DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Something has to change with these longer late model races and flat tires | Daily 11-21-2022

Coming up we'll talk flat tires at Cherokee and bad moves and fist bumps at Placerville. Let's go!

It's Monday, November 21st, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.

We'll start this week off with the Blue Gray 100 at Cherokee Speedway. Chris Madden started on the pole and led the first 81 laps, with a challenge here and there from Zack Mitchell. Under a caution with 19 laps to go, Madden ducked into the infield for fresh rubber, and was able to drive back through the field in the closing laps and win the race, topping Daulton Wilson and Ben Watkins. Mitchell ended up 15th after tire and engine issues ended his night. Kyle Strickler was the one leading late when Madden got by, but he suffered a flat right rear on the final lap and limped back to finish 10th. The $12,000 win was Madden's eighth career Blue Gray 100 victory, and even with the pit stop, this one never really felt like it was in doubt for him. He was by far the best car. But here is really why I opened the show with this race. I don't understand why we are cool with races playing out like this one did last night. The 100 lap feature took over an hour and a half because of all the cautions, and the final part of the race was plagued with yellow flag periods because of flat tires. Everyone in the stands knew what was going to happen. All of us at home and on social media knew what was going to happen. Hell, even the announcer was talking about tires. I've mentioned before the idea of maybe shortening some of these races, and I caught some flack for that, so we'll leave that out of this discussion. So here is my next suggestion. Why don't they have a scheduled break where teams can change tires and make adjustments in some of these races? If we are hell bent on running 100 lappers on tracks that are notorious for eating tires, I feel like we could avoid a lot of those late cautions with a break. Most of the field is going to end up needing at least a right rear anyway, so let's be proactive, get everyone on some new rubber, and avoid eight or ten late race cautions because of flat tires. It was a cold night here in the Charlotte area last night, and I feel like it doesn't do anyone any good to have fans sitting in the stands in 30 degree temps to watch a 90 minute feature. Just some food for thought anyway.

In other weekend late model racing, Payton Freeman picked up the $22,000 down at Deep South Speedway for Hunt the Front's Southern Showcase. The weekend finale was moved to Sunday because of Saturday rain, and Freeman was able to capitalize on issues for front runners Joseph Joiner and Brandon Overton. Joiner led the first half, but ended up with damage later after nearly spinning and getting hit by Spencer Hughes. He recovered to fifth. And Brandon Overton was forced to the infield with a flat tire, and drove back through the field and challenged Freeman on two late restarts, but the young Georgia driver in his new ride with GR Smith was able to hold Big Sexy off. Overton did win the prelim night show on Friday over Freeman and Joiner.

And at Boyd's Speedway in Georgia, Dale McDowell led all 40 laps of the Gobbler to snag the $10,000 win. Mack McCarter and Cory Hedgecock completed the podium. This was an Iron-Man series show, and Michael Chilton is on his way to the championship, with the season finale coming up next week at 411 Motor Speedway in Tennessee.

Out in California, the USAC Midget weekend at Placerville Speedway for the Hangtown 100 produced about what you have come to expect from that series lately. We had more Buddy Kofoid wins, and more chatter about crashes and drivers not having any respect for each other. On Friday night, Buddy Kofoid picked up his first ever win at Placerville, surviving late contact with Ryan Timms that sent Timms bouncing off the track and out of contention. Behind the winner though, we had drama between Thomas Meseraull and Bryant Wiedeman, and Tanner Carrick and Jade Avedisian. In a now deleted tweet, TMez complained after the Friday show again about racing rich kids, as he was upset about early contact with Wiedeman that knocked him out of the fight for the lead. Wiedeman slipped up early in that race and bumped TMez off the top of the track. Meseraull later finished 23rd but made sure to get in a few bumps on Wiedeman's car under a caution period to show his displeasure. And Jade Avedisian went for a massive tumble down the frontstretch after Tanner Carrick crowded her into the outside wall later on in the show. The two had traded moves, and on corner exit Carrick just didn't give her any room. Jade got out of her destroyed car, walked across the track, and fist bumped Carrick for the move. I hadn't seen that one before. The next day in an interview with Drake York, Carrick blamed her for the incident, basically saying that he was crossing her over after a slider and she should have lifted to give him the spot. It's a ballsy comment, especially given the fact that they were basically wheel to wheel. It wasn't like she snuck the nose of her car to his right rear. He blamed her lack of experience, but really you expect better for someone of his experience. This is a guy with a lot of sprint car wins, USAC wins, and a Chili Bowl prelim night win. Not a good look for Tanner Carrick. It continues to be interesting to me that we have veteran drivers and social media blaming the quote "rich kids" for all these incidents in midget racing, but when those same veteran guys behave badly, they seem to escape criticism. If the vets are going to pull crap moves, show disrespect themselves, and crash people, then of course the young drivers are going to do the same. If things are going to change, it has to start at the top. On Saturday night in the big show, except for a few laps near half way in lap traffic where Cannon McIntosh was able to get the lead, it was all Buddy Kofoid out front. He led 95 of 100 laps to score the $20,000 race win, and the $12,000 points championship for the weekend. That makes it 12 race wins on the season in 29 starts, with still three nights left to go. The points gap is 215 right now over Justin Grant. Chance Crum was super impressive on the night, driving from 21st to second at the end. He continues to show big improvement and that first national win feels like it's not far off. And I was a little surprised to see Tyler Courtney not make a feature all weekend. He hasn't run a ton of midget stuff this year, but he was definitely lacking some pace. The USAC midgets take on Merced Speedway Tuesday and Wednesday this week before closing out the year on Saturday night at Ventura.

The only items on the streaming schedule today are FloRacing 24/7 and DIRTVision Now. 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 Monday! 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!