DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Dirt Late Model Speedweeks wrap, Emerson Axsom strong in USAC opening weekend | Daily 2-21-2022

Coming up on this Monday we are talking the conclusion of late model speedweeks, the opening USAC sprint car weekend, plus other results. Let's go!

Today is Monday, February 21st, two thousand and twenty two. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.

Back from a busy long weekend in Daytona, let's get into the dirt racing from the past few days. First up, late model speedweeks down south are complete with DIRTcar Nationals now done for 2022. We had 18 race nights between Lucas and the Outlaws, with nine different race winners. Sheppard led the way with four victories, but all of them interestingly enough came with Lucas, and not the Outlaws, where he will race full time this season. Brandon Overton won three times, but it feels like he could have or should have won maybe six or eight of these races. He admitted to his team being caught out by the rule changes and their setups, and they suffered several mechanical failures. They ended up with nine finishes outside the top ten, even though they led a bunch of laps and got those wins. I've caught hell before for saying that it's sometimes feast or famine for Big Sexy, but that played out in a big way through these opening races. It obviously doesn't matter much for a team not chasing a championship, but if these issues and mechanical gremlins persist, we could see an up and down year for the Wells 76. Dale McDowell was the only driver to close out with multiple Outlaw wins, but we didn't see a repeat winner during the DIRTcar Nationals portion at Volusia. McDowell won Thursday after getting by early leader Kyle Hammer. Dennis Erb led all but one lap on Friday night, topping Chase Junghans and Darrell Lanigan. Sheppard was in the mix for much of the race, but faded to fourth at the end. And on Saturday in the finale, the track took rubber and Chris Madden was in the right place to take advantage. He led the final 28 laps en route to the win. Devin Moran ended up the big gator champion for the week, even though he didn't win a race, and his top ten streak was busted. Between Golden Isles on January 27th and Volusia on February 18th, Moran picked up 16 straight top tens, including three wins and 13 top fives. The speed of that nine car has to be one of the biggest stories of this opening month of racing. They are losing crew chief Wylie Moran from that group, so we'll see if they can maintain going forward, but Moran will be one to deal with this season if this continues. No national tour or championship chasing for Moran, just a pick and choose schedule. So to reset, with some time off now for both series, Brandon Sheppard leads Devin Moran and Tim McCreadie in the Lucas standings, and Chris Madden is out front of Dale McDowell and Dennis Erb in the Outlaw standings. We've obviously got a bunch of guys up in the points that won't run full time, but when it shakes out I think we are again looking at Madden vs. Sheppard on the Outlaw side, at least to start, and McCreadie vs. Erb, RTJ, and probably O'Neal on the Lucas side. We'll have to see if anyone else can get the consistency together to be in the mix for either title. Both series are back to action on March 11th.

Along with the late models at DIRTcar Nationals, we got to see some great racing with the Super DIRTcar Series big block modifieds. And just like the late models, no repeat winners through the week. On Thursday we had a tight battle between Stewart Friesen and Mat Williamson, with Max McLaughin even getting involved late. Williamson used lap traffic to his advantage though, and got away for the victory. On Friday night, Demetrios Drellos was really strong in the early going, but had to deal with McLaughlin through half way, with both leading laps. Max used a late restart to slide by the 111 and he drove away to his second career Volusia win. And on Saturday, it was McLaughlin's HBR teammate Jimmy Phelps who capped off the week with the win on a rubber down race track. There were a ton of flat tires in the closing laps, but Phelps survived for the win and he grabbed the big gator trophy for the week. If the racing we saw at Volusia keeps going when the series returns to action later in March, we could be in for one hell of a season with the big blocks. It appears as though a lot of guys are fast, and it won't just be Sheppard or Williamson running away with this thing. I also really enjoyed Brett Hearn jumping in the booth with Tim Baltz for the calls on DIRTVision. Hearn had great insight and was a solid addition to Timmy on the call. Hopefully that isn't the last time we'll hear Hearn on a race broadcast.

With the USAC Sprint Car Series, I figured it wouldn't be long before we saw Emerson Axsom rise up and grab his first career victory this season, I'm just not sure I thought it would be so quickly and so dominantly. Back on Thursday night, he was right to the lead at the start, and capitalized on a track that took rubber early, surviving to lead all 30 laps for his first win ever in the season opener. And if some folks thought it may have been a fluke, Axsom backed it up on Friday and Saturday. It was a spot on the podium Friday behind winner Justin Grant and second place finisher Buddy Kofoid. And Saturday night it was a methodical performance through the 35 lapper, keeping leader Chase Stockon close, and then seizing the lead coming to ten laps to go and driving off to his second career win. Two victories through the first three nights was a big way to show the series he intends to compete for the championship this season, let alone the rookie of the year. That Clauson Marshall team is incredibly experienced, and has won a ton of races in the past with Tyler Courtney, and Axsom just keeps getting better behind the wheel. It's going to be a very strong pairing all year. Behind Axsom, it was also a strong start for Justin Grant. He swept the midget weekend the week before, and earned three top six results, including that Friday night win. He leaves Florida trailing Axsom in the standings. Other drivers to finish top ten all three nights include Buddy Kofoid, Chase Stockon, Carson Short, and Logan Seavey. There are also some big names who didn't get off to a good start, including defending champion Brady Bacon. He had a rough Thursday that included two spins and a 16th place finish. He was also 15th Friday, before bouncing back to a top five on Saturday night. He's 10th in the standings. It also wasn't a great weekend for Jake Swanson and Robert Ballou, who consequently tangled on Saturday night, with Swanson faking a steering wheel throw at the Mad Man after he got right reared. CJ Leary is also way down the order, as his best finish of the weekend was a 12th on Saturday night. We won't see the sprint cars again for five or six weeks now, which could be good news for those guys that struggled. Plenty of time to get things turned around before Lawrenceburg in April. If we are going full overreaction Monday though, I'm buying a bunch of Emerson Axsom stock today.

In the win picks department, not a strong weekend for either me or the formula. I did get one right, picking Grant for Friday. I'm a scintillating 3 for 25 on the year, while the formula is 6 for 25. We'll try and improve those numbers this weekend with the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars in action.

At East Bay through the weekend in 360 sprint car competition, Mark Smith was your Thursday night winner, Aaron Reutzel bagged the victory on Friday, and it was Sam Hafertepe taking the $10,000 finale on Saturday night.

In other weekend late model action, Cory Hedgecock was a $5000 winner at 411, Joseph Joiner bagged $3 grand at Southern Raceway in crate competition, and Christian Hanger won Sunday at Duck River.

There are two items on the streaming schedule today, Speed Sport has IMCA action from Devil's Bowl, 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, 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!