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.

Kings Royal update, thoughts on racing complaints | DIRTRACKR Daily 7/16/21

Today is Friday, July 16th, two thousand and twenty one. This is DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.

Coming up we've got an update on the Kings Royal weekend, results from last night's USAC and Summer Nationals action, and we dive into the complaints about no respect on track.

Before we dive in, if you like what I'm doing here, please subscribe to the show, leave a review, and hit those follow and notification buttons depending on where you consume this. Make sure to follow @dirtrackr on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. And don't forget dirtrackr.com has a bunch more cool dirt racing stuff. Now, let's get going.

Last night's Kings Royal at Eldora was postponed due to rain. They got qualifying complete before things were halted by a shower. They then waited around, got the track worked in and completed one heat race before the rain came again, ending the night. That sets up Saturday as a double Kings Royal day, with both $175,000 to win shows on the schedule. They will pick up in the afternoon where last night left off. Run the full show, then reset everything and start into the second set of Royals. Tonight's racing is still on as schedule as of me recording this. It's supposed to be a $12,000 to win standard format Outlaw show, but there is weather in the area all day, so stay tuned to social media and websites for updates. Brian Brown was quick time last night and finished third in that first heat race. So he's locked into the feature as is Daryn Pittman who won the heat race and Cory Eliason who finished second. Dave Blaney is also locked into the feature for qualifying second quick, and because Brownie is in through the heat race transfer, that guarantees a spot for Carson Macedo. This will be Macedo's first ever Kings Royal feature appearance. After today, it looks like the weather is set to improve through the weekend, so I think even if they had to run on Sunday, they will get both Royals in. If you'd like more preview action and who to watch, check out my Conversations episode this week with Blake Anderson. You can watch live all weekend on DIRTVision.

We did get some racing last night from both the USAC midgets and Summer Nationals. At Thunderbird Raceway in Michigan, Ashton Winger battled past early leader Tanner English and drove away to his second career Hell Tour win and second of the season in a feature that was caution free. Points leader Bobby Pierce finished second, English was third, Jeep Van Wormer was fourth, and Travis Stemler completed the top five. English and Pierce had a hell of a battle for that second spot. In the modified feature, Nick Hoffman made it 14 wins in 14 starts. He started third, raced past Jacob Poel and Curt Spalding, and drove away to the victory. Spalding, Jeffery Erickson, Hunt Gossum, and Poel were the rest of the top five. Tonight's Summer Nationals race at Hartford Speedway has already been cancelled due to rain, so the late models and modifieds will race next on Saturday at Oakshade. The late models then go quiet until next Thursday at Springfield. The modifieds are in action on Sunday at Terre Haute as well. For more info visit dirtcarsummernationals.com and watch live all weekend on DIRTVision.

At Solomon Valley last night with the USAC midgets, Tanner Thorson started fifth, worked his way past early leaders Buddy Kofoid and Emerson Axsom, and led the final five laps en route to his third win of the season. Axsom, Justin Grant, Kofoid, and Bryant Wiedeman rounded out the top five. Kofoid maintains a 60 point lead over Chris Windom in the championship standings. Mid America Midget Week for the series closes out tonight and tomorrow at Jefferson County Speedway in Nebraska. Tyler Courtney and Chris Windom were winners at the track in 2020, while Jason McDougal, Justin Grant, Tanner Thorson, and Chad Boat all have previous wins at the track as well. You can watch both nights live on FloRacing.

Several events during last night's USAC show bring me to my main topic of conversation for today. When the night was over you had both Thomas Meseraull and Kaylee Bryson on Twitter complaining about how they were raced. TMez gave us the same tired line about getting crashed by kids spending thousands of dollars, and Bryson was upset with Cannon McIntosh for racing her with quote no respect. These ideas about ride buyers and guys racing without respect are as old as racing itself. When drivers publicly complain about these topics, they act as if these are new problems, and that they themselves have never driven anyone they way they were treated. Both are false. The sooner we quit worrying about how drivers get their rides and start handling on track problems face to face, the better off racing will be. The same is true at every level and division of racing. Midgets, sprint cars, late models, pavement, dirt, road courses. It's all the same. Worry about you and your own situation. If you have a problem with the way someone races you, take that problem to them. Have a discussion. You don't need to go punch someone in the face, but remind drivers that they will get raced the way they race people. The combination of veterans and young drivers, especially with the USAC midgets, is a big reason why that series is compelling. As a veteran driver though, if you get dirtied, use that as an opportunity to teach. Pull that young driver aside and say look, that's not how you race. If you want to make it anywhere, you've got to do things differently. That youngster will either listen and learn, or they will be stupid and run themself out of the track. Racing is a self policing sport. Nobody that's super disrespectful on track ever lasts too long or has a ton of success. Eventually that behavior catches up to them, sometimes with very real consequences. I'm also super tired of the constant bellyaching about ride buying. News flash, motorsports are expensive. People that have money are going to get opportunities. That's not new and it's not going anywhere. Yes, in a perfect world we all want every division of racing to have just the best drivers duking it out for wins and championships. But these aren't stick and ball sports with leagues and teams that pay for everything. Dollars are needed to buy stuff. Sponsorships are hard to come by. Team owners are constantly battling to stay in business and those that can write checks can keep teams afloat. But again, those that buy rides either figure it out, or they exit pretty quickly. No ride buyer has the stomach to continue paying for wrecked stuff for eternity. I do think that drivers are racing as aggressively as ever, which I talked to Blake Anderson about recently, but I also think there are ways to do that without it devolving into pandemonium. Drop me a comment, let me know where you stand on these issues. Are you as tired of the complaining as I am? Let me know.

Looking towards tonight and the weekend, there is a bunch of racing on the schedule, that is if mother nature plays nice. Tonight's Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series show at Tri-City has already been postponed, with the series still on schedule for Saturday at Lucas Oil Speedway. The World of Outlaws Late Models have three races on tap, starting tonight at River Cities, with I-94 and Red Cedar coming up on Saturday and Sunday. The ASCS sprint cars are at US36 Raceway, the King of the West sprint cars are at Ocean Speedway tomorrow, and there is a ton of other late model action including the Carolina Sizzler at Charlotte, multiple Southern Nationals races, and more. If you can't make it out to your local track or event, make sure to tune into the streaming services, because...

There are over 40 shows on the streaming schedule for today, with more than 100 on tap for the weekend across the various services. That includes the Kings Royals, Summer Nationals, Lucas, USAC, the World of Outlaws Late Models, and a ton of local and regional action. To see the full daily streaming schedule with links to watch, visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.

That's it for the show today, hope you have 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.

Thanks everybody for tuning in, I'll see you tomorrow for more DIRTRACKR Daily!