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.
Brad Sweet back on top with the Outlaws, Jeff Gordon gets in a midget | DIRTRACKR Daily 6/18/21
It is Friday, June 18th, two thousand and twenty one. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
It was a very busy night of dirt racing last night, and we'll get you up to speed today on everything that happened, including a surprise winner with the World of Outlaws late models, Jeff Gordon back in a midget, and Brad Sweet breaking his streak. Let's dive in.
The major storyline we've been talking about with the World of Outlaws sprint cars in recent weeks has been the lack of podium finishes for Brad Sweet, and how that's allowed both David Gravel and Carson Macedo to close in on him for the series points lead. It had been nine races since Sweet won or finished third or better, but that streak came to an end last night at 34 Raceway. Sweet started third, battled with leader Macedo just past half way, and took over for good with nine laps remaining. The win was Sweet's 10th of the season, which is a series best. Even with his recent winless streak, Sweet is still incredibly averaging a win every three races in 2021. I don't think a win count above 20 this season for Sweet is an unrealistic number to expect. Behind him, Carson Macedo and David Gravel ended up with podium finishes, so the damage in the standings was minimized. They trail by 54 points and 64 points respectively heading to Dubuque tonight. Kerry Madsen and Gio Scelzi completed the top five. Madsen has been good this season, getting that opportunity to run Tony Stewart's 14. He hasn't finished worse than sixth in his last six Outlaw appearances. With a ninth place finish last night, Donny Schatz's winless streak now sits on 38 races. After Dubuque tonight, the Outlaws head to Beaver Dam on Saturday before Monday and Tuesday racing at Huset's. Keep up all weekend long live on DIRTVision.
With the World of Outlaws Late Model Series last night, it was all Pennsylvania driver Dave Hess Jr. at Stateline Speedway. He pulled off an incredible sweep against the Outlaws, going quick time on the night, winning his heat race, and then starting on the pole and leading all 40 laps. Third starting Brandon Sheppard chased him through the feature, but could never get close enough to complete a pass. Sheppard ended up second, Max Blair third, Boom Briggs fourth, and Chris Madden drove up from 13th to finish fifth. The dominating win for Hess was his second career victory with the Outlaws, which is wild as Hess only has four starts with the series back through 2019. The points standings on the website haven't been updated as I was working on today's show, but if my math is correct, Sheppard extended his points lead by six, with the gap back to Madden now sitting at 52. The late model competitors head to Thunder Mountain Speedway tonight and then to Selinsgrove on Saturday for the Late Model National open. Brandon Sheppard and Scott Bloomquist were winners at Thunder Mountain in 2020, while Darrell Lanigan is the most recent winner at Selinsgrove, back in 2019. Sheppard is favored by the dirtrackr.com analytics prediction formula in both events, and even though he isn't winning a ton like we expect, he has been good lately. BShepp has finished 4th or better in eight of his last ten races. Ryan Gustin also continued his run of good finishes last night with his sixth straight top ten result. I really feel like we'll see him break through for a win very soon. You can watch both shows live this weekend on DIRTVision.
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series was back racing last night at Magnolia Motor Speedway after nearly three weeks off. They kicked off a three race weekend, which culminates Saturday night in a $15,000 to win show at Magnolia. Thursday and Friday night serve as prelim nights, with drivers earning points to setup Saturday's B main and feature lineups. Last night it was all Jonathan Davenport. He slipped by pole sitter Kyle Bronson on lap two and drove away to his third win of the season. Mike Marlar, Tim McCreadie, Josh Richards, and Shane Clanton completed the top five. It was a rough night for some usual front runners with both Jimmy Owens and Hudson O'Neal not transferring out of their B mains. Pole sitter Bronson ended up with a flat tire late in the going and finished 20th. Tonight is another full program paying $5000 to the winner before the big show on Saturday night. If you can't be at the Mag, watch live on MAVTV Plus.
In Eastern Storm action last night at Selinsgrove Speedway, Justin Grant picked up his second USAC sprint car win in three races. He started fourth, battled past early leaders Kevin Thomas Jr. and Chris Windom, and drove away over the final seven laps to bag the win. Robert Ballou stayed rolling with a second place finish, while CJ Leary, KTJ, and Brady Bacon completed the top five. Ballou's top ten streak is now 14 straight races. Windom ended up 15th after suffering a flat tire. He and Ballou were battling for second coming to five to go when the two came together in turn three. Ballou threw a slider at Big Daddy, but Windom stayed tough on the top, and Ballou ended up sliding up into him. The sprint car competitors have tonight off before they finish Eastern Storm on Saturday at Port Royal and Sunday at Bloomsburg Fairgrounds. Don't worry though, there is still USAC racing to watch tonight, as the Silver Crown Series is headed to Williams Grove for their first dirt event of the season. With three Eastern Storm nights now complete, Robert Ballou leads the weeklong points over Justin Grant, while Brady Bacon is still 29 points ahead of Grant in the season long championship standings. You can watch USAC through the weekend live on FloRacing.
Ohio Sprint Speedweek continued last night at Muskingum County Speedway for the All Star Circuit of Champions. Tyler Courtney entered the night as the weeklong and season long points leader and he'd leave that way as well. The beginning of the feature was a mess, and it took several attempts before the field finally got a lap complete. Multiple incidents collected Rico Abreu, Paul McMahan, Zeb Wise, Cory Eliason, and others. It was also a brutal night for Hunter Schuerenberg. He came to a stop multiple times and had a flat tire. He finished 23rd. Out front, Spencer Bayston started on the outside front row, and officially led the opening lap, even though pole sitter Cale Conley was out front through those early caution laps. Bayston led most of the laps, but was chased all race long by Justin Peck. Inside five to go, Peck threw a slider at Bayston and cleared him for the lead, but the fireworks weren't over yet. Bayston actually took the lead on the final lap down the backstretch, but one more massive slide job into turn three secured the lead and the win for Peck right at the line. It was Peck's third All Star win of 2021, and first since Sharon on May 1st. Bayston was second, Courtney third, DJ Foos fourth, and Cale Conley fifth. The series was supposed to head to Limaland tonight, but that event has been cancelled because of weather. So tomorrow night at Portsmouth will close out Ohio Sprint Speedweek. Courtney enters the final night with a 32 point lead in the speedweek points. His lead in the All Star championship has grown to a sizeable 246 points over Cory Eliason. You can watch the finale tomorrow live on FloRacing.
At Peoria Speedway last night, it was round three of the Summer Nationals. We got to see a different late model winner, but not a different modified winner. In the late model portion of the night, Devin Moran started on the outside front row and led all 40 laps en route to his second career Hell Tour victory, and first since 2018. He was able to hold off challenges from Tanner English, Brian Shirley, and Ryan Unzicker through the race. At the end, it was Unzicker finishing second, Bobby Pierce third, Tanner English fourth, and Frank Heckenast Jr. was fifth. Shirley was actually third crossing the finish line, but was later DQ'd after he didn't go to the scales. The night's modified feature turned into another dominating performance for Nick Hoffman. He bagged his third win in as many nights, and has been basically untouchable through this first week of racing. Curt Spalding, Nick Allen, Tyler Nicely, and Levi Kissinger completed the top five behind him. Hoffman doesn't usually run every night, but it feels right now that he'd win them all if he did. The Summer Nationals and Modified Nationals continue through the weekend with races at Tri-City, Fairbury and Plymouth. DIRTVision will have live coverage.
In Illinois Speed Week action last night for the POWRi midgets, it was Cannon McIntosh who found victory lane at Lincoln Speedway, topping Bryant Wiedeman and Karter Sarff. McIntosh started seventh and capitalized on issues for early leaders Jake Newman and Buddy Kofoid. Illinois Speed Week continues through the weekend with stops at Jacksonville Speedway, Macon Speedway, and Fayette County. For more, check out powri.com.
If you missed it yesterday, go find Matt Weaver's Twitter account or the video on FloRacing. Jeff Gordon hopped in a midget for the first time in like 25 years and did some laps at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway dirt track. Tim Clauson brought a car for Gordon to use, and the event was used to promote the upcoming BC39 USAC midget race. The car had a Jeff Gordon throwback paint scheme on it, and Gordon had a firesuit and a helmet to match. It was pretty neat to see Gordon back on dirt, and he actually ended up doing quite a few laps. The BC39 takes place August 18th and 19th at the IMS dirt track.
It's a packed weekend across the streaming platforms, including 38 different shows for today. That includes your favorite national series, and plenty of local and regional racing between DIRTVision, FloRacing, MAVTV Plus, Fast Four, RacinDirt, and more. 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. If you have thoughts about the topics on today's show, leave them in the comments below or tweet at me.
You can find DIRTRACKR Daily where you get podcasts and YouTube. If you like what I'm doing, please subscribe and leave a review.
You can follow dirtrackr on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and tiktok. at D I R T R A C K R
And you can checkout the website for all kinds of cool dirt racing stuff by visiting dirtrackr.com.
Thanks for tuning in, I'll see you tomorrow for more DIRTRACKR Daily!