DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Noah Gass full time with the Outlaws, Hickle tackling Knoxville, Chili Bowl pool breakdown | Daily 1-7-2022
Coming up we are talking sprint car news from Noah Gass and JJ Hickle, then we dive headlong into the Chili Bowl pool. Let's go.
Today is Friday, January 7th, two thousand and twenty two. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
We are going to go full ham on the Chili Bowl Pool in a bit, but first I wanted to cover off on a few news items from yesterday.
First, in a move I did not see coming, it was announced that Oklahoma teenager Noah Gass is joining the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series full time in 2022. He'll chase the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year against Kasey Kahne and Spencer Bayston, which will be a very difficult task. Not many people understand better what it's like out full time with the Outlaws than does Kasey Kahne, and Spencer Bayston is coming off a very good season and will have all the resources he needs at CJB. This one surprises me a bit, because after just a short few races between the top two 410 series in 2021, Gass is jumping in the deep end with the Outlaws. I certainly applaud him for taking the risk, as he's about to be very much up against it. Gass is only 18 years old, and made scattered starts with the Outlaws and All Stars last year. He had 10 appearances between May and July with the All Stars, with a best finish of 14th at Humboldt Speedway in Kansas. In four of thoses races though, he failed to make the night's feature. In Outlaw competition, Gass appeared 27 times between March and October, with a best finish of 12th at River Cities in August. In those 27 races, he made features in 13 of them, so just a tick less than 50% of the time. Later in the year though, his average finishes were better and things did appear to be going in the right direction. He did also grab two late season wins with the IRA Sprint Car Series, both at the Plymouth Dirt Track; one on September 4th and the other three weeks later to close out the IRA season. I think especially to start the season, it will be important for him to just make laps and not tear up equipment. Remember that this is a marathon, and that clean laps early will pay dividends later. Let that team find it's footing and settle into the grind and they will be fine. The addition of Gass brings the total number of World of Outlaws teams to 14 right now. It's Gass, Kahne, Sweet, Schatz, Gravel, Macedo, Schuchart, Sheldon, Kinser, Sides, Johnson, McFadden, Zearfoss, and Bayston. Jacob Allen continues to be a question mark. The Outlaws kick off 2022 in about a month at Volusia.
In other sprint car news from yesterday, JJ Hickle is teaming up with Brandon Ikenberry and his Deuce-5 Motorsports team to run a sizeable midwest schedule and hopefully compete for the 410 championship at Knoxville. Hickle is from Washington, and picked up the ASCS top rookie honors in 2021, ending up second in the standings on the strength of five wins, 25 top fives, and 32 top tens in 38 main event appearances. Hickle has definitely been one to keep an eye on in recent years, and this move feels like a nice progression into more 410 competition. Ikenberry will have good stuff for Hickle to race, and the cars will be tuned up. This team could definitely surprise some people this season, even as Hickle takes on tracks he's never seen.
Now, with the news out of the way, let's dive into the Chili Bowl pool.
Chili Bowl Pickem Contest
There are six shows on the streaming schedule today. FloRacing has the Ice Bowl from the Talladega Short Track, indoor karts and quarter midgets, racing from Western Springs, and Flo 24/7. Speed Sport TV also has the Ice Bowl and the IMCA Winter Nationals from Cocopah. To see the full daily streaming schedule through the weekend, visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
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!