DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
Dirt racing news, results, discussion, analytics. Sprint cars, late models, modifieds, you name it. From national series, to top local shows. Brought to you five days a week. Email the show at info@dirtrackr.com.
Hoosier confirms sprint car tire changes, rollout still a question | Daily 12-23-2022
Coming up on this Friday before Christmas we've got full details on Hoosier's new sprint car tires, we spotlight some new dirt late model content creators, and more. Let's go!
It's Friday, December 23rd, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.
One of the news items to come out of PRI, that I think got lost in the mix a bit, was the changes coming to sprint car tires from Hoosier for 2023. We mentioned it briefly on that Friday show, but now, thanks to a release from Hoosier, we have more details on their plans. As we knew, they are going to a single left rear for all classes, what they are calling the D12A. It is quote a "hybrid construction" between the previous RD12 and H12 left rears. The shoulders have a new tread pattern to hopefully reduce chunking and blistering. The new sprint car right rear will be offered in two compounds, with the new D15A replacing the current H15 and being slightly firmer. The medium compound is remaining the same. Sprint car tires for the front axle are remaining unchanged. I had heard there were question marks about when these new tires would both be available and mandated by series and tracks, but Hoosier's Neil Cowman said in the release that all January and February sprint car racing will continue on the existing tires. That will aid in dealers and teams using up their remaining stock. He said they will work with tracks and series in the coming weeks to put together a plan to phase-in the new tires. Dirt racing tires have been a pretty big issue the last few seasons, as the manufacturers have been hamstrung by the supply chain and labor shortages. Prices continue to rise, as Rico Abreu mentioned the other night on David Gravel's stream, and quality has been a problem. Hopefully these changes on the sprint car side, along with the already announced consolidated dirt late model tires will resolve some of these problems and get us back to a place where tires aren't nearly such a big issue and talking point. It will be interesting to see how this affects the teams an competition once the rollout happens. If you want, you can read the full release from Hoosier over at hoosiertire.com/news.
Back after World Finals, I did an episode of the Daily where I talked about the big dirt late model industry blindspot that I noticed at the event. If you might remember, the thumbnail said "They don't get it" on it. My observation from that weekend was the lack of content being created around the late models, especially when compared to the sprint cars. In the sprint car pit, there were video cameras and cell phones everywhere capturing photos and video for social. But that same thing was not happening down in the late model pits. In the weeks since that video though, there have been a few notable changes to the dirt late model social media landscape, and I wanted to spotlight them today. I had previously mentioned Jason Feger's YouTube channel, but I'll call it out again today. They started it in September and have since made 16 videos around Feger's racing, including plenty of behind the scenes stuff and some commentary. Their most recent videos are from their trip to the Dome. If you gave me a list of drivers to potentially try out vlogging in 2022, I'm not sure Jason Feger would have been high on the list, but I really like what they are doing. They are currently approaching 1500 subscribers. Another new addition is JCM Motorsports. They posted their first video on August 12th, but have gotten more serious as of late, including posting some onboard footage and a couple behind the scenes, vlog style videos from the Dome with driver Wil Herrington. Also doing solid work like Feger, and they deserve a lot more than the 171 subscribers they have currently. And the final new dirt late model channel I want to point out, and one I've really been enjoying, is Brandon Sheppard's. Four videos so far, including a recap of Senoia, their chassis reveal for 2023, a vlog from night one at the Dome, and most recently a tour of Anheuser Busch in St. Louis. I feel like I learned more about BShepp and saw more of his personality from these few videos than I did in the last several seasons of watching him race. He and his team are doing a great job with these, and I hope they continue. I'm very much all in on this new version of BShepp back out on his own. This channel right now has a little less than 1500 subscribers, but I'm sure it will grow quickly. Big kudos to all these teams for making the investment and getting started. It will definitely pay dividends down the road. If you want to get in early on these videos, I've added all three pages to the Channels tab on the DIRTRACKR channel.
There have been some new paint schemes floating around on social media, so let's share a few of them if you haven't seen these yet. The first one is Bobby Pierce's look to start 2023. Sharp looking ride, which we will see for the first time at the Wild West Shootout. Remember Pierce is switching to Longhorn Chassis for next year. The other one is the Vermeer Motorsports 55. This is the car that Hunter Schuerenberg drives, and owner Tony Vermeer says we'll see them in February, which I'm assuming means for those early season All Star shows down south. Schuerenberg ended up fifth in the All Star standings for 2022 with four wins. The All Star season kicks off February 3rd at Senoia.
Following the loss of Rick Eshelman earlier this year, the World of Outlaws Late Model Series closed out the season with names like Ben Shelton, Ruben Mireles, Bret Emrick, and James Essex in the booth. But for 2023, they were obviously going to need a permanent solution, and we found out yesterday who that will be. The series named Ruben Mireles it's full time announcer going forward, and that feels like the right choice to me. Ruben had done pit reporting in the past for the series, he's been the Summer Nationals voice for several seasons, and he'll be able to dive right in when the season opens next month at Volusia. He'll be joined on the broadcasts and on the PA system by returning pit reporter Hannah Newhouse. Ruben is from New Mexico and he honed his craft on the mic at tracks like El Paso Speedway Park and New Mexico Speedway. And Rick Eshelman actually helped Ruben get the Summer Nationals gig several years ago. So congrats to Ruben on the new gig, he'll do a great job.
I've got another round of shop photos for you today. The first couple here are from Brent Larson's new shop in Minnesota. Brent is a regular with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, and these were shared on his team's Twitter account a few days ago. Plenty of room there for the toter inside, plus all the cars and equipment. Sweet looking new digs for the B1 bomber. Hat tip to Dirt Track Lover on Twitter for pointing these out to me. My next photo is from West Virginia racer Garrett Mitchell. This is their Spike chassis midget with a Chevy Gaerte engine in their shop. They race at Ohio Valley Speedway and travel periodically to some stuff in Indiana and Pennsylvania. He and his dad Greg were also at the Junior Knepper 55 at Du Quoin here just a few days ago. Thanks to Garrett for the photo. And my last photos for you today are from the boss man with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. Rick Schwallie sent me these from both inside and outside their shop in Batavia, OH. Looks like they've got everything cleaned up and ready to go. They will be back on track here in just about a month when the 2023 season kicks off at Golden Isles down in Georgia. Thanks for the photos Rick! If you want to share your shop photos this offseason, feel free to DM them to me on social media, or email them to info@dirtrackr.com.
For the next two days, just FloRacing 24/7 and DIRTVision Now on the streaming schedule. Check out Clay Per View though coming up, as they've got racing from Perth and Murray Bridge over the weekend. That Perth show is featuring Tyler Courtney, Brock Zearfoss, and Cory Eliason up against the Aussie regulars. And Murray Bridge has names like Jamie Veal, Lockie McHugh, Jock Goodyear, and Chase Randall. To see the full daily streaming schedule, head over to dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
Alright, that's it for the show today. Hope you have a good Christmas weekend, or whatever holiday you are celebrating right now. Thanks everyone for tuning in. We'll be back here on Monday for more DIRTRACKR Daily.