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New Hunt the Front venture draws negative reactions, but why? | Daily 2-14-2023

Coming up, Hunt the Front starts their own streaming service, and the reaction isn't great. We'll also talk Kraig Kinser's World of Outlaws status and Monday racing. Let's go!

It's Tuesday, February 14th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.

Before we get started, remember that it's Valentine's Day. If you are watching this show on Tuesday, there is still time to make something happen for your special someone. You've been warned.

Alright, we'll start today off with the convergence of a few stories we've been following and talking about lately. This was some news I knew was on the way, but yesterday it finally became public, with the announcement that dirt late model racers and YouTubers Hunt the Front are starting their own streaming service for 2023. And this coincides with the launch of their southeast based super late model series, the Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series, which will kick off later this year. The group explored a bunch of streaming options for their new tour, but landed on their own deal, in partnership with Speed Sport's Speed Sport TV platform. This is the same setup used by quite a few different providers, including Dirt Track Digest, Sprint Car Unlimited, IMCA, and many others. On top of their own races, the new Hunt the Front TV will stream select events from the Crate Racin' USA Series, USCS Sprint Cars and others. Subscriptions are $29.99 a month, and their first scheduled races are this weekend with a pair of shows from Southern Raceway featuring crate late models and street stocks. You can check out the new service over at huntthefront.tv. They are currently just web-based, but apps for mobile and OTT are on the way.

The reaction to the news is pretty interesting, which I'll get to in a moment, but I think this is the right move. Where possible, I like owning as much of the stack as possible. This keeps control of rights and revenue right square in their hands, and allows them to leverage all of their various distribution channels together to grow these new ventures. Between their YouTube channel, Patreon, podcast, new Twitch setup, I think there are some interesting crossover opportunities. Looking at the Facebook post though where they made the announcement, you'd think the world was ending. A lot of negativity in the comments about the launch, accusations of money grabs, people wondering why they didn't go with FloRacing, etc etc. But as we talked about back on February 3rd, with the news that Lincoln was pulling back some from their Flo deal, the streaming landscape continues to evolve and change. Flo looks very much to be consolidating their dirt racing offerings into just the most high impact races and series, and looking elsewhere across motorsports for more opportunities at growth. And that means moving away from some local and regional dirt racing. On the flip side, and as I said before, the more niche providers are going to pick up some of the pieces. The tracks and series are looking for ways to get a bigger piece of the pie, and this is how that happens. They don't have the leverage to squeeze more out of Flo and DIRTVision, so they either go their own way, or make deals with the smaller guys for more of a share. So on one hand, you have a bunch of tracks, series, and fans pushing this idea that services like Flo are the problem, and that streaming is killing tracks. We've somehow completely sidestepped the issue here that tracks and series had a big hand in all of this and agreed to these deals they now don't like, instead blaming Flo for everything. But on the other hand, now that somebody like Hunt the Front works out their own setup, people are upset that it's a money grab. How can you want a series to get more money, and then when they find a way to do that, complain that it's a money grab? I understand that it's yet another streaming service, but I told you this would happen. Yes, it's another $30 a month, but they are launching their own deal, they have new costs, need to share with the tracks on their schedule, and try and make a profit on top of that. They are, after all, running a business. So given the choices here, what would fans out there suggest they do? A deal with a bigger provider didn't work out, and Flo is the devil anyway, right? But they are greedy if they start their own service and charge enough to make it all work. They are literally damned if they do and damned if they don't.

Moving on to Monday night's racing, we'll start with the All Stars at East Bay. I said yesterday we wouldn't see any Outlaw full timers at this one because of the race restrictions, but Kraig Kinser did end up pulling in and racing last night. In a season where there will be a lot of chances to race elsewhere and for good money, I don't think this was Kraig burning one of his four or eight races. As much as I like this series at this track, this wouldn't be one I'd choose as a freebie. This feels like an about face from the weekend where Kraig signed with the Outlaws to be full time and even said quote "I thought about giving it up for a year and regrouping, because I really like driving for myself. I thought about going day to day, but I decided I'd really miss being on the road with the Outlaws. That's been my life" unquote. I think somewhere between Friday night's program and yesterday he decided that maybe pick and choose was the right decision after all. He needed provisionals to make both features at Volusia, and picked up a pair of 23rd place results. But if he thought East Bay would somehow be less competitive, or an easier feature to make, he missed the mark. He had an engine go sour early in the program, and was done for the night following a ninth place finish in the B-Main. For a team down on resources, and an Outlaw series that continues to get more and more competitive, it's probably better for Kraig that he shrinks the footprint where he races and tries to maximize his opportunities. This seems to be a clear indication that the 16 car Outlaw field is now 15 after just two race nights.

In last night's main event, we had a hell of a race between Tyler Courtney and Justin Peck late in the going. Each led laps, but Courtney was able to get away late for the win. Peck settled for second with Buddy Kofoid also on the podium. Anthony Macri bounced back after two tough nights at Volusia to go hard charger with a 13th to 4th run. It was a nice field, with 37 cars signed in. As expected, there were quite a few additions from what we saw at Volusia. I continue to get questions about Chris Windom's situation, since he isn't in Florida. Rumors persist that he has moving to a different team, but will run the All Stars full time. Remember that drivers don't actually have to commit until Attica in April, because these opening races down south are non-points. The All Stars will close out their early season southern swing tonight with another show at East Bay.

At Volusia on Monday, we had DIRTcar sanctioned late models and USAC sprint cars, but not for points. The late model feature was a fun one, a lot of movement in that race. Bobby Pierce, Nick Hoffman, and Tim McCreadie led laps in that one, but it was sixth starting Hudson O'Neal who earned his first career DIRTcar Nationals win. He got to the lead on lap 16 and held off McCreadie through lap traffic to score his third straight super late model win, which included two at East Bay last week with Lucas. McCreadie and Chris Madden completed the podium. This was a massive bounceback for the Rocket house car after a disappointing show a few weeks ago at Volusia to start the World of Outlaws season. We'll see if they can continue this momentum for the rest of the week.

In the USAC sprint car feature, it was all Jake Swanson. He started on the pole and went the distance for the victory. Robert Ballou and Chase Stockon finished second and third. Having not been in the sprint car since November, Swanson looks like he's picked up right where he left off. In his last eight USAC appearances, he has six podiums and two wins. Tuesday at Volusia is the same setup with the non-wing guys and the late models. After tonight, USAC moves to Bubba for the weekend, the big blocks move in at Volusia.

Today's streaming schedule is the same as yesterday's, with another night of late models and USAC sprint cars from Volusia on DIRTVision, plus DIRTVision Now. And FloRacing is back with night two of the All Stars at East Bay plus Flo 24/7. To see the full daily streaming schedule with links to watch, visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.

Have a good Tuesday out there, so you guys tomorrow!