DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Is an actual boycott of the Chili Bowl materializing? We look at who's in and who's out | Daily 12-14-2022

We are going full ham on the Chili Bowl entry list today, talking about who's in, who's out, who the favorites are and more. Let's go!

It's Wednesday, December 14th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.

I've been updating you guys here and there on Chili Bowl entries the last few weeks, and today I wanted to dive into the list and see who is there and who isn't. Just last night the event released the updated list, which currently sits at 333 cars. For comparison, the 2022 entry list ended at 394 cars. Obviously still a few weeks left though. This all is noteworthy, because if you might remember back to the summer time, it came out that Kyle Larson was planning on not attending the event he's won twice because of the payout. He, and it sounded like others, are not okay with it paying $10,000 to win. I remember having a conversation with Brad Sweet about it several years ago, and it's finally gotten to a point where drivers are taking a stand. The interesting part though, was outside of Larson, we didn't know who else would join him in not racing. But now that the entry list continues to be updated, we are starting to get an idea of who probably isn't coming outside of Larson. And we know that Yung Money is instead racing the Kevin Rumley late model at the Wild West Shootout. So as of last night, here is where we stand. Bryan Hulbert says 333 entries, 52 feature starters, 62 rookies, and four past champions. Those past champions are Sammy Swindell, Damion Gardner, Tim McCreadie, and Tanner Thorson. We already knew the Chad Boat lineup, the Matt Wood cars are there, and now as of last night, we have the Keith Kunz entries. The KKM cars are notable, because there had been some talk that maybe that entire team would not show, but they are bringing a sizeable contigent that includes Ryan Timms, Tanner Carrick, Daison Pursley and others. Buddy Kofoid has been added as well, but he has no car owner or sponsorship info listed at chilibowl.com. I'm not sure if that's on purpose, or a mistake. He's listed in the 71W and not the 67 as he's raced for several seasons. Timms is the 67, with Mobil 1 as a sponsor. The 71W is the number that Christopher Bell had run with in KKM cars in past seasons, so I am assuming that's a KKM car. But missing from the KKM lineup is Christopher Bell, and a little surprisingly, no Rico Abreu. Rico always campaigned the 97, but Brenham Crouch is listed in that ride. So no Larson for sure, and Bell and Rico absent right now. That would mean that winners of seven of the last eight Chili Bowls are not entered. And if you go down the list, outside of Tanner Thorson, the last time the Chili Bowl was won by a driver who is currently on the entry list for 2023, it was Sammy Swindell in 2009. Drillers from 2010 through 2021 were won by Kevin Swindell, Bryan Clauson, Rico, Bell, and Larson. Walkapedia tweeted out asking about Rico specifically, and just this morning Rico quote tweeted it with the GIF from Wolf of Wall Street saying he's not f'ing leaving, so maybe Rico is still in play. I had also previously mentioned Tyler Courtney, and he's not on the list of entrants currently. He is scheduled to race with Monte Motorsport down under for several events in December and January, including Western Australia Speedweek at Perth, plus the Grand Annual Classic at Premier and several events around it. It doesn't appear as though he has any actual schedule conflicts around the Chili Bowl with that Australian schedule, but I would not assume he's going to come back for Chili Bowl, and then return to Australia. Some other names that are not entered, and we shouldn't expect them to be include Brad Sweet, David Gravel, Donny Schatz, and Kasey Kahne. I also don't see Anthony Macri who had run the two previous events, or Colby Copeland, who had been in every Chili Bowl since 2015. Remember that Copeland is partners with Larson and Sweet in the operation of the Silver Dollar Speedway out in California. I went through last year's Saturday night main event, and as of this moment, 18 of 24 starters are entered for 2023. With several of these high profile guys not attending, the competition this year will be absolutely wide open. Because not only do you have these past champions out, but they also account for 23 prelim night wins as well. We will absolutely see some new prelmin winners, and I think it's more than likely we'll see a first time event winner. I think Buddy Kofoid is absolutely an early favorite, maybe THE early favorite, especially after the USAC midget season he just had. I'd throw Justin Grant in there also, and then look down the list at names like Shane Golobic, Chris Windom, Zeb Wise, Corey Day, and CJ Leary. If we look at KKM specifically, this will be the first Chili Bowl in a really long time that they don't have at least one of those top three guys on their roster. Outside of Kofoid, I like a lot of their drivers, Carrick was a prelim winner a year ago, Pursley is a USAC winner, Ryan Timms is a top young open wheel driver, and the future is bright for several of their other names, but they aren't Rico or Bell or Larson inside the expo. Meaning absolute locks. The 2023 Chili Bowl will not have the larger motorsports appeal wit the big names not running, and I would bet a lot of money that the streaming viewership will be down, especially on Chili Bowl Saturday night. But, I think for us hard core dirt racing fans, this might be one of the most compelling Chili Bowls in a long time because of how wide open it will be. Drop me a comment, let me know your thoughts on the entry list and this Chili Bowl situation. Are these absences going to make you not tune in? Let me know.

Also, if you are going to participate in some of the pools, the Chili Bowl section at dirtrackr.com/analytics will be a great resource for your research. Nearly 100 race nights represented, and driver pages for close to 2000 past entrants. A ton of information for you to look through. And if you want the extra analysis and tools, like the driver compare feature, grab a month of DIRTRACKR Plus for $4.99. If you're going to drop $40 or $50 bucks on entry fees, invest the extra $4.99 and give yourself the best chance to rise up the rankings. You can cancel at any time super easy. To sign up for DIRTRACKR Plus, click the link below in the video description, or Plus in the nav bar at dirtrackr.com.

Some driver news for Pennsylvania came out yesterday from Jeremy Elliott. After splitting with driver Chase Dietz towards the end of 2022, car owner John Trone has decided to go with a two car team for next season. He's pairing both Cameron Smith and Troy Wagaman Jr. for full schedules. They will both be regulars at Williams Grove on Friday nights, and mix in trips to Lincoln and Port Royal on Saturdays, plus other events through the season. The two drivers got late season opportunities with Trone following the split with Dietz, and Trone decided to just keep them both. Smith is still young at only 17, and he just recently moved up from the 358 division. Wagaman has been running his own car, and was a winner at Lincoln in 2022. With the Trone cars settled, I know there are still a few question marks for Central PA for 2023, which includes what will happen with the Heffner car. Daryn Pittman ran some races in it towards the end of 2022, including at the National Open, and a win at Selinsgrove. But I would imagine his commitments with UltraShield will keep him from running that car on a more regular basis.

Around the other dirt racing podcasts this week, Passing Points has Noah Gass and another Down Under episode, Hoogie's Garage has Matt Juhl and Hunter Schuerenberg, and there are new episodes of the Dirt Reporters, the Dirt Nerds, and Dirt Tracks and Rib Racks. To see the full list of podcasts and recent episodes, head over to dirtrackr.com/podcasts.

Again for today, just the two usual items on the streaming schedule today, with FloRacing 24/7 and DIRTVision Now. To see the full daily streaming schedule with links to watch, visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.

Alright, that's it for the show today. We'll be back here tomorrow for more DIRTRACKR Daily.