DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Thornton, O'Neal clash at Deer Creek; Dewease, Kreitz out of the Million at Eldora | Daily 7-7-2023
An update today on Eldora Million entries, including one team that won't be there. Plus things got nasty between two big Lucas contenders and a whole lot more. Let's go!
It's Friday, July 7th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.
Beore we get started today, I'm stoked to welcome a new partner to the show. If you are heading to the Eldora Million next week, be sure to visit our friends at Whistle Stop Bar and Grill located just south of Eldora, six miles down 118, in Ansonia, Ohio. The Whistle Stop have been huge supporters of dirt racing with partnerships with Sheldon and Jac Haudenschild, Rico Abreu, Chris Windom, Cap Henry, the Dirt Nerds, Eldora Speedway and now DIRTRACKR! They offer indoor and outdoor dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner or you can order online at whistlebarandgrill.com and take back to the Eldora campground. So be sure to visit our friends at Ohio's favorite train depot, The Whistle Stop, while in town for Eldora's historic week!
And since I mentioned Eldora, we'll start there. First, if you are a subscriber to The Slider newsletter, you have one in your inbox this morning. Motorsports reporter Matt Weaver is going to cover some big dirt events this summer and I'm thrilled to be able to share some of his work with you. His piece this morning in The Slider is focused on Tony Stewart, the Million, what the future is for Eldora and more, and it contains a bunch of quotes from Smoke. So check that out, and we'll be hearing more from Weaver in the future. Also, we talked earlier this week about where we were with Million entries, and today is the final day for teams to pre-enter. The list has been updated, and we are currently near 60 cars. In this last update, names like Shane Stewart, James McFadden, Justin Peck, and Cory Eliason were added. This was pointed out by a few people, but there are still some high profile names missing, most notably David Gravel, Carson Macedo, Spencer Bayston, and Buddy Kofoid. I would assume that all will be in attendance, and it's important to note that even if teams don't pre-register, it doesn't mean they can't race. They just miss out on some benefits for signing up early. One team that's on the entry list that we know won't be at Eldora next week is Lance Dewease and the Kreitz 69K. Don Kreitz posted to social media yesterday quote "Unfortunately I am pulling the plug on going to Eldora. The equipment and car owner are getting wore down. I feel we would not be able to run up to the high standards our fans, sponsors, and team expect out of the 69K. We will regroup and focus on the second half of the season. This was the car owners call and you can direct any comments or blame to him" unquote. He won't hear any comments or blame from me. It's definitely a bummer they won't be there, but Kreitz has to do what's best for him and the team. The new additions, plus the loss of Dewease put us at 58 cars right now, and if we gain some of the names I mentioned, the Million field will easily be into the 60s. I think we can maybe hold out hope for a dip maybe into the 70s next week if we get lucky. We'll see. You can see full Million and Kings Royal details over at eldoraspeedway.com.
Up at Deer Creek Speedway last night, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series got rolling with the Gopher 50 weekend, and the night ended with plenty of bent sheet metal and some bent tempers. And the two drivers at the heart of it all were our top two in points, in Ricky Thornton Jr. and Hudson O'Neal. Things between the two started early, with contact in the first heat race that sent O'Neal around and collected Ross Robinson. It looked like RTJ maybe hit a bump or caught the slime on the bottom, and corrected right into O'Neal on the outside. It was a pretty nasty hit. Things were far from done though, with the two coming together again during the feature. O'Neal threw a slider at RTJ in turns three and four that never cleared, and the 20RT pounded the outside wall. After the checkered was waved, Thornton ran O'Neal in the fence and was subsequently DQ'd from the feature for contact after the race. And tensions spilled over into the pit area afterwards with both crews involved in a quote "heated exchange" according to Dirt on Dirt. Clearly no love lost between the two championship contenders. Maybe we are seeing a bit of a rivalry form here as the season continues. Out front in the main event, Devin Moran was the beneficiary of a flat tire for leader Daulton Wilson before half way. He assumed the lead when Wilson went for new rubber, and led the rest of the way. Jonathan Davenport finished second, and Brandon Sheppard was third. BShepp is driving the Rumley R&D car this weekend, and not his own B5. The program is the same for tonight at Deer Creek, and then tomorrow is $50,000 to win.
With the Summer Nationals last night, it was the usual suspects in contention for the Herald and Review 100 at Macon. Shannon Babb, Jason Feger, and Brian Shirley all took turns out front. Late in the going though, Unzicker got the bottom rolling, and contact with the wall from Shirley let Unzicker take the lead. The 24 was able to hold off Shirley and Feger in the closing laps and he scored his second career win in this event. Great racing all night, even if we only had nine cars running at the checkered flag. Feger currently leads the week four championship standings over Ashton Winger, and the rest of the weekend includes stops at Farmer City, Highland, and Haubstadt. Mike McKinney dominated the night's modified feature for his first career win at Macon. Tyler Nicely maintains control of the mod championship.
Some other late model shows to check out this weekend include the Iron-Man Series at Hilltop and Wayne County. The Southern All Stars are at Thunderhill for $10,000 to win, and there are shows at Cherokee, Volunteer, Lancaster, and Eriez for good money.
Looking at weekend open wheel action, the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars are at 34 Raceway in Iowa tonight and Wilmot in Wisconsin on Saturday. Brad Sweet is the most recent winner at 34, back in 2021, and that event has had six different winners in six races. Carson Macedo is the most recent winner at Wilmot, from one year ago. The points remain tight, with Sweet out front of David Gravel right now by just four, with Macedo third, 54 out. This weekend shouldn't be overlooked, but it does feel a bit like the calm before the storm leading into next weeks' five race schedule that includes the Brad Doty Classic at Attica on Tuesday, and then four days at Eldora starting Wednesday.
The All Stars are back racing tonight and tomorrow after a few weeks off. They've got Ransomville in New York tonight, and Sharon Speedway on Saturday. 68 points separate Tyler Courtney and the 7BC machine with Zeb Wise and the Rudeen 26 for the All Star championship coming into these races. Everyone else is triple digits behind. Parker Price Miller was the Ransomville winner in 2022, while Cap Henry and Brent Marks have the most recent Sharon wins. After Saturday night, a lot of these teams will also turn their attention to Ohio for next week.
Out in California, the NARC championship battle heads to Petaluma on Saturday. Corey Day is 45 points clear of Dominic Scelzi right now, while Justin Sanders and Justyn Cox remain within striking distance. Day already has seven feature wins this year, while Scelzi is the only other multi-time winner.
The ASCS National Tour season continues with two nights at Dodge City Raceway Park. Matt Covington will try and close down the gap to Jason Martin for the championship, but Martin has been strong in 2023. Five wins in 15 starts, and currently six straight top ten finishes. Covington will need to add to his win total and continue racking up good finishes to make a charge.
One schedule change, the POWRi 410 shows between US36 and Monett were postponed because of scheduling conflicts.
And finally, following last night's Herald and Review 100, Macon Speedway has got USAC National Sprint Cars the next two nights. It's the first ever stop for the series at the Illinois bullring. Jake Swanson comes in with the championship lead, but Emerson Axsom is just three points out, and Brady Bacon's two straight wins have him up to third and well within the fight. Through 19 races, we've had seven different winners, with Bacon and Swanson leading the way with four victories each. It should be a wild couple of race nights with 410 non-wing cars on that little race track.
Alright friends, that's it for the week. Don't forget about new hats and shirts in the store over at shop.dirtrackr.com. I've been busy packing orders the last several days, so thank you to everyone that has already snagged some new gear. Also, don't forget to subscribe to the show wherever you watch or listen, and hit up the streaming schedule this weekend over at dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
Hope you guys have a weekend out there, we'll see you right back here on Monday.