DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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The iconic Central Pennsylvania sprint car team that might be closing shop | Daily 12-6-2022
Is the famous Zemco car in Pennsylvania going away? We'll talk about that, plus more Chili Bowl entries, and news from NARC, MARS, Bill Balog, and Garet Williamson. Let's go!
It's Tuesday, December 6th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.
Today's show is going to be another packed news bit episode. Lots of announcements and things to talk about from the past few days, and I'm going to start with a tweet from yesterday from Pennsylvania sprint car driver Logan Wagner. For the past several seasons, Wagner has been the driver of the famous Zemco 1, and has racked up a bunch of track championships at Port Royal. 2022 was actually his fifth. And he's won plenty of races as well, including the big Tusky 50 score at Port Royal in 2021. But yesterday, he posted quote "In response to the questions surrounding the return of Zemco Racing in 2023 - We find ourselves in a state of limbo with uncertainty ahead. Regardless of return or retirement, John and Peewee’s dedication to this sport for over 35+ years is unmatched. #RESPECT" unquote. When you think about Central PA, the Zemco car is one of the iconic rides, right up there with cars like the Apple Chevrolet 12, the Weikert 29, the Kreitz 69K and others. And along the way, John and Pee Wee Zemaitis have had a who's who of drivers in the seat. Names like Danny Lasoski, Stevie Smith, Jeff Shepard, Kevin Gobrecht, and even Kasey Kahne have been behind the wheel of the Zemco 1. I know that all good things must come to an end, but it would suck to see that team close up shop. Such a cornerstone of PA sprint car racing, and I think it's another example of how difficult the future is for the sport. One less car owner means one less seat, and it feels like we are losing more owners than we are gaining. It's something we talked about not that long ago after comments from David Gravel on a recent livestream. And for Wagner, it would mean he now needs to find a ride for 2023 coming off a pretty stellar run at Port Royal. Something to keep an eye on as the offseason progresses here.
Two more sprint car news items for you. First, Bill Balog is partnering up with Ozzie Motorsports and Gibbsville Cheese for next season. Balog has run the two previous seasons in his own 17B out with the All Stars full time, and partnering with Ozzie will help with added support and sponsorship. Balog has dominated the IRA Sprint Car Series in the past, and has finished fifth and sixth in the All Star standings this past two years, adding three wins along the way. It does mean though that Scotty Thiel's future is in doubt, because Thiel had been driving for Ozzie with the Gibbsville sponsorship. Balog and the team have not yet decided on a schedule for 2023, but a return to the All Stars is possible, as is the High Limit Series.
Also, after running a sizeable ASCS schedule in 2022, Missouri driver Garet Williamson will chase the 360 track championship at Knoxville next year, and add on a big slate of 410 races. Maybe something like 25 or 30 appearances with series like the Outlaws and All Stars. Williamson did not run at all with the All Stars in 2022, but did make nine starts with the Outlaws. His best finish was a 14th at Pevely in April.
The Chili Bowl dropped another big round of entries last night, bringing the total to 179 with still more than a month to go before the event. Last night's additions include names like Andrew Felker, Garet Williamson, Brady Bacon, Briggs Danner, Blake Hahn, Damion Gardner, and Chad Boespflug among others. According to Bryan Hulbert, we are up to 29 past feature starters, 44 rookies, and three past champions. Those past champions are Gardner, Sammy Swindell, and Tanner Thorson. On this list we are still missing a lot of the big teams, including Keith Kunz, Chad Boat, Matt Wood, and Clauson Marshall. You can see the full list over at chilibowl.com.
If you're a sprint car fan out west, NARC dropped their 2023 schedule over this past weekend. 24 races, $800,000 in prize money, and it kicks off March 18th at Silver Dollar with the return of the Mini Gold Cup. Along the way are stops in Oregon and Washington along with California, and NARC will again sanction the $50,000 to win Dirt Cup at Skagit in June. With no spring trip out west for the Outlaws, I kind of figured NARC would add a few extra weekends early in the year, but that didn't happen. The Mini Gold Cup on March 18th is the lone addition during the part of the season that has normally been that Outlaw stretch. I'm curious to see about rides out there, as I've heard of maybe a change or two on the way. We know Kalib Henry will be in the midwest this summer, and you have to think that Corey Day will also travel more. So some moving pieces still to figure out with the west coast scene. If you want to see the NARC schedule, head over to NARC410.com.
In some regional late model news, Matt Curl, who operates Fairbury Speedway and was a past series director for the World of Outlaws, has purchased the MARS Series from Tom Izzo Jr. Curl is pairing the late model tour with a modified series, and is handing the reigns of it all to Jonathan Clayton, who has been with DIRTcar and World Racing Group for a long time in various roles. Hopefully this will provide some stability for MARS, which has had a bunch of different owners in it's 20 plus year history. I'm also excited for Jonathan, as he's one of those names the public doesn't really know, but he is well known by drivers and teams and tracks behind the scenes. He's been heavily involved with DIRTcar working for Sam Driggers and with series like the Summer Nationals.
At Eldora last night for the iRacing World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, it was bounce back night for a number of drivers who struggled in week one at Volusia. I mentioned last week that Braden Eyler, Blake Matjoulis, and Hayden Cardwell all missed the night's feature, but that wasn't the case at Eldora. Cardwell and Eyler started towards the front, with Matjoulis getting in via a B-Main transfer. Points leader Alex Bergeron was on the front row with Eyler, and both of them led laps, but ultimately it was fifth starting Cardwell who grabbed the win. Cardwell and Bergeron have a history, including a past dustup at Eldora, but they kept it clean last night. So Cardwell the winner over Bergeron, with Swindell Speedlab driver Kendal Tucker rounding out the podium. Next week the series takes on Williams Grove, and Bergeron already has a 30 point lead in the standings. He's a multi time champion, and his consistency is just going to be really difficult to match over the ten rounds. You can watch the iRacing World of Outlaws each Monday night at 9PM ET free on DIRTVision and YouTube.
It's a quiet streaming day with just FloRacing 24/7 and DIRTVision Now on the schedule. 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! Make sure to hit that like button, and if you enjoy what I'm doing here, tell a friend! We'll see you tomorrow for more DIRTRACKR Daily.