DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Dirt racing has a big problem with many of it's tracks | Daily 8-29-2023

The business of dirt tracks has a big problem right now that I don't know how we solve. We'll talk about that, plus a very weird Ricky Thornton Jr. stat, an Ohio sprint car driver change and more. Let's go!

It's Tuesday, August 29th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.

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Before we get into my main topic for today, I wanted to quickly point you to this really weird Ricky Thornton Jr. stat. I brought this up earlier this year, but it has continued. All of his 32 top tens this season in Lucas competition are also top fives. He has not finished in positions six through ten in any Lucas show this year. That means in 43 races, he either finishes in the top five, or way down the order. There is no in between. It is literally feast or famine. It's certainly worked out, because it's been feast way more often, with 16 victories and just 11 finishes outside the top ten. But every time I look at his driver page at dirtrackr.com/analytics it weirds me out a bit. Anyways, moving on.

Over the weekend we found out that following Saturday night's World of Outlaws Late Model show at Davenport Speedway, the current track lease holders Ricky and Brenda Kay were done promoting the facility. The couple had been operating Davenport since June of 2019, but going forward the Mississippi Valley Fair Board will need to find a new promoter for 2024 and beyond. The track website does still show two more races left on the schedule for the year, a pair of Hoker Trucking late model shows on September 22nd and 23rd. There is no mention of those races being affected by this news. In a statement, the couple thanked the fans, staff, and competitors at the track along with the fair board. In a post at Dirt on Dirt, Ricky said they want to spend more time with their grandchildren. Announcements like this seem to be pretty common these days, and it was only a few weeks ago that the promoters at Lawrenceburg Speedway in Indiana, the Rudisells, decided to end their time as track promoters. We also know there are multiple other facilities around the country at this moment that are actively for sale, and this doesn't feel like a great trend. A lot of the folks that run these race tracks are aging out, and there doesn't appear to be a long line of new promoters and investors waiting to take these tracks on into the future. It's a tough business, with massive challenges, and one that has been fairly against change and innovation in a rapidly changing entertainment and sports environment. In the cases of Davenport and Lawrenceburg, the operators can effectively just walk away, and it's left up to the fairboards and towns to find solutions. But things are more difficult for those that own, and it's why we've seen some tracks go away completely. If you might remember back to last year, we did a few daily shows about Grandview Speedway and auto salvage companies like Copart buying up these old race tracks. Owners and families can cash out, and the salvage companies can move right in with existing permits and zoning in place. We've also had plenty of facilities go away completely or redeveloped, like I-80 Speedway in Nebraska that we watched get liquidated down to the ground early in 2023. I don't know how you solve for aging track owners and things like poor management from ever evolving fair boards, but it is a serious underlying threat to the health of the sport, especially at the lower and weekly levels. The tracks are often their own worst enemies, and the reason many are in such tough shape is because of the years of little or no progress and no evolution. New owners and operators would need to sink lots of dollars into these places to bring them up to more modern standards, and there is no guarantee at this point that the investment would pay off. It very much seems as though the contraction of available facilities will continue because of that. There are some bright spots out there with some younger and more innovative thinkers, and certain tracks will remain cornerstones of the sport. And maybe we need some of these less potent operators to find something else to do, but Davenport and Lawrenceburg feel like sizeable losses. Hopefully some fresh folks can be found to take over those places, but this is a problem I just don't know how you begin to fix.

We had some sprint car driver news out of Ohio yesterday with Prosser Racing and Sean Rayhall announcing they have split. In 29 races this season, Rayhall had one top five and eight top tens mostly at Ohio tracks, with a few ventures into PA and Indiana. His best stretch of the season has really been in recent weeks, with six top tens in his past seven starts, including a fifth on August 20th at Tri-City. The team says they will share their plans soon, while Rayhall tweeted he's got sponsors, engines, a car, and other equipment and is looking for another deal to finish out the year.

If you want some racing tonight, the Short Track Super Series modifieds are headed for Georgetown Speedway. The track is fresh off their first ever Lucas late model show, and now welcome in the modifieds for $6000 to win. Matt Sheppard is the south region points leader right now, and he's also the defending race winner. Sheppard is currently on a streak of seven straight races finishing either first or second, between the Short Track Super Series, Super DIRTcar Series, and various weekly shows. His last finish worse than ninth was way back on July 1st when he was 22nd at Fonda. Other drivers expected tonight include Billy Pauch Jr. who has won this race before, Mike Mahaney, Ryan Krachun, Ryan Godown, Mike Gular, and more. Things really start to ramp up for the northeast competitors in the coming weeks with a lot of big money on the line. $12 grand to win at Utica Rome, $15k at Lebanon Valley, $10k races at Weedsport and Albany Saratoga, $53,000 at Fonda, $51 grand at Super Dirt Week, and later into October another $50,000 at Port Royal. Should be a fun next month or so with the modifieds.

In the virtual dirt world, last night the iRacing World of Outlaws Late Model competitors were at Eldora. Kendal Tucker started fourth, got to the lead early, and never looked back for his second win of the season. His teammates Evan Seay and Blake Matjoulis rounded out the podium. The win for Tucker moved him into second in the championship standings, but Seay actually extended his advantage just a bit, to now 82 points with just two races left. The top four in Seay, Tucker, Rumsey, and Matjoulis have really separated themselves from the rest of the field, and at one point were the top four cars last night. Unless he has massive issues in the final two shows, Seay should easily be on his way to another title. Lincoln Speedway is on tap for next Monday night, with Charlotte set to close out the 2023 season on September 18th.

That's it for today, make sure to hit up the streaming schedule over at dirtrackr.com/watchtonight. There are a few items on it today.

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