DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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From sitting out, to double duty at World Finals in 24 hours for Parker Price-Miller | Daily 11-2-2022
From not racing to double duty in 24 hours for Parker Price Miller. We'll talk about that, plus day one of World Finals, a new series director for the Outlaws, and more. Let's go!
It's Wednesday, November 2nd, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.
World Finals for the World of Outlaws and Super DIRTcar Series is here and there are a bunch of things to talk about today around the week of racing. We've got some drivers news, some personnel news, we'll talk some picks, so let's get into it. First, this year's World Finals is different than in the past. We have expanded to a four day show, with each of the three series racing three nights. So tonight it's World of Outlaws Sprint Cars and Late Models. Tomorrow it's late models and Super DIRTcar Series, Friday it's sprint cars and big blocks, and then all three race on Saturday. The series that doesn't race each of the next three nights will participate in a fan fest event from 2PM to 4PM each day. So a little different look, but a lot to see and do if you are coming out. If you are going to tune in on DIRTVision, they are actually running two streams all week. They'll have the normal race stream, plus a watch party setup with Dave Rieff, Nick Hoffman, Hannah Newhouse, Chase Raudman, and guests. So a couple of different ways to watch if you are so inclined.
Looking at tonight's racing for the sprint cars and late models. David Gravel has won four of the last six features at Charlotte going back to World Finals in 2019. He'll need to keep that pace rolling if he's going to knock down that 16 point advantage that Brad Sweet currently has. Other recent winners include Brent Marks and Logan Schuchart. Benny asked me in the YouTube comments yesterday basically who I thought was going to win the title, and I still think it's Brad Sweet. The moment won't be bigger than those guys, and Brad will come in hungry to close this thing out. The 16 point difference is basically eight positions, so Gravel has to average beating Sweet by 2.67 positions per race. Gravel has no choice but to finish on the podium and try and win all three nights. That could be a good thing and free that team to just be full send. It could also mean unnecessary risk taking. The momentum is clearly on Gravel's side though, as he leads the series in average finish over both the last five and last ten race stretches. He also hasn't finished worse than fourth at Charlotte since May of 2019. But I think if Sweet knocks out a few top fives, this thing is done. The advantage isn't as big as it's been in past seasons, but 16 points could be just enough to carry Sweet to a fourth straight title. Some other food for thought for you. Back through the 2017 season, Sweet has finished 15th or worse on 17 occasions. Following 15 of those, Sweet was top ten the next race. Three of those were wins, and nine were podiums. And the NAPA 49 is coming off that 27th place finish at Williams Grove. The dirtrackr.com analytics prediction formula is giving Gravel the nod though for the win pick tonight. Drop me a comment and let me know your picks for tonight and for the championship.
Alongside the sprint car series tonight, the late models will also be in action. No championship drama on this side as Dennis Erb Jr. has wrapped up the 2022 title. The rookie battle is still wide open, as is that second place spot in points, with Max Blair and Tanner English set to fight it out. The field is deep for the late models this weekend with a lot of big names coming in. Besides the Outlaw regulars, you'll get Jimmy Owens, Brandon Overton, Lucas champion Tim McCreadie, Jonathan Davenport, Scott Bloomquist, Tyler Erb, Chris Madden, Hudson O'Neal in his first appearance in the Rocket 1, and a bunch more. Davenport swept the World Finals features a year ago, with McCreadie and Overton winners in 2020. Of drivers with multiple feature starts back through 2019, Davenport leads all drivers in average finish at Charlotte, trailed by Chris Madden and Brandon Sheppard. We won't see BShepp though this weekend.
As for the news from yesterday, we've got a few things to get to. First, I'm a little surprised about Parker Price Miller. Jeremy Elliott had that story the other day in which PPM was quoted as saying he wasn't going to race this year, his parents didn't want to him go just yet, and that he'd be back at Volusia and maybe in some late model stuff. But then came the announcement that he's going to run the Swindell SpeedLab 39 for the next three nights, and he posted a photo of a Longhorn Chassis late model, with Kevin Rumley and Tim McCreadie in the background. He was apparently getting in some laps before he makes his World of Outlaws late model debut this weekend as well. He is on the pre-entry list for that series. So from no racing for the rest of the year, to double duty for World Finals. That was a quick turnaround from Jeremy's piece. A quick note about pre-entries, right now MyRacePass shows 26 sprint cars, 61 late models, and 30 big block modifieds. Those numbers should grow as the day goes along.
And as expected with the departure of current series director Casey Shuman, the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and World Racing Group announced yesterday that Steve Francis will take over that position for next season. The dirt late model hall of famer moved over to the Outlaws from Lucas earlier this year as director of competition, and now takes over full control of the series. And it sounds like changes are already coming to the national late model tour for 2023. Francis mentioned rebuilding the schedule to be more in line with how the racers would do it. He also talked about purse restructuring, with more cash available for finishers from third through 14th in a race. The dirt late model landscape has become incredibly competitive over the last few seasons, with racers having a ton of options to choose from each week, and we'll see if Francis can keep the Outlaws towards the top of the heap.
I am actually headed out to World Finals tonight myself. I've got some new camera gear to play with, so I'll be out and about hopefully making some cool content for you guys. Stay tuned in the coming days and weeks for that stuff.
One other personnel news item from yesterday is not related to World Finals. USAC announced it has brought in veteran promoter and competition guy Tommie Estes to be their competition director for circle track racing. Tommie will head up the Silver Crown Series and serve as an advisor to Kirk Spridgeon who runs the sprint car and midget series. Tommie was a racer, and has previously worked for the Chili Bowl, ASCS, and ran Dodge City Raceway Park. I don't want to age Tommie, but the USAC release mentions 45 years in the sport. He is well respected and will be a solid addition to that staff.
It looks like we've got quite a few new episodes this week across the other dirt racing podcasts. Winged Nation has Gio Scelzi and Blake Hahn, LoudPedal as Kody Swanson, Passing Points has Cameron Hagin, All Gas No Brakes has two new episodes, and there are fresh shows for the Dirt Reporters, the Dirt Nerds, Dirt Tracks and Rib Racks, and Wednesdays with Wayne. To see the full list of shows and episodes, head over to dirtrackr.com/podcasts.
Three shows across the streaming services for today. DIRTVision has night one of World Finals from Charlotte, plus the second night of the Carolina Micro Showdown from Millbridge. There is also 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 Wednesday. 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!