DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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What's next for the Clint Bowyer late model team, Tulsa Shootout underway | Daily 12-29-2021

Coming up we're talking Tulsa Shootout, the Clint Bowyer late model team and more. Let's roll...

Today is Wednesday, December 29th, two thousand and twenty one. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.

Racing at the Tulsa Shootout has started this morning with heat races going all day long. Passing points are the name of the game with drivers trying to accumulate as many as they can to set themselves up for the rest of the weekend. If you start up front, you gotta stay there, and if you start further back, you gotta move forward to try and make your way into a qualifier. Those passing points are going to create some serious desparation, and you're going to see four wides, you're gonna see bad sliders, and just general aggressiveness from the competitors, because they gotta go forward, and they gotta do it now. Mix in some inexperience, some young drivers, and you've got the perfect formula for some wild racing. If you want to see the future of the sport though, this is a great event to dive into. Mixed in are a lot of the drivers you're going to see down the road racing in midgets and sprint cars across the country. And I think that hate and vitriol I talked about earlier in the week comes from the hope that some of these kids and families have with this event. You can get discovered inside the expo during the Tulsa Shootout, and it's lead to some checks being written and some wild moves being made. So you get people upset about an agressive move, some jealousy about money, and this current world we live in where everyone is mad about everything, and then watch the nasty tweets fly. In between though, you're going to see some fun racing and plenty of drama. If you want extra information and updates today, make sure you're following Walkapedia, Open Wheel Updates, and the Tulsa Shootout on Twitter. Also, throw a follow to Clinton Boyles. He's a past Conversations guest, and is in the booth for FloRacing. He's had some good info about track conditions, and since he's a racer, he sees things during the racing that the rest of us don't notice. He's definitely a big addition to that broadcast team. If you want to watch through the weekend, FloRacing has you covered. If you don't have a Flo subscription, click the link below in the description on YouTube, or over at dirtrackr.com. If you do buy through those links, it helps me and dirtrackr out, so I do appreciate that.

In some weekend events news, the Hangover at 411 Motor Speedway in Tennessee has been shifted to just a one day event with wet weather forecasted over the next few days. The entire Hangover program will now run on New Years Eve Friday, with eight divisions of racing expected. The night's main event is a $5000 to win, unsanctioned super late model show. Pierce McCarter is the defending race winner. For more track and event information, hit up 411motorspeedway.net.

Back to yesterday's show topic about late model teams and drivers for 2022. I had a few comments about the future of Clint Bowyer Racing, especially since there have been no updates about the team following the departure of driver Josh Richards. But unfortunately, I don't have any inside or solid information about the future for that organization. There have been rumors about different drivers, maybe a part time schedule, possibly a change in chassis, and even some thoughts that Bowyer would just shut the team down. But nothing really with any substance, and honestly I could see all of those possibilities coming to fruition. I would imagine that 14 car hasn't lacked for resources in recent seasons, but the performance just hasn't been where you'd expect a team like that to be. Now Richards is out and headed back to the Outlaws with Boom Briggs, and the 14 is without a driver. I do hope they figure out a way to continue on though, as a name like Bowyer's being involved in dirt late model racing is a positive. And I think there are plenty of drivers out there who could capitalize on an opportunity like that. One name I've seen mentioned a few times around this ride is Nick Hoffman, but I don't know if that's actually a possibility, or if it's just wishful thinking. Hoffman was really solid in limited starts with Bloomquist this year, and in some of those later starts, had backing from NOS Energy Drink. I don't know about you, but he's definitely a driver I'd like to see on the national late model scene. He's smart and fast, and there really isn't much left for him to accomplish in a modified. As we know more, we'll keep you posted, but in the meantime, drop me a comment and let me know who you'd like to see take over that 14 ride.

Also from yesterday, I loved all the comments complaining about me talking about iRacing on the show. If you've been around a while, you know I've been covering the iRacing pro series for the dirt divisions since I basically started this show in 2020. It's something that interests me, and I know interests some of you out there, so I'm going to keep talking about it. Like anything else, if you go in with an open mind, I think there is plenty of value there if you're a race fan. The shows can be watched free on DIRTVision and often on YouTube. The shows move along really quickly, and you can basically see an entire program in about an hour. If you watch the Outlaws on DIRTVision, you'll recognize Chase Raudman's voice on the play by play. The racing is really entertaining and fast paced. And there is plenty of drama, like we saw on Monday night between contenders like Alex Bergeron and Hayden Cardwell. I know for a lot of you, this is falling on deaf ears, but give it a shot. You might actually like it! If not, oh well. But I am going to keep talking about it.

If you're looking for other podcast episodes this week, Winged Nation has Justin Clark, Passing Points has Joe B. Miller, and there is a new episode of the Dirt Reporters. To see the full list of shows and episodes, check out dirtrackr.com/podcasts.

There are three shows on the streaming schedule today. FloRacing has day one of the Tulsa Shootout, which by the time you watch or listen to this episode will already be live. They also have Flo 24/7. DIRTVision has weekly DIRTcar eSports action from Cedar Lake Speedway. 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 Wednesday. 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!