DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Chase Elliott & Brad Keselowski going dirt late model racing | DIRTRACKR Daily 3/11/2021
It is Thursday, March 11th, two thousand and twenty one and you are tuned into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
Today we've got info on Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski jumping in late models, Chris Madden is back full time with the Outlaws, the Summer Nationals added new dates, and more, so let's jump in.
The list of NASCAR drivers looking to get more dirt experience in advance of the Bristol weekend continues to grow. Two more drivers, Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski, announced their intentions yesterday to run late models in the coming weeks. Keselowski tweeted out photos yesterday of the Rocket Chassis crate late model that he'll race this Friday night at Cochran Motor Speedway in Georgia. The Friday night crate race at Cochran leads into Saturday night's $20,000 to win super late model show. According to a Speed Sport post, Keselowski's last dirt experience came at Eldora in the truck series race in 2015.
As for Elliott, after getting in some midget starts early in 2021 at both the Chili Bowl and with USAC, he'll jump behind the wheel of a super late model at Bristol for the Bristol Dirt Nationals on March 19th and 20th. He's partnered with Tennessee's Stacey Boles and will pilot a Capital chassis emblazoned with Adrenaline Shoc, an energy drink that also sponsors his Cup Series team. Elliott joins Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Corey Lajoie, Kyle Larson and others who will compete that opening week at Bristol in various divisions. Elliott's car owner Boles will compete full time this season with both the Spring Nationals and Southern Nationals.
The Cup Series competitors will get practice at Bristol before they take to the half mile track to race, but these early chances to get some dirt seat time could pay dividends for a lot of these drivers. The cars and setups they'll run between some of these late model and modified divisions will obviously be very different, but seat time is seat time. There will definitely be things to learn and understand which will help them with their Cup efforts. I'm actually a bit surprised we aren't seeing a few more guys take advantage of some of these opportunities to hit a dirt race or two. That weekend will be a bit of an equalizer for teams, so any advantage, no matter how slight, could pay off in a big way.
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series announced yesterday that their most recent winner, Chris Madden, has signed on to compete for the championship this season. He joins a stout field of Outlaws for 2021 with six races already complete. Last Saturday night, Madden became the fifth different winner on the year and he currently sits 8th in the series standings 114 points behind Kyle Strickler out front. The last time Madden was a full time Outlaw competitor was 2018. He bagged eight wins and finished third in the standings behind eventual champion Mike Marlar and Brandon Sheppard. Since then he has six wins, 20 top fives, and 34 top tens in 50 series starts. On yesterday's show we talked about their possibly being some added parity this season on the national late model tours, and this could be a good year for Madden to get himself back in the mix for a championship. The Outlaws return to racing on March 26th and 27th at Cherokee Speedway in South Carolina.
The Summer Nationals and Modified Nationals schedules for later in the year got a little busier yesterday with the announcement of five new dates on the schedules. Both tours will now visit Knox County Fair Raceway on July 6th, Belle Clair Speedway on July 7th, Randolph County Raceway on July 21st, and Richmond Raceway in Kentucky on July 25th. The late models will also head to Lake Ozark Speedway on July 23rd. The Summer Nationals schedule now features 35 races between June 15th and August 21st, while the modified competitors will race 34 times. The 2021 Summer Nationals and Modified Nationals seasons get underway on June 15th at Brownstown Speedway. For more details, visit dirtcarsummernationals.com.
Placerville Speedway in California announced some good news yesterday, and hopefully it's a sign of things to come for dirt racing in the state going forward. A limited number of race fans will be allowed back at the track for their season opener on March 20th featuring winged 360 sprint cars, and for their March 27th date for the Sprint Car Challenge Tour. It will have been well over a year since fans were allowed to attend racing at Placerville when the green flag drops on the season opener. Tickets will be sold online in advance of both races and sales will shut down as soon as the limit is reached. Pit passes will also be available, and the track will pay out full purses for both weekends. For more information, check out placervillespeedway.com.
FloRacing announced yesterday their streaming deal with Port Royal Speedway in Pennsylvania will continue through 2025. Flo originally acquired the rights to Port Royal last season when they purchased Speed Shift and yesterday's announcement extends their agreement. Port Royal will race 41 times in 2021, with most events available to watch on Flo. That includes the Tuscarora 50, Weikert Memorial and all of their weekly action. Racing was set to kick off last weekend at Port Royal, but cold temperatures pushed the opener back to this Saturday, March 13th.
And if you're looking for non-wing sprint car racing this weekend to watch, Flo has added the two nights of USAC/CRA action from Kern County Raceway Park in California. Friday and Saturday's programs will also feature Racesaver 305 sprint cars on the card. All of the live racing on Flo can be watched with a $150 subscription for the year. If you'd like to subscribe, and help out dirtrackr at the same time, click one of the FloRacing links at dirtrackr.com or in the YouTube video description.
Speaking of streaming events...
There are three items on the streaming schedule today. Besides Flo 24/7, FloRacing has SuperStocks, Stockcars, and more from Woodford Glen Speedway in New Zealand. Speed Sport has stock cars, sportmods, and IMCA modifieds from Southern Oklahoma Speedway. To see the full daily streaming schedule with links to watch, visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
Be on the lookout later today or tomorrow for a bonus Conversations episode. I chatted yesterday with a current World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series crew chief and I'll drop that when I get some free time to put it together. The Outlaws race this weekend in Mississippi and Louisiana and I got a chance to talk to him before they got on the road. That episode will be available in this podcast feed and the dirtrackr YouTube channel.
Tomorrow we'll dive back into things with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and get you ready for another busy weekend of racing across the country.
That's it for the show today, hope everyone has a good Thursday.
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