DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Streaming gets messy for PA Speedweek, plus are you paying attention to the Outlaws? | Daily 6-29-2023

Today I want to dive a little deeper into this World of Outlaws late model championship battle that I hope you are paying attention to, we'll also talk streaming around Pennsylvania Speedweek, and results from Wednesday. Let's go!

It's Thursday, June 29th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.

Last night's World of Outlaws Late Model race at Red River Valley was rained out, but instead of cancelling, the show is postponed to tonight, now setting up a three day run from Red River Valley to River Cities Friday, to I-94 Sunday. I've been talking about this championship battle, you've seen stories over at Dirt on Dirt about it, and if you are a late model fan at all, I don't know how you aren't all in on this. This thing is as wide open as it's been in a long time, and it's not just one or two guys in the mix, it's several, and you can take your pick about who to roll with. After back-to-back wins Bobby Pierce has jumped to the top, and I did a whole show like three weeks ago about how wrong I was about what he'd do this season. When he declared at DIRTcar Nationals, I figured he'd hang around for a few weeks, get some bonus money, and be on his way when the midwest season started up. But here we are almost to July, and he's leading the championship with multiple wins and he's as strong as he's ever been on the national scene. Love him or hate him, he's certainly made things interesting this season. Behind Pierce, just 12 points out is Nick Hoffman who is having an incredible rookie season. This guy is as decorated as they come in a modified, and it didn't take him long to get up to speed in that Tye Twarog owned late model. He had a three race stretch between Volusia and 411 where he had finishes of 20th, 17th, and 16th, but since then hasn't finished worse than ninth in 15 straight features. Pierce is getting the accolades right now because he's winning, but Hoffman isn't far behind. His average finish over the last 10 races is 4.5 and the consistency has him right in the hunt. I could be wrong, but I don't remember a rookie season in a dirt late model that has looked like this. And in third right now after a 13th place finish at Mason City is Chris Madden. He'll tell you his program is off right now, but we know what Smoky is capable of when things are clicking on all cylinders. This guy had a massive year in 2022, racking up big cash, but it almost went unnoticed because of Jonathan Davenport's two million dollar year. So you've got the polarizing Pierce, Hoffman the exciting newcomer, and the grizzled vet in Madden. And that doesn't include Ryan Gustin who's having a career year, Kyle Bronson who led laps in five straight features, and multi-time champion Brandon Sheppard who is still working through the bugs of his own team and could win any night out. Lucas is great, has the big stars, and this new playoff format will throw in some wrenches, but I don't know how you call yourself a dirt late model fan if you aren't locked into the Outlaws right now. Drop me a comment, let me know who you are picking right now to come out on top in this thing. Can Pierce or Hoffman get it done, or will Madden's experience shine through by World Finals? Or do you think one of the other guys can get hot and take this thing. Let me know.

Jumping over to sprint car racing and PA Speedweek, what a show we had last night at Hagerstown. Brent Marks vs. Anthony Macri, and I don't even know how many lead changes were in that one. These guys were throwing sliders the whole race, and the slicked off Hagerstown was perfect for it. Things have been touchy between these two since they had a run-in at the All Star show at Plymouth a few weeks ago. Contact was made, some words were said, and it's clear the top two Central PA teams right now aren't afraid to throw down with each other. Last night, Marks was able to make the final move and he scored the win with Macri ending up second and Lance Dewease third. Macri maintains the points lead, and even with the win, Marks still has some work to do. Like I said after that Plyouth deal, I'm all in on a Marks/Macri rivalry going forward. You know the Posse fans will love it, and I think it will add a little something extra as we get more into this summer of money. PA Speedweek continues tonight with the rescheduled Lincoln show. I believe I saw this one has been bumped up to $10,000 to win, and it will be live on FloRacing if you want to watch. Sidenote, if you don't have a Flo subscription, you can get one by clicking the link below in the video description. That gets you all the racing, and helps me out in the process.

Actually, and since we are talking streaming, this weeks' Pennsylvania Speedweek continues to show how complicated and ever-changing the streaming landscape is. The original ten race schedule shows races on three different services, between DIRTVision for Williams Grove, FloRacing for Lincoln and Port Royal, and Sprintcarunlimited.tv for BAPS, Grandview, Hagerstown, and Selinsgrove. Three different models and three different price points between the players and a bit of a messy week if you want to watch all of it. I know Jeremy caught some hell over the pricing this week. He's doing PPV streams, next to the subscription models for DIRTVision and Flo. The "pay one price for everything" idea behind the subscriptions is certainly easier and cheaper for fans, and it keeps revenue rolling in all year long for those services. But it means there is probably less to share around. Jeremy and the other pay-per-view providers look at streaming like a grandstand ticket, and are going to charge similar prices to what it would cost to get into the race based on that idea. They are sharing a large portion of that revenue with the tracks, and facilities who aren't happy with what they've gotten from the other players are open to this model. They know they are going to have less viewers that way, but hopefully they'll have more to spread around with the higher prices. I'm not saying one way is better than the other, and I think things will continue to be a mix going forward. Feel free to weigh in on this below.

In other Wednesday sprint car racing, Dale Blaney picked up the $4000 win at Sharon in their special midweek race. He got by Lee Jacobs early in that one, and kept Cale Thomas at bay down the stretch to score the win. Zeth Sabo finished third, and they had a very nice field, 37 cars on hand. If you didn't watch it, the replay is available over on DIRTVision.

With the Summer Nationals last night, it was Ashton Winger picking up his second win of the year. He topped Jason Feger and Morgan Bagley at Adams County, and jumped to the top of the week three points standings with Benton on tap for tonight. Drake Troutman was fast early in that one, leading laps from the pole, but he jumped the cushion right before half way and gave up the lead to Winger. He faded to fifth by the end. I swear Troutman is going to win one of these races at some point. They've had some mistakes and terrible luck, but plenty of speed. The night's modified win went to Austen Becerra, who is now two-for-two with the Modified Nationals. He was able to keep Michael Long behind for the duration, while Kenny Wallace held on for third with a busted up race car. Kyle Steffens maintains the Mod Nats championship lead.

That's it for the show today. It's another busy day across the streaming services, so make sure you stop by dirtrackr.com/watchtonight to see what your options are today if you aren't headed to the track.

Hope you guys have a good Thursday out there, we'll see you right back here tomorrow.