DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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More World of Outlaws Late Model drivers; USAC, Super DIRTcar Series add more points money | Daily 12-13-2021
Coming up we are recapping the rest of the weekend from PRI and getting you up to date on all the news you need to know, including more World of Outlaws Late Model Series full timers, the Silver Crown schedule and more. Let's do this!
Today is Monday, December 13th, two thousand and twenty one. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
I just wanted to warn you right off the top that I won't be talking about the new non-wing and midget series from World Racing Group in this episode. And the reason is because I did a special bonus episode late last night just focused on that piece of news. It's in your podcast feed and on the YouTube channel. I'll also link to it above in the YouTube video for folks watching. Now, let's get into the rest of the news from the weekend.
We talked on Friday about Donny Schatz's comments about TSR shutting down the 14 team, at least for the moment, and Tony Stewart confirmed to Speed Sport over the weekend that is what he's doing. He talked about the new NHRA team, plus all of his other commitments between the racing series, Eldora, the NASCAR teams, and more as reasons why he doesn't have as much time to race. Stewart said he isn't retiring, but that other things need his focus right now, and the sprint car will be waiting for him when he's ready. I'll be curious to see if this helps or hurts Schatz's performance next season, with it being the only active car in the building. I felt like last season that Kerry Madsen coming in and getting that 14 car going helped the 15 squad down the stretch. With the Outlaws as competitive as they've ever been, Schatz will need every ounce of performance out of that 15 car to take the fight to Brad Sweet.
The full time list of drivers with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series continues to take shape, and we had two more announcements over the weekend. Tanner English and North Carolina's Gary Dillon have signed on to join the series in 2022. They join Max Blair, Kyle Hammer, Josh Richards, Boom Briggs, and Gordy Gundaker as officially signed. And while not officially announced, it sounds like Brandon Sheppard and the Rocket squad are back as well. So that takes us to eight cars headed to Volusia in January. The drivers that went the distance in 2021 that we don't know about yet include Chris Madden, rookie of the year Tyler Bruening, Dennis Erb Jr., and Ryan Gustin. I'd guess by the time the season rolls around, we'll be at at least 12 to 14 teams signed on to compete full time.
On the USAC side of things, we had several different news items from Friday and Saturday, including the release of the 2022 Silver Crown Series schedule. The Crown cars will have 11 points races next season, with six on pavement and five on dirt. There is also one non-points special event. The slate of races goes like this: May 1st at the Terre Haute Action Track will open the season, followed by May 27th at IRP, June 18th at Port Royal, June 24 at Madison International, June 30th at IRP, July 21st at Winchester, August 6th at Toledo, August 19th at World Wide Technology Raceway, August 20th at Springfield, September 3rd at Du Quoin, September 23rd and 24th at Eldora, and the year ends on October 22nd at IRP. The June 30th race at IRP is the non-points show. Some solid variety in there, including the addition of Port Royal. Kody Swanson is the defending series champion. We know he'll be back full time, splitting the races between Kevin Doran and Chris Dyson's teams. Joining him will be Chase Stockon in the Pink 69 and CJ Leary in the Klatt Enterprises number six. Those two previous moves were announced in recent days.
In addition, USAC announced their 2022 points fund, plus a bonus for drivers who can score multiple championships. In the ongoing arms race with points and purse money, the combined three series USAC points fund has increased 60% since 2019. The USAC sprint car champion will take home $50,000, the midget champion will get $25,000, and the Silver Crown champion will earn $20,000. If a driver is able to bag two of the three titles next season, they'll take home a total of $150,000 including bonus money, and if they win all three, their payout would total $300,000 with added bonuses. It's certainly a long shot, as only two drivers have won all three in year (they are Tony Stewart and JJ Yeley), and only six more have won two of the three in one season. That list includes Rich Vogler, Rick Hood, Steve Butler, Jason Leffler, Jerry Coons Jr., and Levi Jones. But it is something to chase next season if you're a USAC competitor.
With the USAC Sprint Car Series, the 2022 rookie class continues to take shape as Jadon Rogers has announced his intentions to run full time next season. He joins Emerson Axsom as rookies to declare so far. Rogers will campaign a car with his dad Kyle and Engler Machine's Tim Engler. Over the previous two seasons, Rogers has made 45 national starts with a best finish of second at Haubstadt last April. Over that span he's got three top fives, 15 top tens, and an average finish of 13th. He'll need to keep improving though to keep pace with Axsom, who has shown himself already to be lightning quick. As with all the USAC teams, Rogers will debut at Bubba Raceway Park in February.
In some of my own content surrounding the new non-wing series from World Racing Group, I've seen multiple comments from folks asking why WRG doesn't do more for the Super DIRTcar Series, instead of starting new stuff. But as of Saturday, we've discovered you can have both. Not to be outdone across the landscape of dirt racing, the big block modified competitors are getting their own points fund boost with 67% more money on the line next season. The series champion will take home $60 grand, with an additional $77,000 available down through the field. The total fund now sits at $200,000. WRG CEO Brian Carter didn't give details, but he also said that full time teams will also see an increase in their guaranteed earnings on a nightly basis in 2022. This is in line with the additional money available for the other WRG owned series next season.
Out west, there were plenty of news items for the sprint car folks. The NARC/King of the West, Sprint Car Challenge Tour, and Kings of Thunder Series are all expected to adopt the same tire rule as the World of Outlaws for 2022. They will run the H15 and H12 tires, which brings them in line with the Outlaws and most series across the country. NARC also released their schedule which features 27 races from April through November, with not only California tracks on tap, but also stops in Oregon and Washington. The series is sanctioning the reworked Dirt Cup at Skagit that is now a three day 410 sprint car event under the new track ownership. The Saturday finale pays $50,000 to the winner. To see the full NARC schedule, visit narc410.com.
In some California team news, Paul Baines has departed Tarlton Motorsports after 14 years together, and Drew Warner is set to take over that crew chief role after a stint with DJ Netto. Warner will work with drivers Mitch Faccinto and Gauge Garcia in the famous matte black 21 cars. And teenager Joel Myers Jr. will be full time with the King of the West Series in 2022, teaming up with Vertullo Motorsports to drive their 83V machine. Myers takes over that ride from Sean Becker.
So that should about cover off on all the major news that came out of the PRI weekend in Indy. As I said on Friday, there was way more than I thought there would be, but all of it positive. There is some dirt racing happening this week, so stay tuned if you need a fix. The Chili Bowl and Tulsa Shootout track build is also now under way, so it won't be long before those events are here also.
There are two things on the streaming schedule today. DIRTVision has the iRacing World of Outlaws World Championship from the virtual Williams Grove Speedway, and there 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 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 in a few days for more DIRTRACKR Daily!