DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
Dirt racing news, results, discussion, analytics. Sprint cars, late models, modifieds, you name it. From national series, to top local shows. Brought to you five days a week. Email the show at info@dirtrackr.com.
More money for Outlaw teams, USAC schedules dropped, Ricky Warner and Rico Abreu, full time Outlaws | Daily 12-10-2021
Coming up we will run you through everything that happened on an eventful first day at the PRI Show in Indianapolis. Let's go.
Today is Friday, December 10th, two thousand and twenty one. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
Day one of the PRI Show in Indy is complete and honestly, there was way more news that came out of the day then I initially expected there would be. We knew we'd hear about some schedules and that maybe a few other small things would happen, but that was definitely not the case. And it sounds like we aren't done. So today I'm going to run you through all of the little bits that came out through the day so you're up to speed.
First, we've been talking a lot about money and late models, and the XR slate of races had some alterations that were announced yesterday. First, instead of eight super late model features at Bristol in the spring, they have cut it down to four $50,000 to win shows. X.CELERATED cited equipment costs and parts shortages for the teams as reasons why they made the change. The Bristol points fund remains unchanged. The Colossal 100 event at the Charlotte dirt track is adding two more super late model features, to bring the event total to four. The first three races will be $25k to win, with the Saturday finale being $50 grand to win. That event is in May. And the final part of the announcement is the addition of a new three day event at All-Tech Raceway in Florida, December 1st through the 3rd. The first two nights are $10k to win, with the finale being $50 grand to win. The intriguing part of that event at All-Tech is it's scheduled directly up against the 2022 Gateway Dirt Nationals at the Dome. That feels like a direct shot across the bow for Gateway's promoter Cody Sommer. But, to make that situation even more interesting, is apparently the future of the Dome is in question. Area businessman Bob Clark is working on a plan to reimagine the convention center area around the Dome, and his plan would see the Dome demolished in the near future. If that plan happens, there might not be a Dome to race in. This is a situation worth keeping an eye on in the coming months.
In other late model news from the day, a group of officials from several series met and agreed upon a new set of unifying rules, which includes the infamous droop rule, a uniform minimum weight of 2350 pounds, common tire sizes and body skew measurements, a standard decking rule, and all series will allow plastic quarterpanels on the right side of cars. The group also talked about a sport-wide common tire rule, but that was basically shelved for 2022, with hopes of things advancing for 2023. Amongst the series involved were the Outlaws, Lucas, DIRTcar, the Southern All Stars, Iron-Man, Ray Cook's series, the MLRA, the Comp Cams Super Dirt Series, the Ultimate Southeast late models, and FloRacing Night in America. In a story at Dirt on Dirt, officials talked about the need for competitors to be able to take the same car basically anywhere in the country and be legal. It will make things easier and hopefully cheaper for everyone involved. If you want more details, find Todd Turner's piece at dirtondirt.com.
In some late model driver news, we got some clarity on several drivers who will compete full time with the World of Outlaws next season. We already knew about Max Blair and Kyle Hammer joining the tour, but we had four more confirmations yesterday. The newly announced duo of Josh Richards and Boom Briggs will be full time with the Outlaws next season. Briggs was a regular with the Outlaws in 2021, and Richards, who is a four time series champion and the winningest Outlaw driver ever, returns full time for the first time since 2016. From 2017 through 2021, Richards had been a regular with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. Series officials also confirmed the addition of Gordy Gundaker and it appears as though Brandon Sheppard will be back in 2022. In a previous interview, Rocket team owner Mark Richards had been non-committal about the Rocket house car's future, but a tweet from the Outlaws mentioning Richards and Sheppard racing together next season seems to confirm that Rocket will be back with the series in 2022.
And speaking of full time World of Outlaws drivers, regulars with both the sprint cars and late models will have an even bigger pool of money to earn next season. World Racing Group announced a nearly million dollar bonus program for full time teams next year that will see the top 12 series regulars in each race earn additional cash. The highest finisher will earn $1000, with the payout stepping down through the field. The fifth through 12th highest finishers will each get $500. This guarantees at least an additional $40,000 for sprint car competitors and $25,000 for late model competitors. And all this money is in addition to the larger points fund payout for both series next year. Drivers and teams across the landscape of dirt racing have been asking for a bigger piece of the pie, and it seems as though organizations are finding ways to make that happen. Definitely big news for the Outlaw teams and drivers.
In the open wheel ranks, there were several news items through the course of the day, and a few involving Tony Stewart Racing. First, in an interview Donny Schatz said the TSR 14 team that had been shared in 2022 between Tony Stewart and mostly Kerry Madsen is probably not going to run next season. Stewart recently started an NHRA program, and it sounds like a lot of his focus is on building that right now. So knowing that, it would make sense that crew chief Ricky Warner was spotted walking around PRI with driver Rico Abreu. Word from Sprint Car Unlimited's Jeremy Elliott is that Warner and Rico are going to work together next season. If you're a Rico fan, that is great news. Warner is an all timer when it comes to wrenching on sprint cars, and that could be a huge boost to Rico's program. And with the 14 not running, that means Kerry Madsen is looking for a ride, which is a shame, because he and that 14 team were so fast last season. In limited starts, Madsen had three Outlaw wins and two All Star victories. Speed Sport's Kyle McFadden tweeted that Madsen is finalizing plans with a new team for next season, so hopefully we hear about that soon.
And as promised, USAC release the 2022 national sprint car and midget schedules. The sprint car schedule starts February 17th at Bubba Raceway Park in Florida and ends November 5th at Perris Auto Speedway, with 51 races in 10 states along the way. The big notable absense seems to be the Knoxville race that has paid big money in recent seasons. But we still get Indiana Sprint Week, Eastern Storm, and all your traditional favorites. For the USAC midgets, they will also kick off 2022 in Florida in February, and they will end at Ventura for Turkey Night on November 26th. The schedule has 38 total races, and right now the biggest question mark is the BC39. It's on the calendar, but without a date, so hopefully that gets worked out soon. The one complaint I saw about the midget schedule is no Eastern swing through Pennsylvania. But as I've said before, there is no way to make everyone happy with these schedule releases. It's just the nature of the beast. Both USAC schedules can be found at usacracing.com, and we should get the Silver Crown schedule later today.
So, that was Thursday at PRI, and it sounds like more is coming out of the show today. There were some cryptic tweets from some World Racing Group folks, and rumors of a big announcement today, so stay tuned for that. If it really is monumental, we may have to do an emergency episode later today, or maybe tomorrow. I'll keep you posted if that's something we might do.
If you didn't see it yesterday, make sure to check out the new Conversations episode with ASCS owner Terry Mattox. We talked a bunch of different topics including setting schedules, being a young series owner, and more. Find that episode in the podcast feed and on the YouTube channel.
There are five items on today's streaming schedule, including USAC Live at PRI, Superstocks at Nelson Speedway, sprint cars at Western Springs, and Flo 24/7 all happening at FloRacing. MAVTV Plus will have live coverage of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series banquet. 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 in a few days for more DIRTRACKR Daily!