DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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World of Outlaws release 2023 schedule heavily influenced by competitor feedback | Daily 12-1-2022

The World of Outlaws schedule is out, and we'll dive in to talk about what's there, what isn't, and what it means going forward. We'll also preview Gateway and talk Chili Bowl entries. Let's go!

It's Thursday, December 1st, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.

So not long after I posted Wednesday's show where we talked about the World of Outlaws dropping the spring California races, the series just went ahead and released the 2023 schedule, and in doing so, confirmed basically everything we've been talking about. After DIRTcar Nationals in February, the sprint cars will return to Volusia in early March for rounds number three and four, which exactly coincides with Daytona Bike Week. From there, it's two weeks in Pennsylvania with extra stops at Port Royal, Williams Grove, and Lincoln, and then a southern swing that includes Talladega and Magnolia before the schedule then basically returns to it's usual form. Along the way, we have just one completely new track on the schedule, with Ogilvie Raceway in Minnesota set for an early June date. Tracks back after long absences include 81 Speedway, Tri-City Speedway, and BAPS Motor Speedway. There are also still two TBA dates, October 20th and 21st. With the series only going to California in the fall, a number of tracks out west will now be without an Outlaw show in 2023, including Tulare, Merced, Bakersfield, and Perris, which were all on the spring schedule in 2022. Definitely a bummer to lose a bunch of those California bullrings. The fall trek out west is just a tick more than two weeks, and includes three nights at Skagit, Grays Harbor, three nights of Gold Cup, Hanford, and Placerville. It's nine nights of racing in 17 days. So don't let anyone try and convince you that the series doesn't listen to the teams. We've documented schedule and purse changes in the past on this show, and 2023 has been directly affected by the feedback. No spring California run, and a condensed fall slate out west are exactly what the full timers wanted. The other interesting note to take away from the released schedule is the Kings Royal weekend. A year ago it was four nights, which included the Historical Big One. For next year, only two dates for that weekend are on the Outlaw schedule. The Doty is on Tuesday at Attica, and then Wednesday and Thursday are open right now, but Eldora tweeted yesterday they are finalizing additional nights and an annoucement is coming about what's going to happen on July 12th and 13th. They said to quote "prepare for an event that is unprecedented in the world of Sprint Car racing" unquote. So, now we've seen it, and the reactions, per usual, are mixed. Some like it, some don't, and there are plenty of complaints about this track, or that track. Definitely comments about the loss of the California races, there are too many shows at Williams Grove, not enough Indiana races, why no Wayne County, etc, etc. Remember that it's not uncommon for tracks to come and go on a rotation from year to year, but also these are business decisions. If races aren't well attended by fans and competitors, then they won't last long. Another consideration, and one that I need to ask some of my connections about, is how insurance affects some of these race tracks. If World Racing Group, or whatever series can't get their insurance companies to sign off on particular facilities, then they won't be included. It's something literally nobody talks about, but it is something that has been a problem in the past for some tracks.

To go along with the Outlaws' release, I had a question in my inbox yesterday from Cody who asked about the schedules becoming more and more regionalized among the various series. He wanted to know why a series like the Outlaws doesn't expand to other geographical regions and try and build a base there. He mentioned the southeast, and states out west as examples. Instead of working towards placating the full time runners, why not try and build the sport out in other regions. All good questions, and good points. I think the answer to these questions is a bit layered. First, there have been races in all of those regions at different points. We've seen them race in Arizona and New Mexico, in Montana, and states in the southeast. But when you end up with 19 or 20 cars at some of those races, which includes some 360 guys showing up just for guaranteed cash, how long do the series and tracks take a beating and a loss before they just cut bait. There is no guarantee that running in Montana for a few years is going to jumpstart the sprint car scene there. I agree that it would be great to see certain divisions expand to more non-traditional parts of the country, but it's hard to justify the investment when the outcome is in no way guaranteed. The series hit the regions they do because they know they can be successful there. That's why Knoxville, and Eldora, and Williams Grove end up with so many dates. Because they can get the cars and the fans to show up. Brian Carter made it clear on his Winged Nation appearance that they are selling tracks on having full grandstands for these races. If they can't be sure that will be the case, then you probably won't see them show up. Thanks for the email Cody.

Feel free to use the comment section below to talk about the Outlaw schedule release. This is the first domino to fall in big time sprint car racing for next season. We'll have the All Star schedule later today, and from there we'll wait on High Limit and the Outlaw platinum agreement.

In St. Louis today, the Gateway Dirt Nationals get underway inside the dome with the first of two prelim nights. Split fields are the name of the game for Thursday and Friday, with full programs on tap, culminating in a $5000 to win race for the late models, and a $3000 to win feature for the modifieds. Thursday and Friday's results will then set things up for Saturday's finale, where the modified champ gets $10 grand and the late model winner gets $30 grand. There are a lot of cars expected to participate over the next three days, and we could be in the 60s or low 70s each day just for late models. Names you'll see tonight include Ryan Unzicker, Ricky Thornton Jr., Brandon Sheppard, Bobby Pierce, Jason Feger, Tanner English, and Shannon Babb among others. The tight confines of the Dome track mean the elbows will be out and anything can, and probably will happen. Tyler Carpenter has won the two previous big shows at Gateway, with Bobby Pierce and Scott Bloomquist also past winners. Doors of the building open at 2PM local time for fans, with cars on track by 3PM. All three nights are live on FloRacing if you aren't headed to St. Louis. If you need a Flo subscription to watch, you can click my affiliate link below, or the FloRacing links over at dirtrackr.com. Make sure you are also following @GatewayDirt on Twitter or GatewayDirt on Facebook for updates all weekend.

Down in Florida, the XR Super Series is at All-Tech for their final event of 2022. Racing doesn't start until tomorrow, but the track will be open later on tonight for practice. Even with so many late models at the Dome, the field at All-Tech will be stout, so don't sleep on this one. Jonathan Davenport is expected, along with Tim McCreadie, Matt Sheppard will be there in the Big Frog car, plus names like Jensen Ford and Cla Knight. Kevin Rumley is also bringing his car, but not for Kyle Larson. Brandon Overton is slated to be in the Rumley car, but with the number five on the door, not their usual number six. We'll talk more about XR on tomorrow's show, including a better list of drivers on the premises.

Before we close out, the Chili Bowl dropped the first 100 entries yesterday. Bryan Hulbert tweeted that they went over 100 entries on the same exact day last year, so even with the high profile departure of Kyle Larson, things are still progressing nicely for Tulsa in January. This first 100 entries includes the Cruz Pedregon cars that I talked about earlier in the week, plus Sammy Swindell and Logan Seavey in the Swindell cars. I also see Justin Peck, JJ Yeley, Ayrton Gennetten, Kody Swanson, Chase Briscoe, Noah Gass, Zach Daum, Jason McDougal, Jake Swanson, CJ Leary, Alex Bowman, Brent Crews, Jerry Coons Jr., and Tanner Thorson among others. The event may look and feel just a bit different without a few of the big names, but there will be no lack of competition inside the expo center. If you want to see the full list, head over to chilibowl.com.

There are five shows on the streaming schedule today. Not bad for a Thursday in December. That includes the Gateway Dirt Nationals on FloRacing, the XR Super Series at All-Tech on XR Plus, and action from Perth Motorplex on Clay-Per-View. 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 Thursday! 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!