DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Brad Sweet, Kasey Kahne Racing earn third straight World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series championship | Daily 11-1-2021
Coming up we've got details on Brad Sweet clinching the 2021 World of Outlaws championship, we talk King of the West sprint cars, and we've got weekend results from the Short Track Super Series, USMTS, and more.
Today is Monday, November 1st, two thousand and twenty one. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
When the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series hits Charlotte this week for World Finals, it will come with zero pressure for Brad Sweet. Following a weekend at Lawton and Devil's Bowl in which he finished ahead of championship rival David Gravel both nights, Sweet has locked up the 2021 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Championship. All he needs to do is show up at Charlotte and collect his trophy. Sweet needed to leave the two nights up at least 96 points to clinch, and he did better than that, exiting Devil's Bowl on Saturday night up 106. This is Sweet's third career Outlaw title, and third in a row for he and that Kasey Kahne Racing number 49 team. The combination of Sweet and crew chief Eric Prutzman, along with crew guys Joe Mooney and Andrew Bowman, has been dynamite the last several years, winning big shows, a ton of races, and now three championships. In the entire 44 year history of the series, only 10 drivers have won a World of Outlaws championship, and Sweet joins Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, and Donny Schatz as the only drivers to win it at least three times. The Big Cat has definitely cemented himself as one of the best to ever strap into a sprint car.
Back to the weekend itself, Friday night at Lawton was all Carson Macedo. He started third, but took over the top spot from Logan Schuchart on lap six and never looked back. He led the final 30 laps to earn his 11th win of the season behind the wheel of that Jason Johnson Racing 41. Schuchart settled for second, Donny Schatz was third, Sweet fourth, and Gravel completed the top five. Aaron Reutzel ran towards the front all night, before fading to sixth at the end. He and that Ridge team struggled out of the gate in their new pairing, but have been better as of late. It sounds like some equipment changes have helped that team, and things with the Toyota engine seem to be progressing there. On Saturday night at Devil's Bowl, I thought we might have a chance to see a first time winner. After struggling the night before, Ayrton Gennetten was really strong. He was fourth quick in qualifying and finished second in his heat to make the dash. A subsequent pole draw for the dash and dash win set him up for the pole of the feature. He was quickly out to the lead at the start, and ended up staying out front until pretty late in the going. Unfortunately for him though, he ran into the buzzsaw of a hard charging Logan Schuchart. Schuchart had won the previous two trips to the site of the first ever Outlaw race, and he didn't let an eighth place starting position keep him from winning his third straight. He rolled by Gennetten on the top side to lead lap 24 and drove away over the final seven laps. The win was Schuchart's seventh of 2021, and 30th in his career, which ties his grandfather Bobby Allen for 20th all time with the Outlaws. That's a really cool stat for Schuchart. Logan was also the night's hard charger, which makes him just the fifth driver back through 2018 to win the feature while also being the race's hard charger. Carson Macedo ended up second, Sheldon Haudenschild was third, Gennetten slipped to fourth, and Donny Schatz was fifth. As for Gennetten, those 23 laps out front were the first laps led of his career, and he is definitely making strides as a driver. Bringing in former Brian Brown crew chief Chad Morgan has really pushed him forward, and the duo have picked up four All Star top tens in their previous six starts, and his average finish with the Outlaws since they joined up is 11.5, which includes an eighth at Eldora and the fourth at Devil's Bowl. He's another young sprint car driver who has a bright future. So with Lawton and Devil's Bowl complete, just World Finals at Charlotte is all that is left. Thursday night is practice and qualifying, with full feature programs on tap for Friday and Saturday. More on World Finals later in the week.
In other sprint car action over the weekend, the King of the West series had a double header between Keller Auto Speedway and Kern County. On Friday night on a hammer down track at Hanford, Shane Golobic slipped by early leader Sean Becker just before half way and drove away to the victory. It was Golobic's first win in a 410 since November of 2019. Becker settled for second, Cory Eliason was third, Joel Myers Jr. fourth, and DJ Netto completed the top five. My favorite thing of the night though, may have been the non-wing race. They paid $3000 for a 15 lap race for any of the 410 teams who wanted to take the wings off. They ended up with seven takers. Bud Kaeding, Sean Becker, Billy Aton, Max Adams, Ryan Bernal, Bill Balog, and Tyler Courtney. Balog ended up leading the first few laps, but Sunshine took over on lap three and wasn't challenged again out front. He grabbed the win over Balog, Bernal, Adams and Aton. Definitely appreciate those guys doing something a little different and putting on an extra show. Sunshine also mentioned in his victory lane interview that the Roth 83 was using Toyota power. On Saturday night at Kern County, Justin Sanders was able to keep points leader Dominic Scelzi at bay in the closing laps to grab his fourth series win of the year. Sanders was back this weekend in the Works Limited 57 with Paul Silva on the wrenches. He took a shot late, but Scelzi ended up second, Golobic third, Corey Day fourth, and Bud Kaeding was fifth. With just the finale at Stockton left, Scelzi now leads DJ Netto by 79 points, so Scelzi will be the 2021 King of the West champion. The final race is November 6th.
The Short Track Super Series wrapped up their 2021 season over the weekend at Georgetown Speedway, and it was Billy Pauch Jr. taking down the final victory of the year. It was Pauch's fifth consecutive win in the event. He topped Anthony Perrego, Ryan Watt, Jordan Watson, and Mike Gular. A 12th place finish for Mike Mahaney was good enough to see him wrap up the south region championship and the $10,000 for doing so. Matt Sheppard had to settle for second, but he did snag the north region title and is set to claim the Super DIRTcar Series championship as well. If you're looking for more northeast modified racing before the year ends, don't forget that the big blocks are part of World Finals this week.
In other weekend modified action, Jake O'Neil won the USMTS finale at 81 Speedway, which was his 10th series win of the year. He trailed Dereck Ramirez for the championship entering the night, but the win wasn't enough. Ramirez' finished sixth and claimed his first ever USMTS title. At Charlotte, Nick Hoffman swept the UMP modified features for the weekend at the World Short Track Championship.
In weekend late model action, Brandon Overton earned his 29th win of the season at East Alabama Motor Speedway in the National 100. He started second, took over the lead from Mark Whitener before half way, and held off Dennis Erb Jr. at the end to score the $20,000 win. Erb, Randy Weaver, Austin Horton, and Whitener were the rest of the top five. At Pike County, Tyler Erb picked up two $3000 wins, with Chad Thrash taking the big money on Saturday. And at the World Short Track Championship, Dillon Brown won the pro late model feature and $4000.
There is just one item on the streaming schedule today and that is FloRacing 24/7 over on Flo. 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 Monday. 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!