DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Lane Racing drops Cap Henry with 3 races left, Kaylee Bryson ties best USAC midget result by a woman | Daily 9-23-2022
We've got All Star silly season news, Kaylee Bryson tied a record, 4-Crown at Eldora is coming up and more. Let's go!
It's Friday, September 23rd, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.
We did it friends! We made it to the end of another week. What a week it was too. We've talked slide jobs, the droop rule, late model tech, race tracks on the brink, all kinds of stuff. If you've missed any of the shows this week, I'd definitely recommend going back and tuning in before the weekend gets going. And speaking of the weekend coming up, lots of racing to talk about around the country.
The 4 Crown weekend at Eldora starts tonight, but before that gets underway, we had USAC sprint cars and midgets at Gas City last night for the James Dean Classic. Kevin Thomas Jr. has been on a tear lately in the sprint car, and he was really good again last night. He sat on the pole and led the first 20 laps easily, but things got a little interesting inside ten to go. Most of the field was on the top, but when the grip went away, it went away quick. Second running Logan Seavey reeled KTJ in in a hurry and took the lead. It was short lived for Seavey though, as Thomas jumped to the bottom and found the grip he needed there to take back the lead and drive on to the win. It was the third win in five races for KTJ, and if he didn't have that trouble at Haubstadt, it could be four wins in five races. We haven't seen him be in the mix for wins at Eldora over the past few seasons, but if he can bring this speed to Saturday, he could be the guy to watch. In the race for the sprint car championship, Justin Grant's hard charge from 14th to fifth was exactly what he needed last night as Brady Bacon faded from third to tenth at the end. Headed to Eldora, the gap is back out to 80 points. Looking at Eldora, Tyler Courtney has won the two previous USAC sprint car events there, with Robert Ballou also a winner in 2021. I don't know if Sunshine is racing the non-wing stuff though this weekend. He's not mentioned in the USAC pre-race release and I can't find mention of it anywhere. If he runs, he'll be a heavy favorite, but if not the dirtrackr.com analytics prediction formula likes Bacon. I'll go KTJ.
In the midget portion of last night's program, Kaylee Bryson led the first 18 laps before points leader Buddy Kofoid came calling. Kofoid started eighth, but was third just four laps in, and he took the lead for good on lap 19. He stretched away quickly and won by something like four seconds at the end. That's now four wins in five starts for Buddy, and ten total on the season. He's the first driver to get double digit wins in a season since Rich Vogler did it in 1988. Behind the winner, Kaylee Bryson made a little history of her own. The second place finish was the best of her career, and she tied Sarah McCune for the best finish by a woman in a USAC midget event. Bryson has been running the midget full time this year and the seat time has really paid off. Her average finish has jumped from 15th in 2021 to 9.5 this year. Way more top fives and top tens, and close to that first victory last night. Moving to Eldora now, the midgets will run full programs each of the next two nights. Chris Windom and Tyler Courtney were the winners in these races a year ago, but Kofoid is the pick from both me and the formula tonight.
Joining the midgets on the program tonight is the Silver Crown cars, they will just qualify in advance of their feature on Saturday. Logan Seavey is the defending Eldora winner, while Kody Swanson is the points leader. Also on tap tonight is a full show for the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars. Logan Schuchart was victorious here a year ago, while Brent Marks and David Gravel each have Eldora wins in 2022. Logan is also coming off that win last weekend at Hanford out in California. Brad Sweet remains in control of the Outlaw championship fight, carrying a 74 point lead over Gravel, and 94 points over Carson Macedo with just 11 race nights remaining. The formula likes Macedo tonight, I'm going Gravel.
On Saturday at Eldora, we'll get full programs for the midgets and sprint cars, the Silver Crown feature, and a full show for the All Star Circuit of Champions. Tyler Courtney is on his way to the All Star title, so no drama there with three races left in 2022. Rico Abreu won the All Star race during 4 Crown a year ago, and will be back in the field this weekend to try and repeat. The formula likes Buddy Kofoid tonight, which is actually a solid choice. I'm gonna go Sunshine though. The pressure is off for the championship, and I could see those guys getting one tomorrow. One guy who it sounds like we won't see at Eldora this weekend is Brent Marks. The schedule he posted to Twitter a while back has them at Selinsgrove this weekend for their National Open. Cory Eliason will be there as well in the Indy Race Parts 71. So we'll have to see who is in the Sam McGhee 11, and as of this morning there are questions about the Lane Racing four car. The team released a statement saying they have parted ways with both driver Cap Henry and crew chief Zack Myers. The statement says they are committed to finishing the All Star season, but we don't know who is wrenching on that car or driving it tomorrow. The two sides part ways with Cap currently third in the All Star points, and the timing is a little strange with only three races left, and Henry being so good at Fremont. Henry had two wins this year, including most recently a few weeks ago at Sharon. The team struggled though at the Tusky and this last weekend at the Grove and Lincoln. A quick streaming note before we move on, this is one of those bad weekends. The Outlaws tonight will be on DIRTVision, with everything else on FloRacing. The full show on Saturday will just be on Flo though as the Outlaws head over to Sharon.
If you missed it yesterday, hats are now available to purchase over at shop.dirtrackr.com. There are two options to pick from, and they are $35, which includes tax and shipping. Also, I'll leave the coupon code active through the weekend. Use the code "hat" at checkout to get 20% off either of the DIRTRACKR shirts. You don't have to buy a hat though to get the discount.
For the late model folks, both national tours are racing the next two nights with Lucas at Brownstown for the Jackson 100 weekend, and the Outlaws at Boyd's in Georgia. Both nights at Brownstown are full programs, with tonight paying $10 grand to win, and Saturday's 100 lapper paying $20,000 to win. Brandon Sheppard is trying to close that 100 point gap to Tim McCreadie for the Lucas championship, but time is running out. Jimmy Owens is the defending Jackson 100 winner, while the formula likes Devin Moran tonight. I think I'm gonna go McCreadie for a bounceback win after his issues at Knoxville.
It's a similar setup for the Outlaws at Boyd's in Georgia, with $10 grand tonight, and $20,000 tomorrow going to the winners. Dennis Erb Jr. is the points leader over Tanner English, and we haven't seen the Outlaws since September 2nd at Smoky Mountain when Jimmy Owens was the winner. This will be the first ever trip for the series to Boyd's, and the teams based in the southeast will be out in force for this one to try and beat the Outlaws. Chris Madden, Dale McDowell, Ashton Winger, and Cory Hedgecock are just a few of the names who are expected to attend.
Other racing to check out this weekend includes the USMTS at Deer Creek for the Fall Jamboree. Lucas Schott was the winner last night there. Dustin Sorensen continues to lead the points. We'll also get another round of micros at Texas Motor Speedway hosted by Christopher Bell. Kale Drake was the feature winner last night, and we are thinking about DJ Vanderley today, who had a big crash in that one and is in the hospital. Also, as I mentioned earlier this week, don't sleep on that IRA Sprint Car championship fight.
If you want some more content today, check out the new conversations episode I posted last night with Dirt Track Digest's Mike Mallett. We talked the current state of northeast modified racing, the incredible season for Matt Sheppard, and a bunch of stuff around the business of streaming. It's on the YouTube channel and in the podcast feed right now.
The streaming schedule is packed for the weekend and includes all the racing I talked about on the show, and a lot more. I think just about every service has something going on over the next three days. To get the full picture, head over to dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
That's it for the show today, enjoy the dirt racing weekend. Please hit that like button, and subscribe to the show if you don't already. We've busted through 8500 YouTube subscribers, and that 10,000 mark is in play before the year is out.
Thanks everybody for tuning in, I'll see you tomorrow for more DIRTRACKR Daily!