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.
World of Outlaws practice at Bristol tonight, Bacon leads USAC to PA | DIRTRACKR Daily 4/22/21
It is Thursday, April 22nd, two thousand and twenty one and you are tuned into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
Today we'll get you ready for practice at Bristol, USAC Sprint Cars at Grandview, the FloRacing Night in America Series, plus we have some schedule news and postponements for several series and events. Let's jump in.
Tonight is the first night we'll see sprint cars and big blocks on the highbanks of the Bristol Motor Speedway. This weekend's Bristol Throwdown is the final dirt event of 2021 and features the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and the Super DIRTcar Series big block modifieds. Tonight is practice before racing happens on Friday night and Saturday night. Keep in mind there is weather in the forecast for Saturday around the southeast, but Sunday can be used as a rain date if necessary. We talked about the big block entry list earlier in the week, but I did want to run back through the sprint car entry list before tonight. Drivers expected to race this weekend are Jacob Allen, Logan Schuchart, David Gravel, Wayne Johnson, Brock Zearfoss, 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, Paul McMahan, Rico Abreu, Kerry Madsen, Jac Haudenschild, 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. Brent Marks and Brian Brown were on the initial entry list as well, but we know they won't be racing at Bristol this weekend. It's also possible we could see a few others not show, as that happened with the Outlaw late models a few weeks ago. Tonight's practice sessions get underway around 5:30 PM ET and will run for a few hours. DIRTVision will have a free live stream of the events, so no fast pass needed to watch tonight. We will jump into a full weekend preview on tomorrow's show, including an attempt at some win predictions.
The USAC National Sprint Cars are in action tonight at Grandview Speedway in Pennsylvania to kick off a four race weekend in the Keystone state which will also see them head to Big Diamond, BAPS, and Path Valley. The series is coming off two races last weekend in Indiana where Kevin Thomas Jr. picked up a dub at Bloomington, and Kyle Cummins was victorious at Haubstadt. Brady Bacon is the defending series champion and he is right back atop the standings this season, sitting 15 points ahead of Justin Grant with five races complete. They are trailed by KTJ, Chris Windom, and CJ Leary. We've had four different winners in five races, with KTJ being the only driver with multiple wins. Grant, Bacon, and Cummins are the other winners. Bacon is the hottest driver with the series right now, with his average finish over the last five races sitting at 2.8. He has 16 straight top ten finishes, with 14 of those being top five runs. And entering tonight, all eyes will be on him and his Hoffman Racing number 69. Bacon has won the last three trips to Grandview and hasn't finished outside the top ten in any of his seven career starts at the track. Another driver to keep an eye on tonight is Chris Windom. He has 20 straight top ten finishes in the sprint car, and hasn't finished worse than 11th in his last 32 series starts. He won three times in 2020, and is looking for his first victory of the season. He doesn't have a sprint car victory at Grandview in his career, but does have four straight third place finishes there. If being at Grandview isn't in the cards tonight, watch all the action live on FloRacing.
After a successful debut event last Thursday night at Tyler County Speedway in West Virginia, the FloRacing Night in America late model series is back tonight for round number two of 2021. They take on Atomic Speedway in Ohio for $22,000 to win, which makes it the richest event on the schedule for this year. Jonathan Davenport led all 40 laps last week at Tyler County to take that $10,000 win, with Tyler Erb, Kyle Larson, Mason Zeigler, and Jacob Hawkins rounding out the top five. The win puts Davenport atop the series standings as well, but remember that only a driver's seven best finishes count towards the championship chase, so a lot will happen. Another very strong field of late models is expected tonight with Lucas in Illinois and the Outlaws in Kentucky and Ohio this weekend. Davenport will be back, as will Devin Moran, Steve Casebolt, Tyler Erb, Mike Marlar, Josh Rice, Rusty Schlenk, Bobby Pierce and plenty more. We didn't know Kyle Larson was showing up last week until dang near the last minute, so we could see other drivers as well. Don't expect Larson to be there though, as he's running the sprint car at Bristol this weekend and I'd imagine he'll want to take advantage of tonight's practice night. Also, that team had motor issues last week at Hagerstown, and I'm not sure they've got another engine to fit into that car just yet. The grandstands open tonight at 4PM ET, with hot laps set to start at 6:30. If you can't be at Atomic, FloRacing has live streaming coverage.
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series announced yesterday that they already postponed Indiana Icebreaker at Brownstown Speedway will yet again be pushed back. The event was started back on March 20th, but ultimately stopped due to track conditions, with series officials putting it back on the schedule for May 2nd. But grandstand improvements at Brownstown will now see the event pushed back to September 23rd. When the event kicks back off, it will be resume with two laps complete in the first B main. The $15,000 to win event being pushed back now adds to an already busy Jackson 100 weekend at the track which starts on Friday night with the Night Before the Jackson 100 that pays $10,000 to win. Saturday's big show pays $20,000 to the winner. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is in action in Illinois this weekend, starting Friday at Tri-City. We'll have more on that on tomorrow's show.
The brutal early stretch to the ASCS National Tour took another hit yesterday with the announcement that Friday's action at US 36 Raceway in Missouri has been cancelled. So far through nine scheduled events, the ASCS sprint cars have only completed three races because of weather related issues. JJ Hickle swept the opening weekend at Devil's Bowl back in March, and Blake Hahn was the winner this past weekend at Park Jefferson in South Dakota. Hickle currently has a 31 point lead over Hahn, with Matt Covington third, Scott Bogucki fourth, and Seth Bergman fifth. The national tour is now off until April 30th and May 1st when they take on Williams Grove and Selinsgrove in Pennsylvania. The ASCS Warrior Region and Sooner Region are in action on Saturday this week at Lucas Oil Speedway. For more, visit ascsracing.com.
This weekend's USMTS Modified races in Louisiana, at Ark-La-Tex Speedway and The Rev, have been washed out by a wet forecast. The two races will be run later in the season, on September 10th and 11th. The series last raced early in April at Hamilton County Speedway in Iowa, and with six races currently complete on the year, Terry Phillips holds a 10 point lead in the standings over Dereck Ramirez. Rodney Sanders, Tanner Mullens, and Jake O'Neil complete the top five. Phillips leads the series with two wins, while Ramirez, Dustin Sorensen, Carlos Ahumada Jr., and Brooks Strength all have one. Up next for the modified competitors is Lakeside Speedway on May 14th and Tri-State Speedway in Oklahoma on May 15th. For more, check out usmts.com.
There are four items on the streaming schedule for today. DIRTVision has practice from Bristol Motor Speedway for the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and Super DIRTcar Series big block modifieds. FloRacing has Flo 24/7, the USAC National Sprint Cars from Grandview, and round two of the FloRacing Night in America Late Models from Atomic Speedway. 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. 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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