DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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More ride changes as Kyle Strickler and Lucas Wolfe depart teams | DIRTRACKR Daily 5/14/21
It is Friday, May 14th, two thousand and twenty one. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
We've got news to talk about today from Kyle Strickler and Lucas Wolfe, and we'll take a look at racing happening this weekend. Let's jump in.
The idea of a silly season where drivers and teams make changes during a certain part of the year has become a bit of a misnomer, especially recently. It seems now that these types of changes can literally happen at any moment, and we've already seen that occur multiple times this season. Go back to April 20th when we saw Brent Marks depart CJB and Darrell Lanigan split with Viper, or how about May 5th when Kerry Madsen left the Barshinger ride in Pennsylvania. We aren't even into the summer yet and we've already had some pretty high profile changes. And we saw even more yesterday in both the late model and sprint car world.
First, after an incredibly up and down start to 2021, Kyle Strickler and PCC Motorsports have parted ways. Team owner Craig Sims retrieved his equipment from Strickler's North Carolina shop this week and has brought everything back to Indiana. The team's original plan was to run the full Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series schedule this season, but that changed after a rough Speedweeks in Florida left Strickler way down the standings. Strickler, who is still very new to dirt late model racing, was attempting to get comfortable in Rocket Chassis, but the transition didn't go well, and the team switched back to the Longhorns that Strickler was more comfortable with. The move paid dividends, with the team taking two wins at Volusia with the Outlaws, and leaving Florida with the Outlaw points lead. Since then though, things have gone sideways. Strickler went ten straight races finishing 12th or worse with the Outlaws from Smoky Mountain to Boone, crew chief Vinny Guliani departed the team, and now the short lived pairing is over. Strickler did pick up a 7th and 4th at Mississippi Thunder last weekend, but that wasn't enough to save the deal. Sims told Dirt on Dirt's Kevin Kovac that he will start working towards getting the team prepared to run the full 2022 schedule with a new driver, and that he's already had interest from some drivers to run some special event races later in the season. As for Strickler, he is now without a team and a car, and is looking to put something together to run the Outlaws' next races at Port Royal on May 21st and 22nd. He told Kovac he will also quote definitely be at Eldora for the double Dreams in June. With as badly as the last few months have gone for Strickler, this move definitely doesn't surprise me. He's a talented driver who can obviously compete at the highest levels, but things just haven't gone his way in 2021. These owners expect results, and regularly, and many won't hesitate to make a quick move if they feel it's necessary. We live in a what have you done for me lately time where past success doesn't guarantee future employment. This does feel like a speed bump for Strickler's career though. It's been rough as of late, but I think he'll be a fixture in dirt late model competition for years to come. A Lucas win, multiple Outlaw wins, and plenty of good results in his early foray into this type of racing bode well for his future. We'll keep you posted as we know more about what's next for him and PCC Motorsports.
In the sprint car ranks, the return of Lucas Wolfe to a national touring sprint car series is over almost as quickly as it started. We found out yesterday that he and team owner Mark Coldren have split following just seven All Star Circuit of Champions races. Wolfe currently sits 11th in the All Star points, and had yet to crack the top ten in a race this season. His best finish was 11th in the blown tire fiasco at Virginia Motor Speedway. In the series previous two races, Wolfe didn't transfer from the B main at Sharon, and was 21st at Tri City. Wolfe becomes the second driver to fall off the All Star tour with the recent departure of Brent Marks. The Marks deal was a net zero move though, as Paul McMahan will run in Marks place the rest of the season. Again, not a surprising move here. Wolfe was struggling in the 07, and when you aren't at least finishing top ten, there are definitely issues. We don't know who will fill the seat of the 07 going forward, and we don't know what's next for Wolfe. I'd imagine though we'll see Lucas more often back in Pennsylvania, as was his original plan for 2021 with the Allebachs and the 5W machine. The All Star field is stacked with talent this season, and it was very possible from the start that we would see a few teams and drivers get squeezed out.
If you have thoughts about either of these moves, drop them in the comments below or on social media. Are you surprised by either? Let me know!
Speaking of the All Stars, they are in action for two shows, Friday at I-96 in Michigan, and Saturday at the Dirt Oval at Route 66 in Illinois. Justin Peck has been the talk of the series so far in 2021 with two wins, but Ian Madsen enters the weekend as the points leader. He has yet to get a victory, but he's been very consistent in the McGhee ride with five straight top ten finishes, including a pair of thirds last time out at Sharon and Tri City. Peck, Tyler Courtney, Zeb Wise, and Cory Eliason round out the top five in the standings. Eliason is the most recent winner at I-96, back in 2019, and Aaron Retuzel won the series' last trip to Route 66, also in 2019. The dirtrackr.com analytics prediction formula likes Madsen tonight at I-96 because of his recent consistency and his good runs on 3/8 mile tracks. Eliason and Peck trail him in win chances. Madsen is also the favorite Saturday at Route 66, trailed by Eliason and Paul McMahan. Remember that the predictions are based strictly on the stats. My opinion is not a part of these predictions. I just tell the code I wrote what series and what track and it spits out the predictions. If you can't be at the track this weekend, watch the All Stars live on FloRacing.
In Pennsylvania, the World of Outlaws clash with the Posse continues tonight and tomorrow at Williams Grove for the Morgan Cup weekend. Brad Sweet won Wednesday night at Lincoln, and he continues to lead the standings over David Gravel and Carson Macedo. The Outlaws had four races at the Grove last season, with Shane Stewart and Donny Schatz getting a win each, and David Gravel winning twice. With all that's been happening lately, it could be a wild couple of nights. We talked earlier in the week about Sweet's past struggles in Central PA, but that was put to rest on Wednesday at Lincoln. Schatz is still looking for win 300, David Gravel will definitely be fast both nights, Brent Marks is on the rise, and Kyle Larson will be in the field in Paul Silva's 57. There is a lot to watch for tonight and tomorrow. With Larson in attendance, and his past success at the Grove, he's the favorite for the two nights from the prediction formula. He's got a fairly sizeable advantage over David Gravel and Donny Schatz. Lance Dewease is the Posse driver with the highest win chances, but he's quite a ways down the order. The last time a Posse driver won an Outlaw show at Williams Grove was Dewease in May of 2019. If being at the Grove isn't in the cards this weekend, DIRTVision has live coverage.
In other sprint car action this weekend, the NARC King of the West Series is back on Saturday at Thunderbowl Raceway for round number two of the year. DJ Netto won the season opener at Stockton and is the current series points leader. And the IRA join the All Stars Saturday at Route 66 for their fourth race of 2021. Bill Balog, Carson Short, and Brooke Tatnell won the first three races, while Scotty Thiel currently leads the points over Jake Blackhurst and Scotty Neitzel. There is also ASCS action at Volunteer Speedway, Sprint Car Challenge Tour at Keller Auto Speedway, WAR sprint cars at Central Missouri, and plenty of other local and regional action. To see a full calendar, visit tjslideways.com.
If you're looking for late model action this weekend, MARS has two big money shows, tonight at Farmer City for $10,000 to win, and Saturday at Fairbury for $15,000 to win. The Ulimate Southeast late models are at Virginia Motor Speedway on Saturday for $20,000 to win. I know Jimmy Owens and his team are headed there. The Southern All Stars are at Richmond, and there is plenty of other local and regional action at places like Tri-City, Moler, Davenport, Selinsgrove, and more. To see a full schedule, visit dirtondirt.com.
Don't forget also, the USMTS modifieds are back in action this weekend at Lakeside and Tri-State in Kansas and Oklahoma. Terry Phillips enters as the points leader over Dereck Ramirez and Rodney Sanders. Both of those nights are live on RacinDirt.
Speaking of the streaming schedule, as of this recording, there are 38 shows on the streaming platforms for tonight. Dirt Track Digest, DIRTVision, FloRacing, RacinBoys, RacinDirt, Speed Sport, and The Cushion all have shows. The World of Outlaws, All Stars, MARS Late Models, IMCA action, ASCS, USMTS, Sprint Car Challenge Tour and a lot more are represented across the board. 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 Friday and a good weekend. 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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