it happened, but all of a sudden I'm 55 years old… and I'm running out of Saturdays. It's time to chase my dreams while I'm still able" unquote. Going back to 2005, I've got Carpenter at 93 Lucas appearances, with his lone top ten finish coming at Muskingum County in July of 2022 in a split field feature. In seven appearances in 2025, his best finish was 13th at Atomic on July 4th. The veteran will certainly be up against it with a stout Lucas field, and no easy path to the rookie of the year crown. This year, with the Outlaws scheduling against the Lucas opener, we'll know pretty early who's going which direction, but this is where we sit currently with still about seven weeks to go.
One more dirt late model note, there was some question about whether or not Ricky Thornton Jr. was running the Wild West Shootout. He was being promoted by the event, but he is racing Chili Bowl. Just a little bit ago, Adam Family Motorsports shared that RTJ will be driving a Longhorn out of their shop for the event that starts in just nine days. He'll run a second car alongside Daniel Adam. We'll have to see what nights Thornton will race, as we don't yet know prelim night rosters for the Chili Bowl. He will likely be flying back and forth to make it all happen. It's something we've seen another driver do, and I'm obviously referring to Kyle Larson. At the moment, RTJ is neck deep in the Tulsa Shootout, running all four divisions he's eligible for.
Looking ahead to the weekend, if you want some dirt racing in your life that is live and not indoors, check out Arrowhead Speedway in Oklahoma. They put together an event they are calling First Blood, and it features a non-points event for Comp Cams Super Dirt Series late model competitors. They're also running modifieds, B-Mods, stock cars, pure stocks, interceptors, tuners, and midwest mods. Everything goes down this Saturday, January 3rd. Some late model drivers to expect include Clay Stuckey, Tony Jackson Jr., and Tyler Wolff. Dirt on Dirt also shows Comp Cams regulars like Billy Moyer and Morgan Bagley, plus Cade Dillard and Ethan Dotson. This could be a good chance for teams headed to the Wild West Shootout to shake down equipment in advance. If you want to go, tickets are just $20 and kids 12 and under are free. It will also stream live over on www.arrowvision.live, which is the home of the Comp Cams Super Dirt Series.
If you want to see what else is happening this weekend, make sure to stop by the streaming schedule at dirtrackr.com/watchtonight. The Ice Bowl is going on, the Tulsa Shootout continues, and there is action down under.
The final big sprint car news item to drop during Christmas week that we haven't covered here yet was Tarlton Motorsports confirming their driver lineup for 2026. This past season the 21 seat was split between James McFadden and Tanner Holmes. Both drivers finding victory lane in the car, and Spencer Bayston had a near miss late in the season in a late call up. Bayston got the Stenhouse Marshall ride, Holmes is headed for Buch Motorsports, but McFadden will be back with Tarlton. His schedule with the team is expanding, and could include as many as 50 races. On the schedule the team released yesterday, it shows McFadden coming to the US in March to open the High Limit season out west at Vegas and Central Arizona. He'll then head back to Australia, before returning to the US in June to begin a busy summer. The slate includes NARC shows, PA Speedweek, Knoxville and Kings Royal, plus other starts against High Limit and the Outlaws. When McFadden isn't driving, Colby Copeland will get a handful of races, including a number of early and late season NARC shows. McFadden and crew chief Drew Warner won seven times together in 29 races, including six with NARC, and the Capitani Classic. His best national tour finish was a fourth in the Gold Cup finale with High Limit. This seems to be the perfect situation for a guy like McFadden. Tarlton has the resources and equipment to compete on a national level without really racing on a national level regularly. McFadden gets the flexibility, and Tarlton gets a guy who probably should be a national tour full timer. The 21 will also again get some support from Toyota with their sprint car engines. Crew chief Drew Warner tells me they have some TRD bullets again and will use them sporadically through the season. This happened last year as well, and makes sense given McFadden's past with Toyota.
Finally today, the Tulsa Shootout continues to do Tulsa Shootout things, with qualifiers ongoing as I write this. We did have a scuffle at the top of the ramp here a bit ago, which if you know anything about the officiating in that building, is a no-no. If you want to fight inside the Tulsa expo, Matt Ward always says to do it on the front straightaway. FloRacing cameras caught the dustup and what looked to be driver Ethan Wicker getting ejected from the building. Nothing like grown men and kids mixing it up over races that pay $2500 to win. Certainly doesn't seem worth it to me, and we see a lot less happen in races that pay 100 times more to win. But, this is the Shootout. Prelim action continues into Saturday, with drillers on the line Saturday night for each of the six divisions. Check out Flo if you want to watch, with Kaleb Hart, Chris Wilner and the guys on the call.
That's it for the Daily this week. Hope you guys had a good and safe New Years, and we are back on regularly scheduled programming.
Have a great Thursday and weekend out there, and we'll see you back here on Sunday!