DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Wait, I think Roth Motorsports just fired Kerry Madsen | Daily 10-14-2022
Kerry Madsen is not in the Roth 83JR this weekend with the Dennis Roth Classic coming up, we'll talk about that plus all the racing to check out over the next few days. Let's go!
It's Friday, October 14th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.
So, I think we sort of quietly had a sprint car driver change this week. Out in California tonight and tomorrow, the NARC 410 sprint cars are at Hanford for the Anthony Simone Classic and Thunderbowl for the Dennis Roth Classic. Yesterday afternoon, Roth Motorsports tweeted out their driver lineup for the two nights, as they are going to run two cars for the weekend. Kyle Hirst is set to drive one, which is not surprising as we've seen Hirst drive plenty of times for Roth before. Also not surprising they are running multiple cars, with Saturday's show dedicated to team owner Dennis Roth. The surprising thing is Kerry Madsen is not in the TRD powered 83 car like he has been all season. Last Saturday night at Hanford, NARC ran the Morrie Williams Memorial Twin 20 features, and Madsen was on his way to the victory in the first main event, but disaster struck late. With three laps to go, the Mad Man caught the cushion wrong in turn two and went tumbling. That handed the win to Corey Day and Madsen was not in the field for the second feature. So for the next two nights, joining Kyle Hirst as a teammate is Tim Kaeding. Kaeding drove the Works Limited 57 a week ago for Kevin Kozlowski and Paul Silva and had some solid runs. TK just recently parted ways with Bates Hamilton, and has his own interesting history with Roth Motorsports. So is Kerry out completely, did he need a week off after that tough crash? We don't know. Things are pretty quiet out of Roth about it. I could be off base, but that makes me think the two sides parted ways. Madsen joined Roth for the 2022 season to run a mix of races out west, plus premier shows around the country. He and crew chief Paul Baines took on the challenge of also helping TRD continue to develop their 410 sprint car engine. It seemed like a great fit following the year Madsen had with Tony Stewart Racing and helping them continue to sort the Ford engine program. But it hasn't been an easy go. In 57 410 races around the country, the 83JR has just 10 top fives and 23 top tens with no victories. They have seven second place finishes, with the last of those coming on Hard Knox Friday at the Knoxville Nationals. That was also the team's last top five finish. In their last 10 appearances, they've finished 13th or worse six times. Roth Motorsports has a history of moving on from drivers quickly if they don't win and run well consistently, and that seems likely here. If you want some idea of how many drivers Roth has had through the years, they are actually selling a t-shirt this weekend that includes a list of all of them. It's a shame for Madsen, because he was really strong with TSR in 2021, and is definitely still capable of winning races. We'll see if TK can do better than what we saw from Madsen. Four races still remain for NARC this season, and Willie Croft and Bud Kaeding are still within striking distance of Dominic Scelzi for the championship. These two nights will be live on FloRacing.
Before we move on, don't forget that decals are back in stock at shop.dirtrackr.com. That includes the logo option, plus two new choices, a sprint car decal and a late model decal. They are $5 each and that price includes tax and postage. I've also got a sale running on some stuff, and shipping is always free in the US. Grab some merch now over at shop.dirtrackr.com.
Alright, let's whip around the country and talk about the racing coming up over the next few days. We'll start with the final Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series weekend of the year. Two nights at Portsmouth for the Dirt Track World Championship are all that's left, and Tim McCreadie is on his way to back to back series championships. He's got a 215 point lead over Brandon Sheppard and will basically just have to show up this weekend to claim the title. With that settled, the focus will really just be on the racing and the $100,000 winner's check on Saturday night. Ricky Thornton Jr. is the defending event winner, while BShepp took down the big money in 2020. RTJ also won at Portsmouth earlier this season, and over the last couple of years has the best average finish of any driver with the series at the track. He could be the guy to beat with his history, and he's been very solid as of late. He's coming off a second place run at Talladega, and has top two finishes in two of his last three features. He's also run top five in four of his last six. Don't sleep on RTJ. If you can't get to Portsmouth, these two nights will be live on Flo.
Just as a late model sidenote, the Sellers owned Double Down team is without a driver for next year right now, and there doesn't seem to be consensus about the pick. In my TikTok comments, I literally have people arguing over who it will be. Some say Josh Richards, some say Jimmy Owens, and others say they are going to help Brandon Sheppard. You gotta love the rumor mill.
Moving on, there is also big money out there for northeast modified competitors with the Short Track Super Series at Port Royal. Saturday's Speed Showcase main event will pay $50k to win, and they could be near 60 cars. Stewart Friesen is the defending event winner, and he could use a little boost with a win like this. It hasn't been easy sledding for that team in 2022. If you're going with momentum though, that means Matt Sheppard. He could win $50 grand for the second straight week, coming off the victory at Super Dirt Week. Tonight's program includes 602 modifieds and 410 sprint cars, with Saturday also having 602s and street stocks. You can watch all weekend on FloRacing if you aren't headed for the speed palace.
In the midwest, the Outlaws have a two race weekend with stops at I-80 Speedway and Lakeside Speedway. Last week at Port Royal, David Gravel was able to take 28 points off Brad Sweet's lead and with six races left the advantage for Sweet is now 66. 66 points is basically 33 positions, so Gravel needs to average beating the NAPA 49 by five and a half spots per night to pull even. Not impossible, but I do think it will still be tough. Gravel is also a new dad, with he and wife Jillian welcoming son Levi this week. Congratulations to them. Sweet and Donny Schatz are the most recent winners at I-80, while Gio Scelzi bagged the last win at Lakeside. Following Saturday night, it's back to Williams Grove next week for the rescheduled National Open, and then World Finals in a few weeks.
Other open wheel action to check out this weekend includes the ASCS National Tour at Devil's Bowl Speedway. They've got just two weekends left to decide things, and right now Blake Hahn is in control over Wayne Johnson. We talked earlier in the week about Anthony Macri making his Silver Crown Series debut at the Bettenhausen 100, and that race is tomorrow. That championship is tied between Kody Swanson and Logan Seavey right now with two races to go. And the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series has their final two races at I-44 Riverside tonight and tomorrow. Zach Daum is trying to win the inaugural championship, and his win last night at Port City should help his cause. Daum was the eighth different winner in eight races this year, with Gavan Boschele, Taylor Reimer, Jade Avedisian, Chance Crum, Michael Pickens, Chase McDermand, and Bryant Wiedeman the other winners.
If you want other late model racing, Chad Simpson is set to be crowned the MLRA champion with two nights coming up at Tri-City. The Southern Nationals has a previously postponed $10,000 to win race at Swainsboro, the RUSH late models are at Lernerville, and I-80 has late models on Saturday for $5300 to win.
Just shy 18 shows on the streaming schedule for this Friday, with more to come over the weekend. That includes stuff on DIRTVision, Fast Four, FloRacing, Speed Sport, The Cushion, and XR Plus. To see the full daily streaming schedule with links to watch, visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
By the way, shout out to my mom for helping with the streaming schedule. That page takes a bit of work to bring you everyday, and she has jumped in to help me with the workload. She's gotten a crash course in dirt racing and tracks and divisions, and she's doing a really nice job. So thanks mom.
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.
Thanks everybody for tuning in, I'll see you tomorrow for more DIRTRACKR Daily!