DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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No, Billy Moyer isn't driving for Scott Bloomquist this weekend | Daily 8-18-2022

On the show today we'll talk mean race fans at a race track called Friendship, Billy Moyer not driving for Bloomquist, and the start of the Jackson Nationals. Let's go!

It's Thursday, August 18th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.

If you missed it last week, I dropped the first ever DIRTRACKR t-shirts, and you can get one right now at shop.dirtrackr.com. They are $30, which includes free shipping. The decals are also available over there now. We've got the "Don't tell me there's no passing in sprint car racing" shirt, along with the "Dirt late model championships matter" option. I've got sizes from adult small to 4X on sale. If you buy today, I will ship today. shop.dirtrackr.com.

We'll start today with a couple of interesting social media posts that have been floating around the past 24 hours. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is headed to Batesville Motor Speedway this weekend for the Topless 100, and the hall of famer Billy Moyer is expected to be in attendance, but a Facebook post about Mr. Smooth has drawn quite the reaction. In the photo, posted by Ernie Leftwich who works for the MLRA, Moyer is seen sitting in the seat of a black late model, with the top missing of course, but on the door panel is a giant Scott Bloomquist sticker. It has definitely caused some stir and left people wondering if Moyer is indeed racing for Bloomer this weekend. But if you dig into the comments, people have pointed out the car is a Longhorn Chassis, and Moyer is racing for Tim Lance this weekend. Supposedly the sticker was on the Lances' trailer, and they slapped it on the car as a joke. A nice reminder that you can't believe everything you see on Facebook and on the internet. Love them stirring the pot though.

Also, Friendship Motor Speedway, located in Elkin, North Carolina, has announced they are cancelling the remainder of their 2022 season, but not for reasons you might expect. I dug into this one thinking tire shortages, or lack of interest from fans and drivers, maybe the family that runs it was retiring, or something similar. I was not expecting them to say it was because of disrespect and verbal abuse from drivers, crew members, and fans. The track posted a lengthy statement where they detailed all of their grievances, including fans and competitors not abiding by safety policies, people complaining about weather related cancellations, folks not signing in at the pit gate, fans trying to side step tickets and pricing, issues with IRS forms, problems with concessions and bathrooms, and more. It's quite the read if you want to go find it on the track's Facebook page. The statement says the track will be available for private test sessions and that the operators are exploring potential uses for the property going forward. It's certainly a shame to lose a race track like this, and you'd hope that maybe they can turn things around and re-open to weekly racing in the future. This one was a reminder that just when you'd think you've seen everything, along comes a surprise.

Night three of SummerFast for the Super DIRTcar Series was rained out last night at Fulton Speedway. It looked like they had a monsoon roll through from the pictures posted on social media. So with last night cancelled, they will close out the week with a stop at Land of Legends Raceway tonight for $7500 to win. So far this week Jimmy Phelps and Matt Sheppard have picked up victories. Sheppard continues to lead the series points standings over Mat Williamson, Anthony Perrego, Phelps, and Max McLaughlin. Following tonight the big blocks go to Ransomville on August 24th, then race four times in September between Lebanon Valley, Weedsport, and Albany-Saratoga. And then the 50th edition of Super Dirt Week takes place October 5th through the 9th. You can watch these races all season long on DIRTVision, and check out superdirtcarseries.com for more information.

We've talked a bunch of sprint car stuff this week, between the Knoxville Nationals and the debut of the High Limit series. Things stay busy tonight with the opening of the Jackson Nationals at the Jackson Motorplex in Minnesota for the World of Outlaws. This is a new date for the event, following Knoxville instead of the usual three days in June it's been for a long time. And the other big change for the weekend is the winner's share of the purse money come Saturday night. We've talked a lot in recent seasons about pay and purse bumps all around the country, but for this event, things have gone the other way. Last season when Logan Schuchart took down the Jackson Nationals main event, he went home with $50,000. But this year, the winner will get $25k. Certainly not a bad pay day, but definitely a step back from the past several years. The last time this race paid $25,000 to win was in 2017. I've already seen the purse is a talking point for the weekend, and questions seem to be floating around about the possible car count. Since 2017, we've been anywhere from the mid 30's to low 40's for the three days, and it sounds like some think it could be less than that. Knoxville and Huset's are not racing this weekend, so you'd assume a lot of the midwest cars will be there to go along with the Outlaw full timers. A bunch of teams that were in the area though this week will have moved on, including all the All Star guys who are headed to the northeast for a busy three race weekend that starts tomorrow at Outlaw Speedway. I'd guess we'll still be into the 30's though. It looks like both Rico Abreu and Brian Brown are coming, this race is on Gio Scelzi's schedule with KCP, and it appears is though Tanner Carrick is sticking around the midwest for another weekend. If you're looking for some possible win picks, Logan Schuchart has won this event two years in a row. Names like Kerry Madsen, Brad Sweet, Carson Macedo, and Donny Schatz have been to Jackson's victory lane as well. Since 2017, Sweet has by the far the best average finish at Jackson, sitting right at third over 15 feature starts. The next closest is David Gravel at 6.13. The dirtrackr.com analytics prediction formula favors The Big Cat over Gravel tonight. I'm gonna pick Macedo. He had three top five runs there a year ago, and that win back in 2019. That team needs a win also to climb back into this championship fight. Remember, the points didn't change at Knoxville, only show up points are paid for the week. So coming into Jackson this weekend, Brad leads David by 68, Macedo is 114 out, Sheldon 150 back, and Schatz is 184 behind. Schuchart, James McFadden, Spencer Bayston, Jacob Allen, and Brock Zearfoss complete the top ten. 25 race nights remain on the 2022 schedule for the Outlaws. If you aren't headed to Jackson tonight, you can watch live over on DIRTVision.

There are 11 shows on the streaming schedule today. DIRTVision has night one of the Jackson Nationals and the Super DIRTcar Series from Land of Legends. FloRacing has MARS late models and IMCA action from 141 Speedway, plus Flo 24/7. There is also local and regional racing 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 Thursday. 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!