DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Wild BC39 win goes to Kyle Larson, Sheppard stops Blair at Orange County | DIRTRACKR Daily 8/20/21
Today is Friday, August 20th, two thousand and twenty one. This is DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
Coming up we are talking last night's wild BC39 finale, plus other results from last night and what's coming up this weekend.
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.
We've seen some great racing all season long, and last night showed us that 2021 isn't done just yet. At the BC39 at the Dirt Track at IMS for the USAC national midgets we had a candidate for race of the year. Before the feature even got underway we had good racing through the preliminary action, including Tanner Thorson nearly going from the D main all the way to the A main. Right at the checkered in the B, Logan Seavey made an insane run on the top to beat Thorson back to the line for the final transfer. Over the final couple of laps, you could see Seavey getting that momentum rolling on the top, and he rode it all the way to the final feature transfer. Thorson would later end up using a provisional to make the A main, along with Zeb Wise and Chase Randall. In the 39 lap main event, we got basically everything we could have hoped for. There were officially five lead changes among four drivers, but I saw a tweet from Brian Walker that said he counted something like 26 unofficial lead changes. Thomas Meseraull looked like he was going to have a chance to run away with it after he took the lead from Kyle Larson on lap 24, but a caution with five to go for Cannon McIntosh changed the complexion of the race. On the restart, Larson slipped past TMez for the lead, and then chaos ensued. Into turn three, both Justin Grant and TMez threw massive sldiers at Larson, and TMez got the short end of the stick. Grant's pass actually had a chance to clear, but TMez came up short and doored Larson. Usually the guy on the outside gets screwed in that situation, but Larson was able to drive away while TMez's front end collapsed and he was done for the night. It was wild watching two guys throw sliders at the leader into the same corner. That then setup one final five lap run to the finish, where things again were wild. Grant and Larson were going at it, Brady Bacon snuck up into the mix. It was crazy. Grant's final slide job attempt on Larson coming to the white flag was probably the difference. Grant cleared Yung Money, but banged the wall really hard and Larson was able to get away. The move killed Grant's momentum. At the finish, it was Larson winning, Grant second, Bacon third, Daison Pursley fourth, and Emerson Axsom fifth. If you haven't watched it yet, definitely go find the feature replay or the highlight package. Larson became the third different winner in three runnings of the BC39 and continued to pad his long list of big race wins in 2021. Even with the very different format, the feature last night did pay points, and a tough night for Chris Windom saw a change happen in the standings. Buddy Kofoid leaves with the lead by 20 points, but Emerson Axsom is now second. Windom has fallen to third, 41 points behind Kofoid. Justin Grant and Tanner Thorson complete the top five. The national midgets go on a break for a few weeks now and will be back in action on September 5th at Angell Park Speedway.
If you're a USAC fan though, don't worry, there is still plenty of racing to come. The USAC Silver Crown Series is in action tomorrow at Springfield for the Bettenhausen 100. 40 cars are on the entry list and the field will include all the series contenders plus Ken Schrader, Brady Bacon, Jerry Coons Jr., Robert Ballou, and more. Kody Swanson is the current Silver Crown Series points leader. And then on Sunday the USAC National Sprint Cars head to Paragon Speedway for a $5000 to win show. Points leader Brady Bacon will try and extend his lead over Kevin Thomas Jr. and Justin Grant. So plenty of action is on tap for the weekend. For more information about the USAC weekend, visit usacracing.com.
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series was at the Orange County Fair Speedway last night to kick off a four race weekend. In the end, we got a great battle to the finish between eventual winner Brandon Sheppard and Max Blair. Rick Eckert kicked off the feature by leading the first five laps from the outside pole, but he suffered drive line issues and ended up out of the race. That handed the lead to Sheppard for the restart. Behind him, Chris Madden, Blair, Stewart Friesen and others battled in the top five, with Madden even challenging Sheppard a few times. But late in the going, Madden suffered mechanical issues himself and dropped out of the race. That setup a final two lap dash to the finish, with BShepp just barely beating Max Blair back to the checkered. The win was Sheppard's fifth of the season and pulls him to within four of matching Josh Richards for the most ever World of Outlaws Late Model Series wins. Blair ended up second, Tyler Bruening charged to third after needing to switch to a backup car, Friesen was fourth, and Dan Stone finished fifth. The trouble for Madden sees him slip even further behind the Rocket team in the chase for the championship, with 128 points now separating the two. The hole keeps getting bigger, and Madden is running out of races to dig himself out. Looking ahead to the rest of the weekend, the Outlaws are at Williams Grove tonight, Sharon Speedway on Saturday, and Eriez Speedway on Sunday. For event details, visit worldofoutlaws.com.
At I-96 Speedway last night, Devin Moran dominated the 40 lap Summer Nationals feature to bag his second series win of 2021 and third career victory. Pierce tried to track him down through lap traffic, but eventually ended up out of the race with engine issues. Tanner English, Ashton Winger, Frank Heckenast Jr. and Dona Marcoullier completed the top five. Even with the issues, Pierce will be the champion, but the battle for second remains tight, with English currently holding the spot over Winger. The drivers have the final two nights at Tri-City and Merritt to settle it. With the modifieds, 16 year old Hunt Gossum led all 25 laps to earn his third career series win, topping Jeffery Erickson, Will Krup, Brandon Bollinger, and Kenny Wallace.
Last night was supposed to be the weekend opener for the Topless 100 at Batesville Motor Speedway, but the event was lost to rain. So now tonight's full program for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will set the lineup for Saturday's racing. Tonight is a $5000 to win feature, while Saturday's Topless 100 is $40,000 to win. Hot laps are scheduled tonight for about 7:30PM CT, with action kicking off Saturday at 8PM with hot laps. Jimmy Owens is the defending race winner, while Tim McCreadie is looking to extend his points lead. To keep up through the weekend, make sure you're following @lucasdirt on Twitter.
Elsewhere this weekend, the two big sprint car series are both in action. The World of Outlaws are headed north to take on River Cities Speedway tonight, Red River Valley tomorrow, and Huset's on Sunday. Keep an eye out, as there is weather in the area. With the Knoxville Nationals in the rear view, the focus turns back to the championship and who can rack up wins down the stretch. Brad Sweet is the current points leader by 140 over Carson Macedo and 144 over David Gravel. Barring some insane run from Donny Schatz, who sits fourth, this is a three horse race. As I said earlier in the week though, I think this could be a very good weekend for Schatz to maybe grab his second win of 2021. Outside of Kyle Larson, Schatz is the most recent winner at both River Cities and Red River Valley. Aaron Reutzel and David Gravel were Huset's winners back in June. To keep up with the Outlaws, make sure you are following @WorldofOutlaws on Twitter.
And the All Stars have two shows this weekend. They take on I-96 Speedway tonight and Waynesfield Raceway Park tomorrow. Tyler Courtney currently has a huge 308 point lead in the standings, so the race will be for second down to the finish. Cory Eliason has it, while Hunter Schuerenberg, Cap Henry, Zeb Wise, and Bill Balog are all in pursuit. Courtney is the most recent winner at I-96, while Kyle Larson won at Waynesfield during Ohio Sprint Speedweek. For information about the All Stars, visit allstarsprint.com.
The streaming schedule is again completely packed for the weekend, with 40 shows today alone, and a lot more to come over the next two days. That includes the Topless 100 for Lucas, World of Outlaws Sprint Cars and Late Models, All Stars, USAC Sprint Cars and Silver Crown Series, POWRi, Summer Nationals, and plenty more. 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!