DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Insane. Compelling. Amazing. Brutal. Reacting to the Lucas Chase finale at Eldora | Daily 10-23-2023
The Lucas chase finale and Dirt Track World Championship were incredible. Compelling. Exciting. Terrible. Brutal. And everything in between. Let's talk about it...
It's Monday, October 23rd, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.
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Well, I'd say the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and FloRacing got exactly what they were hoping for when the Lucas Chase for the Championship was announced at PRI last year. Last night was absolute pandemonium, and it got everyone watching and commenting on social media. By the end of the 100 lap Dirt Track World Championship, we had Brandon Sheppard coasting across the line to win on fumes, and Hudson O'Neal just beating Devin Moran back to the checkered to score the 2023 Lucas title. But because of a brutal Eldora track surface after multiple days of rain and postponements, just six of the 28 car field were still on the track at the end. It was a war of attrition, and I think only three of the final six cars didn't make a trip to the infield at some point. Sheppard was in, so was O'Neal, he was a lap down at one point but benefitted from the Lucas lucky dog rule. Ricky Thornton Jr's night was effectively done on lap eight. He looked like he maybe caught a rut in four and slid up into Jimmy Owens, making hard contact before also getting into Bobby Pierce. RTJ's car needed significant repairs, including a ball joint, and eventually returned to the race many laps down. Because of all of the issues though, Thornton still managed an eighth place finish. So he was the first contender to fall. O'Neal's multiple pit area visits looked like they were going to unravel his chances, but some luck definitely went their way. Jonathan Davenport tried to just manage his car through most of the feature, but even doing that didn't work. He bowed out late in the going after the radiator got knocked out of the 49. He ended up fourth in the final standings with RTJ third. As the laps wound down, and multiple cautions kept the field close, the battle was between Moran and O'Neal and things got spicy late with big sliders and sketchy moments. Moran was in the driver's seat at the white flag, but Huddy just seemed to manage the bumps a little better on that final circuit, and he slid past Moran into three, and damn near beat the B5 back to the checkered for the win. I know he's disappointed today to not have won the title, but it was a massive jump for Moran. To go from outside the top four at the final race, to almost winning the championship was pretty wild. As for O'Neal, that team did what they had to do. They made the smart move to add fuel to the Rocket 1 during one of those infield visits, and they were in the right place at the right time. And then when it mattered on track, Huddy was up on the wheel and got it done for his crew. I do think O'Neal is a deserving champion. They had a great season, it wasn't RTJ level, but in past years under the old system, the Rocket 1 is right in the mix with the year they had.
I don't want to gloss over Sheppard's win here either. Those guys had a brake line issue early, got it fixed, and then the B5 came roaring back through the field. Had they not ran out of gas on that final lap, this thing wouldn't have even been as close as it was. Sheppard will obviously be the Longhorn Chassis house car driver in 2024, and it seems like they are really pulling out all the stops. Steve Arpin was there last night. And BShepp has raced a few times here with Kevin Rumley. Also, I'm not sure if you noticed, but Randall Edwards is in the mix there now as well with Sheppard Riggs Racing. He had obviously been with Tyler Erb, then shifted to Garrett Smith's team for a bit. But I think he could be a solid pickup there for the B5. It's clearly been a learning season for Shepp, but they have had a lot of good moments this year, and I think could be on a very strong trajectory for next season.
Looking at the result for the 20RT. We knew from the jump this was going to be a possibility, and I still think that even if we had the better version of Eldora with track conditions, this team was up against it versus Davenport and O'Neal. I do think that's a weakness with these one race take all deals. Is if the track they choose isn't your bread and butter, you're at a disadvantage. It sucks big time that the 20RT's Lucas year didn't result in a title, but I promise you that nobody will forget what they did this season. You have to really tip your hat to those guys too for battling all night last night to keep that car on the track and maybe catch a break with problems for the other teams. And in a small way, it worked out, because they finished third and not fourth which was an extra $25,000 added to their year end check. The purists are going to hate this and complain, and they really already have, and in some way, I agree. This team was the best all season, but they didn't get the chip because of the format and circumstances.
Looking around at all of the various reactions, the opinions are pretty mixed. Some loved what we saw last night, and some hated it, but we already knew that was going to be the case. This will continue though into the future, because like I said off the top, the Lucas and Flo people got exactly what they wanted. A ton of attention on this final event. I'm sure their numbers were through the roof last night, because even those that hated it were tuned in to see what happened. It was the perfect storm of elements, between the title fight, a big race payday, and poor track conditions, and it all forced every driver who wanted a shot to just put in their mouth guard, fist bump their corner, and tap in to the fight. In the future though, I'll be curious to see how this plays out on a night when conditions aren't so brutal. I wonder what we'd be saying today if Davenport had led 75 of 100 laps and won by four seconds last night. Would the big bosses feel the same way this morning? Was last night's insanity maybe a bit of a false positive. I guess we'll see.
My big criticism for last night is how a lot of the post race stuff was handled. If you want me to believe this was a big championship for O'Neal, then you gotta sell me that. The champions interview multiple minutes later, standing in front of the media center by himself was not great. If you're going to take the NASCAR route with the format, then follow how they do the celebration. Those guys needed their own victory lane. Not just hanging off to the side after the droop check. Even today, the Lucas website's top story is Sheppard winning the race, and O'Neal's title is a sub headline. There should be a massive banner splashed across the top. There should be cool social media graphics. There should be a championship video with clips from the season. And yet we have none of that. These are areas where dirt racing really needs to take some steps forward. Flo has an entire staff of people, these videos should have been in the can and ready to go ahead of time. Same with potential championship graphics for all drivers. We get that from the other big motorsports series and stick and ball sports. We need that here. That's a big miss for me. You want to be the biggest dirt racing series, then show me that you are.
Also, I do think we need to acknowledge the track conditions this weekend. I know the weather can't be controlled, and it's tough to bring these race tracks back from the brink with that much rain, but Eldora's recent track record for surfaces in these big races isn't great. Nobody wants to criticize in these instances, and I'm the last one to call a track out. This is an inexact science after all, and it ends up being the same track for everyone. But the chatter is only going to get louder until they can get back on a roll. People weren't happy after the Dream, they did bounce back for the World, and then Saturday night and last night were brutal. 33% on the year isn't going to keep the haters quiet.
I know you guys will have opinions, so feel free to leave them below in the comments. I don't honestly have a strong reaction one way or the other. I understand what they were doing in trying this format, it was certainly entertaining and compelling last night. But I also hear the purists who rail against this kind of stuff. I do appreciate that they tried to mix things up, but I also know there is some portion of the fan base who are turned off after what they witnessed on Sunday night. Let me know where you stand.
That's it for this Monday edition of the Daily. Appreciate you guys tuning in.
Hope you have a great Monday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow.