DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Outlaws confirmed, a new driver, injured guys back, wings by the ocean | Daily 1-26-2026
The national touring sprint car fields are nearly set as the season quickly approaches, we'll talk big names running 360s at Volusia this week, the Outlaw California races, and a lot more today. Let's go!
It's Monday, January 26th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.
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I wanted to run through today and talk about a bunch of the sprint car stuff that we've been neglecting. The Chili Bowl, Wild West Shootout, World of Outlaws opener and some of the drama have meant the focus here lately has been away from sprint cars. But I wanted to double back, give a bunch of updates, and talk through several situations.
First, the 2026 sprint car season starts later this week with the ASCS 360s getting things rolling for DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia. They'll run Thursday, Friday, Saturday with UMP modifieds before the World of Outlaws season starts next Wednesday, February 4th. There are a number of regular 410 drivers that will participate to get some laps in before things get serious next week. That list so far includes guys like Justin Peck, Brock Zearfoss, Garret Williamson, Danny Sams, Brian Brown, and Tyler Courtney. There will likely be others as well. There's a slowly populating entry list over on MyRacePass, and some of this information is gathered from social media, so there will be more than that. Tyler Courtney has been cleared by his doctors to return to action this year after that ugly crash at Eldora. He's running all of the sprint car stuff at Volusia to get ready for High Limit in March, and that obviously includes both the 360 stuff with the ASCS and the World of Outlaws the week after. Jeremy Elliott reported that Brian Brown is going to run both ASCS and Outlaws at Volusia after his Knoxville Nationals crash. He's been dealing with hand and wrist injuries, and I don't know if he's completely 100 percent, but he should be pretty close by the time things start on Thursday. Jeremy also said Gio Scelzi will not be at the Volusia 410 event. They're not ready to go yet. They're going to run Talladega and Magnolia with the Outlaws in March before the High Limit opener. This is that new Spire deal, so it's not surprising to hear they're not quite ready. New crew chief Eric Prutzman, new setup completely with the driver, and Spire trying to get everything off the ground, so this gives them a little more time to get things going. I would expect a healthy car count on Thursday when the ASCS season opens. This race drew 53 cars last year. Remember, Justin Peck swept the weekend, so I don't see any reason to believe there will be dramatically fewer cars than the 53 we saw last year.
With some recent announcements, I'd say we're just about set with the fields for our two national tours in High Limit and the World of Outlaws. Both Buddy Kofoid and Carson Macedo are now publicly confirmed back. Neither is a surprise, we expected both to stay with the Outlaws, but now everything is official. This should hopefully mean Kofoid is healthy and ready to race after the illness that kept him away from the Chili Bowl and that return trip to Australia. You do have to wonder how much he'll be affected physically by all of this. Can he be at 100 percent to start the season? If he is, he's going to be the closest in odds to competing for the championship against David Gravel this year. Kofoid had 12 wins a season ago and an average finish in the low fives. He's going to need to creep that average finish down a little bit more if he really wants a shot at this title, and he's got to get out of Volusia without being in a hole. He's left Volusia two years in a row in a hole and really hasn't been able to recover. As for Macedo, this is year eight on tour. 2024 was his best statistical season to date, but he did take a step back in 2025. Still double-digit wins and a really good average finish, but fewer top fives and top tens. That average finish, while still good, wasn't good enough. It was nearly a two-position drop from 2024 and not close to where he needs to be to contend for that Outlaw title. I kind of thought he'd be the next guy to really challenge Gravel, but he was overtaken in that spot last year by Kofoid. I think this team has something to prove. When we talk about the best in the sprint car game right now, Macedo isn't usually in that conversation, and I think that's a shame because he's as talented as anyone. We talk about Gravel, Kofoid, Rico, those names come up, but you don't really hear Carson Macedo mentioned in that same group. I think there are questions if you look at the Outlaw standings for everybody outside that top three. New teams, new crew chiefs, all those types of things. But that top three is pretty solid with their team setups. It feels like it’s those guys, and then everybody else.
We also got clarity on the Bill Rose No. 6 for the season. Zach Hampton is out officially. Ohio driver Kasey Jedrzejek is in. Jedrzejek is 21 years old and won three 410 shows in 2025, plus a pair of 360 races. One of those wins was an All Star victory at Wayne County, with the other two coming in FAST action. Jedrzejek moves over to Rose's team from Ed Neumeister Racing, where he was last season. He's got 18 career appearances with the Outlaws, including a top five at Millstream back in September. That was impressive, but he's only made six features in those 18 races. It's a little difficult to decide where Jedrzejek is heading into this season. A top five is great, but not making a bunch of features isn't. He also has six appearances with High Limit, so he's jumping into the deep end here. We saw Hampton drive that car to a top five and six top tens last year, so it is capable. Rose also added crew member Jimmy Fitzwater over the offseason. He moves over from Sides Motorsports, which should help that team. On the flip side, Zach Hampton has nothing lined up at the moment. He raced the Chili Bowl for Klatt and is on the hunt for more deals. The Outlaw roster right now looks like this, 15 cars: David Gravel, Buddy Kofoid, Carson Macedo, Logan Schuchart, Donny Schatz, Bill Balog, Cole Macedo, Garet Williamson, Spencer Bayston, Chris Windom, plus rookies Jedrzejek, Ashton Torgerson, Scotty Thiel, and Scott Bogucki. We also know Sheldon Haudenschild has previously said he'd be with the Outlaws. That gets us to 15. There's still nothing official from either KCP or Sheldon on their deal, but there's no reason to believe this isn't happening.
With High Limit, they confirmed Chase Randall is back for year two. That's good to hear because there were rumors all winter about sponsor changes, and it wasn't clear if they’d return full-time. The team finished 12th in owner points in 2025 with four top fives and 11 top tens in 50 starts. Randall being back brings the High Limit count to 14. That list includes Rico Abreu, Tyler Courtney, Aaron Reutzel, Daison Pursley, Tanner Thorson, Gio Scelzi, Brent Marks, Justin Peck, Sye Lynch, Kerry Madsen, Danny Sams, Tanner Holmes, and Brenham Crouch. The last possible national touring potentials include Emerson Axsom, who seems most likely to be an Outlaw if they make that choice. We’ll also see what names like TJ Stutts or Hank Davis end up doing. Those are a couple we’ve heard connected, but there haven’t been many new rumors lately. We're kind of running out of days here. The Outlaw season starts very soon. There's still a little time for teams to choose High Limit since they don't start until March.
The final sprint car situation we were waiting to be resolved was the World of Outlaws West Coast swing. We knew the dates, but not the tracks. That news came Saturday. The Dennis Roth Classic is moving to Stockton on September 18th and 19th, with $83,000 to win. This event was previously held at Tulare Thunderbowl, but those dates are now taken by the fair, so a new facility was needed. The following weekend, the Outlaws will run Kern Raceway on September 25th and Ventura on September 26th. The Outlaws have never raced at Ventura. I could be wrong, but the last time Ventura hosted a major wing sprint car touring series was King of the West in 2015. This is going to be a wild one, a full Outlaw field on a tiny racetrack. After Ventura, the Outlaws head back east for the National Open at Williams Grove. Drop me a comment, curious what you think about the Outlaw California shows, especially that one at Ventura.
That's the show for today. If you've watched all the way to this point and you aren't yet subscribed or don't follow DIRTRACKR, hit that button. That means YouTube, Facebook, and the podcast places.
Hope you guys have a great Monday out there, we'll see you back here in the next one!