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.
All Stars name FloRacing title sponsor, Outlaws' southern weekend on tap | DIRTRACKR Daily 3/12/21
It is Friday, March 12th, two thousand and twenty one and you are tuned into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
Today on the show we've got sponsorship news from the All Stars and FloRacing, we get you ready for this weekend's World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series racing, we take a look at other racing happening around the country, there are some new analytics, and more so let's jump in.
We have big sponsorship news that just dropped this morning. The All Star Circuit of Champions announced they have signed FloRacing to a deal that will see the streaming provider become the series' title sponsor for the 2021 season. Along with the new sponsorship agreement, the two sides have also agreed to a deal that will see Flo continue as the series' streaming provider through the 2028 season. There were questions through the opening stretch of Georgia and Florida races for the All Stars, with the series' previous sponsor still appearing on logos, but not being mentioned officially in releases and at the track. We now know that Ollie's Bargain Outlets had decided to not renew their sponsorship deal with the All Stars, and that the series needed just a little more time to put a deal together. Jared Frood, who manages the series for Tony Stewart, told Jeremy Elliott that it's been difficult trying to put deals together, but that with this done, they can focus on 2022 and beyond. This is definitely an interesting deal for both parties, as I'm not sure we've seen a streaming provider do a sponsorship agreement like this in the past. Tony Stewart's dirt racing entities, including the All Stars and Eldora Speedway, are a cornerstone of Flo's streaming options. So the added support for the All Stars is a good thing for both parties, and will give Flo more opportunities to market and grow their subscriber base. If you notice too, some of these recent streaming deal announcements are now suddenly much longer term contracts then we've seen in the past. The Port Royal deal we talked about yesterday is through 2025, and this one is through 2028. Rigsby and the Flo brass are locking down their content for years to come. To see more details on the announcement, visit allstarsprint.com or check out Jeremy Elliott's story at SprintCarUnlimited.com.
The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series is back this weekend for rounds five and six of the 2021 season. Two new tracks are on the slate for the Outlaws, with Magnolia Motor Speedway in Mississippi and The Rev in Louisiana coming up tonight and tomorrow. Magnolia has been a staple of the late model world in recent years, while the Rev is a former paved track that's been converted to dirt. After a win at Volusia and a third at East Bay last weekend, Carson Macedo has taken over the series points lead. Logan Schuchart trails him by four points, while Brad Sweet is eight points back in third. David Gravel, Donny Schatz, and Aaron Reutzel are all tied for fourth, 24 points behind Macedo. Even with Macedo's recent success, Schuchart is the hottest driver with the series, with an average finish of 3.6 over the previous five races, and he has the longest top ten streak going currently at seven races. Parity seems to be one of the main story lines so far, with four different winners in four races, no drivers finishing top five all four nights, and only three drivers with top tens all four nights.
The other thing we are waiting on right now is Donny Schatz's 300th career win. Volusia and East Bay were strong candidates for Schatz to get that win last week, and while he did leave with two top fives, he didn't lead laps either night. His winless streak currently sits at 11 races, but he's still been very good over that span, with nine top ten runs and an average finish of 6th. The two tracks this weekend could be opportunities for Schatz to strike, as his 3/8 mile average finish over the past three seasons is a tick under fifth and he has five 3/8 wins. His vast experience will be a key advantage coming into two completely new race tracks.
Looking at the dirtrackr.com analytics prediction formula for the weekend, Brad Sweet is favored both nights. In recent seasons he has nine 3/8 mile wins, which is the most by any driver on that track size, and he finished second last Saturday night at East Bay. David Gravel is right behind Sweet in the output from the formula, and he actually leads all drivers in 3/8 average finish at 4.7 to go along with six wins. Besides looking out for those drivers for wins, I also think this could be a key weekend for Sheldon Haudenschild. He has just one top ten finish so far through four nights, and is already 60 points back in the standings, currently sitting eighth. As wild as I think racing is going to be this season, he probably needs to start trending in the right direction, or the top five or six guys are going to start stretching away from him pretty quickly. He did start slower in 2020 as well, not really seeming to get going until the season was seven or eight races deep, but he did have a top five and two top tens in his first four starts. If you can't be at Magnolia tonight or the Rev tomorrow, catch all the racing live on DIRTVision with your fast pass.
If you're looking for other racing to check out this weekend, there are plenty of tracks and events happening across the country and even down under. More tracks in California continue to open up and places like Marysville, Kern County, and Hanford are all in action this weekend with winged and non wing sprint cars. Devil's Bowl in Texas has the Texas Racesaver Nationals, the USCS sprint cars are at North Alabama on Saturday, the Carolina Sprint Tour is heading to Fayetteville in North Carolina, Lincoln, Port Royal, and Williams Grove all race this weekend in Pennsylvania, and the Krikke Boys Shootout is happening at Perth Motorplex in Australia. To see a more complete list of open wheel racing happening the next few days, check out the calendar at TJSlideways.com.
There is also a bunch of late model racing to check out the next few days as well. Cochran Motor Speedway has $20,000 to win super late models, the Comp Cams Super Dirt Series is at Boothill, Florence has a $10,000 to win super show, the Southern All Stars are at Southern Raceway in Florida, and Clarksville is making up the Toilet Bowl weekend. To see what else is happening in the late model world, hit up the schedule at dirtondirt.com.
California sprint car guy Gary Thomas tweeted out more good news yesterday for the state's dirt racing scene. Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare has been given permission to race and will open their season on March 26th and 27th with USAC/CRA sprint cars on Friday, and Kings of Thunder 360s on Saturday. No grandstand tickets will be sold, but pit passes will be available. According to Thomas, this model is how Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford has been operating since last year. For more information on Tulare and their upcoming schedule, visit thunderbowlraceway.com.
I made a new addition to the driver pages in the dirtrackr.com analytics section last night. Drivers for all series, except the Chili Bowl, now have average finish and wins per track size included on their individual pages. That was a request from announcer for Fast Four and DIRTVision, Chase Raudman. So for example, if you click on Brandon Overton's World of Outlaws Late Model Series page, you'll see he has eight of his 11 wins the past two plus seasons on 3/8 mile race tracks, along with an average finish of 4.2. If you are deep in the weeds on those pages and think of something I'm missing, reach out and let me know. We can certainly add more. Find these numbers and a whole lot more at dirtrackr.com/analytics.
There are 13 shows on the streaming schedule for tonight, with another 21 through the weekend. DIRTVision has the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars at Magnolia, FloRacing has wing and non wing action from Kern County and Keller Auto Speedway in California, late model racing at Southern Raceway, Boothill, and Cochran, and a bunch more. Speed Sport has racing from Clarksville, Southern Oklahoma, and Devil's Bowl. To see the full daily streaming schedule, and to keep up through the weekend, visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
That's it for the show today, hope everyone has a good Friday and a good weekend and get's a chance to enjoy some dirt racing.
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