DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Dale McDowell mad at Hunt the Front Series, Anthony Macri's break over | Daily 9-3-2023
More late model chassis changes, Dale McDowell is pissed, Anthony Macri back in a car, and more today. Let's go!
It's Sunday, September 3rd, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.
A big week of late model action is on tap for Eldora Speedway with the Baltes Classic tonight, and then the 53rd World 100 starting Thursday. If you are in the area to watch the action, or maybe you work on a team, be sure to visit our friends at Whistle Stop Bar and Grill. The Whistle Stop is located just south of the track, six miles down 118, in Ansonia, Ohio. Once you leave Eldora and head south, it's a straight shot there, you literally don't have to make any turns, as the Whistle Stop sits right on 118, which is Main Street in Ansonia. 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 obviously DIRTRACKR! They offer indoor and outdoor dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner or you can order online at whistlebarandgrill.com and take it back with you. Grab some new friends in the campground or grandstands and make the trip right down the road to The Whistle Stop, Ohio's favorite train depot.
We'll start this Sunday show off with a bunch of late model stuff from the last few days. We had more chassis swappers this weekend with Kyle Bronson showing up with a new Longhorn piece, switching from Rocket. He'd been pretty good through the spring and into the early summer, but struggled at Boone and through Cedar Lake. He wasn't bad at Davenport, but picked up a pair of fourth place finishes this weekend at Deer Creek and Mississippi Thunder with the new car. He's currently seventh in the World of Outlaws standings. And Tyler Erb showed up Friday to Mississippi Thunder to run against the Outlaws in a new MB Customs chassis. He had issues in that feature, and ended up 21st. Last night at Portsmouth back with Lucas, he needed a provisional to start the main event, and then hard charged to 11th. If he was going to switch away from Rockets, I'm not sure I would have guessed it would be to an MB car. But maybe there were signs a few weeks ago, with Erb running a second Mars 28 car at Red Cedar with the XR Workin Man Series. It has not been a good season for Terbo, as he's way down in eighth in the Lucas standings, and has his lowest season win total since 2017 at just three. Those three victories came at East Bay with Lucas back in February, at Brownstown with MARS in April, and an XR Workin Man win at Legit in May. He's got just eight top fives in 45 Lucas appearances. We'll see if this new car can turn things around, but it clearly wasn't a magic bullet the first two nights out.
Last night's Lucas victory went to Ricky Thornton Jr., his 17th of the year. He started seventh and was to the front with 19 to go. Brandon Overton, Daulton Wilson, and Hudson O'Neal all also led laps, but settled for top five finishes. Headed to Tyler County today, Overton's cushion to Tim McCreadie for that final chase spot is 140 points.
With the Outlaws, Brandon Sheppard and Bobby Pierce split wins at Mississippi Thunder and Deer Creek. Pierce had issues Friday and had damage, but hard charged from 16th to second. It was back-to-back wins for BShepp, and a second on Saturday night was his fifth straight podium. Those guys definitely seem like they are finding their footing with the Longhorn. Pierce won last night at Deer Creek with no brakes over the final 15 laps. He was able to hold off the B5 for his series best 10th win of 2023. The Outlaws don't race again until the end of the month, and Pierce is very solidly in control of the championship.
Weekend Hunt the Front Series wins went to Ashton Winger and Dale McDowell, although the Mac Daddy was not happy last night in victory lane. McDowell was out front but slowed at half way thinking the caution was out. He'd apparently heard something on the Raceceiver, but no yellow was shown. Before the caution was eventually thrown though, Winger and Zack Mitchell drove past him, and under the caution period he vehemently protested to get the lead back because officials charged him with the yellow. He eventually blended into third for the restart, but picked up the win late when Winger had a tire go flat with just a few to go. In his victory lane interview, amongst other things, he said quote "I am just aggravated as hell right now to win the race. I done this shit 42 years and that's the first I've seen anything like that" unquote. Pretty rare to see McDowell fired up like that, but hey, at least he got the win.
Jumping over to some sprint car stuff. We obviously talked quite a bit last week about Anthony Macri, his lack of recent sprint car starts, and his late week Facebook statement about needing a break. I had a bunch of people message me on Friday about it, and I'd heard earlier in the week we might see him back in a car. But Macri was in Central PA Friday and Saturday driving Bernie's Indy Race Parts 71. He finished second Friday at the Grove behind Brent Marks, and was third last night at Lincoln behind Freddie Rahmer and Marks. He'll be back to Lincoln tonight for the Dirt Classic finale. He told Jeremy Elliott quote "A mental break does not mean I’m not going to be in a racecar. A mental break for me is not having to work on the racecar and being able to get away from racing during the week" unquote. It sounds like we'll see Macri at the Tusky 50 in the 71, and a pick and choose schedule for the rest of the year.
At Skagit with the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, we had three different winners. Thursday Sheldon Haudenschild had a crazy 16th to the win charge on a race track with plenty of character. It was his first Outlaw win since June 17th at Beaver Dam. I tweeted back on Friday that there are few drivers more exciting than Sheldon in the whole world when he's doing what he does. He admitted in victory lane it's been a tough season, and the number show that. All the major stat categories have trended in the wrong direction in 2023. He was second on Friday, but then showed the other side of his driving style last night, catching the turn three cushion wrong while running third and going for a ride. He finished 23rd. The electrifying and often destructive duality of Sheldon on full display. Rico Abreu picked up Outlaw win number five on Friday night, and Brad Sweet took down the big cash on Saturday, breaking a 20-race winless streak. Headed to Grays Harbor tomorrow, Sweet's championship advantage has been extended yet again. David Gravel had a solid weekend and is back to second, but Carson Macedo was outside the top ten two of three nights. This is starting to feel more and more like Sweet is headed for five straight Outlaw titles.
One quick aside before we move on, I might be in the minority here, but I like watching sprint car qualifying. Every driver gets a chance in the spotlight, they are hustling their butts off, and you usually get come close up shots of them sawing at the steering wheel. I'm here for all of it.
While the Outlaw championship gap grows, we had no real changes in the All Star fight. Weekend Attica victories went to Kerry Madsen and Zeb Wise, but Tyler Courtney was second both nights. So with the Tuscarora 50 coming up next, the owners' championship battle is still eight points. Zeb and Sunshine have just the three nights at Port Royal, two nights at Fremont, and one night at Eldora left to settle this thing.
For you midget fans, Zach Daum and Jade Avedisian were weekend Xtreme Outlaw winners at Paragon. Jade has closed to within seven points of Cannon McIntosh for the Xtreme championship, but I wouldn't sleep on Zach Daum here. He's been on fire as of late, and has six races to try and erase a 75 point deficit. The midget teams shift focus now to Angell Park tonight and tomorrow for USAC competition.
Speaking of USAC, Saturday's Silver Crown Ted Horn 100 win went to Justin Grant. He led all by 1 circuit at Du Quoin for the win. Logan Seavey clings to a one point lead in the standings over Kody Swanson with three races left, two at Eldora and one at IRP.
Because it's the Labor Day holidy weekend, there is still a ton more racing to come, so make sure to stop by dirtrackr.com/watchtonight to see what your streaming options are.
Hope you guys enjoy the rest of your Sunday, we'll see you back here tomorrow.