DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

Dirt racing news, results, discussion, analytics. Sprint cars, late models, modifieds, you name it. From national series, to top local shows. Brought to you five days a week. Email the show at info@dirtrackr.com.

Kyle Larson, Tyler Courtney racing with the Outlaws out west; Mitchell Moles gets full USAC ride | Daily 3-10-2022

Coming up we've got details on upcoming Outlaw races for Kyle Larson and Tyler Courtney, where to see Tim McCreadie and Jimmy Owens soon, plus news from Gateway, Mitchel Moles and more. Let's go!

Today is Thursday, March 10th, two thousand and twenty two. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.

The World of Outlaws Sprint Cars are headed west in the spring for the first time since 2019. They take on the Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calfornia tomorrow and Saturday. We'll go full ham on the Outlaw weekend on tomorrow's show, but I did want to update you today on a few drivers we will see in action this weekend. First, I'm actually a little surprised by this one, but it sounds like we could see Kyle Larson run at Tulare on at least one of the nights, if not both. The NASCAR Cup Series is at Phoenix this weekend, and there is no on track activity on Friday, so Larson could easily run the first night. Things are a little tougher on Saturday, with practice and qualifying set for the afternoon at Phoenix. But with modern jet travel, there is a chance that Larson could get out of Phoenix and be to Tulare on time for Saturday's program. The airport that most NASCAR teams use for Phoenix is only a few minutes from the race track. According to a release from the Outlaws, Larson hasn't raced at Thunderbowl since he won the Trophy Cup there in 2013. And joining Larson has a sort-of-teammate will be Sunshine, Tyler Courtney. He's heading west to run four Outlaw races in the Works Limited 57, which is the Kevin Kozlowski owned car that looks almost identical to the Paul Silva 57 that Kyle Larson races. The reigning All Star champion and a Kings Royal winner in 2021 did get some Tulare experience at the Trophy Cup in 2021, driving for Roth Motorsports. We'll run you through more of the possible entrants for this weekend on tomorrow's show, but it sounds like we are going to be in for one hell of a field.

If you're a fan of either Tim McCreadie or Jimmy Owens, we got some clarity on their upcoming schedules yesterday. On top of the Lucas calendar, McCreadie will be in action for all four super late model nights for the Bristol Dirt Nationals, March 25th and 26, and April 1st and 2nd. Those races are all $50 grand to win, with an additional $300,000 point fund available. Owens will also join Lucas in the upcoming races at Atomic and Brownstown, and then head to Bristol for those XR races. Lucas is off those two weekends up against Bristol, but the Outlaws are racing, with Cherokee happening the first weekend, and the Illini 100 at Farmer City taking place the second. So don't expect to see any Outlaw regulars during those Bristol weekends. I'm guessing you'll have the southern drivers somewhat split between Cherokee and Bristol the first weekend, while the Illini will probably have the usual suspects. I thought we might not see Bobby Pierce at the Illini with Bristol happening, but Farmer City is on his schedule. Pierce was a top five finisher in the Bristol finale last season.

In other late model event news, the Gateway Dirt Nationals tweeted out their 2022 dates yesterday, with the indoor event set to take place December 1st through the 3rd this year. Tyler Carpenter bagged the super late model win in 2021, with Tyler Peterson winning the modified portion, and Jonathan Beason taking the midget finale. No other details were provided beyond the dates, but we do know that the midget part of the event is in question going forward. The late models will be joined again by the modifieds, but after the car count issues in 2021, it would take some pretty serious convincing to get Cody Sommer to bring the midgets back I think. This is definitely something to keep an eye on later this year as more details about Gateway emerge.

The USAC Midgets are headed to the Southern Illinois Center this weekend for the Shamrock Classic, which we'll talk more about on the show tomorrow, but in the meantime, the series has added another full time competitor. We already knew that Mitchel Moles would run a Chad Boat entry at some events this season, but now that schedule has expanded to include all the races. In recent years when we've seen the young California driver behind the wheel of a midget, it's been with Matt Wood Racing, but now he gets the chance to chase the USAC title the Chad Boat squad that won the championship in 2020, and finished second in 2021. It's a big time opportunity for a driver like Moles who's only really gotten scattered opportunities on the national stage. He's been impressive at the Chili Bowl in the past, has a golden driller from the Tulsa Shootout, and has 13 national midget starts back through 2020. Over that span he's had two top fives, six top tens, and an average feature finish of 10.3. Late in 2021, he grabbed a top ten at Merced, and was third for Turkey Night at Ventura. He kicked off this season with a 10th and a 5th at Bubba Raceway Park. Moles also made quite a few King of the West starts last season, bagging a 410 sprint car win at Keller Auto Speedway in October. What's wild though, is even at 22, Moles will be the veteran of the CB Industries squad, with teenagers Dominic Gorden, Jace Park, and Jade Avedisian as his teammates there. I'm bullish on Moles in this ride, as I think he's a driver that could really blossom with the seat time in a top car. I don't think he'll be a serious threat for the championship, but I could definitely see him running well and maybe winning some races. We'll talk more about the upcoming USAC midget races on tomorrow's show.

Looking to the weekend's racing, we've already had a bunch of weather related cancellations and postponements. We've talked already this week about Lucas and the Outlaw late models. The Carolina Clash late model series was set to open at Lancaster on Saturday, but that event has been postponed until next week. Here in North Carolina, the Carolina Sprint Tour show at Fayetteville Motor Speedway has also been lost to the rain. In Alabama, Winter Heat for the USCS Sprint Cars was supposed to continue at Deep South Speedway, but those two nights have been sacked because of wet weather and cold temperatures. And in Delaware, the second round of the Short Track Super Series Elite Series has been pushed back to October because of weather. The Friday night show will still run as scheduled with six divisions of racing on tap, but the Saturday, $25,000 to win show for the big blocks is off. I always try and share the cancellations and postponements on Twitter, so make sure you're following @dirtrackr, and before you head out this weekend, check with your local track or series to make sure they are still racing, especially on the east coast.

It's quiet on the streaming services today. Just FloRacing 24/7 going on. 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 Thursday. 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!