DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Can the High Limit Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws find middle ground? | Daily 8-16-2022
Coming up we'll talk Kyle Larson and Brad Sweet's High Limit Sprint Car Series and how we could be seeing a shift in the sprint car world, especially with how World of Outlaws teams are regulated. Let's go.
It's Tuesday, August 16th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.
It's an interesting day in the sprint car world today with the debut of Kyle Larson and Brad Sweet's High Limit Sprint Car Series. The new tour won't officially be a thing until 2023, but they are running a special one off race tonight at Lincoln Park Speedway to kick things off. The show was originally $22,022 to win and $1000 to start, but as of this morning those figures have been boosted, with the winner now getting $22,522 and the race paying $1500 to start. This new series will very much be like the sprint car version of the FloRacing Night in America Late Model Series that's been running the past few years. Mid-week shows, familiar tracks, and nice money for the competitors. We are still waiting on the 2023 schedule, but from the original release back in July, we know they are planning on 12 races next year, with ten paying $23 grand to win, and two paying $50,000 to win. They will also pay out a points fund at year end totaling $120,000. We are obviously just coming off the Knoxville Nationals, and coming up this weekend both the Outlaws and All Stars are busy, as are a lot of the local areas around the country, but it sounds like quite a few guys are planning on racing tonight. Larson will obviously be there, as will NASCAR drivers Chase Briscoe, Alex Bowman, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. A piece over at FloRacing also mentions Tyler Courtney, Chris Windom, Buddy Kofoid, Brent Marks, Cory Eliason, Justin Peck, Hunter Schuerenberg, Kevin Thomas Jr., and Justin Grant is expected to make a rare winged start. I also saw a tweet from Brady Bacon about competing, and the Swindell SpeedLab car is coming with Justin Sanders. So that's 15 cars, and I'm sure there will be a lot more than that. Lincoln Park, in Putnamville, Indiana, is most commonly known as a non-wing and midget track, with the last big winged race I could find happening there being in 2016 when the Outlaws came through. Donny Schatz topped David Gravel and Daryn Pittman in that one. I have the track listed at 5/16 of a mile, so just a tick bigger than a 1/4. So you look at this series, more races, more money, everything sounds good. But there is and will be drama in the coming months, whether it happens publicly or behind closed doors. And that drama will come from full time World of Outlaws teams that will want to run these events, including Brad Sweet, who is a co-owner of this deal. I mentioned this yesterday, but as of right now, none of those guys will be racing tonight. When teams sign on as full time or platinum members with the Outlaws, they agree not to run races outside the Outlaw sanction without prior approval. So basically if they want to go run elsewhere, they must ask permission. Sometimes that permission is granted, and sometimes it isn't. I know for a lot of you, this idea and policy doesn't seem fair, or it's too restrictive, and it sticks in your craw. But let's not forget that the series schedules usually around 90 races a year, and probably completes around 70. That's a lot. Those races happen between February and November, so if you lop off about three months, you are averaging almost two races a week. On top of regular race purses, the series offers a points championship that is lucrative, they pay full timers tow money to help with costs, and they implemented a new bonus program this year that pays full timers at least an extra $500 per night based on their finishes. So while they can't necessarily go race elsewhere, there is a lot of money to be made racing with the World of Outlaws as a full time team. From the perspective of the series, they are making a significant investment in these guys and these events, and they want to protect that investment. Allowing all these drivers to race elsewhere diminishes their product. And before you attack me on these points, I'm not defending their stance, I'm just explaining to you how they view things. It's like the problem with t-shirt trailers not being allowed in the midway at an Outlaw show for drivers that aren't full timers. That was a move made to be a perk for those teams that commit to the season, and one the teams wanted at the time. It's not meant to punish outsiders. On the flip side, I see the points being made by Larson and Sweet. They want to put on some extra shows, and help these guys make more money and give them more options to race. And of course they are going to want the biggest names to be available to race with them to draw bigger crowds and more watchers online. People on this side of the argument like to use the national late model scene as their example. Guys that run with the Outlaws or Lucas with the fenders on are allowed to race elsewhere, why shouldn't sprint car guys. The difference though, is that there are a lot fewer races on those late model schedules, basically half, and the people that run those series don't necessarily agree with the freedom the teams have to move around. It wasn't all that long ago that the Lucas series director, Rick Schwallie, was on Michael Rigsby's podcast talking about it. He wasn't thrilled with the Flo late model series and would like guys to commit to Lucas and be loyal with all they offer. So just because the late model side doesn't have the restrictions, doesn't mean they wouldn't want them. It's an intriguing time for the sprint car community, and it feels a little like the situation we are seeing play out in golf with the PGA Tour versus LIV. The series wants to protect it's interests, and the drivers and teams want the best of both worlds. In motorsports, this problem is unique to dirt racing, because there are options. IndyCar or NASCAR or F1 teams can't do this because there is only one playground. That is obviously not the case on dirt. So will WRG cave and give these guys more freedom, or will it come down to more teams dropping off the series to chase the cash. Only time will tell. We've seen plenty of high profile guys do it on the late model side, including Jonathan Davenport, Brandon Overton, and Jimmy Owens, and we have seen the series suffer a bit because of it, I think. The full time fields are not as deep as they could be, and this problem could be worse in sprint car racing, because there are far fewer 410 teams in this country than there are late model teams. I also think the lines have been blurred heavily, whereas a big Lucas, or Outlaw, or Flo, or DIRTcar event is almost indistinguishable. Outside of who is streaming it, and the colors of the officials' shirts, the racing is the same. That's not a good thing when you work for or own a series. So, when you are tuned into the High Limit Series tonight on FloRacing, know there is a lot going on behind the scenes, and this is the start of potentially a shift in how drivers exist in the sprint car world. And before you fly off in the comments section about all of this, try and put yourself on all sides of the argument. If you owned WRG, where would you stand? If you were a team how would you feel? Or if you were Larson and Sweet? Consider all sides before you decide.
Before we move on, if you like what I'm doing here, please consider liking this video and subscribing to the channel. You can also subscribe on your favorite podcast app and leave a review. If you want to go further, you can use the Super Thanks button, or snag a DIRTRACKR t-shirt or decal over at shop.dirtrackr.com. Now, let's get into some stuff from yesterday.
The Super DIRTcar Series kicked off a four race week last night at Weedsport with the Hall of Fame 100. They are calling this mini speedweek their SummerFast. Jimmy Phelps, who is intimately familiar with Weedsport, and drives for Weedsport owner Al Heinke, put it on the Super DIRTcar Series competitors last night. He was to the lead by lap eight, and unchallenged late in the going, driving off to his first series win since Fulton in 2020. According to the series it was also his first win with the SDS at Weedsport in 12 years. Behind him, Mike Mahaney and Matt Sheppard were also on the podium. For his work, Phelps scored $10 grand and a guaranteed starting spot into the big show at Super DIRT Week later this year. Headed to Brewerton tonight, Matt Sheppard brings in a 68 point lead over Anthony Perrego in the standings. Mat Williams, Max McLaughlin, and Phelps complete the top five. As is always the case, you can watch the big block modifieds of the Super DIRTcar Series live on DIRTVision.
A couple of hundred miles to the west of Weedsport last night, we had the NASCAR Pinty's Series at Ohsweken Speedway for practice, and also 360 sprint cars racing for $10,000. Paulie Colagiovanni ended up leading all the laps in the sprint car feature and grabbing the big check, but Stewart Friesen didn't make it easy on him. The two actually made contact on the final lap trying to race each other and get through lap traffic. I thought Christopher Bell was also racing, but apparently he is only driving in the Pinty's race. If you want to check out the Pinty's Series on the dirt at Ohsweken, that one is live tonight on FloRacing.
A quick update for you today about Parker Price Miller. He was involved in that crash right at the start of the Knoxville Nationals and suffered some injuries to his verterbrae. He's back home now and will get a second opinion this week on his injuries. He tweeted yesterday that he's been told that it will be six weeks at minimum to get healed up. It's been a rough go of it lately for PPM, so hopefully he can get back rolling again soon. It's a shame, because he's shown a lot of speed this season in the McGhee 11. Already a couple of All Star wins and obviously making the Knoxville feature wasn't easy. We'll keep you posted on his progress and what the future holds for that 11 car.
At the virtual Williams Grove Speedway on Monday night, the iRacing World of Outlaws Late Models were in action for round number four of ten. Through the opening three races, we'd had three different winners with Evan Seay, Blake Matjoulis, and Hayden Cardwell all scoring victories. Seay entered the night as the points leader over Dylan Yeager and Kendal Tucker. Unfortunately for Cardwell, his night was over early with a crash in his heat race that relegated him to a B-Main, and then another crash in that race that meant he missed another feature. Cardwell has the speed every week to win races and compete for the championship, but he's just been completely snake bitten with the luck. In the 50 lap feature, Seay was on the pole and was basically untouchable for the distance. He becomes the first driver on the season with multiple wins, and he was able to extend the points lead, with Tucker now up to second and Matjoulis third. Seay, Tucker, Yeager, and Logan Rumsey are the only four drivers to earn top tens in every race so far this season. Next week at Pevely we'll be to the halfway point in the season, but so far Seay looks to be the guy right now. You can watch these races live and for free on YouTube and DIRTVision.
There are six shows on today's streaming schedule. DIRTVision has the Super DIRTcar Series from Brewerton and outlaw karts from Millbridge. FloRacing has the debut of the High Limit Sprint Car Series and Flo 24/7. There is also racing from Cottage Grove and Hancock County on Speed Sport. 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 Tuesday. 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!