DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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There's no way you picked Brent Marks to win $100k from 14th | Daily 7-15-2022
You did not pick Brent Marks to win last night, don't lie to me. We'll talk about his incredible run from 14th to the $100,000 win at Eldora, plus talk Thursday results and what's ahead this weekend. Roll the intro.
It's Friday, July 15th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.
We're going to start this show off the right way and say don't tell me there's no passing in sprint car racing. That one is for my Open Red friends. Last night at Eldora for the return of the Historical Big One, we had a ton of movement in the field. The hard charger in Logan Schuchart was plus 16, Brian Brown was plus 13, Sheldon Haudenschild was plus 11, Logan Wagner was plus 12, and our eventual winner in Brent Marks was plus 13, going 14th to the win. Today you are seeing a lot of superlatives about Marks, including that he's the hottest driver right now, that he's the best in the country, etc. And all of those things might be true. It also sounds like Marks was maybe the pick last night from a lot of people, but if you've really looked at how he's done at Eldora recently, I'm not sure how you could have seen last night's performance coming. He won in May of last year in Rossburg, but since then has finishes of 18th, 8th, 24th in a C, 11th, 14th, and was 16th in the Jokers Wild on Wednesday. From there, from the 14th starting position, there was no way come feature time you should have picked him for the victory. I had 27 past races at Eldora in the dirtrackr.com analytics database, and the furthest back a winner had come since 2017 was Larson's 9th to the win run a year ago in the Kings Royal. The average feature starting position in that span for a winner at Eldora is right around three and a half. Going even beyond that, the furthest back an Outlaw winner has started this season period is 7th. So there's no way looking at Marks' recent runs at Eldora and that 14th starting position that should have convinced you he was the guy last night. But in the end, that's exactly what he was. It didn't hurt though that there were issues last night including flat tires, crashes, and an Open Red period that contributed to Marks being able to move forward. Sye Lynch, Kraig Kinser, Kerry Madsen, and Kyle Larson all had problems, and all started in front of Marks. Lynch was the night's polesitter and blew his engine early in the feature. He tweeted that they are done for the weekend, because it was their only powerplant. Through half way, the race was a battle between Tyler Courtney and Rico Abreu, but Marks grabbed the lead on lap 25 and led the rest of the way for the win. Sunshine finished second, with Rico third. That was a sweep of the podium by non-Outlaw drivers. Larson drove back to ninth after an early flat tire. The $100,000 score last night for Marks was his 12th sprint car win of the season, which now includes four victories against the Outlaws and two against the All Stars. He and crew chief Heath Moyle and that crew have definitely figured some stuff out right now, and they still have two more nights at Eldora to grab even more cash. We've got the Knight Before on tap for Friday and the Kings Royal coming up Saturday. The bad news is that there is weather around the area for the next few days, so that will be something to keep an eye on. In the Outlaw championship, no movement last night, as the differing format meant the Thursday program was show up points only. Tonight's racing is back to the standard Outlaw format, so we will have full points on the line. The analytics prediction formula is picking Schatz for the fourth straight race, I'm going with Rico. Sixth on Wednesday, third last night after leading laps. I like their chances going forward. Both nights of racing will be live on DIRTVision.
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At I-70 last night, my bounceback win pick in Brandon Sheppard was just a little more than a lap away from the win when disaster struck the Rocket house car. His engine went up in smoke in a big way, and that handed the lead to second running Hudson O'Neal. On the restart, O'Neal drove away from Jimmy Owens to earn his second Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season, and second in just five races. Owens and McCreadie joined him on the podium. BShepp was poised to take a big chunk out of McCreadie's points lead, but with those late problems and a 13th place finish, Sheppard is now 95 points behind TMac headed to Tri-City tonight. RTJ is 200 out of the lead after finish fifth, but only 105 from Sheppard in second. In the Lucas rookie battle, Garrett Alberson is now at the head of the class with the loss of Ashton Winger. We haven't seen Winger since Muskingum County, and he's dropped to 11th in points. They are apparently off the tour because of some crew issues. The series is headed to Tri-City tonight and then Wheatland on Saturday. Tyler Erb is the most recent winner at Tri-City, back in 2020. Chris Ferguson and Johnny Scott were winners at Wheatland earlier this season. The prediction formula likes McCreadie tonight, I'll take Sheppard again. Both of these racing nights will be live on FloRacing.
In other action from Thursday, Bobby Pierce won again with the Summer Nationals, this time at Shadyhill Speedway. It was his third straight win, and he should easily be on his way here to the Hell Tour championship. On the modified side, Mike McKinney kept Nick Hoffman at bay for the distance to earn his first win of the season. Hoffman is still running away with the Modified Nationals title. The two divisions are headed to Farmer City tonight, Oakshade on Saturday, and Wayne County on Sunday.
At Ogilvie for the opening night of Mod Wars, veteran racer Dave Cain led the final four laps to score his first career USMTS win. Points leader Dustin Sorensen finished second, with Lucas Schott third. The series remains at Ogilvie tonight and tomorrow, before heading to Casino Speedway on Sunday.
Looking at other racing to come this weekend, the World of Outlaws Late Models are back in action after a few weeks off. We haven't seen them since Brandon Sheppard won at Jacksonville on June 26th. They are up north with stops coming up tonight at River Cities, tomorrow at I-94, and Sunday at Red Cedar. Dennis Erb Jr. continues to lead Max Blair in the championship standings, with 148 points separating the two. Tanner English is only another 22 points behind Blair in that battle for second. I had someone ask me the other day about the future of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series because of all the splintering this season in the late model world. But I wouldn't expect anything to change going forward for this series. Even with the loss of some high profile teams, there is still plenty of value with the Outlaws, and eight drivers remain as full timers. Remember too this series has a multi-year deal with new title sponsor Case Construction, and as long as the business still makes sense for World Racing Group, I don't see this series going away any time soon. The prediction formula likes Ricky Weiss tonight. I'm gonna go Ryan Gustin. You can watch the Outlaws on DIRTVision.
If you're an open wheel fan, both the USAC and POWRi National Midgets are racing this weekend. USAC closes out Mid-America Midget Week with two nights at Jefferson County. Buddy Kofoid continues to lead Justin Grant in the standings. Emerson Axsom, Tanner Thorson, Tyler Courtney, and Chris Windom have the most recent wins at Jefferson County, so we'll see a fresh face win tonight. The formula likes Kofoid, I'll pick Grant. POWRi is headed to Valley Speedway tonight and tomorrow, and Sweet Springs on Sunday. We should see some changes in the POWRi points, with competitors split between the two series over the next few nights. Cannon McIntosh currently leads Bryant Wiedeman and Brenham Crouch for the POWRi championship. With the deal between MAV and Flo, these POWRi nights can now be watched over on FloRacing.
And we'll get a one night dose of the ASCS National Tour with a stop tonight at US36 Raceway. With recent issues for Wayne Johnson, Blake Hahn has taken control in the national tour standings. Johnson is back to second, with rookie Jason Martin third, Garet Williamson fourth, and Matt Covington fifth. Covington was the winner at US36 a year ago, and he's been better as of a late after a tough start to 2022. His last four races have included finishes of 6th, 1st, 4th, and 6th. The ASCS is live all season over on FloRacing.
We are approaching 50 shows on the streaming schedule today, so no lack of options, and there is a bunch more to come this weekend. That includes the World of Outlaws at Eldora on DIRTVision, the Lucas late model weekend on FloRacing, the ASCS, USAC and POWRi midgets, the USMTS on RacinDirt, plus all the local and regional action you can handle. To see the full daily streaming schedule with links to watch, 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!