DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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McDowell takes Outlaw opener following cancer fight, Sunshine back with the All Stars full time | Daily 1-24-2022
On the show today we'll get into the Outlaw weekend at Volusia, talk Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic, plus news from Tyler Courtney and Jacob Allen. Let's go!
Today is Monday, January 24th, two thousand and twenty two. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
It just wasn't meant to be at Volusia over the weekend for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. The Thursday features got postponed to Friday afternoon, the Friday night racing got pushed to Saturday because of rain, and then on Saturday the rest of the weekend was sacked because the wet weather wouldn't go away. So in the end, we got one race completed, with plans to complete the Friday racing coming up in a few weeks at DIRTcar Nationals. The racing we did get to see certainly had folks talking, as Volusia got rough both days and caused quite a bit of carnage. According to World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series race director Mike Hess on Twitter, the track brought in 300 loads of clay in December to add to the surface, and what was brought in was pretty wet and still hasn't fully dried out. He went on to say that the added clay was needed because the track was thin in places, and the 100 loads they brought in last year just wasn't enough. Hopefully with a few weeks still to go before DCN, they are able to keep working on the surface and get things ironed out before the sprint cars and modifieds get there.
As for the one feature we did get to see, what a day it was for Dale McDowell on Friday. In 2021 he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and unsure if he'd ever race again. But after surgery and months of recovery, McDowell was back in the car for the first time this weekend. And he showed no signs of slowing down. He was third quick in his qualifying group, won the first heat race, and picked up the pole for the feature in the redraw. While chaos ensued behind him, McDowell led all 30 laps en route to the $10,000 win. It was his 13th career series win, and first since 2016. Dennis Erb Jr., Kyle Larson, Chris Madden, and Hudson O'Neal completed the top five. It was a tough day for several drivers, including Ryan Gustin, Josh Richards, Devin Moran and others who were involved in multiple incidents through the race. As series regulars, Gustin and Richards will be looking to rebound when the Outlaws come back to Volusia in February.
In my year long quest to pick winners and make a fool of myself, both me and the dirtrackr.com analytics prediction formula are 0-1. The formula had Sheppard, I had Moran for that opening feature. Moran had a good run going, but ended up in the wall. McDowell made everyone look a little foolish on Friday afternoon. We'll try again this week to get some picks right, as a lot of these late model competitors are off to Golden Isles Speedway in Georgia for the Lucas opener. That racing starts on Thursday, and we'll have more on that later in the week.
Down under this weekend, the Grand Annual Sprint Car Classic at Premier Speedway wrapped up. Lachlan McHugh won the opening night back on Friday, and the Saturday program was the second of two prelim nights. Things were lining up well for James McFadden, who went quick time, won both his heat races, and sat on the pole of the feature. He led most of the race, but caught an infield tire with ten to go, and that let Grant Anderson slip by for the lead. In the closing circuits, the leaders were in pretty heavy lap traffic, but Anderson was able to keep McFadden and Marcus Dumesny at bay to take the $10,000 win. Dumesny ended up second, JMac was third, Grant Stansfield fourth, and Ryan Jones completed the top five.
On Sunday for the big show, there was $30,000 on the line in the 40 lapper. McHugh and McFadden led the field to green from the front row. Carson Macedo had to come through a B-Main to make the feature, and he started 23rd. Once green, McHugh led the first couple, but then McFadden took over. The race went caution free, so lap traffic was a factor all race long. With 15 to go, McHugh was able to work back by McFadden for the lead, and in the final laps, JMac just couldn't mount a charge. McHugh held him off and grabbed one of the biggest wins of his career so far. McFadden finished second, Corey McCullagh was third, Grant Anderson fourth, and Jamie Veal completed the top five. Ian Madsen was sixth, Macedo hard charged from 23rd to eighth, Robbie Farr was 10th, and Marcus Dumesny finished 11th. In the 49 runnings of the Classic, McHugh is just the 27th driver to win it. If McHugh's name sounds familiar to you, it should. He came over to the States last summer and ran a bunch of races, including starts with the Outlaws and All Stars. He grabbed Outlaw top tens at Lawrenceburg and Eldora, and All Star top tens at Fremont, Sharon, and Portsmouth. He was a FAST Series winner at Waynesfield in July. He's another Aussie driver in the line who could make a serious impact both in his home country, and in the States if he so chooses. There is no reason to think he couldn't follow names like the Madsens, JMac, and so many others who have had success over here. If you want more from the Classic weekend, check out Toby Bellbowen's Sprint Car Hub YouTube channel. He's got a bunch of content from the weekend. Toby is a former racer himself and a past DIRTRACKR Conversations guest. I'll link his channel in the description below.
Out in Las Vegas for the Las Vegas Dirt Nationals, Garet Williamson and Garen Linder picked up the Bandits Outlaw Sprint Series victories on Friday and Saturday, and the weekend modified winners included Kollin Hibdon and Brian Ruhlman. XR has upcoming February events at Texas and Las Vegas, before they return to Bristol later in March.
Over the weekend, the national sprint car fields continued to become more clear with news from Tyler Courtney and more tweets from Jacob Allen. First, Clauson Marshall Racing announced that they are returning full time to the All Star Circuit of Champions with driver Tyler Courtney to defend their 2021 championship. I think there was some thought out there that maybe after the title run, they'd make the jump to the Outlaws, but it's probably the right move to come back to the All Stars for another year. Talking to Matt Weaver at Racing America, it sounds like Sunshine and the team almost weren't quite expecting to have the success they did right out of the box, but they know they have more work to do as a team before they decide to make the leap with the Outlaws. The speed is certainly there, but to compete on the road for 80+ nights, your program and logistics better be right. Another year with the All Stars will allow that CMR group to keep working in that direction. Sunshine appeared 18 times with the Outlaws in 2021, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a similar slate of races on that side this season as well. Hit the big shows like the Kings Royal and Knoxville Nationals, and sprinkle in Outlaw starts in between their All Star commitments. Remember in all of this, that even though they won the championship, that last month of the All Star season in 2021 was no cake walk for the CMR 7 bunch. Over their final nine races, they had one top five and two top tens, and seven finishes of 12th or worse, including a 20th and a 25th at Port Royal, and a 22nd at Eldora. They'll need to turn the tide and get off to a good start this season as you know everyone will be gunning for them. After the year they had in 2021, they won't surprise anyone this season. The target will squarely be on their back, with names like Cory Eliason, Zeb Wise, Hunter Schuerenberg, and a whole host of others chasing. The All Star season opens in a few weeks at Senoia in Georgia.
As for Jacob Allen and the Outlaws, it would appear as though he's planning on being back full time. Two recent tweets seem to indicate a return to the series, even though offseason rumors swirled about his future and potentially not being on the road. It will be Allen's ninth full time season, and he's going to run that cool Knoxville throwback scheme all season on his 1A machine. Back in 2020, things seemed to be coming around for Allen and his Shark team. They had a solid average finish, and picked up their first ever Outlaw win at Dodge City. But things tailed off in 2021, with Allen's average finish slipping nearly a full position, no wins, fewer top fives, and a dramatically worse average feature start. We'll see if he can get things going in the right direction again this year, but it won't be easy with a stacked field of full timers headed for Volusia. If Allen is indeed in, that pushes the field back to 14 drivers with the loss of Wayne Johnson. So right now it's Sweet, Schatz, Gravel, Macedo, Schuchart, Haudenschild, Kinser, Sides, McFadden, Zearfoss, Bayston, Kahne, Gass, and Allen.
And speaking of Shark Racing, Allen's teammate Logan Schuchart showed off a new paint scheme over the weekend for his 1S at the Motorsports trade show in Philadelphia. It looks like they've added some new sponsorship on that car, and it's definitely a bit of a change for the 1S. The Outlaw season kicks off February 10th at Volusia for DIRTcar Nationals.
There are two items on the streaming schedule today. DIRTVision has the iRacing World of Outlaws World Championship from Weedsport Speedway, 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 Monday. 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!