DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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World of Outlaws at Bristol, full time driver update | DIRTRACKR Daily 4/8/21
It is Thursday, April 8th, two thousand and twenty one and you are tuned into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
It's a busy weekend if you're a dirt late model fan, including the Outlaws at Bristol, the MLRA has two shows at Lucas Oil Speedway, the Spring Nationals are at I-75, and several other series are racing including MARS, the Southern All Stars, Ultimate Southeast, and more. Things get underway starting tonight at Bristol for an open practice session for the Outlaw competitors and UMP modified racers. DIRTVision will have live streaming coverage from 6PM to 9PM ET, and fans can watch for free on DIRTVision, Facebook, and YouTube. Matt Yocum, Ashley Stremme, and Georgia Henneberry will be on the broadcast talking about the sessions and getting fans prepared for the racing on Friday and Saturday.
There are a number of storylines entering the weekend, but I wanted to start with an update on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series field of full time drivers. In the last few weeks we've seen several drivers fall off the tour, with some announcements and news even this morning. First, in a tweet this morning Chase Junghans announced he's dropping off the series full time to regroup following a rough start to 2021. Junghans has been a full time Outlaw for the previous three seasons, finishing top five in the points in 2019 and 2020. But through the first nine nights of this year, it had been a real struggle, with Yunghans having just a lone top ten, 7th at Cherokee. But even that came on a non-points double feature night. Last weekend at Farmer City he was 19th, and 11th in a B Main. They'll run a pick and choose schedule going forward, with plans to be at Lucas Oil Speedway for this weekend's MLRA Sprint Nationals.
Also, in a post to DirtonDirt.com from last night, we found out that Ross Bailes has departed the Big Frog Motorsports team after initially planning on running for the World of Outlaws rookie of the year in 2021. He cited struggles getting comfortable in the car along with the difficulties of traveling full time with a young family at home. Bailes and the team didn't compete at Farmer City last weekend, and his best result through the first seven nights was a 7th at Volusia. He had three finishes of 15th or worse as well. Going forward, expect to see Bailes run closer to home around the southeast. As for Big Frog, team owner Augie Burttram told Kevin Kovac he will get things figured out with hopes to return to racing in a few weeks.
Other drivers who had initially planned on running the full tour that have since dropped off in recent weeks include Tony Jackson Jr., Ryan Scott, Parker Martin, and David Breazeale. Keep in mind that what we are seeing through this opening stretch with drivers on and off the tour is very common. Drivers sign on to get the perks of being a full timer with the hopes that they start hot and are able to make a real run. But after the first six or eight nights, if teams are struggling, they will scale back. It's very difficult to stay on tour, both mentally and financially when you aren't running towards the front regularly. There is so much late model racing around the country, guys can stay in their regions and still do well. Looking at the field, we have 14 drivers who've run every event so far, including three rookies. They are Kyle Strickler, Brandon Sheppard, Tyler Bruening, Dennis Erb Jr., Ricky Weiss, Kyle Bronson, Chris Madden, Cade Dillard, Darrell Lanigan, Scott Bloomquist, Boom Briggs, Ryan Gustin, Brent Larson, and Blake Spencer. Strickler, Bruening, and Gustin are the three rookies.
Heading into the Bristol weekend, Strickler still leads the standings by 24 over Brandon Sheppard, but it's been tough the last few weeks for the High Side Tickler. He is without crew chief Vinny Guliani and hasn't finished in the top ten since the hot opening stretch at Volusia. He needed provisionals both night last week at Farmer City, and Sheppard closed the gap with two top five runs. He didn't run the super late model races at Bristol a few weeks ago, but did test and ran his modified. Hoepfully that experience can get him going back in the right direction. As for BShepp, his Rocket team made some strides last week with their two best Outlaw results so far in 2021. But they had to fight both nights, transferring in from B Mains and going hard charger each night. As I've said, they have to find a way to qualify better and find some speed earlier in the nights. They have gotten away with it so far, but starting in a hole every night will catch up to you eventually.
This could be a good weekend for Sheppy and the Rocket team to break through for their first win of the year. They tested at Bristol last month, and 1/2 mile race tracks have been that team's bread and butter over the last few seasons. Since 2019, Sheppard's average finish on 1/2 mile tracks is 3.8 and 12 of his 33 wins over that span have come on the big tracks. Other drivers to keep an eye on over the next few days are the guys that raced at Bristol back a few weeks ago who did well, including Bloomquist, Jonathan Davenport, and Chris Madden. Brandon Overton and Ricky Thornton Jr. also raced that week, but didn't have the results they were looking for. But just having that experience could pay off this weekend. I'm also curious to see what Cade Dillard can do. His season has started out rough, but he got back on track last weekend at Farmer City with a sixth on Friday, and a second on Saturday after leading laps late. I could see him getting hot and fighting back into contention.
Following tonight's practices, racing kicks off tomorrow night with a $10,000 to win show, followed by $25,000 to win on Saturday. The weather looks fine for today and tomorrow, but there are some rain chances on Saturday, so stay tuned to the Outlaw website and social channels for any changes in the race's status.
Don't forget that the Lucas late models are off this weekend, with the series electing not to schedule against the Outlaws at Bristol. They will be back next weekend for two shows, Saturday at Hagerstown in Maryland and Sunday at Port Royal.
If you can't make it out to the track this weekend, there are plenty of late model shows on the streaming platforms. FloRacing has several including the Spring Nationals and Southern All Stars, The Cushion has ULMS late models from Selinsgrove, and MAVTV Plus has both nights of the MLRA at Lucas Oil. To see a full list of weekend late model action, check out the schedule at dirtondirt.com.
There are three items on the streaming schedule today. FloRacing has Flo 24/7 and the first night of the King of the Highbanks from Marshalltown Speedway. DIRTVision has the opening practice night from Bristol for the World of Outlaws Late Models and UMP Modifieds. To see the full daily streaming schedule with links to watch, visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
Tomorrow on the show we'll get you ready for a busy open wheel weekend, including the Outlaws in Indiana, the USAC midgets at Port City, and more. There are also nearly 60 races to watch across the streaming platforms.
That's it for the show today, hope everyone has a good Thursday. If you have thoughts about the topics on today's show, leave them in the comments below or tweet at me.
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