DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
Dirt racing news, results, discussion, analytics. Sprint cars, late models, modifieds, you name it. From national series, to top local shows. Brought to you five days a week. Email the show at info@dirtrackr.com.
Is David Gravel being overlooked? Also, Xtreme DIRTcar back this weekend | DIRTRACKR Daily 2/19/21
It is Friday, February 19th, two thousand and twenty one and you are tuned into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
Today on the show we are previewing this weekend's Xtreme DIRTcar Series races, we have some news items to cover off on, and then I've got some thoughts on David Gravel being overlooked to start this World of Outlaws season. Let's jump in.
If you're looking for some late model racing this weekend, the Xtreme DIRTcar Series is back in action for two shows, Saturday at Lake View Motor Speedway, and Sunday at Cherokee Speedway. Chris Madden enters as the points leader by 17 over Kyle Strickler with Daulton Wilson, Anthony Sanders, and Trent Ivey rounding out the top five. The series has already raced three times this winter with wins going to Brandon Overton, Madden, and Michael Brown. Following this weekend, there is one more race on the slate, which is February 27th at Modoc Raceway where the champion will be crowned. Chris Madden is the defending series champion. It sounds like we could have a very nice field of supers at both races this weekend, with Kyle Strickler coming in hot off his successful week at Volusia that sees him as the World of Outlaws points leader. He could definitely be a favorite to pick up a win. Madden will also be in attendance, as will Brandon Overton. Stewart Friesen will also be back behind the wheel of his Longhorn Chassis for both races, after getting his feet wet with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series in Florida a few weeks ago. He'll race Friday night at Daytona in his NASCAR truck series ride, then head north for the two late model shows. The Xtreme DIRTcar Series has yet to race at Lake View, but they have appeared at Cherokee three times in the past two years. Chris Madden, Ross Bailes, and Brandon Overton won each of those races. If you can't be at the races this weekend, DIRTVision will have live streaming coverage both days which you can watch with your fast pass.
We had a pair of midget announcements yesterday from Hayward Motorsports and Reinbold Underwood. First, Brian Carber, who gained notoriety at the KKM Giveback Classic, the Tulsa Shootout, and Chili Bowl this year will run a partial schedule for Hayward Motorsports starting with the T-Town Midget Showdown at Port City Raceway in Oklahoma April 9th and 10th. Carber's first attempt at midget racing was the Chili Bowl with Keith Kunz where he finished 12th on his prelim night and 12th in a Saturday C Main. Hayward Motorsports has six USAC National Midget wins, two with Bryan Clauson and four with Tanner Thorson.
And Reinbold Underwood Motorsports announced yesterday they will field a car full time and chase rookie of the year with the USAC National midgets with 16 year old driver Chase Randall. Randall made eight USAC appearances in 2020, with a best finish of 8th at Wayne County in October. A few weeks ago at Bubba Raceway Park for the season opener, he finished 22nd on the opening night, and 15th on night two. Randall joins Hayden Reinbold who is also running for rookie of the year with the team. The USAC National Midgets are back in action April 9th at Port City.
IMCA announced yesterday that the annual Lone Star Stock Car Tour that was scheduled to take place through Texas from February 20th through the 27th has been cancelled this year due to the winter weather, power outages, and cold temperatures that continue to plague the state. Drivers who were pre-entered can contact tour officials regarding refunds. The tour will return in 2022. For more information, visit imca.com.
If you missed it yesterday, I released a bonus conversations episode featuring SprintCarUnlimited.com's Jeremy Elliott. We talked about his new streaming partnership with Dirt Track Digest, getting SprintCarUnlimited off the ground, and a bunch of sprint car topics between the Outlaws, All Stars, and Pennsylvania. You can find that episode in this podcast feed and at youtube.com/dirtrackr.com.
One of the topics I brought up in my chat yesterday with Jeremy was the perception of David Gravel in this World of Outlaws championship fight. Over the last few weeks, before and after DIRTcar Nationals, there has been a lot of talk about Brad Sweet, Logan Schuchart, and Donny Schatz. I've heard them referred to as the Big Three. Schatz obviously dominated the opening All Star stretch of races and people were talking about him being back on top, while Sweet and Schuchart both grabbed wins at Volusia. And because of those wins, Schuchart is the series points leader by six over Sweet. I certainly understand the reasoning behind the talk. But what I haven't heard a ton of chatter about his David Gravel, and that blows me away. He currently sits third in the standings, 12 points behind Schuchart out front, on the strength of two fourth place finishes at Volusia. He also added two more fourths in All Star competition earlier in the week. If he wouldn't have missed two shows in 2020 because of his NASCAR commitments, he would have been right in the thick down the stretch between Sweet and Schuchart. Only Kyle Larson and Sweet had more wins than him last season, and he went four straight years finishing third in the standings from 2016 through 2019. Gravel also currently sits 15th all time in World of Outlaws wins with 58, tied with two time champion Jason Meyers and right behind Brad Sweet. I know he's with a new team in 2021 in Big Game Motorsports, and he'll need to gel quickly with new crew chief Cody Jacobs, but even with that to work through, I believe he'll be right in the mix this season. Big Game will have all the resources it needs to contend, and Gravel has the talent and consistency necessary to win a title. It's about the only thing he has left to accomplish as a World of Outlaws competitor. He's won big shows like the Knoxville Nationals and National Open. He's ripped off a ton of wins and even at only 28 years old, he's already a sure fire hall of famer. He just needs that championship, and I believe he can do it this season. Gravel deserves a ton more respect than he's gotten to start this season, but even if the media has overlooked him, you can be sure his competitors don't. The Outlaws are back racing a week from today at Cotton Bowl Speedway.
There are two items left on the streaming schedule today. FloRacing has Flo 24/7, and Speed Sport TV has the Western States Dwarf Car Nationals from Cocopah Speedway. To see the full daily streaming schedule with links to watch, visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
Before we close out today, I've got a quick new podcast recommendation. When I worked for the World of Outlaws, we tried on several occasions to start a World of Outlaws Late Model Series show to join Open Red, but could just never make it happen. At one point we had a host and a show logo, but it never got off the ground. Yesterday, the series dropped the first episode of what they are calling Stick Signals, which will focus on the Outlaw late models and DIRTcar competition, and is hosted by announcer Ruben Mireles and World Racing Group content guy James McMahen, who most people know as Mick. I'm super excited to see what those guys do with this new show, and I'm glad they finally got a late model show going. Their first episode features Bobby Pierce and you can find it on most major podcast platforms and at worldofoutlaws.com. I'll be adding it to the podcast page at dirtrackr.com soon as well.
That's it for the show today, hope everyone has a good Friday and a good weekend.
You can find DIRTRACKR Daily on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or where you get podcasts. Please subscribe, and leave me a review! You can also watch the show everyday on YouTube and Facebook. Those likes and subscribes on YouTube are appreciated as well.
Email the show at info@dirtrackr.com. I check those every day.
You can follow dirtrackr on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and tiktok. at D I R T R A C K R
You can checkout the website for all kinds of cool dirt racing stuff by visiting dirtrackr.com.
If you'd like to get email updates from DIRTRACKR, you can signup at dirtrackr.com/newsletter.
And you can follow me personally on Twitter at justin_fiedler.
Thanks for tuning in, I'll see you tomorrow on DIRTRACKR Daily!