DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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How dirt racing lives at the intersection of chaos and organization | Daily 12-19-2022

We're getting philosophical today on the show talking chaos and organization, plus we've got news on Belle-Clair, weekend results, and more. Let's go!

It's Monday, December 19th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.

Coming up in a bit I've got some race results for you from the weekend and a few news items, but first I wanted to talk to you guys about chaos and organization. As we've been documenting lately, there is a fair bit of unrest in dirt racing. Streaming and other factors are changing the sport in various ways, and quickly, and people don't deal with change well. Whether we are talking about championship formats in dirt late model racing, or purse money at the Chili Bowl or with sprint cars, there are a lot of opinions, and some folks have been not happy. In the midst of these conversations, you hear comments about wanting sanctioning bodies to go out of the business, or streaming services to fail, or big events to take a hit for their dealings. It's made me think a lot about chaos and organization in dirt racing. All of the things that fans and competitors want from dirt racing only comes from organization. Streaming money, maybe even live TV, big race purses, fat championship payouts, the possibility of big time sponsors. All need organization. A clear plan of who does what, and goes where, rules, insurance, timely payouts, etc etc. Those things don't come from chaos. We are right now on the cusp of NASCAR's 75th anniversary, and it was on December 14th, 1947 when a bunch of people got together at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach and got organized. NASCAR was born because people got together and created something out of chaos. If you want the dirt racing equivalent, it was Ted Johnson in 1978 with the World of Outlaws. He put together a group of travelers and big races and created a series that still exists 45 years later. It's this intersection between chaos and organization where dirt racing lives, which both makes it great, and holds it back. Jonathan Davenport is a perfect example of this. Not signed on with a national touring series, on a week to week basis, he could show up anywhere with the 49. You know he'll be at the big paying events, but from there it's a question mark. Some races that would seem to make sense, they don't race, and others that would appear to be out of their way, they show up to. It is some measure of chaos when one of the sport's biggest stars, if not biggest star, is elusive for appearances. It's both awesome that the 49 hauler could show up anywhere, and also not great for tracks and series trying to sell tickets, not knowing necessarily who they'll get. Imagine not being sure if Chase Elliott would roll into a NASCAR event, or if Tom Brady suddenly decided to show up in Seattle instead of Tampa. It would be madness. But as dirt racing fans, that's what we deal with, and that's what we understand. And we could be about to have much more chaos like this in sprint car racing if some of these teams follow through on the things that have been said. We had Jeremy Elliott talking just a few days ago about the possibility of a new national touring series for 2024. You know what we don't need right now, is another split. More chaos. Ask the NST, or IndyCar how that worked out for them. But some seem like they are actively advocating for it. A split and more chaos will do nothing but set the sport back. Davenport and Brent Marks were the top earners in a late model and sprint car in 2022, and both were deep in the chaos with pick and choose schedules. It certainly worked out well for them, and has others thinking about similar paths. But really, those two were beneficiaries of organization. Davenport won a million dollars in one race, and Marks won $276,000 in a weekend, because Eldora has a rich history of being owned by the right people and run by the right people. Well promoted, good sponsors, lucrative streaming deals, strong fan support. Those things don't come from chaos, they come from organization. And it's at this intersection of chaos and organization that dirt racing will continue to live. And it will continue to both be beneficial and harmful. Organization is what is needed, but is also railed against. Chaos provides excitement and fun, but also tears things apart. Here's to hoping we can find some way to strike a balance.

If you might remember from back in October, we did a daily show about the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds being for sale, which included Belle-Clair Speedway, located in Belleville, Illinois. A couple of months later now, we are getting closer to a resolution for the property, and potentially some good news for the future of the race track. Last week, St. Clair County and the City of Belleville acquired the facility, with plans on continuing it's operation. County Board chairman Mark Kern posted on Facebook that that quote "the location will now be available at all times should it be needed during emergencies, and existing shows and events will continue as normal. Other events will be encouraged and promoted. We have had inquiries about reopening the racetrack and we are encouraged by all of the positive support we have received" unquote. As we talked about back in October, the facility needs a lot of work, but the potential is still really high, so hopefully a group can come in and get the race track back in shape and start hosting events again soon. It is good to hear that maybe we won't be losing yet another race track.

Before we move on, I wanted to share this photo from Vinny Guliani who works on Jonathan Davenport's late model team owned by Lance Landers. With crew chief Jason Durham departing the 49 squad after the season, the whole operation moved back to Arkansas and Vinny has shared a few photos along the way. Obviously you wouldn't expect anything less than a great looking shop from a team that won over $2 million this season. Since we are in the offseason now mostly, if you are out there in my audience and you have a car you race on dirt, or a cool shop setup, shoot me a photo. DMs are open, or send them to info@dirtrackr.com. We'll share some on the show. Make sure to include where and what you race and any other relevant details. I think it would be fun to see what some of you are working with.

On Saturday night indoors at DuQuoin, it was Daniel Robinson who picked up the victory in the Junior Knepper 55 with the POWRi Midgets. Robinson got the lead before halfway, and drove on to the victory. He started eighth in the feature, but was to the front pretty damn quickly. It didn't pay to lead laps early in the main event, as Shane Cottle, Thomas Meseraull, and Zach Daum all ended up having issues after leading early. TMez and Cottle fought back to finish 7th and 8th. Behind Robinson, Zach Boden and Kyle Cummins rounded out the podium.

Down under over the weekend, Ian Madsen was a winner at Eastern Creek over Kaidon Brown and Jessie Attard. At Premier Speedway, Jock Goodyer topped James McFadden and Ryan Newton. That race at Premier also had a big crash for Carson Macedo driving for Sean Dyson. Macedo was okay, but the car was destroyed. This photo on the screen was from Robert Lake.

In some sprint car driver news, Mitchell Faccinto tweeted out on Sunday that he is out of the Tarlton ride with the season now over. He ran all season with NARC, finishing fourth in the standings behind Dominic Scelzi, Willie Croft, and Bud Kaeding. In 36 410 races in 2022, he had seven top fives and 15 top tens. His lone win on the season came in 360 competition during the Silver Cup at Silver Dollar Speedway back in March. He is currently looking for 360 and or 410 opportunities for 2023.

There are three items on the streaming schedule today. DIRTVision has the iRacing World of Outlaws from Pevely and DIRTVision Now. There is also FloRacing 24/7. To see the full daily streaming schedule with links to watch, visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.

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