DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Windom wins wild one at Terre Haute, Lucas Show-Me 100 weekend on tap | DIRTRACKR Daily 5/27/21
It is Thursday, May 27th, two thousand and twenty one. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
Today we are talking last night's USAC sprint show at Terre Haute, Lucas at Wheatland tonight, there are a few news items, and more, so let's get going.
The USAC National Sprint Cars took to the Terre Haute Action Track last night for the Tony Hulman Classic and what a wild night it turned out to be. After going quick time in qualifying, Brady Bacon went for a big ride during his heat race. Into turn one he and Anthony D'Alessio made contact which sent the Macho Man's car flipping wildly into the air and promptly right out of the ballpark. The car cleared the turn one wall and landed on all four wheels, with Bacon emerging from the ride okay. D'Alessio ended up turned over as well, and Nate McMillin caught the wall trying to avoid the incident. All were okay, and D'Alession was done for the night. The 69 team promptly rolled out their backup car with Bacon tagging the rear of the B-main. In 12 laps, he drove from 14th to third, driving for several laps with four wheels in the fluff and flying by guys on the outside. That transferred him to the night's feature, where he then drove ninth to third. I don't know what's really crazier here. The initial flip, or the fact that he later ended up with a podium finish. Incredible job by that team and Bacon to recover from a nasty wreck. The fireworks didn't end there though. I said on the show yesterday that I thought things were shaping up nicely for Justin Grant, and I was just about right. He led the first 26 laps from the pole, but things got interesting late in the going. Inside ten to go, Chris Windom ran down Grant from his sixth starting position and the battle for the lead was on. Windom's first slider attempt didn't work, and Grant was able to get away for a few laps. Later, coming to three to go, Windom threw another slider into turn three, but this one didn't clear Grant all the way. It was the old right rear to left front contact. Grant's car actually went airborne briefly and hit the outside wall before he recovered, while Windom was able to drive away. After a very late caution for a flipping Chase Johnson, Windom drove away on the final restart to grab his second straight Hulman Classic win and third of his career. The earlier contact broke the ladder on Grant's car, and he fell to fifth at the end. Kyle Cummins was second, Bacon third as I said, and Kevin Thomas Jr. finish fourth. Following the race, both Grant and Windom tweeted they were racing hard, and it sounds like they talked and things are okay. I highly doubt Windom made the move on purpose, and I'm sure those guys respect each other. But don't expect them to let off the gas, especially racing for the win. When you see racing like you did last night, I'm honestly surprised these USAC divisions aren't more popular then they are. If you want action when you watch racing, these guys provide it, and regularly. There has been a lot of discussion about how much, or how little, money they race for, including on Twitter last night, but I feel like that shouldn't change the perspective of the fans. Good racing is good racing, regardless. And as a bonus, you have accessible guys with personalities running the series. Grant is on his Twitter account regularly posting reactions and his thoughts, and doesn't hold back. My fandom of this type of racing continues to grow, and I hope you aren't missing out on the great shows we continue to see. Leaving the night, Brady Bacon maintains the series points lead over Justin Grant, KTJ, Robert Ballou, and Chris Windom. The sprint cars are back in a few weeks for the three race Eastern Storm swing.
Looking towards Terre Haute tonight, the USAC Silver Crown Series opens their 2021 season with the Sumar Classic. 32 cars are on the entry list for the 100 lap feature that will start 24 cars, with the winner taking home $8000. Only five Silver Crown races were contested in 2020, with Shane Cottle, Kody Swanson, Tanner Swanson, and Kyle Larson picking up wins. Tonight's field is a who's who of USAC competition and includes Chase Stockon, Jason McDougal, Tyler Courtney, Logan Seavey, KTJ, CJ Leary, Bacon, Jerry Coons Jr., Ballou, Kyle Cummins, Grant, Windom, and plenty more. Grant is actually the most recent series winner at Terre Haute, back in 2018. Other past winners include Shane Cockrum, Leary, and Windom. This is the second of three nights of racing at the action track, with the World of Outlaws on tap for tomorrow. If you can't be at Terre Haute tonight, watch the action live on FloRacing.
Over to late models, a big weekend is on tap for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and the Show-Me 100 weekend and racing gets underway tonight. We get a full program tonight at Lucas Oil Speedway, concluding with a 45 lap, $6000 to win feature. We get another $6 grand to win show tomorrow, before the big 100 lapper on Saturday night that pays $30 K to win. Payton Looney won the Show-Me 100 in 2020, leading 87 laps and topping Kyle Strickler and Shanon Buckingham. Chris Ferguson was also a winner at Wheatland in 2020. Mike Marlar is the most recent series winner, while Tim McCreadie enters as the points leader over Hudson O'Neal, Jonathan Davenport, Tyler Erb, and Ricky Thornton Jr. Even though he pulled off at 300 Raceway last weekend and finished 11th, Davenport is the hottest driver with Lucas as his average finish over the previous five races is a series best 3.8. But McCreadie has been very good lately as well, with a current streak of 11 straight top ten runs. Looking at some possible winners for tonight, it's hard to get a good gauge on who we should be watching out for. We've had 12 different winners in 15 races so far this season, and like we saw last season, anyone can win at Wheatland. I'm sure Davenport and McCreadie will be in the mix, but I wouldn't be surprised if a guy like Billy Moyer Jr. was up there and Bobby Pierce is a past event winner who comes into the weekend hot. The Outlaws are off, and with big money on the line, you know there will be a good field. This thing feels wide open. Drop me a comment below and let me know who you are picking for this weekend. If you can't be at Lucas Oil Speedway, MAVTV Plus has live coverage all weekend.
Another race that is on the docket for tonight is the FAST Series KC Classic at Atomic Speedway in Ohio. I wouldn't sleep on this race as it's going to pay $20,000 to the winner and the entry list looks like it will be stacked. Rico Abreu will be there, as will Cale Conley, Jac Haudenschild, Brandon Wimmer, Hunter Schuerenberg, and we might even see a Kyle Larson appearance. If you aren't into the Crown cars at Terre Haute, or Lucas late models, FloRacing will have this show live.
At Millbridge Speedway last night, North Carolina teenager Neal Allison picked up the $1000 600 non-wing win, with Dillon Welch finishing second in Chase Briscoe's car, Buddy Kofoid was third driving for Christopher Bell, Ethan Burdett was fourth, and Tim Nye fifth. It was another wild race with young Gavan Boschele leading much of the feature before retiring late with mechanical issues. You can watch the replay on the Swindell SpeedLab YouTube channel.
There are a few news items for today, first up...
The FloRacing Night in America Late Model Series announced a couple of schedule changes yesterday. First up, the race at 411 Motor Speedway that was postponed to September 23rd has now been moved to October 12th to avoid a scheduling conflict. That race is a $20,000 to win show. Also, the Marshalltown race that was recently lost to rain will not be made up, as no suitable date could be found. In it's place, the series will race at Farmer City on September 21st for $10 K to win. Four events are currently complete for the Flo Late Models, with Jonathan Davenport leading the standings. For more, visit floracing.com.
In a post to their Facebook page last night, Pennsylvania sprint car team Barshinger Racing announced they have parted ways with driver Jeff Halligan. Halligan hasn't been with the team long, as he replaced Kerry Madsen who departed the team back a few weeks ago. The team will not be in action this weekend when the All Stars come to Pennsylvania and there is no word on who will replace Halligan.
Later today I've got a new Conversations episode to release. I spoke yesterday with Ohio sprint car racer Brian Smith who has been a fixture at Fremont for many years with his 2+ 410. If you have time today, I highly recommend checking this one out. Brian is super straight forward about the challenges he faces as a weekly racer on a budget, we talked about his full time season with the All Stars in 1998, Rick Ferkel talking Ted Johnson into letting Brian race with the Outlaws at Eldora in 1985, his post race tradition of freezer pops and Hot Wheels cars for the kids, and a bunch more. As usual, it will be available in the podcast feed and the YouTube channel. Please, please check this one out. You will not be disappointed.
There are eight shows on the streaming schedule for today. Fast Four has the Non-Wing World Championship from Circus City, FloRacing has the Silver Crown opener at Terre Haute, FAST sprint cars at Atomic, and weekly action from Kossuth County. MAVTV Plus has the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Wheatland, and Speed Sport has a pair of shows from Grand Rapids and Grayson County. 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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