DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

Dirt racing news, results, discussion, analytics. Sprint cars, late models, modifieds, you name it. From national series, to top local shows. Brought to you five days a week. Email the show at info@dirtrackr.com.

Tanner Holmes detractors won't like this show | Daily 10-9-2023

Tanner Holmes is 19 races into his Outlaw deal with Shark Racing, and some think he's not living up to the hype. But do the numbers actually support that criticism? We'll dive in today, plus talk Maverick sprint cars, Super Dirt Week, XR and more. Let's go!

It's Monday, October 9th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.

One of the topics I've had on my idea list for shows in recent weeks has been to take a look at how things have gone so far for Tanner Holmes out on the road with the World of Outlaws. If you might remember, he was tabbed by Shark Racing to finish the season in what was the 1A machine after Jacob Allen stepped away right before the Knoxville Nationals were set to start. Chase Dietz ran the car at the Nationals, and then Holmes was announced right after. Before this opportunity with Shark, Holmes had made just 13 previous appearances against the Outlaws going back to 2021, with all of them coming on the west coast, except for this season's Knoxville Nationals. The bulk of Holmes' career has been spent on the west coast, although he had previously made trips east and run with the ASCS and All Stars. Under normal circumstances, the larger fan base wouldn't know the name of a guy like Holmes, but because of his large YouTube following, a sprint car driver from Southern Oregon is much more in the spotlight. In recent weeks I've seen some chatter online about how things have gone to this point, and I think it's an interesting time to take a look at what we've seen so far. Through Saturday night at Port Royal, Holmes has made 19 Outlaw appearances in the now 1T machine, and he was also at the High Limit show at Huset's and last Thursday's Tuscarora 50. Both those two extra curricular races saw B-Main exits, and his trip through Pennsylvania as a whole was pretty tough. B and C during the National Open at the Grove, and a B-Main Friday at Port. Looking at the overall numbers, in 19 races he's run features 14 times, he's got six top tens, three top fives, and an average feature finish of 12.35. The opening stretch that starting at the Jackson Nationals was impressive though, and he didn't miss a show until the Gold Cup finale at Silver Dollar. In recent weeks, he was fourth at Sharon, and ninth Saturday night at Port. Holmes is an interesting case study though in public perception, because there is going to be a portion of the fan base who automatically doesn't like the kid because he has a successful YouTube channel. I get it haters, Steve Kinser never had a YouTube channel. But also, this is 2023, not 1981. That YouTube channel has created a national fan base for a young driver you would have never heard of otherwise, and through the course of these race nights, people come to the pit area to meet Tanner, get a photo, and buy a t-shirt. That is not insignificant. Diving into the numbers, the Holmes detractors aren't going to like what we find. Compared to Jacob Allen, whom he replaced, Holmes has a better average finish in 2023, he finishes top five and top ten more often on a percentage basis, he's got more quick times in less races, and a positive feature plus minus, versus a negative one with Allen. This isn't a shot at Jacob, but it is important to understand the context. Let's do one more comparison for you. Zeb Wise was your winner on Saturday night at Port Royal, and this season's All Star champion. I really like Zeb. Good kid, fantastic future ahead, and really fast. But Saturday's win was his first career Outlaw top five. In 47 Outlaw appearances back to 2019, Zeb has the lone top five, six top tens (that's the same total number as Holmes), and an average feature finish of 16.85, more than four positions worse than Holmes. It's funny that you don't hear the same criticism for Zeb like you do for Tanner. Zeb would certainly not deserve that criticism, but neither does Tanner. I believe both have incredibly bright sprint car futures, and let's not forget that both Zeb and Tanner are just 20 years old. I don't know what the future will bring for Shark Racing and Tanner Holmes. There are all sorts of rumors about what will come for 2024 with the second Shark machine. But no matter what happens, I can promise you that Holmes will be a better driver for this Outlaw excursion. Plus, we are at a point in time where the fan base continues to age and promoting the sport is as challenging as ever. We need more drivers who are accesible to fans, and younger fans to help grow the future of sprint car racing. Regardless of whatever ridiculous standard some out there have placed on him, this has been a very successful stint for Holmes, and the bonus is that he brings you along for the ride, even when it's been difficult.

One other sprint car topic to point you towards today. Back on Friday night, Cale Thomas won the first ever Maverick Winged Sprint Series event at Lincoln Park Speedway. This new series is being put together to run in Indiana, mostly between Lincoln Park and Bloomington, and Kevin Newton is a major player in it's formation. Newton has raced a bunch himself this season, he's fielded cars for drivers like Kevin Thomas Jr. and Parker Price Miller, and he's been sponsoring Logan Seavey and USAC. Thomas topped Bill Balog and Brenham Crouch for the $6000 score, and they had an impressive 49 410 sprint cars sign in. There were a number of non-wing regulars there, plus a lot of others, and I think this level of sprint car racing will be one to watch going forward. With some of the rumored changes coming with things like High Limit and potentially the All Stars, where will a lot of these teams and drivers compete when the big series aren't in town. There is clearly demand for this, and it will be interesting to see who steps up to fill that gap. This was the only Maverick event for this year, with ten to twelve events planned for next season.

Up at Oswego, the weather is playing nice today and cars are on track as I write this for Super Dirt Week. The 358s are running first, than sportsman, then the big 200 lapper for the big blocks later on. We'll have a full rundown on the results on tomorrow's show and things are streaming live on all day if you aren't nearby.

A couple of XR updates for you today. There is no Workin Man Series race at Volunteer Speedway tonight. That event has been cancelled. Also, the XR Super Series finale at All-Tech Raceway in Florida has been pushed from late October to early December. In a release, the series said quote "The fall construction schedule of a new track at Pennsboro Speedway in Pennsboro, WV combined with travel considerations for the Duel in the Desert from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Dirt Track the following week have necessitated the schedule adjustment for XR Events." It sounds like there will also be a reworked purse for that event. For more details, visit xrevents.com.

That's it for the Daily today. Make sure to stop by dirtrackr.com and check out today's streaming schedule.

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