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Davenport's $50k win caps wild Bristol week, Sweet new Outlaw point leader | DIRTRACKR Daily 3/22/21
It is Monday, March 22nd, two thousand and twenty one and you are tuned into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
There is a lot to talk about today, including happenings at Bristol, a new Lucas points leader, the World of Outlaws Sprint Car weekend, and more, so let's jump in.
The Bristol Dirt Nationals closed out on Saturday night after racing all week and there is a ton to unpack. It was a pretty wild week between the racing, the crashes, and other crazy moments. Did you see the video of the 4 wheeler tumbling down the backstretch? One of the late models was getting pushed onto the track by a 4 wheeler and the wheeler got stuck on the late model's chassis, so the guy bailed off. The late model towed the wheeler part way down the backstretch before it finally let go, and the wheeler ended up barrel rolling down the race track. Go find that video on YouTube or Facebook. There were more late model flips then I've ever seen in my life, we had big modified crashes, the buried tires were a topic of conversation all week, and more. In the end though, we got to see some pretty solid racing. I know many were concerned the racing wouldn't be good, but I personally thought we saw some decent action. The big shows we waited all week for were the two super late model features, Friday night's $10,000 to win race, and Saturday's $50,000 to win main event. On Friday night, Chris Ferguson led every lap from the pole to take the win over Kyle Larson and Jonathan Davenport. Larson was good through the preliminary action, but in the feature he just couldn't do anything with Fergy out front. Scott Bloomquist and Chris Madden rounded out the top five. Chase Elliott was involved in a crash in the feature that ended his weekend. He did not race on Saturday night. Kyle Busch finished 13th.
We talked back on February 26th on this show about Jonathan Davenport's decision to possibly give up his Lucas status to run the Bristol weekend, and it paid off in a big way on Saturday night. Chris Ferguson and Kyle Larson started together on the front row, and led the early going. Davenport started 10th and worked his way to the front pretty quickly, grabbing the lead from Larson just before half way. From there, he drove away to the $50,000 win, with Larson second, Bloomquist third, Bobby Pierce fourth, and Frank Ingram fifth. Superman looked like the guy we've come to know in these big paying races over the last several years. And in the end, because of issues with the Lucas weekend, he didn't even end up missing a race. More on that in a bit. I also wanted to give a big shout out to Kyle Busch. He finished 13th in the feature Friday, went to Atlanta on Saturday and won the NASCAR truck race, flew back to Bristol and drove from 9th to second in his B-main to transfer, and then went 19th to the 11th in the feature. Not bad for a NASCAR guy with limited dirt experience. It was a rough two nights for Brandon Overton who finished 20th on Friday and 23rd on Saturday. Other weekend winners included Kyle Strickler getting the open modified victory over Matt Crafton, Michael Asberry, Curt Spalding, and Drake Troutman. And NASCAR driver Austin Dillon dominated the 604 late model feature on Saturday. Between XR+ and Bristol Dirt Nationals on Facebook, there are a ton of videos to watch from the week if you are so inclined. Drop me a comment or message and let me know what your thoughts were about the opening week of racing on the Bristol dirt.
The other late model action that happened this weekend was the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series return following a six week break since the opening Florida stretch. The series was supposed to race Friday night at Atomic and Saturday at Brownstown. Atomic was moved to Sunday because of weather, and then a wild night at Brownstown on Saturday led to that event being cancelled part way through the night's program. Track conditions became very treacherous and we saw some wild crashes, especially for Brian Shirley and Fast Eddy. Eddy was flown by helicopter to a local hospital following his big flipping crash, but has since been released with only minor injuries. Series and track officials decided to sack the rest of the night for safety reasons, which left just Atomic on Sunday for the Lucas competitors. In Sunday's feature, Kyle Strickler and Devin Moran led the field to green and those two drivers shared the lead through the first eight laps. From there, Hudson O'Neal took over on lap nine and he drove away to the $13,000 win. Tim McCreadie was second, Moran third, Jonathan Davenport fourth, and Kyle Bronson was fifth. It was O'Neal's second Lucas win of 2021 and with Brandon Overton not racing, O'Neal is now the Lucas series points leader. Devin Moran, Tim McCreadie, Kyle Bronson, and Brandon Sheppard round out the top five in the standings. So, after all that, Davenport ended up not missing a Lucas race and still got the $50,000 Bristol win. I don't know if these means he'll stay out with Lucas, as he's still 13th in the points, but his status seems to be preserved for now. I'm honestly surprised Overton gave up the series points lead to go race Bristol, and as Davenport was able to make the run to Atomic on Sunday, Overton could have as well, but chose not to. We talked back on Friday about Overton's plans not really being known, but I guess we know now where they stand. I've got a chat with Ben Shelton planned for later today, which will be a conversations episode for later in the week, and I'm going to ask him about this situation. It's crazy to me that a series points leader gives up that spot and it's almost a non-story in the community. It seems if this happened in other series or divisions, it would be a talking point, but not with the late models. As for other story lines, Brandon Sheppard continues to not be a factor in 2021. He started 9th on Sunday at Atomic and faded to 12th at the end. Josh Richards did get a win at East Bay in January, but his average finish for the year is currently over 13, down nearly four spots from 2020. Davenport and Owens both have two top six finishes in a row, and even though he hasn't won yet, Tim McCreadie is looking strong. He's got six straight top ten finishes, including five top fives. He's definitely one to watch for the championship this year. Lucas is now off again for a few weeks, with the series back April 17th and 18th at Hagerstown and Port Royal.
The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series was in action Friday night and Saturday night at Cotton Bowl Speedway for rounds seven and eight of the 2021 season. We'd had six winners in six races so far, but that streak came to and end on Friday night. The night looked like it might turn into a full sweep for Aaron Reutzel, with the Roth Motorsports driver setting a new track recond in qualifying, winning his heat race, and the dash. He led the first 12 laps in the feature, but on a restart, Brad Sweet was able to sneak past him on the top for the lead. Behind Sweet, Sheldon Haudenschild got the top side rolling late and as we approached ten to go, he was on the move. With the leaders in traffic, Sheldon slipped by Reutzel for second, and used a lap car pick on the bottom to take the lead from Sweet coming to ten to go. Over the final laps, Sheldon made big moves through lap traffic and was able to drive away to his second win of the season. Reutzel finished second, Sweet third, Ian Madsen fourth, and Donny Schatz was fifth. James McFadden was 8th in his season debut. I also wanted to point out Carson Macedo and his JJR 41 team. They had a big crash in the night's dash which sent them to a backup car for the feature, and then had to recover from a crash in the feature where they needed to replace the top wing, nose wing, and front end in the work area. They battled back to a 13th place finish and the night's hard charger. Nights where you make chicken salad out of chicken you-know-what, can make or break your season.
On Saturday night at Cotton Bowl, we had very different race track conditions from Friday. Brad Sweet's quick time of 15.091 was nearly two seconds slower than the quick time the night before. In the night's feature, Brad Sweet led early from the pole, but Jacob Allen ran him down in lap traffic and took the lead on lap 11. The lead for Allen though was short lived, as he ended up flipped into turn one just two laps later. He made a mistake over the cushion and caught the wall, which sent him over. Jacob clearly had a very fast car, and it was a crappy way for his night to end. The crash gave the lead back to Sweet who was able to hold off Brent Marks over the final laps in traffic to get his second win of the season. Marks finished second, Eliason third, David Gravel fourth, and Sheldon Haudenschild was fifth.
Leaving the weekend, thanks to that win and a third, Brad Sweet has now taken the World of Outlaws points lead by 24 over Logan Schuchart. Schuchart had weekend finishes of 10th and 6th, which dropped him down the order. David Gravel and Donny Schatz are tied for third, 38 points back, while Sheldon Haudenschild, Aaron Reutzel, Carson Macedo, Cory Eliason, Brent Marks, and Gio Scelzi round out the top ten. Sweet and Sheldon now both have two wins a piece, with Sweet leading the way in top five finishes with seven. Schuchart is still the only driver to finish top ten all eight nights. Except for an 11th on March 5th at Volusia, Sweet has finishes of 1st, 5th, 2nd, 3rd, 2nd, 3rd, and 1st. His average finish over the last five races is an incredible 2.2. And with finishes of 5th and 7th, we're going to have to wait another week to see if Donny Schatz can get win 300. The winless streak currently sits at 15 races. The Outlaws are back this weekend for two shows in Missouri, Friday night at US36, and Saturday at Lake Ozark Speedway.
In other weekend racing, we saw a Buddy Kofoid sweep with the POWRi National Midgets at Monarch. He went from ninth to the win on Friday night, and fourth to the win on Saturday. We also got to see an all female front row on Friday night, with Jade Avedisian and Kaylee Bryson leading the field to green. Daison Pursley and Cannon McIntosh finished second and third Friday, with the pair swapped on Saturday night with McIntosh second and Pursley third. The POWRi National Midgets have another busy weekend on tap, as they'll race Thursday through Sunday at Creek County, I-44 Riverside, and Port City for the Turnpike Challenge.
We also saw a JJ Hickle sweep of the opening ASCS weekend at Devil's Bowl. He leads the series into a three race weekend starting Thursday between Superbowl Speedway and I-30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Jordan Mallet split the USCS weekend, Hunter Schuerenberg won the 410 opener at Attica, Alan Krimes won at Lincoln on Saturday, Justin Peck grabbed the Port Royal win, and DJ Netto dominated the NARC King of the West opener at Stockton. For more weekend open wheel winners, visit tjslideways.com.
In other weekend late model racing, Wil Herrington won a crate feature at Modoc, Logan Martin grabbed the Comp Cams win at I-30, and Gregg Satterlee won the super late model show at Port Royal. For more on the late model weekend, check out dirtondirt.com.
In Short Track Super Series action over the weekend, Andy Bachetti won Saturday at Selinsgrove, and Mat Williamson won Sunday at Port Royal.
The only thing on the streaming schedule today is FloRacing 24/7. To see the full daily streaming schedule with links to watch, visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
Later today I'll have a new conversations episode out, this one featuring 410 sprint car driver and IRA rookie this season, Bailey Goldesberry. She has limited 410 starts on her resume, but has been a winner at lower levels, including in micros and a 305 sprint car. She did make a few IRA starts in 2020. Bailey joins me to talk about her career, learning from cousin Jordan, balancing her college and work life with racing, and much more. Find that episode in the dirtrackr podcast feed or on YouTube.
That's it for the show today, hope everyone has a good Monday.
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