DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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More please! Haudenschild, Larson threw down at Bridgeport with the Outlaws | Daily 5-18-2022

Today we are talking a wild finish between Haudenschild and Larson at Bridgeport, the future of the Sides 7S, what's on tap for tonight and more. Let's go!

Today is Wednesday, May 18th, two thousand and twenty two. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.

I hope last night you didn't get turned off by the early tire issues for the World of Outlaws at Bridgeport and stayed up to watch that feature. Because man what a race it turned into. Earlier in the night, it looked like we might be headed for disaster with the track conditions and tire issues. I knew something was up right away in qualifying. The night's quick time by Sheldon Haudenschild was a second a half slower than the two previous Outlaw quick times at Bridgeport, and was two full seconds slower than the track record set by Brent Marks just a few weeks ago. Pictures of tires starting popping up on social media, and guys were wearing them out in qualifying and the heat races. When Justin Whittall won heat four, the track definitely looked like it was already taking rubber. Before the night's feature, they did some much needed track work, and it paid off in a big way. Donny Schatz picked up his first dash win of the season last night, and he started on the pole, which was his first pole position for a feature since Black Hills in August of 2021. His time out front didn't last long though, as on the start, Sheldon Haudenschild was able to get by for the early lead. Things out front were pretty secure, but as we approached 10 laps to go, that white 57 machine was on the move, and the race was on. Larson actually took the lead on lap 16, but Sheldon didn't go away quietly. The two drivers officially traded the lead four times over the final 10 laps, but when a caution came out for an exploded right rear tire on Kasey Kahne's machine with four laps to go, Larson was out front and looking good with no lap traffic in front on the restart. Once green again though, Sheldon got the highside working, and he grabbed the top spot with three remaining. Two unsuccessful slider attempts later, and it was the 17 machine riding off to victory, with Larson second, Schatz third, Logan Schuchart fourth, and Anthony Macri fifth. Schatz and Schuchart had a nice battle for that third position behind the leaders, with Schatz eventually coming out on top. The win was the third of the year for Haudenschild, and 25th of his career. That puts him in a tie with Larson for 25th all time, ahead of Ron Shuman, and trailing Paul McMahan and Tim Shaffer. If Sheldon could earn another five wins this year, he could pull into a tie with Bobby Allen and Logan Schuchart for 20th all time. As for the ongoing points battle, things didn't change a whole lot, with David Gravel ending up 10th after starting seventh, with Brad Sweet in 12th, and Carson Macedo 13th. When the series hits Attica on Friday, Sweet will bring in a 20 point advantage over Gravel with Macedo 44 back in third. Sheldon is 58 back in fourth, with Logan Schuchart now back within 100 points, sitting 86 out. Spencer Bayston continued his top ten streak with a ninth place result, and he's tied with Schatz for sixth. James McFadden, Jacob Allen, and Brock Zearfoss complete the top ten. So teams are off today and tomorrow, and back racing Friday and Saturday in Ohio.

As for the future of the Jason and Paul Sides owned 7S team, we should apparently have a resolution today on who the driver will be for the remainder of the season. Johnny Gibson mentioned a Wednesday press release, as did Jeremy Elliott. Supposedly it isn't Tanner Thorson, and there were other rumors about potentially Ian Madsen, but that's also not happening. We'll see Madsen in the Demyan-Rudzik 49X this weekend at Attica. I saw a lot of other names thrown out last night, but as of me writing today's show, there has not yet been an announcement. So stay tuned to the social medias today for when that news breaks.

With the Short Track Super Series last night, the north region took on Outlaw Speedway in New York, and the feature was plagued by several cautions. Matt Sheppard started from the sixth position, but he was up to second before even 15 laps were complete of the 50 lapper. It was only a few laps later that he made the move on race long leader Billy Decker, and from lap 18 to the finish, it was all Superman out front. There was a caution with four laps to go for Mat Williamson slowing from the third position with a flat tire, but on the restart, Stewart Friesen couldn't mount a serious charge. Sheppard drove on to the $5000 win, which was his second north region score of the year. Friesen settled for second, Decker was third, Brett Haas fourth, and Alex Payne completed the top five. The checkered flag flew at the right moment for Sheppard, as when his 9S rolled into victory lane, the right rear tire was flat. It was his 24th career Short Track Super Series win, and he'll maintain the points lead when the north region next goes to Bloomsburg Fair on June 7th. The south region will be at New Egypt next Tuesday night, May 24th.

And sticking with the northeast modifieds, a lot of these competitors will knock the sail panels off and make the 160 mile trek north today to Can-Am Speedway for the Super DIRTcar Series show. The World Racing Group owned big block modified series has only got one points paying race in the books so far this year, a win for Ryan Godown at Bridgeport a few weeks ago. He leads the points over Stewart Friesen and Billy Pauch Jr. Tonight's 75 lapper pays $7500 to win, and Friesen will be looking to repeat, as he was the victor at Can-Am one year ago. Last night's winner and defending series champion Matt Sheppard will be in attendance, as he's trying to win his ninth SDS title, as will Mat Williamson, Alex Yankowski, Billy Dunn, and plenty more. If you aren't near Can-Am Speedway tonight, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision with a fast pass subscription.

Elsewhere tonight, the FloRacing Night in America Late Models are back in action at Marshalltown Speedway in Iowa. They are coming off that Illinois stretch last week for Speedweek, and Brandon Sheppard has taken the series points lead over Stormy Scott and Mike Marlar with Jonathan Davenport, Kyle Larson, and Brandon Overton all deciding to race with XR at Charlotte. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is at 300 and 34 Raceways this week, so I'd guess we'll get several of the Lucas regulars in the field tonight before the racing this weekend. Don't expect many Outlaw full timers, as they begin a three race Pennsylvania swing starting tomorrow at Bloomsburg Fair. Ryan Gustin could be in attendance tonight, but that's a serious 14 plus hour jaunt to make after tonight's racing all the way back to Pennsylvania. According to Dirt on Dirt, we should see Sheppard, Tim McCreadie, Stormy, Marlar, Ricky Thornton Jr., Tyler Erb, Bobby Pierce, Billy Moyer Jr., Ashton Winger, and a bunch more tonight. They'll be racing for $22,000 to win, and Ben Shelton tweeted this morning that it will be the richest paying race in the history of the track. Also on the card tonight are IMCA stock cars and IMCA modifieds. As you might have guessed, the racing will be live on Flo if you can't get to the track. If you need a Flo subscription, click the link below in the video description, or at dirtrackr.com and get one. That gives you access to a bunch of dirt racing and more, and it helps me out at no extra cost to you.

If you're in the market for other dirt racing podcasts this week, Winged Nation has Justin Adams, the Dirt from Knoxville has Clint Garner which just came out this morning, Dirt Tracks and Rib Racks has Logan Calderwood, and there are new episodes of Open Red Credentials Denied, the Dirt Reporters, Passing Points, and the Dirt Nerds. To see the full list of shows and episodes, head over to dirtrackr.com/podcasts.

It's another pretty busy weekday on the streaming services with five shows on tap. DIRTVision has the Super DIRTcar Series from Can-Am and micros from Millbridge. FloRacing has the Flo Night in America Series at Marshalltown, weekly racing from Action Track USA, plus Flo 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 Wednesday. 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!