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.
Can Brad Sweet get his first 2022 Outlaw win this weekend; late models at Bristol, Cherokee | Daily 3-25-2022
Coming up we'll whip around the country and get you ready for the biggest shows coming up over the next few days, including the World of Outlaws and Bristol Dirt Nationals. Let's go!
Today is Friday, March 25th, two thousand and twenty two. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
The spring west coast swing for the World of Outlaws comes to conclusion this weekend, with the sprint cars set to race at Bakersfield tonight and Perris tomorrow. The trek east then begins with a Tuesday stop at Vado in New Mexico, before the teams hit up Lawton in Oklahoma and Devil's Bowl next weekend. With eight race nights complete, David Gravel has a slight 10 point advantage over Brad Sweet in the standings, with Carson Macedo, Sheldon Haudenschild, and James McFadden completing the top five. Tonight's race at Bakersfield is the Outlaws' first appearance there since 2018, and the last time they were at Perris was 2019. Sheldon Haudenschild is the most recent Bakersfield winner, while Aaron Reutzel won at Perris in 2019. Of note right now with the Outlaws, Brad Sweet is still winless on the season even though he has six top fives in his last seven races, and two straight second place runs. Donny Schatz does have a win this year, but he's coming off finishes of 24th and 22nd and needs to bounce back as he's tumbled to eighth in the standings. The dirtrackr.com analytics prediction formula likes Sheldon Haudenschild to repeat tonight, but I'm going with Sweet. He leads the series in average finish and wins on 1/3 mile race tracks and I think he gets the first win of 2022 tonight. As for tomorrow at Perris, the predictor likes Sweet, I'm going Macedo. Perris is a half mile, and half miles are very often Donny Schatz territory, but Schatz hasn't been great at Perris in the past. So half mile in California, I like Carson. Someone else to keep an eye on this weekend is Brody Roa. The California local is known for his non-wing exploits, especially with the USAC CRA Series, but he's making his Outlaw debut this weekend and I'm curious to see how he does, especially at Perris.
Across the country in South Carolina, the World of Outlaws Late Models return to action after over a month off following DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia. With six nights complete, Chris Madden and Dale McDowell are leading the way in the points standings, but neither will be in attendance for the Rock Gault Memorial at Cherokee. That means guys like Dennis Erb Jr. and Brandon Sheppard will rise up to most likely lead the way following the two race nights. So far, McDowell is the only driver with multiple Outlaw wins in 2022, and Dennis Erb is the only series regular with a victory. Brandon Overton has ruled Cherokee in recent seasons when the Outlaws roll in, with four victories over the past seven races, but he won't be there, and neither will Jimmy Owens. So that's five of your last seven race winners. Brandon Sheppard won a split field feature there in 2021, and Ross Bailes grabbed a victory in 2019. Of the drivers that will be in attendance, BShepp has the best recent average finish, and things are lining up nicely for him to get that first win of the year. With Madden off the tour, I'm not convinced there is someone else in this group who can really challenge that Rocket squad for the championship. Erb would need a sizeable leap in consistency to be in the fight all year, and the same would be true for anyone else who is currently down the order. A subplot for the weekend is the Xtreme DIRTcar Series season wrapping up, as these two nights are a co-sanction for that group. Ben Watkins leads Bailes and Carson Ferguson in the standings, and is trying to wrap up that title. The prediction formula favors Brandon Sheppard for the weekend, and I'm going to agree. With so many of the regular challengers at Bristol, it feels like BShepp and then everyone else right now.
At Bristol last night we got a practice session for the super late models before they take to the track for real tonight and tomorrow. Ricky Weiss led the way with a lap of 15.797, with Mike Marlar, Jonathan Davenport, Chris Madden, and Kyle Bronson rounding out the top five in practice times. It sounded like we had maybe 35ish cars take part in the session. Longhorn Chassis tweeted out a list of expected entrants for the two weekends, and we should be just north of 40 cars for the four nights of racing spread between this week and next. Besides the guys I just mentioned, the list includes Scott Bloomquist, Donald McIntosh, Kyle Strickler, Devin Moran, Joseph Joiner, Dale McDowell, Jimmy Owens, Ricky Thornton Jr., Chris Feguson, Shane Clanton, Darrell Lanigan, Tim McCreadie, Earl Pearson Jr., Mark Whitener, Brandon Overton, Ashton Winger, and many more. Not really any surprises on that list of guys, with Madden being the only driver we thought was going to be an Outlaw, but we already talked about him dropping off. There is quite a bit of Lucas flavor at Bristol, but that series is off for the next two weeks, so it makes sense that a lot of those guys would come in for the big money. The Thaw Brawl at Davenport for the MARS Late Models was going to draw some guys like Bobby Pierce and Tyler Erb and Hudson O'Neal, but with that event cancelled as of yesterday, I wonder if any of those guys will head to Bristol or Cherokee instead. Getting a good starting spot will be key to success this weekend. In the four super late model features we saw last year between this event and the Outlaw nights, three of those were won from the front row. Only Davenport's big win came from further back, with him starting 10th in the Bristol Dirt Nationals finale a year ago. Besides the big money on the line for this event specifically, this weekend also kicks off the XR Super Series championship for 2022. Who will run for the full season with this series is still up in the air right now, and will be something to follow going forward. I've got to think that Owens, Madden, Davenport, and Overton are candidates for that. Also, Bloomer, Weiss, Fergie, and possibly Bronson could be in the mix as well. It will definitely depend on who has success going forward. If guys struggle, they will fall off and chase other races. Besides the late models, tonight's action at Bristol also includes the sport mods and hobby stocks. Tomorrow's card will feature modifieds, stock cars, and the 602 late models with the supers. If you want to watch, XR+ has the live stream.
Down in Arkansas this weekend at I-30 Speedway, the ASCS National Tour continues it's opening weeks of the 2022 season. Seth Bergman is tied atop the standings with Wayne Johnson following the first two nights of the year at Devil's Bowl Speedway a week ago. We'll see if anyone can start to separate themselves from the field, with things being pretty tight down through the top ten. The programs will also include the NOW600 micros and local factory stocks. The ASCS had three race nights at I-30 last season, with Matt Covington, Sam Hafertepe, Jordon Mallet, and Blake Hahn all getting feature wins. Those victories for Mallet and Hafertepe were split fields during the Short Track Nationals. The drivers with the best average finish at I-30 in 2021 were Hafertepe, JJ Hickle, Derek Hagar, and Matt Covington. After the first two races at Devil's Bowl, Johnson, Hafertepe and Bergman were the only three drivers in the top five both nights, while Johnson, Blake Hahn, Hafertepe, Bergman, Dylan Westbrook, Jason Martin, Scott Bogucki, and John Carney II were top ten finishers both nights. Those first two races last weekend were not what Matt Covington was looking for, finishing 22nd and 23rd, but I-30 could be a good weekend for him to get back on track with his past success there. If you're a Flo subscriber, you can watch both of these nights live. I'd definitely recommend checking these shows out, as I-30 usually produces some pretty good racing.
The Turnpike Challenge for the POWRi National Midgets kicked off last night at Port City Raceway and it was Christopher Bell picking up a sweep of the night's action. Driving for Keith Kunz Motorsports, he dominated the midget feature, starting from the pole and leading all 30 laps. Bryant Wiedeman and Mitchel Moles stood with Bell on the podium. In the night's winged micro feature, Bell did it again, this time driving his own car. He battled very early with pole sitter Mitchel Moles, before driving away at the end. Frank Flud ended up second, with Moles in third. The Turnpike Challenge moves over to I-44 Riverside for tonight and tomorrow, and Bell is expected to be in attendance again. He'll definitely continue to be the favorite. If you're a MAVTV Plus subscriber, you can catch these races live on that service over the next two nights.
Elsewhere last night, we should have had the opener for the King of America weekend for the USMTS modifieds at Humboldt Speedway, but rain put and end to those plans. Now the track and series will try and fit three programs into two days, with Friday on as scheduled, and Saturday featuring a day show and the finale later that night. Tonight's racing is $5000 to win, the early show tomorrow is $3000 to win, and the finale on Saturday night is a very nice $15k to win. Also on the card for the weekend are USRA stock cars, and B-mods. With two race nights complete on the year, Jason Hughes is the current points leader over Tyler Davis and Rodney Sanders. Humboldt Speedway is in Kansas if you are nearby and would like to attend. If not, racindirt.com has live streaming coverage all weekend.
If you're looking for other sprint car racing this weekend, Lincoln, Williams Grove, and Port Royal are all in action in Central Pennsylvania. Keep in mind that Port Royal has moved up it's Saturday program by a few hours because of low temperatures and high winds forecasted. I know there was some chance that guys might try and do the Saturday double between Port and Lincoln, but Lincoln also went ahead and moved up their program to start at 4, so that won't be possible now. Justin Peck won the opener at the Grove last weekend, while Brent Marks was victorious at Lincoln, and Anthony Macri won at Port after that situation with Logan Wagner.
Other weekend late model action includes the ULMS at Williams Grove and Port Royal, the I-95 series at Fayetteville, and a few other scattered shows. With Davenport lost, the focus will mostly be on Cherokee and Bristol.
There are 13 shows on the streaming schedule today with plenty more to come this weekend. That includes the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars and Late Models on DIRTVision, Bristol Dirt Nationals on XR Plus, ASCS Sprint Cars on FloRacing, plus a bunch of weekly and regional shows. To see the full daily streaming schedule through the weekend, 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!