DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Lucas drivers chasing $100K at DTWC, Kofoid tops Bell at Port City, Stenhouse back in a sprint car | Daily 10-15-2021
Today is Friday, October 15th, two thousand and twenty one. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
Coming up we are talking Dirt Track World Championship, Short Track Super Series, POWRi Midgets, ASCS National Tour, news from USAC and more.
Before we dive in... I'd appreciate if you'd subscribe to the show. Also if you followed @dirtrackr on social media. Also if you visited dirtrackr.com. Let's do this.
The final Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series weekend of the season is upon us with the Dirt Track World Championship happening at Portsmouth Raceway Park in Ohio. The series championship is already decided with Tim McCreadie getting set to be crowned for the first time in his career. But there is still plenty to race for with $100,000 going to Saturday night's winner of the 100 lap main event. Brandon Sheppard is the defending race winner, leading 76 laps in 2020 and topping Ricky Thornton Jr. and Tim McCreadie. For TMac, now that the championship is decided, you know the gloves will be off as he looks to take down that big money. Last year's DTWC featured 63 cars, and I wouldn't expect this year to be any different. There isn't much competition this weekend in terms of other late model shows, and the main event pays a couple grand to start, so we should see a healthy field. In the dirtrackr.com analytics database, I have five races at Portsmouth for Lucas, going back through July of 2020, and we've had five different winners in that span. Jimmy Owens, Hudson O'Neal, BShepp, Jonathan Davenport, and McCreadie have all been victorious. JD and TMac were winners there earlier this season. As for average finish at Portsmouth, Ricky Thornton Jr. leads all drivers who have at least two starts. He's trailed by Spencer Hughes and JD. The numbers and past results seem to point to a wide open weekend in terms of who could win this thing. Brandon Overton is always one to keep an eye on in these big money shows, but he's not a super lock here. In the past two seasons he has just one appearance with Lucas at Portsmouth, finishing 31st in last year's DTWC after starting on the front row and bowing out early with mechanical issues. Don't count him and that Wells Motorsports team out though. Tonight at Portsmouth is prelim action for the Lucas late models, including hot laps, qualifying, and a round of heat races. On Saturday, racing begins at 7 with B mains, followed by the 100 lap main event. Tickets are available at the track and you can watch live through the weekend on MAVTV Plus.
At Port Royal Speedway last night for the Speed Showcase 200 weekend opener, Mike Mahaney took down his first career Short Track Super Series win. He started fourth, battled briefly with early leader Ryan Godown, and picked up the $5500 victory. Mat Williamson, Godown, Alex Yankowski, and Ryan Watt completed the top five. It's been a strong season for Mahaney, as he's now picked up his first career wins with both the Super DIRTcar Series and Short Track Super Series, and he's right in the thick of the fight for the Short Track Super Series south region championship. His win last night guarantees him a starting spot in Saturday's 200 lapper that pays $50,000 to win. Tonight at Port Royal is qualifying night for both the modifieds and crate 602 sportsman, with pro stocks running a full program. Saturday's racing will feature B mains for both top classes along with the 200 lapper and the big money. If you can't be at Port Royal this weekend, watch all the action live on FloRacing.
With the POWRi Midgets last night at Port City Raceway, Buddy Kofoid picked up his eighth series victory of the season, making a late move to get by both leader Tanner Berryhill and second place Christopher Bell. Bell was back in a Keith Kunz midget last night for the first time since 2019. I believe it was Bell's first midget appearance since his flip in the feature at the Chili Bowl. Kofoid started the feature 19th, but 55 laps was just enough time for him to get to the front. Cannon McIntosh, Ryan Timms, and Tanner Thorson all ran towards the front but were all involved in incidents that sent them to the rear. Behind Kofoid, Bell finished second, McIntosh battled back to third, points leader Bryant Wiedeman was fourth, and Berryhill finished fifth. Looking towards tonight and the weekend, the POWRi midgets are headed to I-44 Riverside, and I'd expect a lot of the cars that were in attendance last night to keep racing. The field at Port City was 39 strong, so expect somewhere in the 30s for the next two days. If you can't attend the weekend, MAVTV Plus has live coverage through Saturday.
With the World of Outlaws off and the All Star season complete, if you're wanting some winged sprint car action this weekend, let me suggest the ASCS National Tour. They are headed to Devil's Bowl Speedway in Texas tonight and tomorrow. Besides the usual cast of characters, it sounds like a little star power has been added to the field, including names like Johnny Herrera, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Tyler Courtney, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Blake Hahn is the current ASCS points leader by 60 over JJ Hickle with just four race nights remaining. Hickle's status for that final weekend at I-30 is still up in the air because of Trophy Cup in California, so Hahn is most likely on his way to this championship. Hahn currently leads all drivers with six wins this season, Ryan Timms has five, and Hickle, Matt Covington, and Scott Bogucki all have four each. Other drivers with national tour wins in 2021 include Gio Scelzi, Dylan Westbrook, Dominic Scelzi, Sam Hafertepe, Derek Hagar, Blane Heimbach, Cam Smith, Dale Howard, and Jason Martin. If sitting in the grandstands isn't an option, watch live all weekend with MAVTV Plus and RacinBoys.
We don't yet have the full USAC schedules for next season, but we do know the dates of the opening weekends for the USAC midgets and sprint cars. Winter Dirt Games at Bubba Raceway Park will kick off on Thursday, February 10th with a practice night for the midgets, followed by full programs on Friday and Saturday, the 11th and 12th. Then on Wednesday the 16th, the sprint cars get their practice night before racing runs Thursday through Saturday, February 17th through the 19th. In recent years, both series then go on break until March or April when things start to warm up in their traditional areas, and I would guess that will be the same plan for 2022. At this current moment, both series are quiet until they close out their 2021 seasons out west starting in November. To see the press release about Winter Dirt Games, visit usacracing.com.
If you're looking for other late model action this weekend, check out the MLRA late models on FloRacing. They are closing out their 2021 season at Tri-City Raceway in Illinois. Tony Jackson Jr. enters the final two nights with a 160 point lead over Garrett Alberson for the title, and while Alberson is still mathematically alive, a couple of decent finishes should lock this thing up for Jackson. Jason Papich, Mason Oberkramer, and Justin Duty complete the top five in the standings. Up to this point Jackson has four wins, 10 top fives and 14 top tens, and Alberson has two wins, 10 top fives, and 11 top tens. Friday's show pays $5000 to win, and Saturday is a $7000 to win feature. For those in the area, stick around on Sunday afternoon and check out the Tri-City Rodeo.Out west, the Sprint Car Challenge Tour for winged 360s is headed to Petaluma Speedway on Saturday with just two points paying races remaining. Dominic Scelzi is the most recent winner with the seris back last weekend at Keller Auto Speedway, and he now has two wins on the season. Other drivers to hit Sprint Car Challenge Tour victory lane in 2021 include Tanner Carrick, Shane Golobic, Justin Sanders, Andy Forsberg, Justyn Cox, Kaleb Montgomery, DJ Netto, and Colby Copeland. In the battle for the championship, Ryan Robinson leads Copeland by 43 points with Justyn Cox 56 back in third, and Tanner Carrick 87 back in fourth. Following this weekend, the series will head to Stockton on November 6th for the final points race, and then Merced on November 24th for a special event. For more on the series, visit sprintcarchallengetour.com.
There are 18 shows on the streaming schedule today, with more to come through the weekend. It is definitely quieter though than it's been in a long time. The big ones today include the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Portsmouth on MAVTV Plus, the Short Track Super Series on FloRacing, the ASCS sprint cars are at Devil's Bowl on both MAVTV Plus and RacinBoys, and this is the final MLRA weekend at Tri-City Speedway on FloRacing. 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!