DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Arizona Speedway shutting down, Strickler & Thornton Jr. get Bristol wins | DIRTRACKR Daily 3/18/21
It is Thursday, March 18th, two thousand and twenty one and you are tuned into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
Today on the show we've got results from yesterday at Bristol, sad news from Arizona Speedway, plus ripple effects. And we're talking about opening weekends for POWRi, the ASCS, and NARC King of the West. Let's jump in.
The Bristol Dirt Nationals continued yesterday with the third day of racing this week. Similar to Monday though, the full day of action didn't get completed because of late rain showers that stopped the event. As of the time I record this, no adjustments have been made to the Thursday schedule, with action slated to start at 4PM ET. There was a ton of racing that happened though, and we saw some more wild moments and plenty of winners. 16 year old Dallon Murty grabbed a stock car feature win, and then his father Damon followed him by winning stock car feature two. Josh Most won a sportmod feature, and Ricky Thornton Jr. and Kyle Strickler grabbed modified and open modified feature wins. There are rain chances through the day today around the track, so stay tuned to see if they are able to get today's program in. If they do race, on the card today are 604 late models, open modifieds, stock cars, hornets, and 602 late models. You can again watch live on XR+, and I do have links on the streaming page at dirtrackr.com. For more event information, visit bristoldirt.com and follow bristoldirt on Twitter.
There was some not so great news last night from a staple western race track. The Arizona State Land Department has ruled that Arizona Speedway near Phoenix and the noise it produces doesn't fit with the neighboring development plan, and the speedway will be forced to close. The dirt track and motopark at the facility will run six more events and then shut down following the April 3rd race. Arizona Speedway has been in operation since 2011, and the motopark has been around for 20 years. The final six events for Jonah Trussel and the facility are March 20th featuring IMCA modifieds, sport mods, stock cars, and bombers; a March 21st motocross event, mud bogs and sand drags on March 27th, motocross again on March 28th and April 3rd, and the facility's final event, sprint cars, modifieds, sportmods, stock cars, and bombers on April 3rd as well. To see the full statement from the track and it's management, find Arizona Speedway on Facebook.
In response to the news from Arizona Speedway, the Wild West Shootout late model event that takes place in January will be moved from Arizona to Vado Speedway Park in New Mexico for 2022. The Wild West Shootout had been a staple at Arizona for the past five seasons. Scheduled for January 8th, 9th, 12th, 14th, 15th, and 16th next year, the Wild West Shootout now shifts to the very new 3/8 mile Vado Speedway Park, which is located between Las Cruces and El Paso. Vado opened in 2019 and is a modern facility featuring top notch amenities. The World of Outlaws Late Model Series opened their season in 2020 at the track, before it sat dormant for the remainder of the year because of COVID restrictions. The Wild Wing Shootout, for sprint cars and modifieds, which premiered in January this year will also move to Vado for 2022, with details for that event still being finalized. To see more on the announcement, visit wildwestshootout.net.
Because we'll have a lot to talk about on tomorrow's show with Lucas, the Outlaws, and Bristol happening through the weekend, I wanted to cover off on a few other series and races to check out this weekend on today's show.
First, the POWRi National Midgets open their season starting tomorrow and Saturday at Monarch Motor Speedway in Texas. There is also an open practice session tonight at the track starting at 7PM local time. Jake Neuman is the reigning series champion, and he's back this season to try and defend his title. It sounds like we'll have a stacked field of midgets at the event this weekend, including three Dave Mac entries with Cannon McIntosh, Taylor Reimer and Rees Moran in the seats. We also know Keith Kunz Motorsports is coming with their fleet including USAC championship contender Buddy Kofoid and newcomer Cade Lewis who'll compete full time with POWRi this season. And Chat Boat's team is bringing three cars, for youngsters Jade Avedisian, Brent Crews, and Ryan Timms. If you can't be at Monarch on Friday and Saturday, MAVTV Plus is streaming both nights live.
After losing their opening stretch in California to COVID cancellations, the ASCS National Tour begins their 2021 slate this weekend at Devil's Bowl Speedway in Texas. The 360 sprint car series appears to be wide open this season, with five time and defending champion Sam Hafertepe Jr. shifting his focus to 410 sprint car competition in 2021. That leaves drivers like Roger Crockett, Scott Bogucki, Blake Hahn, and others to fight it out this season for the championship. Other drivers expected to race this weekend include Sammy Swindell, Garret Williamson, Alex Hill, and JJ Hickle. Across the country, between the Outlaws, All Stars, and ASCS, it seems like these sprint car championship fights are as wide open as we've seen in a long time. It's going to be fun to follow along all season. If you can't be at Devil's Bowl this weekend, don't forget that the full ASCS National Tour season is live all year long on FloRacing.
The NARC King of the West Sprint Cars are kicking off their 2021 season this weekend at the Stockton Dirt Track in California. Saturday's show will be the first of 20 events scheduled for the 410 series this season across 10 different race tracks. In 2020, the King of West sprint cars only ran four times because of COVID restrictions, and the series didn't crown a champion for the first time in 61 years. Race winners last year included Spencer Bayston, Kyle Hirst, Dominic Scelzi, and Justin Sanders. DJ Netto is the defending series champion from 2019, and he's back this season to try and repeat. But a stout field of California's best are also looking to compete for the title, including Dominic Scelzi, Tim Kaeding, Bud Kaeding, Justin Sanders, Sean Becker, Willie Croft, Mitchell Faccinto, and Austin McCarl who has come west to race for the Tarltons. Other drivers expected to race this weekend at Stockton include Kyle Hirst, Shane Golobic, Rico Abreu, and Sean Watts. The grandstands are open for the $3000 to win event, but if you cannot attend, FloRacing will have live streaming coverage on Saturday night. For more info on the series, check out narc410.com.
There are three items on the streaming schedule today. Fast Four has the opening night of the West Coast Nationals featuring caged clones, there is FloRacing 24/7, and XR+ has day four from the Bristol Dirt Nationals featuring stock cars, open modifieds, 604 late models, and hornets. To see the full daily streaming schedule, visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
That's it for the show today, hope everyone has a good Thursday.
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