DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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How I found out Bobby Pierce watches my shows... | Daily 10-31-2023

Bobby Pierce comes for my neck, Cory Eliason has already found a new ride, TMez is out, and could we see Jacob Allen back in a sprint car very soon? I've got the details. Let's go!

It's Tuesday, October 31st, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.

The 2023 season continues to get closer to it's end, but BAPS Motor Speedway in Central Pennsylvania isn't done just yet. BAPS has announced its largest payout in track history with the Les Stewart Sprint Showdown, coming up on Saturday, November 11th. Paying $25k to win and $1325 to start, there is also another over $4,000 available in additional lap money contingencies awards. The overall purse for this one is well over $85,000. The BAPS Sprint Showdown is the last chance for fans and race teams to get in some sprint car racing before the year ends. It's also an event that has traditionally attracted sanctioned drivers who may not be able to race in PA during the regular season due to their obligations and scheduling conflicts elsewhere. Past winners include Brent Marks, Danny Dietrich, Freddie Rahmer and Jacob Allen. If you'd like to be there, right now for a short time, BAPS is offering fans the opportunity to purchase one adult general admission ticket with the second adult ticket $5 off. Just go to bapsmotorspeedway.com to find the Sprint Showdown Event Link or contact the speedway directly. As always, free camping, free parking and plenty of high-backed grandstand seating will be available on the frontstretch. So grab your tickets soon and let them know you heard about it here on DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm still waiting for Shane McDonald to hit me back about the free ticket giveaway from last week. So Shane, if you're out there, drop me an email. Thanks to BAPS Motor Speedway for their support of this show.

When you do a show like mine every day, you never really know who's watching in the audience. You guys obviously see me, but unless there is a comment or somebody reaches out about a show, I have no idea who's actually tuning in. I found out yesterday though, that one of the best dirt late model racers in the country this season has at least seen an episode or two. And he made sure to completely eviscerate me over a take I had on a show way back in January via a video from social media. Let me just play that video now so you can see what I mean... So, yeah. Bobby Pierce making me look like a complete idiot on that call, and a big hat tip to him and whoever was involved in the production of that video. Well played team. I guess I do believe that Pierce was a full time Outlaw driver this year. In my defense though, I did make a show in June where I admitted about getting that initial take wrong, and besides Ricky Thornton Jr., nobody else has really had a season like Pierce. He gets started at World Finals tomorrow with a 156 point lead on Chris Madden for the World of Outlaws champoinship thanks to 14 wins and 31 top tens in 35 races. He's also got a strong shot at the Flo series title at Senoia in a couple of weeks. I hope you guys got a good laugh out of that one just like I did. I might have to buy some Bobby Pierce gear now to wear on the show...

Something else to look out for this week at World Finals is the return to sprint car racing for Jacob Allen. If you might remember back to August, Jacob bowed out of the seat of the Shark Racing 1A just hours before the Knoxville Nationals was set to start. Chase Dietz ran the car at the event in his place, and we know Tanner Holmes has been with Shark Racing since then. But yesterday on Facebook, the Jacob Allen Racing page posted a video of a sprint car engine running that was tagged with Concord, North Carolina and the Dirt Track at Charlotte. There is no official release from the team as I write this, but Bobby Allen did confirm via a social media post that Jacob will race this week, and there is talk he could race in Central Pennsylvania to end the season as well after World Finals. From there, a full time return to sprint car racing is on the table for 2024. As for Tanner Holmes, he's talked in recent days, including on a YouTube video yesterday, about racing this weekend, and he's mentioned in Bobby's tweet as well. So expect Shark to campaign three cars for World Finals. They've done this plenty before when Landon Myers has run the 1M car, usually in Pennsylvania. Holmes also said in that video that he's still working on plans for 2024, and hopes to have more details in the coming weeks, but does want to be out on the road with the Outlaws or High Limit. I hope this means that Jacob has found a more sustainable way to stay racing, because I think the sport is a better place with Jacob in it and competitive.

And because the sprint car news never stops dropping, we've got an update on things for Cory Eliason, who we talked about on yesterday's Daily. Eliason was dropped over the weekend from the Crouch Motorsports 11, but he will race this week at Charlotte. The Ridge and Sons Racing team that we've seen run with Aaron Reutzel in recent seasons, will field Eliason this week at World Finals. There has been chatter about this team and it's future, and this might be a tryout for Eliason for 2024. Rumors are that the team would like to expand their schedule next season and have been exploring options for different drivers, as it's believed that Reutzel doesn't want to travel as much. As I said yesterday, Cory is a good driver and I didn't think it would take him long to find another deal. Eliason will be paired with long time sprint car crew chief Tyler Swank.

Before we move on, there was a new piece in the Slider over the weekend from Jordan Wilman. And it's a nice tie-in here, because it was an interview with Tanner Holmes. If you aren't aware, The Slider is our free dirt racing email newsletter. You can sign up to get The Slider and see all of the past 18 issues over at dirtrackr.com/theslider. Also, if you'd like to contribute in the future, shoot me an email or DM. I do pay for anything that gets used.

The driver and team news though hasn't just been limited to sprint cars lately. We know that Chase McDermand has left the Mounce Stout midget, and that Hank Davis will go full time with USAC next season with Cornell. Another driver on the market as of yesterday, is Thomas Meseraull. RMS Racing posted to social media that they have parted with TMez and that they will only head to the west coast with Justin Grant to finish the 2023 USAC National Midget season. It's been a tough year on the road for Meseraull, who only had one win and nine top tens in 21 USAC starts. He'd been part of a program though to help Engler develop a Ford midget engine, while teammate Justin Grant continued with the Toyota piece. That development seemed to have held back the RMS 7 car, as TMez was quite a bit off the pace from what he did in 2022. In his last USAC starts though, Meseraull was better, winning his BC39 prelim night, and finishing fifth in the big show after leading some laps. No word from the team on if they will continue with a second car in the future, or what TMez will do next.

Alright, that's it for the show today. There are micros at Millbridge tonight, and sprint cars and late models at Cherokee if the weather plays nice. You can find both of those shows on the streaming schedule at dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.

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