DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Kyle Larson enters Hangtown 100, Sweet can clinch Outlaw title this weekend, Mahaney on the cusp | Daily 10-29-2021
Coming up we've got details on where to see Kyle Larson at a dirt track soon, where we stand with the World of Outlaws championship, and other racing happening this weekend. Let's go.
Today is Friday, October 29th, two thousand and twenty one. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
With just two NASCAR Cup Series races left in the year, Kyle Larson is neck deep in trying to win his first championship, but that doesn't mean that dirt racing is off his radar. It was announced yesterday that when the Hangtown 100 comes to Placerville Speedway November 18th through the 20th, Larson will be in the field to defend his race win from back in 2019. The Hangtown 100 is part of the final west coast run to the end for the USAC National Midgets. Larson will pilot his own 01 machine that we've seen him race and win in at the Chili Bowl. Yung Money has two USAC midget appearances and two wins in 2021, having won both the pursuit race and main event at the BC39. With 24 career USAC midget victories, Larson is inside the top 20 all time. If you'd like to attend the event, you can find more details at hangtown100.com.
As expected yesterday the opening day of the World Short Track Championship at Charlotte was lost to rain. Never fear though, as Thursday's on track action is just being merged with things already scheduled for Friday and Saturday. Today the drivers meeting is scheduled for 2pm ET, with hot laps to follow at 3PM. A full evening of racing is scheduled to follow. And then Saturday the drivers meeting will be at noon, with opening ceremonies at 2, and then again a full day of racing. I saw a tweet from announcer Rick Eshelman that they had already signed in 286 cars through yesterday, and they were expecting more to arrive today, so the pit area at Charlotte will be packed with plenty of cars. If you're in the area, tickets and pit passes are available at the track. If not, DIRTVision will have live streaming coverage both days.
David Gravel's chances to win the 2021 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series championship are already thin at best, but if he doesn't make something happen this weekend at Lawton and Devil's Bowl, Brad Sweet could head to Charlotte with the title already wrapped up. The gap between the top two right now is 98 points, and if the 49 leaves Texas on Saturday night with at least a 96 point lead, it's officially over. The Outlaws last raced at Lawton Speedway in Oklahoma in September of last season. Daryn Pittman was the winner that night over Sweet and Gravel. Last year's field at Lawton was only 22 cars, and I wouldn't expect much different than that this season. Sweet went quick time in 2020, and both he and Gravel were in the dash, so you know both will probably be fast tonight. As for Saturday at Devil's Bowl, I have four previous races there in the dirtrackr.com analytics database, and Logan Schuchart leads all drivers in average finish. He's won the two previous trips there, one in 2020 and one in 2019. Donny Schatz and Pittman have the other two victories. Over those four races, Sweet's average finish is 4.25, while Gravel's is 7.25. Gravel did finish second to Schuchart at Devil's Bowl in 2020 though. Even if Gravel somehow leaves the weekend with a mathematical chance going to Charlotte, realistically it's not looking great for the Tod Quiring owned two team. 98 points is basically 49 positions. Spread that out over four nights, and Gravel has to average beating Sweet by more than 12 positions a night. If Gravel were somehow able to win out, and sweep the next four races, Sweet can average a 12th place finish in those events and still win the title. This recent stretch of races back to Eldora in September has seen Sweet end up with double digit finishes in five of seven races, which is uncharacteristic for him, but even in that span, his average finish was still 11.14. Looking elsewhere through the top ten, we talked about Schatz and his recent run of good finishes earlier this week. He only has three wins this season, and will be looking to add to that over the next two nights. This is his lowest win total in a season with the Outlaws since he had only two way back in 2002. Schatz has moved past Carson Macedo though for third in the standings. The final spot in the top five is also a close battle right now between Schuchart and Sheldon Haudenschild. Schuchart has it, but Sheldon is only 16 points back. If you can't attend the Outlaw shows this weekend, DIRTVision has live streams.
If you're looking for other winged 410 sprint car action this weekend, check out the King of the West Series out in California. They take on Keller Auto Speedway tonight, and the Dirt Track at Kern County tomorrow. Besides these two shows this weekend, all that remains in 2021 is the November 6th finale at the Stockton Dirt Track. Dominic Scelzi is the current series points leader by 72 over Tim Kaeding, and if all goes to plan, we should be seeing Scelzi on his way to the championship. He leads all drivers with six wins this year on tour. DJ Netto, Bud Kaeding, and Sean Becker complete the top five in the standings. It sounds like we should have a stout field this weekend, including the series regulars, plus Ryan Timms fresh off that Trophy Cup feature win, JJ Hickle is on his way after completing a very good rookie season with the ASCS, and I even saw Bill Balog is coming out to California to race. Balog was a full timer with the All Stars this year, picking up a couple of wins. If you're in the eastern part of the country, stay up late tonight and tomorrow, and watch live on FloRacing.
Elsewhere this weekend, the 2021 season is set to finish up for the Short Track Super Series at Georgetown Speedway. Because of weather in the area today, the track and series have pushed Friday's racing to Sunday, so instead of Friday-Saturday, they will now be racing Saturday-Sunday at Georgetown. Matt Sheppard has already claimed the north region title, and he enters the weekend 44 points behind Mike Mahaney for the south region crown. Mahaney has been good all year though, including his first series wins with both the Short Track Super Series and Super DIRTcar Series. A solid result on Saturday will lock up his first ever championship with the Brett Deyo owned tour. Besides the modifieds, the weekend also includes racing for RUSH late models, crate 602 sportsman, and Georgetown's regular divisions. Both days will be streamed live on FloRacing.
If you're looking for other racing this weekend, check out the National 100 at East Alabama Motor Speedway. The winner of the super late model feature will take home $20,000. That event is live on FloRacing all weekend. There is also a $10,000 to win super late model show at Pike County in Mississippi. If you want some modified action, the USMTS closes out their 2021 campaign on Saturday at 81 Speedway. Dereck Ramirez leads Jake O'Neil in the race for the championship with just the one night left.
Drop me a comment and let me know your win picks for the weekend, where you're headed, and what you'll be watching.
There are ten shows on the streaming schedule today with more to come this weekend. DIRTVision has the Outlaws and World Short Track Championship, FloRacing has the National 100, Jambalaya 100, and the King of the West sprint cars, MAVTV Plus has POWRi West Midgets at Creek County, RacinBoys has the ASCS Sooner Region, and Speed Sport has local 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!