DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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World of Outlaws Sprint Car Bristol entry list, Knoxville bumps 410 purses | DIRTRACKR Daily 3/25/21
It is Thursday, March 25th, two thousand and twenty one and you are tuned into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
Today we've got the entry list for the World of Outlaws sprint cars at Bristol, we preview the ASCS and POWRi weekends, there's a new full time USAC Silver Crown driver, and more, so let's jump in.
We talked on Tuesday about the World of Outlaws Late Model Series entry list for Bristol, and yesterday we got the list for the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series weekend at Bristol, which takes place April 22nd through 24th. The accepted invite list includes 38 drivers, and they are: Jacob Allen, Logan Schuchart, David Gravel, Wayne Johnson, Brock Zearfoss, Brent Marks, Tyler Courtney, Jason Sides, James McFadden, Derek Hagar, Ian Madsen, Kraig Kinser, Justin Peck, Donny Schatz, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sheldon Haudenschild, Gio Scelzi, Parker Price-Miller, Paige Polyak, Ryan Taylor, Brian Brown, Paul McMahan, Rico Abreu, Jac Haudenschild, Kerry Madsen, Cory Eliason, Tucker Klaasmeyer, Mason Daniel, Carson Macedo, Austen Wheatley, Brad Sweet, Kyle Larson, Spencer Bayston, Tim Shaffer, Scotty Thiel, Aaron Reutzel, Lynton Jeffrey, and Dustin Daggett. I've already seen some complaints about who's on the list, which I find a little strange. You're basically getting the full list of Outlaws, quite a few All Star regulars, and a bunch more including Brownie, Rico, Gio, Larson, and Bayston. It's important to remember that while the All Stars are off that weekend, a lot of other sprint car tracks and series are not. So guys that are running for championships elsewhere were not going to be able to make the trip. Both the IRA and ASCS are racing that weekend, as are Attica, Knoxville, Port Royal, Williams Grove, and Lincoln. As for Larson, there is a NASCAR race that weekend, but it isn't until Sunday at Talladega, so he shouldn't have a problem racing both nights at Bristol in the sprint car before going to Dega on Sunday. I think it's a very nice field of cars and we should see some great competition both nights. Five drivers in the field have experience in a sprint car at Bristol, going back to the 2000 and 2001 races there. They are Donny Schatz, Jac Haudenschild, Tim Shaffer, Paul McMahan, and Jason Sides. You can find the full list of drivers in the transcript for this podcast episode at dirtrackr.com, or at worldofoutlaws.com.
If you haven't seen it yet, Ryan McGee and ESPN did a really neat slideshow for the Bristol dirt track build. It includes a bunch of photos, some neat videos, commentary from McGee and those building the track, and more. They run you through the whole process to build the track and talk through some dirt racing basics. If you want to check it out, find @ESPNMcGee on Twitter, or click the link I retweeted with the dirtrackr Twitter account yesterday.
After two shows last weekend at Devil's Bowl to open the season, the ASCS sprint cars were supposed to be back starting tonight for three more races. But tonight's action at Superbowl Speedway in Texas has been postponed due to rain. Series and track officials are working on trying to find a new date. With tonight off, the ASCS will head to I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Arkansas for Friday night and Saturday night. One of the names you'll want to keep an eye on in the coming years is Washington's JJ Hickle. He's already had some success on the west coast, and he shocked the ASCS field by sweeping Devil's Bowl last weekend. He's a rookie with the series in 2021, and is chasing the championship. He beat Seth Bergman and Blake Hahn on night one, and Dylan Westbrook and Roger Crockett on night two. Heading into this weekend, Hickle leads the points standings over Matt Covington, Scott Bogucki, Roger Crockett, and Blake Hahn. I-30 has been a staple for the ASCS, with three appearances in 2020 at the Arkansas track. Sam Hafertepe won two of those races last year, with Derek Hagar the other winner. Besides a full field of series regulars, we'll also see veteran Tim Kaeding in action with the ASCS over the next three nights. He's going to pilot the 77x for the Hill's Racing team as regular driver Alex Hill has a school commitment she can't miss. If you can't be at I-30 Friday and Saturday, both FloRacing and RacinBoys are streaming the races live. For more weekend details, visit ascsracing.com.
Also back starting tonight for a busy weekend are the POWRi national midgets. The four race Turnpike Challenge starts tonight at Creek County Speedway, before heading to I-44 Riverside on Friday and Saturday, and then closing out on Sunday at Shane Stewart's Port City Raceway. Buddy Kofoid is the current series points leader following the opening two races at Monarch Motor Speedway last weekend. He swept the weekend and will be back for all four shows for the Turnpike Challenge this weekend with his Keith Kunz Motorsports team. Cannon McIntosh and Daison Pursley trail him in the standings, with those two drivers both getting podium results both nights at Monarch. Defending series champion Jake Neuman currently sits 5th in the standings after a 4th and a 7th at Monarch. Creek County was rained out in 2020, while Logan Seavey and Buddy Kofoid split the I-44 Riverside races for the Turnpike Challenge. Logan Seavey is also the most recent winner with POWRi at Port City. If getting to the race track isn't an option for you this weekend, MAVTV Plus will have live streaming coverage of all four nights. For more info, visit powri.com.
Add Eric Gordon's name to the list of drivers that are going to contest the full USAC Silver Crown Series in 2021. Announced yesterday, he will run the full schedule for Brad and Tara Armstrong and their number 99 machine. According to USAC's Richie Murray, Gordon has made 141 career series starts, and he finished second in the championship standings in his rookie year of 1990 behind Jimmy Sills. But it's been a long time since Gordon ran the full schedule, and he only made a single series start in 2020, finishing 6th on the pavement at Lucas Oil Raceway in August. Tanner Swanson won that race. The Armstrong team will run Beast chassis for the paved races and DRCs for the dirt, with Claxton Toyotas supplying the horsepower. The first USAC Silver Crown race of 2021 is May 9th at Winchester Speedway in Indiana. For more on the announcement, visit usacracing.com.
Knoxville Raceway is still a few weeks away from their season opener, but the track announced yesterday they have increased the money they will pay out to weekly 410 sprint car teams this season. The 18 weekly events will pay out a total of $605,000, with the 410 championship point fund awarding more than $114,000 to drivers and teams. Most weekly shows this year will pay $4000 to win and $600 for 20th, while six of the races will pay $5000 to win and $650 for 20th. The Capitani Classic which takes place in advance of the Knoxville Nationals will pay $8000 to win and $650 for 20th. We've seen purse increases from several tracks and series in the last year or so, and this move will certainly benefit the teams and drivers. Knoxville's season opens on April 17th. For more, visit knoxvilleraceway.com.
There are six items on the streaming schedule today if you're looking for some dirt racing to watch. FloRacing has the Lucas Oil ASCS from Superbowl Speedway, modifieds from Woodford Glen Speedway in New Zealand, and Flo 24/7. RacinBoys also has the ASCS from Superbowl, RacinDirt has the first night of the King of America weekend from Humboldt Speedway, and MAVTV Plus has the Turnpike Challenge from Creek County for the POWRi National Midgets. To see the full daily streaming schedule with links to watch, visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
That's it for the show today, hope everyone has a good Thursday.
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