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Could a regional World of Outlaws series replace the All Stars? | Daily 10-12-2023

Don't expect World Racing Group to take the High Limit situation lying down, and today we'll talk you through one area where they are eyeing potential moves in response. We're also talking a big dirt track for sale, plus racing coming up. Let's go!

It's Thursday, October 12th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.

I want to give you a quick history lesson today on something that happened during a very brief three-year period for the World of Outlaws, and then we'll tie it back into things going on right now. Back in the early 2000s, specifically 2000 through 2002, the World of Outlaws had it's own support series. If you've been around since then, you'll remember the Gumout Series which eventually turned out quite a bit of talent, including names like Craig Dollansky, Daryn Pittman, Shane Stewart, Paul McMahan, Jason Meyers, Tyler Walker, and many more. The series existed for really two reasons. One was to be a proving ground for 410 sprint car teams and drivers before a potential move to the full fledged World of Outlaws. And the other was to help bolster car counts for the World of Outlaws races that were shown live on TV, via TNN back in the day. Effectively combining two series for those TV dates would guarantee fans at home, and the TV bosses, that they'd get sizeable fields. The Gumout Series schedules were much smaller, 30 races or less, and happened within a much smaller geographic footprint, which made it more affordable. It wasn't the first time Ted Johnson and the Outlaws tried a smaller sprint car series, but when the TV contract ended after 2002, the Gumout Series was axed. Bringing this back to current times, there is some possiblity apparently that a World Racing Group slash World of Outlaws support series or regional series could exist again. Underlying all of this High Limit acquiring the All Stars conversation, is what some of those smaller and regional teams do if the All Stars were to cease to exist in their current form. I mentioned this back on Monday when we talked about last weekend's debut of the Maverick Sprint Car Series at Lincoln Park. The All Star Circuit of Champions has become a place where drivers and teams looking to take bigger steps up can come and race and really learn and understand life on the road against tougher competition. It also provides opportunities for local racers to take on bigger events without getting their heads kicked in by the Outlaws. Just in recent years, look who we've seen come through the All Stars. Aaron Reutzel, Carson Macedo, Sheldon Haudenschild, all guys who are or were full time Outlaws. Look at the current crop as well. Tyler Courtney and Zeb Wise are two guys who appear destined for bright futures at the highest levels and they really found their footing in winged sprint car racing with the All Stars. So if this version of the All Stars suddenly doesn't exist anymore, there becomes a significant hole in the sprint car system. Yes we have things like the IRA, MOWA, the POWRi 410 series, and now potentially Maverick. But I don't know that any are in a position to supplant the All Stars. But Brian Carter and World Racing Group might be considering a move to fill that void. Carter was interviewed this week in Area Auto Racing News about the High Limit and All Star situation, and he had some interesting things to say. He told Len Sammons quote "There is a need for a strong, reasonably priced sprint car show. A place for developing teams a chance to race without racing against the very best every night so they have a chance to develop. It's also a great chance for fans to see sprint car racing until the World of Outlaws come through their area. It's a balancing act that is in jeopardy right now." Carter also said quote "I hope everything remains in balance or there will be a void that will need to be filled. If I have to look at that I will because we all need strong regional programs." It's obviously not an announcement of anything, but these comments make it pretty clear that Carter and WRG are considering how the entire ecosystem could be affected by the events we've been talking about in recent weeks. I think regardless of how you feel about WRG, it's important to understand that we need all levels of sprint car racing to be strong, not just the very top. And if a gap is created at the regional level, not many organizations are in a position to spin up a series and the hit the ground running as quickly as WRG could. Brad Sweet, Kyle Larson, High Limit, and FloRacing seem prepared to make a big splash for 2024, but don't expect WRG and the World of Outlaws to take this lightly. This is just one example of how they are viewing this potential challenge and the steps they will be prepared to take in response.

One other news item from the last several days that I wanted to briefly talk about before we get into some racing. West Virginia Motor Speedway announced back on October 6th that the facility is now listed for sale, and no racing is planned for 2024. The track had previously sat unused for several years before being brought back to life for 2021. But now just a few short years later, it will go quiet again. Located about 2 hours southeast of Columbus, Ohio, the track's key feature is probably one of it's biggest downfalls: it's big. In some places, half mile tracks are a tough sell, and WVMS is even bigger than that, listed as a 5/8 mile. Lucas raced there back in June and drew just a 25 car field, and other events have had similar car count issues. On a track that big you need a lot of horsepower to run well, and when you crash, it's gonna hurt because of the speeds. 5/8 mile dirt tracks don't really exist anywhere else, and this one was going to be a difficult one to make happen. The speedway is currently listed at $1.2 million, but I wouldn't expect a quick sale here. This just might be the end for it.

Alright, looking at the racing coming up over the next few days. The Flo series late models are at Tri-County Racetrack tonight here in North Carolina. They've got three races left in their 2023 season. Bobby Pierce has won back-to-back races coming in, and he leads the championship over Hudson O'Neal. A year ago, Dale McDowell won the Flo show at Tri-County. Should get a bunch of national heavy hitters tonight, plus a lot of the main southeastern guys. After tonight, I would assume a bunch of these guys will head to Senoia Friday and Rome on Saturday to race with the World of Outlaws. These are the last two Outlaw shows until World Finals in a few weeks. Pierce has won four of the last five Outlaw races, and seven of the last ten and is 156 points clear of Chris Madden in the standings. Ashton Winger won the last Outlaw race at Senoia, back in 2021, and the series has never previously appeared at Rome.

On the sprint car side with the World of Outlaws, that series is at 81 Speedway on Friday and Lakeside on Saturday. David Gravel has chopped Brad Sweet's championship advantage down to 68 points with seven races left, but he'll need luck on his side going forward if he's going to win this title. Gravel is currently on a 24 race World of Outlaws winless streak, with his last victory coming way back on July 30th at Weedsport. He's currently got six straight top seven finishes, but has curiously not led any laps since that Weedsport win. After this weekend, the Outlaws have a trip to Devil's Bowl, and then World Finals.

At Devil's Bowl this weekend, the ASCS sprint cars are coming in for two nights of racing. Blake Hahn swept this weekend a year ago, but it looks like he'll have the 410 strapped in the 52 car and be racing against the Outlaws at 81 and Lakeside. Jason Martin and Matt Covington have separated themselves from the rest of the field in the ASCS championship battle, and the gap between the two is 67 points with four races left. Covington will need to dig deep to bring the fight here, as Martin has been lights out this season. Nine wins and 24 top tens in 27 starts. Hopefully mother nature plays nice this weekend.

For the midget fans, Ryan Timms won the POWRi show at Creek County last night over Jade Avedisian and Zach Daum. Tonight it's on to Port City, with I-44 Riverside coming up Friday and Saturday. As we talked about yesterday, that Xtreme Outlaw championship is on the line, with Jade, Cannon McIntosh, Gavin Miller, and Daum all still in the mix.

And finally today, the USMTS modifieds are back at it with a three day show at Arrowhead Speedway in Oklahoma. Weather has been a problem for the USMTS as of late, and they haven't raced a whole lot in recent weeks. Just a handful of race nights remain this year, and Rodney Sanders seems all but guaranteed to take down his fifth series championship. Jason Hughes and a few other drivers remain in mathematical contention, but 164 points will be hard to overcome.

That's it for the Daily show this week. The streaming schedule will be ready for you all weekend if you are looking for races to watch. Feel free to drop your dirt racing plans for the next few days in the comment section below.

Hope you guys have a great Thursday out there, we'll see you back here on Sunday.