DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Rico Abreu shows off new paint; busy dirt racing weekend ahead in Central PA, California, South | Daily 2-25-2022
Coming up on this Friday we've got news from Rico Abreu and FloRacing, and then we'll look ahead to the weekend's dirt racing, including sprint car openers in California and Central PA. Let's go!
Today is Friday, February 25th, two thousand and twenty two. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
We've got a bunch of stuff to get into today, including several news items and what to watch this weekend.
First up, Rico Abreu showed off his new Rowdy Energy paint scheme yesterday as he gets ready to embark on a sizeable sprint car schedule which includes a ton of World of Outlaws racing. Rico's car will again be emblazoned with Rowdy, which is owned by NASCAR driver Kyle Busch. The number 24 will make it's season debut coming up at Cotton Bowl Speedway in Texas with the Outlaws on March 4th and 5th. As we've talked about before, Rico has hired Ricky Warner to lead his team this season, which could be a serious boost to his performance. Tony Stewart Racing has put Tony's 14 team on the shelf for now, leaving Warner available to pursue other opportunities. This isn't a surprising move, especially since Rico and Tony are pretty close. We found out about this move for Warner back at PRI, but I believe yesterday's release was the first time it's been confirmed officially. Rico has said in the past that running a series full time didn't really interest him, but the move to get Warner and the sizeable Outlaw slate might be leading into a full Outlaw run in the seasons to come. He's definitely a fan favorite across the country, and I think it would be really fun to add him to the mix. I'm definitely going to be keeping an eye on Rico's stats with Warner going forward to see just how much that team can improve. In 27 Outlaw starts last year, Rico had just 11 top tens, and an average feature finish of about 12th. He won his prelim night at Knoxville in 2021, but hasn't had an official Outlaw victory since 2018. I wouldn't be shocked to see that stat change this year.
In some streaming news this week, FloRacing picked up a couple of renewals for the 2022 season. Out west, both Placerville Speedway and the Sprint Car Challenge Tour will continue to be shown live on the service. All 16 tour races and most of Placerville's weekly shows will be available. And the ASCS announced yesterday the entire national tour schedule will be shown on RaceonTexas.com with co-streams on Flo. That adds 57 sprint car races to the Flo calendar for this year. As we dig more into the ASCS this season with it being added to the analytics section of dirtrackr.com, it will be nice to have more of these races available to watch as a Flo subscriber. New series owner Terry Mattox continues to make moves, and I think the future is very bright for the ASCS. Lost in all of this though, is what is up with RacinBoys and their streaming service. As of right now, there is nothing on their site for 2022, and in recent years they've lost a bunch of their big deals, including the Chili Bowl and now the ASCS. Some of their smaller deals, like the Oil Capital Racing Series, are gone as well, with the OCRS on RacinDirt for this year. As the bigger services fight for content, I think you'll see this happen with some of the smaller players in the future. There isn't much left out there that isn't being streamed somewhere, so when the main streamers want to expand, they'll just go raid the more niche providers. It's going to be tough to compete if Flo or DIRTVision come calling. If you want to get a Flo subscription and support DIRTRACKR at the same time, clink the link below to purchase.
Looking to tonight and the weekend, even with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series cancelled, there is still plenty of dirt racing to check out.
If you're a dirt late model fan, the Xtreme DIRTcar Series returns to racing at Lavonia Speedway tonight and tomorrow. They will be on track for two 40-lap, $5000 to win features through the weekend. With three series races complete, Ross Bailes leads Carson Ferguson and Ben Watkins in the race for the championship. Because of several schedule changes and weather, we haven't seen the Xtreme series in action since back in December. Ross Bailes won the opener at Lancaster, Chris Madden took the Blue Gray 100 at Cherokee, and Cory Hedgecock is the most recent winner, at I-75 in December. Following the two races this weekend, the Xtreme late models have three nights left, one at Lake View and two at Cherokee, all of those in March. Besides the three points contenders, we should also see regional favorite Michael Brown, and Cody Overton join the series. If you can't get to Lavonia, both nights will be available on DIRTVision with your fast pass.
In South Carolina, at Cherokee, the Short Track Super Series kicks off their Elite series of races with the first ever Rebel 50. Normally northeast based, the Short Track Super Series is venturing out of their usual footprint, and big cash is on the line. Tonight the competitors will take part in $1000 to win qualifying races which will help set the lineups for Saturday's 50 lapper that pays $25,000 to the winner. 61 cars signed in last night for a practice session, with Billy Pauch Jr. going fast time on the night. The field also includes names like Mike Maresca, Matt Sheppard, Peter Britten, Jack Lehner, Mat Williamson, Mike Mahaney, Erick Rudolph, Anthony Perrego, Mike Gular, Stewart Friesen, Ryan Godown, and Larry Wight. Basically the best of the best in big block modifieds. Between the Short Track Super Series and Super DIRTcar Series we saw some great racing down in Florida, so if you're a FloRacing subscriber, check these shows out this weekend. They usually put on some good shows.
If you're a sprint car fan, you've got a few options this weekend including out in California and in Central Pennsylvania. In PA, Lincoln Speedway opens Saturday afternoon with their Icebreaker, and if you're going, make sure you dress really warm. The forecast is for partly cloudy skies, but temperatures in the high 30s and low 40s. Definitely going to be chilly out there. Tim Wagaman topped Kyle Moody last season in this race, and Freddie Rahmer is looking for his third straight track championship. Freddie has moved over to partner with Rich Eichelberger this season, but should still be very fast. Brandon Rahmer is also in a new ride, and don't sleep on Alan Krimes. Danny Dietrich has also won this event twice in the past and will be in attendance. If you'd rather watch from the warmth of your couch, this one will be live on Flo.
Out in California at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, the 410 sprint car season gets underway with the $4000 to win Dave Helm Memorial. The event includes 410 sprint cars, 360 sprint cars, sport compacts and IMCA stock cars. Most of Cali's big sprint car talent should be in attendance, with several others on the way to fill out the field. That will include Dominic Scelzi, Justin Sanders, Shane Golobic, Joel Myers Jr., and others. Mitchell Faccinto will make his debut with Tarlton Motorsports and new crew chief Drew Warner. The team will also field a 360 for Gauge Garcia, and with the Outlaws cancelled, Carson Macedo is headed west to run a third Tarlton entry on Saturday night. We will also get to see the debut of Kerry Madsen in the Roth Motorsports 83JR with crew chief Paul Baines. Remember, this is another TRD development team as Toyota continues to work on their 410 sprint car engine. We already saw Aaron Reutzel be fast in Florida with the TRD powerplant. Austin McCarl will also be there with the Country Builders 88, and he's had good runs at Hanford in the past. Just like Lincoln, if you want to watch live, FloRacing has the stream.
And speaking of the streaming platforms...
There are seven shows on the streaming schedule for today with more to come this weekend. DIRTVision has the Xtreme DIRTcar Series from Lavonia, FloRacing has action from Western Springs and the Short Track Super Series at Cherokee, plus Flo 24/7. And Speed Sport has three shows, the USCS at Southern Raceway, another night from Fayetteville, and IMCA action from Cocopah. 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 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!