DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Sammy Swindell back in the Chili Bowl VIROC, Romain Grosjean in a midget? | Daily 1-5-2022
Coming up we are talking Sammy Swindell back in the Chili Bowl VIROC, more Chili Bowl entries, plus an update from the ASCS and the sponsorship situation with the World of Outlaws Late Models. Let's do this!
Today is Wednesday, January 5th, two thousand and twenty two. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
We are now five days from the start of Chili Bowl and news about the event keeps on coming. Yesterday the Invitational Race of Champions invite list was revealed, and back in the mix after an absence in 2021 is Sammy Swindell. The event altered the criteria last year for the special race, and Sammy was left out, which drew the ire of some of the fans and competitors. This year, things have been changed once again and Sammy is back, along with a full list of drivers that includes Blake Hahn, Brad Sweet, Brady Bacon, Bryant Wiedeman, Buddy Kofoid, Cannon McIntosh, Chad Boat, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, Daryn Pittman, Justin Grant, Kyle Larson, Rico Abreu, Spencer Bayston, Tanner Thorson, Tim McCreadie, and Tyler Courtney. This definitely felt like a wrong that needed to be righted, so glad this got done. The VIROC race will run as part of the Monday night prelim program. The race itself should be a nice preview for the week of who is fast. Bell won it from sixth last year, topping Cannon Mac and Larson. I know a lot of times teams bring extra cars to run this race specifically, so as not to put their main car at risk, but still not a bad way to see who is good. Past VIROC results and stats are part of the Chili Bowl section at dirtrackr.com/analytics.
Also yesterday, the entry list was updated and total Chili Bowl pre-entries pushed the new record even further with the number sitting at 392 currently. Among the additions to the list were Jason McDougal who had that epic alphabet run in 2021, past winner Damion Gardner, World of Outlaws regular Wayne Johnson, plus names like Andrew Felker, Clinton Boyles, Noah Gass, and NASCAR driver Carson Hocevar. And it sounds like we aren't done yet with possible entries. One we know for sure that is missing is pavement late model standout Travis Braden, who is attempting his first Chili Bowl driving in a Flea Ruzic prepared car. If you don't know that name, Braden is a past winner of the Snowball Derby and the Winchester 400. He tweeted a while back, I think almost jokingly, that he wanted to run the Chili Bowl, and some folks helped him actually put a deal together to race. Braden's car is being supported by Racing America, which was Speed51, now anchored by Matt Weaver. And in Weaver's Twitter feed from last night, he mentioned the possibility of current IndyCar driver and former F1 racer Romain Grosjean possibly running some midget stuff in the future. Apparently it came up in a conversation Weaver had with IndyCar driver Conor Daly, who is running the Chili Bowl. Apparently both the BC39 and Chili Bowl are on Grosjean's radar for the future. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The crossover that happens in Tulsa between the various motorsports disciplines is a big reason why this event is so special at this point. This is not just another indoor midget event, it's a bucket list, destination motorsports festival that goes on for an entire week. Back to the entry list, with move in this weekend, and action starting Monday, I think it's possible we could break through 400 entries. I doubt we'll end up with that many though, as it's pretty common for the number of the cars in the building to actually be smaller than the pre entry list.
I mentioned back right before Christmas that the series title sponsorship situation with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series was something to keep an eye on, and if you were paying attention yesterday you saw more signs that Morton Buildings is indeed out. The series website still has the old logo, but quietly yesterday the avatars on the Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts were changed to a generic series logo with no sponsorship attached. With just 15 days left until the first racing weekend of the year, it would appear as though the series is headed to Volusia without a sponsor. From there, it's almost another month until DIRTcar Nationals, and then nearly another month after that until things really kick off in the spring, so there is still time to fill that hole if conversations and negotiations are ongoing. Keep in mind though, the series has been unsponsored plenty of times in the past, and this will not stop the racing from continuing well into the future. World Racing Group, the company that owns the World of Outlaws, is probably healthier than it's ever been, and this will end up being a small speedbump going forward.
A quick scheduling note from the ASCS National Tour, a date at Salina Speedway in Kansas, not to be confused with Salina Highbanks in Oklahoma, has been added this year on April 22nd. It will be the series' first trip to the 3/8 mile track since 2019. Sam Hafertepe is the most recent ASCS winner there. You can find the complete ASCS schedule at ascsracing.com.
I know I have quite a few watchers and listeners from down under, and I've had requests to cover more of the racing down there. But I have a problem that I'm wondering if the Aussies and Kiwis can help me with. Short of going to the track, how do you guys keep up with your racing? Only a handful of shows are on the streaming services here in the states, and the track websites are severly lacking in most instances. Are there people on social media I should be following? Are there websites I don't know about? Where can I go to see who's won what races, points standings, etc. It's tough to cover the racing from North Carolina with so few resources. Drop me a comment or message and let me know where I should go. I appreciate any knowledge here.
If you're in the market for other dirt racing audio to check out this week, Winged Nation has Dominic Scelzi, Loudpedal talked Tulsa Shootout and Chili Bowl with Walkapedia, Passing Points has Jeffrey Newell, and there is a new episode of the Dirt Nerds. To see the full list of shows and episodes, hit up dirtrackr.com/podcasts.
There are three shows on today's streaming schedule. DIRTVision has DIRTcar eSports action from Limaland, Speed Sport TV has the first day of the IMCA Winter Nationals at Cocopah, 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 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!