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.
First cars take to Bristol dirt, the opening Lucas stretch by the numbers | DIRTRACKR Daily 2/25/21
It is Thursday, February 25th, two thousand and twenty one and you are tuned into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
Today on the show we've got a bunch of event news and cancellations, results from another Nick Hoffman modified win, we talk about seeing the first cars on track on the dirt at Bristol, and then we dive into how the first nine Lucas races of the season went down by the numbers. Let's jump in...
We got to see the first cars on track the last two days on the dirt at Bristol. In advance of the Bristol Dirt Nationals that precede the NASCAR weekend, event and track officials held test sessions to work on track conditions. There were super late models and crate late models, and modifieds in attendance last night, along with a few others. Names like Scott Bloomquist, Jonathan Davenport, Kyle Strickler, and Steve Arpin took to the high banks to get in some laps. It was kind of a free for all night with guys getting an opportunity to feel out the track and mess around with their setups. The super late models were lapping in the low to mid 15 second bracket, while the UMP modifieds were in the 17s. On the pavement, the NASCAR Cup track record is 14.5 seconds for some comparison. If you'd like to see some of the videos, go hit up facebook.com/racexr. They streamed action with commentary, plus they have some interviews and onboard videos. It was really neat to hear the sound of the engines echoing around that place as guys made laps. I've spent a lot of time at Bristol over the years, and in the NASCAR world, Bristol seems so small. It and Martinsville are the two smallest tracks we race at. But for some reason, covered in dirt with Jonathan Davenport rolling around last night, Bristol felt really big and cavernous. They way they've laid the dirt down, there is definitely less banking than the paved Bristol, but it's still wild to see. Once we get actual racing happening in a few weeks, it will be interesting to watch how wide the racing line gets and if we get to see a lot of side by side action. With mostly single car runs last night, the track never really widened out. The first cars will be on track for the Bristol Dirt Nationals on Monday, March 15th.
The USMTS Modifieds were supposed to begin their 2021 season this weekend at RPM Speedway in Texas, but a poor forecast for the two day show has forced series and track officials to push racing back a week to March 5th and 6th. The new opening weekend will see the modified competitors race Friday night at RPM Speedway, and then head to Superbowl Speedway on Saturday night. Both shows are $10,000 to win, with big money on the line all season long. More than $1 million in prize money will be awarded through 2021 to USMTS racers and 26 of the 36 races will pay at least $10,000 to win. Rodney Sanders topped Dereck Ramirez and Jason Hughes to win the series championship in 2020. For more information, visit usmts.com.
With the World of Outlaws west coast swing cancelled for the spring, Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, California has replaced their Outlaw event, originally scheduled for March 26th and 27th with a new two-day show. The USAC/CRA non-wing 410 sprint cars will be in action along with the Kings of Thunder winged 360 series for both nights. Western Racesaver sprint cars will also be on the card on the opening night. For more information about the revised track schedule, visit thunderbowlraceway.com.
There was a little racing last night with the South East Dirt Modified Series headlining action at Fayetteville Motor Speedway in North Carolina. The event was streamed live on MAVTV Plus. Nick Hoffman picked up the $1200 win on the opening night of North Carolina Speedweek. Taylor Cook, Chris Arnold, Daniel Parker, and Drake Troutman rounded out the top five. The event continues tonight with another $1200 to win show for the modifieds. The South East Dirt Modified Series will race mostly on North Carolina tracks this season, and they utilize DIRTcar UMP Modified rules. For more information on the series, visit sedirtmodseries.com.
Due to impending heavy rain in the area, this weekend's Toilet Bowl Classic at Clarksville Speedway in Tennessee has been pushed back to March 11th through 13th. The DIRTcar late models, UMP modifieds, and sport compacts will still have open practice tonight at the track.
In the last few days you've heard me talking about the new stats at dirtrackr.com/analytics, with the addition of efficiency and value numbers for each series. I've touched briefly on a few impressions from some early looks at what we are seeing, but today I wanted to go a little deeper with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. Through the first nine nights of the season, Brandon Overton is the points leader over Hudson O'Neal and Devin Moran, and the story really seems to be one of comers and goers. The three drivers with the most top five starts through the opening stretch were Kyle Bronson, Brian Shirley, and Brandon Sheppard. But all three had top five efficiency numbers of less than 50%. Those three drivers all had the most top ten starts, with Bronson and Sheppard having solid top ten efficiency numbers above 50%. But none of those three lead the way in top five or top ten finishes through the first month. What we saw a lot of nights is the guys that started up front didn't necessarily finish there. More than half the races were won from sixth or worse.
When we look at the top three in the standings, the story for Overton and O'Neal is similar, with O'Neal having 5 outside top ten starts, and Overton having 4. O'Neal converted his four top ten starts into top ten finishes, and Overton was also 100% in top ten efficiency. They also both had wins. The difference, and why Overton leads the standings, is just a bit more consistency. Overton had one more top five, and two more top tens, and converting 75% of his outside top ten starts into top tens helped. For Moran, he was on the move a lot. He only had one top five and two top ten starts in the nine races, but still managed five top fives and six top tens. He was our big value guy for the opening stretch, converting five of seven outside top ten starts into top ten finishes, and four of them into top five finishes. He was at or near the top in both value stats. He didn't get a win, but that ability to turn sub-optimal starts into good finishes is why he's in the top three. As the season moves on, I wouldn't expect this trend to continue though. Last season, series champion Jimmy Owens started in the top ten in nearly 80% of races, converting 81% of those into top ten finishes, and grabbing a nearly 80% top five efficiency number as well. Over the course of a full season, it's going to pay to start up front regularly. To see more of these numbers, visit dirtrackr.com/analytics.
There are again two items on the daily streaming schedule today. Besides FloRacing 24/7, MAVTV Plus has the Southeast Dirt Modified Series and more from North Carolina Speedweek at Fayetteville Motor Speedway. To see the fully daily schedule, with links to watch, visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
That's it for the show today, hope everyone has a good Thursday.
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!