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Rico Abreu expanding World of Outlaws schedule, USAC Midgets racing indoors | Daily 12-17-2021

Coming up we are talking about an expanded Outlaw schedule for Rico Abreu, USAC midgets indoors in Du Quoin, and some sprint car news odds and ends. Let's go!

Today is Friday, December 17th, two thousand and twenty one. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.

It was just last week during the PRI Show in Indy that we talked about Rico Abreu and Ricky Warner walking around the building together, with the news being that they were pairing up for 2022. It was a bit surprising, but once we heard that Tony Stewart was putting the 14 sprint car on the shelf, Warner was free to look elsewhere, and Rico seized the opportunity. And it's not difficult to see why. Warner is one of the best to ever do it, and he's got ten Outlaw championships and ten Knoxville Nationals titles to prove it. He was going to be a hot commodity in the industry. As for Rico, he's been a fixture in open wheel racing for a long time, between midgets and winged competition, and has won on some of the biggest stages, including the Chili Bowl and Outlaw events like the Gold Cup and Ironman 55. But we haven't seen Rico tackle a series like the Outlaws or All Stars full time yet, and this move to get Ricky indicates that might be changing. In a release yesterday from the Outlaws, it was revealed that Rico is looking at running potentially 80% of the Outlaw races next year, and that it could lead to a full time campaign in the future. As a fan of sprint car racing and as a fan of Rico, him being out full time with the Outlaws would be a huge addition to the series. He's a fan favorite, he's great at promotion, and he's fast. But count me a tad skeptical on whether this will actually lead to a full Outlaw run for Rico. This is something that has been rumored multiple times before and never came to fruition, and Rico has said publicly in the past that running with a series full time wasn't something that he wanted to do. Hopefully he's changed his mind and this is actually moving in that direction, because I think it could be great for all involved. Looking at some numbers, there is plenty of room for improvement for the 24 team and Warner's knowledge should help. Over his past 112 Outlaw starts, Rico does have three wins, but only 19 top fives and 51 top tens. He'll need to minimize those B main appearances, of which there are 33, and improve the average feature finish of about 12th to be a serious contender nightly. A 60+ race schedule with the Outlaws will be a significant jump for Rico, as the most races he's run with the series in recent years was 36 in 2018. So he'll definitely have plenty of opportunities to learn and improve.

Speaking of the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, they made a few changes to their 2022 schedule yesterday. The Gettsburg Clash at Lincoln Speedway has been pushed back one day, from May 10th, to Wednesday, May 11th. Also, a race at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas has been added on Saturday, October 15th, and as of right now, that is the final race before the new four day World Finals in early November. It sounds like that October weekend will ultimately end up being two races, as the series is looking at filling that Friday, October 14th date as well. To see the full 2022 World of Outlaws schedule, hit up worldofoutlaws.com.

The USAC National Midget season is already complete, and Buddy Kofoid was crowned the 2021 series champion, but there is one more race to contest before the year closes out. Tomorrow at the Southern Illinois Center in Du Quoin, the Jason Leffler Memorial is on tap, which is a special non-points event. The indoor show will pay $8000 to the winner, and officials are expecting the car count to be somewhere near 40 for the race. On the entry list are names like Cannon McIntosh, Mitchel Moles, NASCAR drivers Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell, Cory Eliason, Zach Daum, and Jake Neuman. This will be the eighth running of this event, but the first time it will be indoors. The previous seven races have taken place at Wayne County in Illinois. Past winners include Daum, Daryn Pittman, Bryan Clauson, Brady Bacon, Tyler Thomas, Tyler Courtney, and Tanner Thorson. Both Bell and McIntosh have previous wins inside the building in other midget races. Action gets underway tomorrow with hot laps at 3PM Central Time, and opening ceremonies at 5. If you can't get there, you can watch the racing live on Flo.

In some sprint car news, California driver Justyn Cox is returning to his family's 31C machine for next year after two seasons with C&M Motorsports. Longtime sponsor Berco is stepping up and becoming part owner of the team. Cox is a regular in 360 competition out west, racing at tracks like Tulare, Placerville, Stockton, Merced, and Hanford. He finished third in the Sprint Car Challenge Tour standings in 2021 with a win and nine top tens. Also, Kaleb Montgomery and the F&F Racing team will pair up next season to run weekly at Placerville, and to tackle the Sprint Car Challenge Tour. Montgomery was a Sprint Car Challenge Tour winner at Petaluma this season, and also won during the opening night of the Howard Kaeding Classic at Ocean with the Taco Bravo Sprint Cars.

In Pennsylvania, past DIRTRACKR Conversations guest Heath Moyle has left his role as crew chief with the Heffner Racing 27 and driver Devon Borden and is headed over to work with driver Brent Marks and the newly formed Murray-Marks Racing team. That should be a boost to Marks, as Heath brings a ton of knowledge into that team, and it should lighten the load for Marks heading into a busy 2022 season that will see them continue running a pick and choose schedule around the country.

The only thing on the streaming schedule today is FloRacing 24/7 but there are a few things going on over the weekend. I mentioned previously the indoor midget race, and there is also action on Saturday from Millbridge here in North Carolina. That will be live on DIRTVision. There is also indoor kart racing on both Saturday and Sunday live on FloRacing. To see the full daily streaming schedule through the weekend, with links to watch, visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.

A quick housekeeping note before I close out the week. I'm looking for a photographer to work with during the upcoming Chili Bowl in January. Somebody who can provide badass photos daily from the event. If you're interested, or know someone who might be, DM me on Twitter or Instagram, or drop me an email at info@dirtrackr.com.

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!