DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Did Chris Madden just commit to a World of Outlaws return? | Daily 1-15-2024
So, I think Chris Madden is back with the Outlaws again. We'll talk about the hints today, plus plans for Tanner English, Bobby Pierce's Wild West Shootout heartbreak, and a bunch of regional sprint car news. Let's go!
It's Monday, January 15th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.
At the Wild West Shootout on Sunday night, Bobby Pierce had a chance to go five for six on the week and grab a $100,000 bonus, on top of the $26,000 winner's share. And with about seven laps to go, he appeared to be on his way. Kyle Larson was trying to run him down through lap traffic, and we probably would have ended up with a nice battle to the finish. But a flat right rear tire coming to six to go unraveled the night for Pierce. He got over the cushion in turn four and tried to keep it rolling, but it was clear something was wrong. Larson came in hot with a head of steam and ran right into the back of Pierce, who was then completely out of the throttle. Under the caution, Pierce went to the infield for a new tire, and charged back to the seventh at the end. Out front, Larson was able to get away from Mike Marlar over the final few laps and score his first career win at the Wild West Shootout. Marlar and Cade Dillard followed him to the finish. Afterwards, Larson was bummed about the contact, but he wasn't aware until the victory lane interview that Pierce's tire was already going down. And Bobby confirmed it as well during his interview with Trenton Berry. I think, it was Larson's first late model win since he scored a Lucas victory at Golden Isles back at the start of the 2023 season. Even with the issues, Pierce was still the weeklong champion, and did get a couple extra grand for that, along with the race winnings and the $25k bonus for four of six wins. Looking ahead to later this week, several of the teams in attendance at Vado, including Pierce and Dillard, will now super truck to Florida. The World of Outlaws Late Model season begins Thursday with the Sunshine Nationals at Volusia. Wednesday is a practice night, with full race programs schedule for Thursday through Saturday. The event also includes pro late models and 602 late models. We'll dive more into that later this week.
But since I mentioned the World of Outlaws Late Models, let's talk about their current list of full time drivers. One week ago on the Daily, we were updating you on the additions of Tyler Bruening and Brent Larson to the group, bringing them to 17 total. Besides those two, that list also includes Bobby Pierce, Brandon Sheppard, Nick Hoffman, Brian Shirley, Kyle Bronson, Ryan Gustin, Todd Cooney, Dustin Walker, Dennis Erb Jr., Cade Dillard, Parker Martin, Max McLaughlin, Dustin Sorensen, Tristan Chamberlain, and Cody Overton. Of the top 15 in the 2023 standings, the only drivers with question marks at this point are Chris Madden and Tanner English. Everyone else in that group is returning, except Shane Clanton, who we've documented previously, and Gordy Gundaker who is scaling back. Tanner English at this moment appears to be possibly hedging his bets. He's got all of Speedweeks on his schedule, including all Outlaw and Lucas races, but things get weird in March. The first Lucas/Outlaw conflict is March 22nd, with Lucas at Atomic and the Outlaws at Thunderhill. English has both series on his schedule on that date, and March 23rd between Thunderhill and Brownstown. And after March, the rest of English's 2024 plans are blank. So this clearly feels like a wait-and-see until after speedweeks situation. We'll leave a question mark next to English's status for now. As for Chris Madden, second in the Outlaw standings a year ago, and not a peep from him or the series about his plans with just a few days left before the opener. But, regardless of no communication, it appears as though Madden will be back full time with the Outlaws. In recent days his website was updated with his 2024 schedule, and on it is the full slate of Outlaw races, from Volusia this weekend through World Finals in November. The schedule also includes a few Lucas shows during Speedweeks, plus the crown jewels at Eldora, a few Flo series races, and some regional stuff in the south at year's end. With Madden back, that would take the Outlaws to 18 at the moment. A year ago, they eventually ended up with 23 signed on come the opener, with 15 going the distance. We'll see if series director Steve Francis is able to add to this group of 18 with still a few days left in the quote unquote offseason.
Shifting to some sprint car stuff, there have been a few regional moves in recent days. Dennis Gainey's Team DGRD announced a pair of drivers to tackle Knoxville and other events in 2024. First, Darin Naida will compete in the 360 division weekly at Knoxville this season, challenging for rookie of the year. The 17 year old Michigan driver appeared in 43 410 races in 2023, racing a lot around Ohio and Michigan. He had two weekly wins at Butler Motor Speedway. He and the team are hoping to find some additional support to add in some midwest 410 shows along with the 360 slate. DGRD will also campaign a 410 team for Brandon Wimmer, who returns to the team for another season. They will run a mix of races at Knoxville, and with the traveling series like the Outlaws, High Limit, IRA, and Maverick. Wimmer had two wins last season in 25 starts, both at Atomic Speedway. One came with FAST and the other with the OVSCA.
Also around Knoxville, the Beaver Drill and Tool 12X team has a new driver for this season. Carson McCarl will pilot their sprint car in 410 competition at Knoxville, along with a bunch of midwest shows between the Outlaws and High Limit. The Beaver 12X has recently been driven by Chase Randall, Ayrton Gennetten, and Garet Williamson. McCarl is a two time 360 champion at Knoxville, and made 31 410 appearances a year ago. He did pick up a 360 MSTS win at I-90 in June.
In Central Pennsylvania, some changes are coming to the Devon Borden-driven 23 car for this season. Shuttlesworth-Stehman Motorsports is now just Stehman Motorsports, with the team confirming that Jim Shuttlesworth has departed the team. In Jim's place, son Chris Shuttlesworth is taking over as crew chief of the rebranded organization. All of this news dropped over the weekend. Borden was the 2023 track champion at Port Royal. Before the Central PA season gets started, Borden and Shuttlesworth will also head south with the Grove Racing 45 to compete at East Bay with High Limit, and during their King of 360s event. Both are in February during WinterNationals. The Grove machine was driven last year by Tim Shaffer, and late in the year by Kyle Reinhardt.
That's it for the Daily show today, stop by dirtrackr.com to see today's streaming schedule and catch up on all the latest happenings from around the sport. Make sure to also like and follow DIRTRACKR on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Threads, wherever you are on social media, we are too. I had thought about not making a YouTube channel subscriber goal for the year, but hell maybe I should. We are at 27k currently. I'd love to say 50k by years end, but I feel like 40K is probably much more doable. So for now, that's the goal. 40,000 YouTube subscribers by the end of 2024. If you want to help me get there, and make sure you are in the loop for future content, hit that subscribe button wherever you are. It is free on YouTube and the podcast platforms. No money, no credit card numbers, nothing. Just plain old free.
Hope you guys have a great Monday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!