DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Crazy dirt late model silly season continues! Devin Moran and Tye Twarog team splitting | Daily 10-18-2022

Devin Moran is the latest dirt late model driver to split with his team. We've got details, plus a guess on how much Matt Sheppard has made in 2022 and some schedule updates. Let's go!

It's Tuesday, October 18th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.

I got told in a comment last week that I know nothing about late models and that every late model topic I talk about is from something I read on Dirt on Dirt the day before. So I just want it known that this bit of news I'm about to discuss was not from Dirt on Dirt. I actually saw this on Twitter last night first. And I can confirm that I saw this before it was posted on DoD because I retweeted it at 7PM eastern time, and it didn't appear on the Dirt on Dirt website until 7:23. Let it be known that I'm a big DoD fan, and when I do reference stuff I've seen there, I do give them credit. Same with Jeremy Elliott at Sprint Car Unlimited. And same with everything else I find around the interwebs to talk about. To be clear though, I'm not really the breaking news guy. We'll talk about stuff for sure, but there are plenty of other places to get that type of stuff. So what is this news you may be asking me right now? It's that Devin Moran and car owner Tye Twarog are splitting following last weekend's Dirt Track World Championship. It says the split is amicable, but the quotes very clearly point to this being intiated by Moran. Twarog said in the release that they will evaluate their options for next season and quote "see where things fall" unquote. He did say they will be around next year. Moran's quotes in that same release point to him having a deal already lined up, but that they are not ready to announce it just yet. Moran said quote "When all of the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed on everything, we will put out another press release with that announcement" unquote. Except for a stint with Dunn-Benson in 2019, Moran has been in the Twarog car since 2017. In 78 races in 2022, they picked up 10 wins across Lucas, the Outlaws, Summer Nationals, and elsewhere. They team ran for Outlaw points in 2017 and 2018, finishing fourth both years and earning rookie of the year. In 2020, they were seventh in Lucas points. For the past two seasons, the nine car has been pick and choose, although you have to think they would have been in contention for the Lucas championship with the way they've run. They left speedweeks in 2021 third in the standings, and were leading this season after the Florida Georgia stretch. Through the opening 12 nights of 2022, Moran had three wins, seven podiums, ten top fives, and 12 top tens. If you were to stretch his 2022 average finish out over the full season, he would have mostly likely been nipping on the heels of Sheppard at the end. Lately though, it hasn't been so smooth, as Moran hasn't finished top ten in a Lucas race since I-80 on July 22nd. He missed the feature at the Dirt Track World Championship, and his previous four finishes were 18th at Tyler County, 25th at Brownstown, 12th and 11th at Florence. So the question becomes where is Moran going, and the one big open ride at the moment is the Roger Sellers' owned Double Down 71 that Hudson O'Neal is vacating as he moves to Rocket Racing to take over for Brandon Sheppard. That 71 car has also been rumored to be going to Jimmy Owens, Josh Richards, and supporting BShepp next season. Of all these choices, BShepp is obviously at the top of his game, and I think Moran has the most upside at only 28 years old. Owens can still win, but he's not getting any younger, and Richards is probably at the lowest point of his career. The one thing I wonder about Moran to the Sellers car though is the chassis selection. Moran has been in a Longhorn and O'Neal was in Rockets, so if that is the move, what do they do? Is Moran cool in Rockets, or do they switch to Longhorns? Wherever Moran goes, I hope it means he's back on a national tour for 2023, as he is definitely capable of competing for championships. Stay tuned, as this dirt late model silly season continues to bring the hits.

On yesterday's show we talked about Matt Sheppard winning at Port Royal over the weekend and Kyle asked what Sheppard's earnings look like for the season. I couldn't find anything super definitive about his totals anywhere, so I went and did some quick math. The Super DIRTcar Series has purse money on the results, so we know that including the Super DIRT Week win, Sheppard has racked up $118,250 with the SDS this year. That doesn't include any tow money, contingencies, or the championship, which is worth $60,000. On the Short Track Super Series side, they don't post purse money, but I did go through and add up his payouts from wins. Including big money for Port Royal, Fonda, and Orange County Fair, Sheppard has taken down an additional probably $165,000 plus, and that doesn't include any winnings from races he did not win. So just that money puts him in the mid $280s. The $60k from the Super DIRTcar Series will push him into the mid $300s. The Short Track Super Series titles are worth $25k for the Elite side, and $15k for each region championship. So for all of 2022, Sheppard will easily be over $400,000 for the season. That would put him in the top ten in earnings if this was dirt late model racing. He'd also be top five on the sprint car side. So definitely a lot of money available in northeast modified racing, you just have to win a bunch. Sheppard still has a few opportunities to add to that tally as well, with a few more Short Track Super Series races coming up and World Finals in November.

A couple of 2023 schedule notes for you today. Knoxville Raceway confirmed their World of Outlaws Sprint Car dates yesterday via social media. That April weekend we talked about on an episode last week is April 21st and 22nd. That joins June 9th and 10th, and the Knoxville Nationals which are August 9th through the 12th. We also got to see the dates for Eldora's big events back on Friday. The Dirt Late Model Dream weekend is June 8th through the 10th, the Kings Royal is July 12th through the 15th, and the World 100 is September 7th through 9th. It appears as though the Dream weekend is back to regularly scheduled programming as just a three day show, as opposed to the four we got in 2022 with the Eldora Million. So two prelim nights and the finale. Eldora ticket renewals will start soon, and Knoxville is renewing Nationals tickets right now through November 15th. Like I said a few days ago, these schedules will continue to get clearer and clearer in the coming weeks.

Two items on the streaming schedule today. They are weekly outlaw karts from Millbridge on DIRTVision and FloRacing 24/7. 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. 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!