DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Late model racing's top earners chasing MILLION dollar seasons | Daily 9-29-2023
On this Friday Daily let's talk some cold hard cash. We'll look at the top four earners so far this season in dirt late model racing, and discuss their chances at million dollar seasons. Let's go!
It's Friday, September 29th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.
Welcome into a little bonus Daily. Since I was sick and didn't do a Sunday show last week, plus I had a bunch of stuff ready to go yesterday before the Mike Hess news broke, I figured why the hell not. This is my show after all. I know the High Limit stuff has created a ton of questions going forward about what it all means with schedules and drivers and who goes where. And there will be plenty of time to talk about all of that in the coming weeks and months as things become more clear. A lot of stuff behind the scenes remains fluid, and more potential changes in the driver market could affect how things play out as well. Keep asking your questions though, DMs on social media and email is always open. And I'll try and do my best to get answers to everything I can as we move forward.
Alright, onto my research that was originally slated for yesterday's show. I've done a few episodes this season about sprint car earnings, and thanks to the work that Bill has done over at sprintcarratings.com, it's been really easy as of late to go see who's made what so far this season. I think because of the discussions around the money, he's also added in some extra stat tracking, especially for total money around the sport. But on the late model side, we don't really have that same thing. Nobody on a public basis anyways, is tracking money quite the same way. I know some do with their own spreadsheets, and we see numbers on social media from time to time, but I have been asked a few times recently where we stand with earnings at this point in the season. To give you a decent picture, I put togther numbers for the top four guys this season, including Ricky Thornton Jr., Bobby Pierce, Hudson O'Neal, and Jonathan Davenport. They've won the bulk of the big races and will top the earnings numbers. I track winnings at dirtrackr.com in the analytics section for the two national series in Lucas and the Outlaws, so those were easy to grab. I've also included the Flo Night in America numbers, XR, the Eldora crown jewels, plus as much other info as I could find beyond that. I'm sure these aren't 100% accurate, but they should be pretty close and they'll give you at least some idea of where drivers are right now. We'll start first with Jonathan Davenport. There was no way he was going to back up his incredible 2022 year where he crossed two million in earnings, and even with the rise of the other contenders, he's still had a solid season. Nearly $250k so far with Lucas, the Dirt Late Model Dream score, plus a nice run at the Wild West Shootout to start the season. I've got him across $532,000 so far, but it's likely he, and really all of these drivers are a tick higher. Next is O'Neal. Just won the World 100 for Rocket and Mark Richards, plus some big scores with XR and the Flo series, and over $200k with Lucas. I've got him into the $580,000 range. Depending on where they run, and how they close out 2023, both drivers still have a chance at million dollar seasons. Especially since the Lucas final four pays at least $100k. Head and shoulders above the rest though are Pierce and RTJ. These two have been lights out and both are all but guaranteed to get into seven figures. I've got Pierce right now just across $800,000. Maybe as much as $810k. $283,000 with the Outlaws, plus another nearly $200k with Lucas thanks to some big wins. And then you tack on nearly $90k with Flo, another $90k plus with XR, and plenty of other wins in between at the Wild West Shootout, Eldora, and with the Summer Nationals. $150k from the Outlaw championship, if he's able to close the deal, plus potentially the Flo series title, and any other winnings down the stretch should easily push him across a million bucks. And finally, Ricky Thornton Jr. Thanks to 21 wins in 50 races, he's crossed half a million in earnings with just Lucas alone. He's got nearly another $100k with the Outlaws, $63,000 with the Flo series, a six figure win with XR, plus cash from Hunt the Front and Eldora have put him well beyond $850k. I've got $863k right now. He'll get at least another $100k for the Lucas chase, so a million is basically inevitable. It will be more about how far across a million he can get. I know a year ago, JD and Chris Madden were at or above a million, and I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility that we could have three million dollar drivers in 2023. For a quick sprint car comparison, Logan Schuchart has $1.25 million in winnings to this point, thanks to the Eldora Million score. David Gravel is second at about $675k. Then it drops to Kyle Larson at $473k, and Carson Macedo at $433k. If you want to see my numbers, let me know, and maybe I can post them below in the comment section. Or fact check me if you track this stuff on your own.
At the BC39 last night, Thomas Meseraull finally broke through for a USAC midget win in 2023. It was a split field prelim win, but with the year he's had, he seemed pretty stoked to finally get a victory. In 19 starts before last night, just four top fives and seven top tens on the year, and this comes after a season where he had three victories and was top ten more than 60% of the time. But while his RMS teammate in Justin Grant has continued with the Toyota power, TMEz's car has been utilizing a bit of an experimental Ford engine being developed by Engler Machine. And trying to get things dialed in with that new power plant has proved difficult. In his victory lane interview, Meseraull even referenced a recent run-in with RMS team owner Dave Estep over their issues. A win though and a locked in spot for Saturday's BC39 main event should hopefully ease tensions though. Behind the win, Taylor Reimer picked up her career best finish with a second, and Chase McDermand was also on the podium. Those two drivers also have locked in Saturday spots. Tonight at Indy, they will do it all over again with a new group of drivers with more feature spots on the line. If you can't get to Indy, tonight and tomorrow are live on FloRacing.
Looking around elsewhere, we've talked, at least briefly this week, about the other racing happening around the country. Lucas is at Raceway 7 and the Pittsburgher to decide the final four. The Outlaw late models are headed for two nights at Atomic in Ohio. I mentioned yesterday the Hunt the Front series at Talladega. I've been offered the opportunity to maybe stream a live look in on that show on Saturday evening. Let me know if you'd come hang out for a bit and check that out with me on YouTube. There is also the Sprint Car Challenge Tour and NARC at Hanford. And of course the World of Outlaws are at Williams Grove tonight and tomorrow for National Open. $75,000 to win, the classic Outlaws, Posse matchup. Plus we are running out of races for drivers to challenge Brad Sweet for the Outlaw title. Three different Outlaw winners at the Grove so far this year, Brad Sweet in May, and Logan Schuchart and Rico Abreu in July. The last Posse win was Lance Dewease a year ago during the Natty.
That's it for the Daily this week. Thanks to everyone who supports what I do here. I put in a lot of time and effort to try and bring you something interesting and informative each day, and your comments and video likes and emails and tweets and merch purchases don't go unnoticed.
Hope you guys have a great Friday out there, we'll see you back here Sunday.
RTJ Lucas 50: 523504 WoO 11: 94575 Flo: 63196 HTF: 20000 DC XR: 121500 XRWM: 2000 Eldora: 12500 + 6000 + 25000 Larson: 1000 863875 Pierce Lucas 11: 195575 WoO 34: 283625 Flo: 89246 DC XR: 91000 XRWM: 1000 Eldora: 15000 + 5450 + 31000 WWS: 700 + 2500 + 5000 + 10000 + 1250 + 25000 Randos: 26075 MLRA: SN: 20000 802421 O'Neal Lucas 51: 210143 WoO 8: 54525 Flo: 79896 DC: 7000 XR: 132600 Eldora: 7500 + 56000 + 31200 Larson: 2250 581114 Davenport Lucas 49: 248515 WoO 7: 20500 Flo: 28150 XR: 15700 Eldora: 129000 + 25000 + 12350 WWS: 10000 + 10000 + 10000 + 5000 + 1750 + 2000 Larson: 5000 CCSDS: MLRA: 10000 532965