DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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The title fight between Brandon Sheppard and Chris Madden that never was | DIRTRACKR Daily 9/30/21

Today is Thursday, September 30th, two thousand and twenty one. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.

Coming up we look at the championship battle between Brandon Sheppard and Chris Madden that never was, and talk about an unfortunate situation for JJ Hickle and the ASCS.

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The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is entering their final stretch of the 2021 season this weekend with shows at Cherokee and Senoia before they head to World Finals to close out the season in early November. With just the four features left, the gap in the standings between championship leader Brandon Sheppard and second place Chris Madden has ballooned to 180 points. As long as the Rocket house car shows up to the final races, this championship battle is effectively over. A win is worth 150 points, with any car that shows up getting 90 points, so Madden can only gain 60 points a night. BShepp could leave Cherokee on Friday night with the championship basically sewed up. It will be Sheppard's fourth career World of Outlaws champoinship and third in a row. Of the four he's won over the past five seasons, 2021 will certainly go down as the quietest so far. There were points in the season, especially in the spring, where things were very much in question, and even if he somehow wins the final four races, this will be the least amount of wins he's had with the Outlaws since joining full time in 2017. He's displayed most of the consistency we've come to expect from that Mark Richards owned team, but the utter domination just didn't happen this season. Back on May 5th I did a daily episode about Chris Madden's prospects for the series championship in 2021, and back then it was a real possibility that he could get it done. At the time he was only 56 points back, and Sheppard hadn't yet won an official Outlaw race. He'd won a split field feature at Cherokee in March, but didn't get his first full field win until after I posted that show, on May 7th at Mississippi Thunder. I did that Madden episode following the Outlaws' weekend at Boone Speedway, and that three day show was a turning point for Sheppard in 2021. Between Volusia and Boone, there were 15 features, including that split field race at Cherokee. Sheppard didn't have an official win and had an average finish of 7.87. He'd also had four finishes outside the top ten. That opening stretch was why I was talking about Madden's title chances. But following Boone, things turned quickly for Sheppard and since then they've put the throttle down and drove away with the championship. Since Boone we've had 30 race nights and over that span Sheppard has eight wins and an average finish of 3.53. He's also only had one finish outside the top ten, a 14th at Port Royal on May 22nd. Over that same 30 race stretch following Boone, Madden has been very solid, but he has had some stumbles including three finishes outside the top ten, and he hasn't won an Outlaw race since Port Royal on May 22nd. He won three straight between Mississippi Thunder and Port Royal, and since then his best result is second, which has happened six times. While Sheppard was averaging a little more than a third place finish over these last 30 races, Madden was averaging an almost 6th place finish. So again not bad, but not what he needed to seriously challenge Sheppard. And behind the top two, some guys we thought could be challengers like Ricky Weiss and Cade Dillard, just could never get started this year. It's a little crazy to think that in the spring and into the early summer we had wide open championship battles with both the Outlaws and Lucas, but coming to the end here, one driver has pulled away and will coast to the end. Sheppard with the Outlaws, and Tim McCreadie with Lucas. And just to give you one final stat about how consistent the Rocket team has been down the stretch, Sheppard currently has the longest top ten streak in the country at 26 races. The next closest driver with a national touring series is James McFadden who has 18 straight with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series. Sheppard hasn't finished outside the top ten in an Outlaw race since May. The World of Outlaws Late Model Series races Friday night at Cherokee Speedway in South Carolina for $10,000 to win, and Saturday night at Senoia Raceway in Georgia, also for $10,000 to win.

I mentioned on the show yesterday that the Short Track Nationals at I-30 Speedway for the ASCS National Tour that were originally scheduled for this weekend had been postponed to October 21st through the 23rd because of a poor forecast. We've been keeping an eye on the ASCS down the stretch here because the points battle has been tight with Blake Hahn out front, and both Matt Covington and JJ Hickle being in contention. But unfortunately, it looks like there is a very good chance we won't see this battle play out to the finish. The Short Track Nationals were rescheduled to the same weekend as the big 360 sprint car race out in California at Tulare Thunderbowl, the Trophy Cup, and JJ Hickle's team Facebook page posted that they could miss the Short Track Nationals because of prior commitments to run the Trophy Cup. Hickle will still run the October 15th and 16th races at Devil's Bowl Speedway in Texas, but from there head back to California, and not to Arkansas. Hickle is currently 60 points behind Hahn for the championship lead, and entering the final two nights at I-30, that margin could potentially be much smaller. It's unfortunate because Hickle has been very impressive this season in his rookie run with the ASCS, picking up four wins, 22 top fives, and 29 top tens in 35 features. When you talk about young sprint car talent around the country, Hickle's name is definitely one of those high on the list. We'll have to see how this plays out over the next several weeks, but circumstances and Mother Nature may have just handed Blake Hahn his first ever ASCS championship. Thanks to Shawn Heath for the tip about the Facebook post.

The only thing on the streaming schedule today is FloRacing 24/7. 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 Wednesday. 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!