DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Kyle Busch in a dirt late model, Davenport's Lucas status in doubt | DIRTRACKR Daily 2/26/21
It is Friday, February 26th, two thousand and twenty one and you are tuned into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
Today we are previewing the Xtreme DIRTcar Series finale at Modoc Raceway, Kyle Busch is going super late model racing, the All Stars and ASCS made schedule changes, we look at some other racing happening this weekend, and more. So let's jump in.
The Xtreme DIRTcar Series for super late models closes out their season tomorrow, Saturday, at Modoc Raceway in South Carolina. The race pays $7000 to win, but the series champion will take home $15,000 for the six race southern championship. Drivers with perfect attendance are also getting bonus checks from series sponsor Drydene. Chris Madden is the defending champion and he enters the final race as the points leader by 25 over Kyle Strickler. Daulton Wilson, Anthony Sanders, and Trent Ivey round out the top five in the standings. Pearson Lee Williams was the Modoc winner in 2020, topping Zack Mitchell and Casey Roberts. Brandon Overton, Madden, Michael Brown, and Ross Bailes have all picked up series wins this season. According to Rick Eshelman, if Madden finishes 6th or better, he'll win the title regardless of what Kyle Strickler does. Strickler needs to win and have Madden finish 7th or worse to bag the championship. Madden won the series' most recent race, last weekend at Cherokee Speedway, where Kyle Strickler finished third. I think Madden is probably the favorite here, given his experience at these race tracks, and he's entering with some momentum. Strickler will be intriguing to watch though. He and crew chief Vinny Guliani had a ton of success at Volusia with the World of Outlaws and they are more than capable of winning this race. If you can't be at Modoc tomorrow, watch all the action live on DIRTVision with your fast pass.
In advance of some of these dirt NASCAR events in 2021, we've seen several drivers venture out and get some more dirt experience, including Chase Elliott in a midget, and Joey Logano running a UMP Modified at DIRTcar Nationals. Another driver who'll get some seat time before the Bristol Cup race is Kyle Busch. He's teaming up with Jonathan Davenport and Double L Motorsports to run a second super late model for the team at the Bristol Dirt Nationals March 19th and 20th. Davenport will be in his famous number 49, while Kyle Busch will run a car with Nutrien Ag Solutions as a sponsor and the number 51 on the door. This won't be the first time Busch gets in a dirt late model though, as he was a previous winner of the Prelude to the Dream at Eldora. Busch is fast in everything he drives, so I'd imagine he'll be up to speed pretty quickly when he rolls out on track. Another interesting thing about this announcement is it puts Davenport's status with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series in doubt. By committing to Bristol, he will miss the next two Lucas races, March 19th at Atomic Speedway and March 20th at Brownstown Speedway. Davenport didn't have a great Florida to start the year, with only three top tens in nine starts. He currently sits 14th in the Lucas standings. Having a 230 point hole to climb out of might be motivation enough for Davenport and his team to pull back and just run a pick and choose schedule for 2021. Weather for that weekend could play a factor, but for now, it looks like Davenport is off the Lucas tour.
The All Star Circuit of Champions made a few adjustments to their 2021 schedule yesterday. First up, the upcoming race weekend at Attica Raceway Park has been moved up from April 9th and 10th, to April 2nd and 3rd. Those races will pay $5000 and $6000 to win, and April 9th and 10th will remain as rain dates if needed. Also, the newly revamped I-70 Motorsports Park in Missouri has been added to the schedule on July 27th. This addition now creates a seven race, nine day swing through Missouri, Kansas, and Iowa. The I-70 show will pay $7000 to win. For more information on the announcement, and to see the full All Star schedule, visit allstarsprint.com.
Even after the World of Outlaws announced they had called off their spring west coast swing, there was still hope for other series, but we lost another one yesterday with the announcement that the Lucas Oil ASCS National tour won't be racing in California either. Races originally scheduled for Kern County, Thunderbowl Raceway, and Keller Auto Speedway have all been cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions. Track and series officials will look into rescheduling those events if restrictions improve in the future. The 2021 ASCS season will now open at Devil's Bowl Speedway, March 19th and 20th. The full season of ASCS action is available to stream through both FloRacing and RacinBoys. Sam Hafertepe Jr. has won five straight ASCS National championships.
After being postponed a week due to weather, Lincoln Speedway in Pennsylvania opens their 2021 season tomorrow with the Ice Breaker. The event for 410 sprint cars will pay $5000 to win, with pit gates opening at 1:30, grandstands at 2, and racing at 4. If you can't be at Lincoln, you can watch all the action live on FloRacing. Danny Dietrich won the Ice Breaker in 2020, while Freddie Rahmer is the defending Lincoln Speedway track champion.
At Fayetteville Motor Speedway last night for the second night of North Carolina Speedweek, Daniel Parker grabbed the $1200 win over Chris Arnold, Drake Troutman, Taylor Cook, and Richard Michael Jr. Nick Hoffman finished 23rd after completing only four laps. The event was scheduled to continue tonight, but impending rain has forced the track to cancel night three. They do plan on being back on Saturday night for the finale, which pays $5000 to win for mod competitors. You can watch the action on MAVTV Plus.
I got an email yesterday about a new limited mod series that will run three races this season between Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. The Sooner Limited Modified Gambler Tour will race May 29th at Tri State Speedway in Oklahoma, June 12th at the Belleville High Banks in Kansas, and September 18th at Monarch Motor Speedway in Texas. The tour will utilize USRA rules and races will count towards USRA points. The June 12th race at Belleville will pay $1000 to win and $350 to start. For more details on the series, visit soonerlimitedmodifiedseries.myracepass.com.
There were a bunch of things on the streaming schedule for tonight, but we've lost most of them because of bad weather. There are still two items, FloRacing 24/7, and the Winter Nationals from the Southern Illinois Center featuring Outlaw karts. See the full daily schedule with links to watch at dirtrackr.com/watchtonight. Stay tuned there throughout the weekend for other streaming options. I count nine shows for tomorrow even with the weekend cancellations, and another four items on Sunday.
Looking ahead to next week, we should see racing start to ramp back up. Both World of Outlaws series are scheduled to return next weekend, so there will be plenty to talk about there. It's wild how we had all this racing in Florida for a month, with new stuff to talk about every day, and then things just go silent for a few weeks. And I tweeted about it yesterday, but I've got a really fun conversations episode to release on Monday featuring late model racer Devin Moran. We did something a little different with this chat that you maybe haven't heard before, so stay tuned for that one. Thanks to everyone that continues to support the shows and the website. I appreciate all your comments and emails, and welcome to those new folks who have tagged along recently. If you ever have suggestions, questions, or complaints, don't hesitate to let me know. I'm working every day to try and make the site and podcasts better.
That's it for the show today, hope everyone has a good Friday and a good weekend.
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