DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Chris Windom announces new ride, update on Ashton Torgerson | Daily 2-21-2023

Chris Windom has a new ride for 2023, and we'll get into it, plus updates on Ashton Torgerson, racing down under, and a question for you to ponder about dirt and NASCAR. Let's go!

It's Tuesday, February 21st, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.

I've been asked quite a few times in recent weeks what's up with Chris Windom, as we didn't see him down south in Florida with the All Stars to start 2023. We've known a deal was in the works for a while for Windom to move to a new situation, and we finally got confirmation yesterday. The 2022 All Star rookie of the year is moving from Hayward Motorspots to Lane Racing and bringing the NOS sponsorship with him. Windom, like Tyler Courtney, decided to make the jump from regular non-wing competition, to full time winged competition, and 2022 was his first time on the road as a full timer. On top of rookie of the year, Windom finished seventh in the final All Star standings, picking up four top fives and 15 top tens in 52 appearances last season. As for Lane Racing, they were looking for a regular driver after parting ways with Cap Henry late in 2022. They ended up fourth in the final All Star standings, including grabbing two victories, both at Sharon Speedway, once in the spring, and one in the fall. As for how this deal came together, there aren't a lot of public details. We know Hayward continues to operate as a team, as they brought a pair of cars to Chili Bowl. Windom did thank them in the Lane press release for his time in their cars. Towards the end of 2022, all signs were pointing to a return to the All Stars for Windom and Hayward, but somewhere along the way it went sideways. If we are comparing Henry and Windom right now, at least in terms of winged competition, Henry is the safer choice. Definitely a known quantity, and he was significantly better than Windom in 2022. But, I think the ceiling is probably higher for Windom, and we did see pretty dramatic improvement through the course of the year. Windom also brings funding with the NOS deal. Looking at some stats, it took Windom 12 races to earn his first top ten, a ninth at Waynesfield on May 15th. But from there, he earned 14 more in 40 starts, that's a dramatic percentage gain, from 8 to 35%. We know Cap goes well on Ohio tracks, but the All Stars' footprint has expanded quite a bit, and those other areas have been a problem, including in Central Pennsylvania. In 15 races in that part of the country a year ago, Cap had only two top tens, one at Bedford and one at Bloomsburg. That means zero at Lincoln, Port Royal, and Williams Grove. This new pairing of Windom and Lane means some consolidation for the All Stars, taking two teams into one, but the All Star field will still be stout. Making a few assumptions here, but right now I think we can say that group will include Tyler Courtney, Justin Peck, Hunter Schuerenberg, Zeb Wise, Parker Price Miller, Scotty Thiel, and now Windom. There are still a few question marks around Courtney and Peck, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a few other All Star additions before Attica in April.

If you want to check out stats for Chris Windom, Cap Henry, or thousands of other dirt racing drivers, check out the analytics section of dirtrackr.com. A lot of info is available for free in there, and you can go a big step deeper with a subscription to DIRTRACKR Plus. $4.99 a month or $49.99 for the year gets you even more stats and analysis you won't find anywhere else. Perfect if you cover the sport as a media person, play fantasy racing, or are just a numbers nerd. Check it out by clicking the link below, or hit Plus in the nav bar at dirtrackr.com.

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One other sprint car team note for you from recent days involved Team DGRD Racing. They will run Knoxville weekly in the 410 division with Brandon Wimmer, along with scattered other 410 shows. They will also field 360s weekly at Knoxville for Kelby Watt and Alex Vande Voort. That bit of news came courtesy of Jacob Hord and ohiodirt.com.

Yesterday in my show comments, Mel asked about the status of Ashton Torgerson, who if you might remember, was involved in that super scary crash at the Chili Bowl, where he flipped and actually came out of the car. Ashton continues to recover and heal from his injuries from that crash and his family is continuing to work with doctors on getting him cleared for a return to racing. We did see him in victory lane recently though, as his brother Austin picked up a non-wing micro win at Adobe Mountain Speedway. As for the cause of the incident, there are plenty of theories from internet detectives, but the family put out some thoughts back on January 26th, including some photos. It is their belief that the velcro cover for the latch wasn't on, exposing the latch itself. Ashton was not wearing arm restraints, but they said they believe the restraint loops on his firesuit caught the latch and released it as he began to flip. They confirmed the belts did not fail and are certified until 2024, and they said he was properly latched in before the incident. You can see that full post with the photos, over on the Torgerson Racing Facebook page.

For our friends down under, our focus here in the states for dirt racing has turned to our own tracks, but the season down there continues to roll along. In recent weeks, we've seen the young sprint car guys continue to shine. Back on February 11th it was Jock Goodyer who took down the 60th Australian Sprintcar Championship at Perth. He put on a strong performance and topped Lachlan McHugh, Callum Williamson, Jamie Veal, and Kerry Madsen. And just this past weekend we had the Krikke Boys Shootout at Perth, that included a little Madsen on Madsen crime. Ian got into Kerry late and sent him spinning as both were running in the top five. Out front, Lachlan McHugh took the victory, holding off Jamie Veal late, with Jock Goodyer also on the podium. We'll see McHugh in the US later this year as he's going to run 50 or so races with Brandon Ikenberry's Deuce 5 Motorsports. And I hope we get to see Goodyer over here soon. He continues to rack up big wins, and is definitely a star on the rise. You can keep up with what's happening down under by checking out Clay-Per-View and my guy Toby Bellbowen over on the Sprint Car Hub YouTube channel.

Before we close it down for today, I've got a question for you to ponder on this Tuesday. Over the weekend, we saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. win his first ever Daytona 500, and Stenhouse is a guy with deep ties in the dirt racing world. He came up as a dirt racer, competes regularly in open wheel competition, and is part owner for Sheldon Haudenschild's World of Outlaws team. And as we look down through the field, more and more NASCAR competitors have dirt racing ties. Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Justin Haley, Austin and Ty Dillon, Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe, and even Chase Elliott. As a dirt racing fan, do these connections draw you into the paved world more? Are you more interested in keeping up with NASCAR because there are so many guys crossing back and forth. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Looking at the streaming schedule for today, again just FloRacing 24/7 and DIRTVision Now airing all day. To see the full daily streaming schedule with links to watch, visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.

Have a good Tuesday out there, we'll see you guys tomorrow!