DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Outlaw schedule updates, STSS and SDS cooperation, Daison Pursley update | Daily 12-21-2021
Coming up we've got schedule news for the Outlaws and northeast, a Daison Pursley update, and some driver news. Let's go.
Today is Tuesday, December 21st, two thousand and twenty one. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
I just got done on the show yesterday saying I didn't think there would be much news coming out this week, and then in the past 24 hours there have been a bunch of little things drop, so we'll run you through all of that today and get you up to speed.
First up, the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series continues to fill those last few remaining TBAs on the 2022 schedule. Last week it was Lakeside being dropped in on October 15th, and now we've got a two race weekend with I-80 Speedway in Nebraska being added on that Friday, October 14th. So now I-80 Friday, Lakeside Saturday. That takes things up to 88 confirmed nights, but there are still five remaining TBAs on the schedule, including one in July and four in October. That one in July is Friday, July, 29th with Williams Grove a few days before, and Weedsport the day after. That's definitely going to be a northeast track, either Pennsylvania or New York. Those two weekends in October though are wide open. The races that have happened in past seasons during those late weekends are sort of already scheduled, so we'll have to wait and see what pops up there. If you want to see the full slate of Outlaw shows for next season, visit worldofoutlaws.com.
In other schedule news from World Racing Group, some alterations have been made to the Super DIRTcar Series schedule, and Dirt Track Digest's Mike Mallett praised the moves, highlighting the cooperation happening right now in the northeast. First, the Super DIRTcar Series has added an event at Orange County Fair Speedway on July 28th, and they have removed the sanctioning from the Gerald Haers Memorial at Land of Legends on September 17th. Series director Dean Reynolds said they will still support the September 17th race and it is still DIRTcar sanctioned, but making it a non-points paying race allows competitors to go race the Fonda 200 with the Short Track Super Series if they choose. Short Track Super Series owner Brett Deyo made a similar move when he made the Short Strack SuperNationals at Afton a non-points event so northeast drivers can be at Oswego for the full Super DIRT Week treatment if they want. There is a ton of money available next year for modified racers in the northeast, and these moves are a win-win for all involved. Things have been pretty ugly in the past between the series and some of the tracks, so seeing even a little bit of cooperation is a big step in the right direction. The ugliness and pettiness between dirt racing series is really a shame in some of these cases. I know they are competing often times for the same fans and drivers, but in a situation where both are going to continue to exist regardless, like the two northeast series and the Lucas late models and Outlaw late models, I don't understand why middle ground can't be found. In these two specific cases, I think there is even something to be gained if they quit pretending like the other doesn't exist. Create a rivalry between the two. Like Outlaws vs. Posse. Talk some smack on social media, get the fans involved, make t-shirts. For an industry that is so dependent on promotion on marketing, they are missing out on big opportunities here. Anyways, to see the full Super DIRTcar Series slate of races, check out superdirtcarseries.com.
We are still waiting on the full schedules for the new Xtreme Outlaw non-wing sprint car and midget series, but leaks are starting to happen. Hat tip to YouTube commenter David for this one. Spoon River Speedway has released their 2022 schedule, and right there on Saturday, September 10th is the Xtreme Outlaw Sprint Cars. There is no USAC sprint car race on that date, but the national midgets are at Sweet Springs that weekend. So that takes us to three confirmed tracks, Volusia, Pevely, and now Spoon River. It shouldn't be too much longer until we have a full schedule, but we'll keep you posted if more dates leak out like this.
After suffering a spinal cord injury late in the season in his midget at Arizona Speedway in USAC competition, Daison Pursley continues to rehab in Atlanta, but we got to see a very encouraging sign yesterday. His mom posted photos on social media of Daison sitting in a new WR1 sim rig from Chad Wheeler getting in a little time on iRacing. He's wearing a neck brace and an arm brace, but he looks great just a few weeks after the crash. Hopefully he continues to improve and this is just the start of him getting back to racing.
Up in Pennsylvania we got some more clarity on available sprint car rides for next season, and the news isn't all good. After recently announcing a split with driver Matt Campbell, Jeremy Elliott reported that Premier Racing is cutting back their program for 2022. The famous 21 machine, that campaigned for so long with driver Brian Montieth, will run just three to seven races next season. Owner Jerry Parrish has become involved in Lincoln Speedway ownership and management in recent years and he told Jeremy he just can't dedicate as much time to the team as is necessary to keep it running full time. When the 21 daoes race, it will be California driver Dominic Scelzi behind the wheel. With his own racing and business commitments in California, a short schedule is perfect for Scelzi, who was the 2021 NARC/King of the West Series champion, and one of the most successful sprint car racers on the west coast this year. To see quotes from all and more on the story, hit up sprintcarunlimited.com.
The ASCS National Tour has added another full timer for 2022, with the addition of Garet Williamson. He was a rookie and a full timer in 2020 with the series, but scaled back to part time in 2021 as he ventured into some 410 racing. He made six appearances with the Outlaws, with two feature starts, along with seven appearances with the All Stars, including during Ohio Sprint Speedweek. With his 24 machine, the team will run the full ASCS National Tour, and mix in some regional racing and some more 410 starts. In the release from Shawn Miller, Williamson said they'd like to run some at Knoxville when they can as well.
And in some non-wing news, Thomas Meseraull will start the USAC sprint car season behind the wheel of Chris Dyson's number 20 at Bubba Raceway Park in February. This pairing has been successful in the past, and resulted in a national win at Weedsport in 2018. Meseraull and crew chief Sean Michael also previously won together in a Heffner car at Lincoln. TMez has made 35 national sprint car appearances in the past two seasons, with five top fives and 11 top tens. His best finish in 2021 was a second at Huset's Speedway in September. TMez tweeted back on December 12th that he would be at Volusia for the Xtreme Outlaw Sprint Car opener, so I wonder if that will be in this car as well, or something else. We'll have to wait and see.
The only thing on the streaming schedule today 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 Tuesday. 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!