DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Does a TOPLESS dirt late model race differently? | Daily 8-17-2023
When you take the roof off of a super late model, does it affect the handling? We'll talk about that today with the Topless 100 on tap this weekend, plus I've got an update on the future of Sharon Speedway, a new driver for the 69K sprint car and more. Let's go!
It's Thursday, August 17th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.
If you missed it earlier this week, I put DIRTRACKR logo Flexfits back on sale over at shop.dirtrackr.com. As usual, they have been popular again, and I have just a few left in each of the two sizes. If you want one, they ship for free in the US. I am out of the sprint car stickers again, but do have the modified, midget and alternate logo versions in stock. Stickers do ship free as well. You can see all the DIRTRACKR merch options over at shop.dirtrackr.com.
It's Topless 100 week for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, and technically the event doesn't start until tomorrow night at Batesville. There is racing tonight though, as the Comp Cams Super Dirt Series has a make-up event to complete from back on July 29th. That race was halted mid-show, so tonight they will run the B-Mains and the $5000 to win feature. Hunter Rasdon and Scott Crigler will lead the field to green tonight. Through 11 races so far, Kyle Beard is the Comp Cams series championship leader over Billy Moyer Jr. Tomorrow night though, the tops come off and a $5000 to win prelim program is on tap. Drivers will earn points through the night, and the top 16 in those points will be locked into Saturday night's $50,000 to win main event. Jonathan Davenport is the defending event winner, with Hudson O'Neal, and Jimmy Owens also scoring Topless victories back to 2020. Looking at recent past results, there are a few guys that seem to shine at Batesville without the roof, and Owens leads all drivers in average finish. In the seven feature events I have in the dirtrackr.com analytics database, Owens averages better than a third place finish at 2.71. The others high on that list include Tim McCreadie, Davenport, and Dale McDowell. I was curious how taking the tops off these super late models affects how they drive and how the teams set them up, so I reached out to a well known crew guy in the industry, and he said that removing the roof and those A and B posts gives the air around the car a cleaner path to the spoiler. It was his belief that with that downforce more focused on the rear, that the cars tend to handle a little bit tighter with the added forward drive. I also asked how they can counteract that effect, and he said they can't really do anything about it with the body, but they will run a freer suspension setup. And looking at the numbers for who does well there, it's clear there are certain drivers and teams who know how to handle that little bit of a challenge that the Topless provides. Another thing to watch out for this weekend is that battle for the final Lucas chase spot. Ricky Thornton Jr. and Hudson O'Neal are well clear of the field, and Davenport's good runs through the summer have him solidly in. But that fourth position is up for grabs. Brandon Overton has it, but McCreadie is only 15 points back, and Devin Moran is still very much in striking distance as well. Overton needs a strong weekend after an up and down last several weeks, especially on a track that is a strength for McCreadie. If you can't get to Batesville, you can watch live this weekend on FloRacing.
Doing this show gets me tagged in a lot of stuff on social media, especially when it comes to news items. It's definitely appreciated, as some things I don't see until I get those notifications. In recent weeks I've been tagged in a bunch of posts regarding dirt tracks being listed for sale, and right now we know that there are active listings for Tri-City, and Knox in Pennsylvania, and Stateline in New York. There has also been a bunch of social media chatter this week about Sharon Speedway in Ohio. Looking at LoopNet there is a listing there for Sharon with a price tag of $3 million. I've been alerted to several of these posts, but I don't think I'd be concerned about this one. If you dig into the listing a bit, it was first put up way back in 2018, and the original broker for the property doesn't exist anymore. It's been absorbed by another company. I did do some asking around to get some more information and to see what was up and I was told by someone close to the track that a sale is not currently being actively pursued. I think it's important to remember that everything is probably for sale at the right price, but at this moment I wouldn't be worried about the future for Sharon.
And since we can't seem to go more than a day or two without some sprint car driver news, it was announced yesterday that the Kreitz Racing 69K has a driver for the upcoming National Open at Williams Grove. Following the departure of Lance Dewease, Kreitz hired Logan Wagner to drive the car mostly at Port Royal, and Wagner debuted back on August 5th with a second place finish. For the National Open, and possibly an extra show or two at the Grove to get comfortable, we now know that Daryn Pittman will be in the seat. Kreitz revealed to FloRacing's Kyle McFadden that they agreed to the deal just this week. Pittman is semi-retired at this point, although we've seen him a few times this season, including this past weekend at Knoxville. He's more focused these days on running Ultra Shield Race Products. The first scheduled race for Pittman in the 69K is September 15th in the Billy Kimmel Memorial.
Looking around at some other racing to come this weekend, the All Star Circuit of Champions season gets rolling again after taking the break around the Knoxville Nationals. They'll be at Outlaw Speedway Friday, Utica-Rome on Saturday, and down to Selinsgrove on Sunday. We know that Tyler Courtney has been cleared to race after his back injury from the Eldora weekend, and he'll be back in the seat of the Clauson Marshall 7BC. He's fallen down to seventh in the driver standings because of the missed races, but the battle for the All Star owner's championship is still red hot. And that owner's battle is important, because that's what gets the championship payout come the season ending banquet. Anthony Macri was obviously in the CMR car in a fill in role, but just four top tens in eight starts allowed Zeb Wise and the Rudeen team to take control. Headed into this weekend, the gap is eight points back to the 7BC. 13 race nights remain for the All Stars in 2023, and if Courtney is able to just slide right back in and go, this will be a big fight all the way to Eldora. And what this means for Macri going forward, I haven't heard. I'm guessing he'll finish the High Limit season with Bernie and the 71, and you have to think he'd have at least some options, especially with the big shows coming up in Pennsylvania. It's definitely a story we'll be keeping an eye on.
Up at Jackson Motorplex, the World of Outlaws season continues with the Jackson Nationals getting started tonight. Thursday and Friday are $10,000 to win prelim shows, with the event culminating Saturday in a $25,000 to win main event. Carson Macedo is the defending event winner, but this has been a good track in recent years for Logan Schuchart. The championship battle remains tight, with the top three only separated by 60 points.
If you want some racing with no wings, USAC has a busy weekend ahead. The national midgets are back after a month off with stops at Wayne County in Illinois and Macon. And the Silver Crown Series is at Springfield on Saturday for the Bettenhausen 100. On the midget side, Logan Seavey has been the guy lately with Abacus Racing. He's got seven straight podium finishes and leads the championship right now over Jacob Denney. Michel Moles won the Wayne County show a year ago, while Macon hasn't been on the schedule since 2017. As for Silver Crown, they haven't had a dirt race since June 17th at Port Royal when Logan Seavey went to victory lane. Since then though, Kody Swanson has three straight victories all on the pavement, between Madison, Winchester, and Toledo. Swanson leads the championship right now by 31 over Seavey. At last check, USAC expects something like 45 cars to be in attendance for the Bettenhausen 100.
For the late model crowd, this weekend you can also check out the Ultimate Heart of America series at Richmond, Kentucky for $20,000 to win. And the Southern Nationals and Hunt the Front Series are at East Alabama, that Saturday show is $10,000 to win. Wil Herrington has a very slight six point lead on Josh Putnam right now for the Hunt the Front series title, with Joseph Joiner and young dude Trey Mills also in the mix. All of these races I've mentioned today can be watched across the streaming services, so make sure to check out the schedule over at dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
The Super DIRTcar Series was at Land of Legends last night to close out their SummerFast week of races. Mat Williamson won back on Monday at Brewerton, the Tuesday show was lost to rain, and last night it was championship leader Matt Sheppard taking the victory. Jack Lehner and Mike Mahaney led laps early, but Sheppard took over before half way from third, and went the distance. With 13 races complete, the gap between Sheppard and Williamson is 64 points, which is still manageable for Money Mat. The rest of the field from Jimmy Phelps in third on back is more than 200 points out, so this is very much a two-horse race. Sheppard has finished top 10 in every Super DIRTcar Series event so far this year, and according to Race Stat Central now has 23 total big block wins in 55 races across the various series and tracks he competes with. The SDS is back next Tuesday night at Ransomville.
And at Mason City last night, Jake Timm picked up the USMTS victory on the opening night of the 25th anniversary weekend. Because of points though, Dereck Ramirez will start from the pole for the big show on Saturday. Racing at Mason City continues tonight and tomorrow with more prelim action, before the big show on Saturday.
That's it for the show this week, remember no Friday episode. Thanks everyone for your continued viewership and support.
Hope you guys enjoy the dirt racing this weekend, we'll see you back here on Sunday.