DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Kyle Larson dominates Attica, Dennis Erb Jr. matches Max Blair in PA, Erb/McCreadie split Iowa | Daily 5-23-2022
It's Monday so we'll dive into all the big racing from the weekend, including the Outlaws, All Stars, Lucas, USAC and more. Let's go!
Today is Monday, May 23rd, two thousand and twenty two. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
It was supposed to be a two show weekend for the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series in Ohio, but mother nature had other plans on Saturday night at Sharon. So with that show cancelled, we only got the Friday race at Attica. We did get a nice field though on Friday night. 41 cars, and that included Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, Rico Abreu, Buddy Kofoid, Sammy Swindell, plus the Outlaws and a lot of Ohio regulars. I picked Larson for the win and he didn't let me down. Sixth in his qualifying group, third to second in his heat, fifth to second in the dash, and then he led all 40 laps to grab his second Outlaw win of the year. The other was at Tulare back in March. Since finishing 12th and 17th at Volusia, Larson's Outlaw finishes are 3rd, 1st, 7th, 2nd, 2nd, and 1st. Behind Yung Money, there was plenty of other action and drama in the race. Carson Macedo is trying to dig out of that points hole from being light at the scales at the Grove and finishing 13th at Bridgeport. He started fourth, and ended up second after chasing Larson throughout. His crew chief Philip Dietz just had his first child, so he was absent from the track, leaving things up to Nate Repetz and Clyde Knipp. Macedo said afterwards that Dietz was on the phone and watching on DIRTVision to help out the guys. James McFadden rounded out the podium, which was just his third top three finish of the season. JMac is off a bit this year from where he was in 2021, but hopefully three straight top tens means that Roth 83 is going in the right direction. As for the Outlaw points battle, a brutal night for David Gravel means he's dropped back to third in the standings with Macedo finishing second and Sweet fifth. Gravel had to make multiple trips to the work area, had a flat, power steering issues, a stuck wing, and it all led to a 18th place finish. Not what those guys needed as they try and keep pace with Sweet and Macedo. Behind the front three, Sheldon Haudenschild remains very much in the mix after three straight top four finishes. He's only another 10 points behind Gravel, so 56 total back of Sweet. Logan Schuchart rounds out the top five, 92 out. The Outlaws are sticking around Ohio this with a Saturday show at Atomic on tap. They will then head to Lawrenceburg on Monday for the fairly traditional Memorial Day stop.
Over to the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. This three race stretch in Pennsylvania was one in which Max Blair needed to have a good weekend on his home turf to keep Dennis Erb Jr. honest in the race for the championship. For the most part, I think he did about what he needed to do. A win on Thursday at Bloomsburg, a ninth on Friday at Marion Center, and then a third on Saturday at Port Royal. That ninth was obviously the weak point from the weekend, but still a very solid three nights. Unfortunately for him though, Erb matched his pace with a second on Thursday, a win on Friday, and a ninth on Saturday. Headed for Sharon Speedway in Ohio this coming weekend, Erb's lead is still 100 points over Blair. I know we've lost a few cars with the Outlaws, but Dennis Erb is a different driver this year. His average finish has improved over four positions from a year ago. His average time trial spot and average feature start are better, he's won twice, he's leading laps, he's finished top ten in nearly 80% of the races and both his top five and top ten efficiency numbers are 100%. I think he and crew chief Heather Lynne understand the opportunity in front of them this season, and they are taking full advantage right now. I like Blair as a full time Outlaw driver for sure, but with Erb's experience around the country, I think that 28 car will be tough to catch as we head into the summer. This was Blair's home area, but Erb was ready for the fight. So the Thursday night win to Blair at Bloomsburg. Friday at Marion Center it was all Erb. He started on the front row and led all 40 laps. Shane Clanton ended up second with Josh Richards going 12th to third. It was Richards' third consecutive third place finish. And Saturday night at Port Royal we had a first time winner in Jared Miley. He took over from Rick Eckert right at halfway and led the rest of the race for the victory. Gregg Satterlee and Max Blair completed the podium. A lot of Pennsylvania regulars in the mix at Port, with the top five all from Pennsylvania, and sixth was Matt Cosner who's from West Virginia, but races up that way a lot. Good night for local and regional guys. Miley was nearly an Outlaw winner a few years ago at Thunder Mountain Speedway, leading 26 of 50 laps, but settling for second at the end when Brandon Sheppard got by him late. Nice win for him. Also wanted to point out Clanton. Three races back as a full time driver with the series, and three top seven finishes. With speed like that, he should be able to keep that Skyline team in the mix for the owner's title depending on what Blair and Erb do going forward.
Out in Iowa, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series had two stops over the weekend, Friday night at 300 Raceway, and the Saturday stop at 34 Raceway got moved to Sunday because of rain. Both races were dominated by the winners, with Tyler Erb leading all 50 laps at 300, and Tim McCreadie leading all 50 at 34. Erb's Friday night win was his second victory in three Lucas starts, and he again had the right rear quarter and spoiler knocked off that Best Performance one car. It didn't seem to slow him down though. Brandon Sheppard tried to track him down late, but to no avail. Ricky Thornton Jr. recovered from that flip earlier in the week in that FloRacing show at Marshalltown to finish third behind Erb and BShepp. Jimmy Owens had a nice 18th to fifth run to grab hard charger. On Sunday at 34, Tim McCreadie was just flat gone. He led wire-to-wire in a caution free race, with his margin of victory over nine seconds. It was TMac's first Lucas win since January 31st at Bubba Raceway Park. BShepp was second again, with Earl Pearson Jr. rounding out the podium. With Devin Moran absent this weekend for the first time all year, we did have a bit of a shakeup in the standings. Sheppard leaves the weekend with a 130 point advantage now over Tyler Erb, with McCreadie third, Jimmy Owens fourth, and RTJ in fifth. Owens is maintaining that top five spot even though they aren't supposedly running for the Lucas championship. Sheppard hasn't won a Lucas feature since East Bay back in February. To be fair though, we've only had five races since they left Florida. Three straight second place finishes though should be unnerving for his Lucas competition. If there is one thing that Rocket house car squad knows how to do, it's been insanely consistent. We know McCreadie can do it, because that's what won him the title last year. The question will be if Erb can maintain pace. He's fast a lot, he can win, but can he keep his cool and maximize his finishes night in and night out. He's been pretty damn good so far this year, but there is still a lot of racing left. I think the jury is still out. Looking ahead, it's a big weekend on tap with the Show-Me 100 coming up at Lucas Oil Speedway. We'll have more on that later in the week.
With the All Stars up north, we got two of three shows completed in Wisconsin, with Friday's race at Wilmot lost to rain. On Saturday night at Plymouth, it was Bill Balog going back-to-back. He started on the pole and led every lap. A lot of IRA flavor on that podium, with Balog winning, Danny Schlafer second, and Scotty Thiel third. Definitely a career night for Schlafer. I have nine races in the database for him, and his previous best finish was a 16th at Wilmot in 2021. On Sunday at Angell Park, it was a tough race track and we had a couple of big incidents that wiped out several cars, including Kyle Reinhardt, Brandon Spithaler, Scotty Thiel, and Kevin Thomas Jr. PPM was involved in one of those incidents and drove the second half of the race with the nose wing knocked off the McGhee 11. Out front, Justin Peck led most of the feature from the pole, but late in the going Hunter Schuerenberg tracked him down in traffic and took the lead. He led the final five laps to earn his third win in the last seven All Star races. Peck had to settle for second, and PPM ended up on the podium, even with that nose wing damage. After the race, we had some people try and create controversy when Schuerenberg went to victory lane first, and then was pushed to the scales by officials. The track was in hurry up mode because of time limits, and I think there was some confusion in the mix. No crew members were ever near the 55, so All Star officials pushed Schuerenberg to the scales, he made weight, and then came back to victory lane. Yes, I know the rules say you get DQ'd if you miss the scales, but this one doesn't bother me at all. They were hurrying to get the midgets on track, he made weight, I have zero problem with this call. There is no conspiracy here, so don't let the internet convince you otherwise. Both Peck and PPM finished ahead of Sunshine both nights, so things are tight atop the standings. Courtney still leads, but PPM is 44 back in second, and Peck is 46 back in third. I'm teling you, do not sleep on the All Stars right now. This is going to be a really fun summer. Another Pennsylvania swing is on tap, with Friday at the Grove, and two days at Port Royal after that.
The USAC National Sprint Cars also had weather issues this weekend, but they still got both programs at Terre Haute in. The Saturday show just ended up pushed to Sunday. On Friday night, CJ Leary picked up his first career series win at Terre Haute, leading the final 11 laps. Mitchel Moles, making his debut in the series with Reinbold Underwood following the departure of Tanner Thorson, started on the pole and had a three plus second lead wiped out with a debris caution. On the restart, Leary threw a big slider at him into turn one and that ended up being the race winning move. At the checkered, Logan Seavey was second, but he came up light at the scales and was knocked to 22nd. So Moles and Robert Ballou were the rest of the podium. Ballou was two spots better on Sunday, taking the lead from Seavey with seven to go and driving away to his third career Hulman Classic and the rifle trophy. Brady Bacon finished second after having a tire explode on Friday night. Seavey was third. The series points standings remain super tight with only 66 separating the top seven. Emerson Axsom picked up two more top tens over the weekend, but it wasn't enough to keep the lead. Justin Grant now leads by 5 points. Axsom is second, Ballou third, Bacon fourth, and Leary fifth. The series is off just a few days, before they head to Circle City on Wednesday and Thursday.
Other weekend open wheel winners include TMez with BOSS at Gas City, Aaron Reutzel won the 360 show at Jackson, Sye Lynch won again at Lernerville, Lance Dewease won the Friday show at Williams Grove, Aaron Reutzel won again in the 410 at Knoxville on Saturday, Freddie Rahmer took Lincoln, Dominic Scelzi was a NARC winner at Petaluma, Briggs Danner won the USAC east coast show at Selinsgrove, and Gio Scelzi was the Sunday winner at Huset's.
In other weekend late model racing, Devin Moran was a $10,000 winner at Hilltop, Jensen Ford and Ross Bailes split the Ultimate Southeast weekend, Michael Page won at Senoia, and Tommy Sheppard Jr. was a MARS winner Sunday at Adams County.
A big storm in the Charlotte area today has stopped the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets at Millbridge tonight. Racing has shifted from Monday-Tuesday to now Tuesday-Wednesday. We'll talk about what to expect on tomorrow's show.
With Millbridge off tonight, there are two shows on the streaming schedule. Speed Sport has IMCA racing from Clay County Fair, and there is FloRacing 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 Monday. 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!