DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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FloRacing vs. XR on display next week; Bobby Pierce, Lucas Schott get Thursday wins | Daily 5-6-2022

On this Friday we are talking rain, where to see 410 sprint cars this weekend, the Dairyland Showdown, and XR versus Flo. Let's go!

Today is Friday, May 6th, two thousand and twenty two. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.

We'll kick things off with what is probably the biggest issue this weekend, and that's rain. It's already been a tough week around the country with rainouts, and it's probably going to get worse before the next few days are over. A pretty large weather system is affecting a lot of the eastern part of the United States, and we've had a bunch of cancellations at dirt tracks already. We mentioned the Outlaws and USAC at Eldora is already off. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series weekend at Ponderosa and Florence was postponed yesterday. The Florence show has been rescheduled for Thursday, June 30th, while officials are still working on a makeup date for Ponderosa. We now won't see the Lucas late models until later this month, on May 20th at 300 Raceway. We've also lost the MLRA at Lake Ozark, the weekly shows at Attica, Jacksonville, Lavonia, Bedford, Gas City, Williams Grove, Lernerville, and Farmer City. We also won't see the ULMS late models at Big Diamond. And that's just what I've seen so far this morning on Twitter. So if you live in the east, make sure to check with your track or series before you head out. I'm sure we aren't done yet. On the flip side, all of these cancellations should provide at least a brief respite from the ongoing tire shortages. For example, with the Outlaws cancelled, All Stars off, and 410 racing across Ohio and Pennsylvania in jeopardy, there should be more H15s to go around in the coming weeks. So rain bad, but more tires good.

If you are a 410 sprint car fan, keep an eye on Saturday at Knoxville and Sunday at Huset's. Those two places look to be in pretty good shape for weather over the next few days, and with the big series off, I would not be surprised to see a lot of guys head that direction to race. We know Kerry Madsen and that Roth team are Knoxville and Huset's bound. Rudeen Racing also tweeted they are headed to Knoxville on Saturday. So if you're in those areas, or have a DIRTVision subscription, those will be two very good shows to check out. Both Knoxville and Huset's are paying $5000 to win each night.

One event that won't have to worry about rain this weekend is the Dairyland Showdown up at Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Wisconsin. The World of Outlaws late models and USMTS modifieds kicked off a three night program last night with full programs. Things look good for the next two nights as well, and the competition and payouts ramp up towards Saturday. Last night with the Outlaws it was all Bobby Pierce out front. He finished second in his heat to make the redraw, then drew the pole. At the green flag he set sail, and even though he had to handle a couple of restarts, he was never really challenged out front. He led all 40 laps to earn the $10,000 victory. And I'll go ahead and claim a win here as well, as I picked Pierce on yesterday's show. The correct pick brings me to 20% for the season, or 12 of 59 win picks. The dirtrackr.com analytics prediction formula is now two back, with it sitting at 10 of 59. Behind Pierce, Stormy Scott, Mike Marlar, Cade Dillard, and Tyler Bruening completed the top five. Points leader Dennis Erb Jr. grabbed a top ten, while Max Blair was down in 15th. Jonathan Davenport had issues and ended up 21st. The field included 38 entries last night, and of that group it looks like Garrett Alberson was the only Lucas regular to tow north after their weekend was lost. We'll get one more tonight, as Brandon Sheppard will apparently head north as well and compete tonight in Boom Briggs' backup car. I wonder if that might be a little opportunity for Briggs and Richards to get some more perspective from the Rocket house car driver, as those two have struggled this season so far. We'll see if any other guys will head to Wisconsin tonight or tomorrow. The top ten for Erb saw him extend his points advantage to now 54 over Max Blair. Tyler Bruening and Tanner English are the only two other drivers really within any sort of striking distance. As for some win picks tonight, with Brandon Sheppard being in the field, the prediction formula has him at the top of the list. Obviously that will be a tall task to win with him not driving the Rocket one car. I think I'm gonna go off the rails again and choose Stormy Scott tonight. He was really solid last night, and you've got to watch those modified guys on some of these modified tracks. I wouldn't sleep on Jonathan Davenport either. He was quick in qualifying last night, before having issues through the rest of the program. If they can get things straightened out, he could be a factor as well tonight and tomorrow. If you can't get to Mississippi Thunder, watch live on DIRTVision.

In the USMTS feature, Lucas Schott handled the field for his first series win of the season, and 11th of his career. He is a past track champion and USRA national champion, and he looked like it last night leading all 30 laps. Rodney Sanders charged from ninth to finish second, but couldn't make a bid for the win on a final late restart. Carlos Ahumada Jr, Dustin Sorensen, and Zack VanderBeek completed the top five. Sorensen maintains the points lead with still two nights to race this weekend. Tonight the mod guys will race for $5000 to win, with $10 grand up for grabs on Saturday. Don't forget, with the streaming stalemate, you can only watch the USMTS portion of these nights over on RacinDirt.

In the YouTube comments from yesterday, David asked about the upcoming XR and FloRacing late model shows that will be in conflict with each other next week. XR is at Charlotte for four days, three of which pay $25,000 to win, and the final day pays $50,000 to win. This goes right up against the Illinois Speedweek deal, that includes the two Flo nights at Spoon River and Lincoln, plus the MARS nights at Farmer City and Fairbury. The Flo shows pay $22,000 to win, Farmer City is $15k, and Fairbury is $30 grand. So more money will be won at Charlotte, but do midwest guys want to tow all the way to North Carolina? That's the question. For those running the Flo series full time, you may see them race Wednesday and Thursday, then head to Charlotte for the two weekend nights. Jonathan Davenport is an example of this. He is listed as an expected entrant for the XR show, but Flo is also claiming him as a committed full timer. Right now the XR entrants include names like Scott Bloomquist, Ricky Weiss, Kyle Strickler, Mason Zeigler, Joseph Joiner, Chase Briscoe, Dale McDowell, Jimmy Owens, Fergie, Tim McCreadie, Kyle Bronson, Chris Madden, Davenport, Brandon Overton, and more. On the flip side, the Flo series says JD, Brandon Sheppard, Bobby Pierce, Tyler Erb, Ricky Thornton Jr., and Ryan Gustin will all race for that series championship. I don't know what his exact schedule is, but I'd imagine Kyle Larson will run a lot of those Flo shows as well, even if it's not full time. He's currently second in the points standings, and carries that FloRacing sponsorship. David wanted to know what my thoughts were, and I think it's an interesting situation. Michael Rigsby and Ben Shelton created the Flo series as a midweek deal and are playing nice with the Outlaw and Lucas schedules to try and draw plenty of big names. On the flip side, Barry Braun and the XR guys have come in and upset the apple cart and have scheduled against a lot of events and series that are part of the late model establishment. And next week is a perfect example of what happens. Some will go one direction, some will go the other, and yet a third group will toe the line and race both, like Davenport. I think it's a great time to be a late model driver, because there are more opportunities than probably ever to race for big money. But I'm curious to see how sustainable all of this is in the coming years. Can this all co-exist when you're fighting for the same pool of drivers and fan dollars, between tickets and streaming. I'm not sure. We'll talk more about all of this racing coming up on next week's dailies.

We are well north of 20 shows on the streaming schedule today, with a lot more to come this weekend. More tracks are opening for the year, and even with some of the bigger stuff called off, there is plenty of racing still happening, between local and regional action. To see the full daily streaming schedule through the weekend, visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.

That's it for the show today, enjoy the dirt racing 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!