Fast Talk presented by MD3 and Five Star Bodies
Fast Talk: Hired gun or dirt under fingernails?
After a weekend with Jonathan Davenport grabbing his first Firecracker 100 and WoO-Summer Nationals action at I-55, our roundtable discusses that and more in the weekly feature presented by MD3 and Five Star Race Cars Bodies (edited for clarity and length):
Pick a topic regarding Lernerville’s Firecracker 100.
Kevin Kovac, DirtonDirt senior writer: Need more evidence that Jonathan Davenport will end up in the best-ever conversation? Saturday provided it. The Firecracker 100 was one of just two crown jewel events he still needed to conquer and he did it in true superstar fashion, masterfully tip-toeing around the shiny, slick surface — and making a superb save on lap 84 when he absorbed contact from both Max Blair and Ricky Thornton Jr. — to control virtually the entire distance. That’s an amazing 24 crown jewel victories for J.D., with all of them coming over the last 11 seasons. I wouldn’t bet against him winning October’s Dirt Track World Championship to complete his career crown jewel sweep.
Todd Turner, DirtonDirt managing editor: Rain shrunk our sample size to a single night of racing, and I’m sure more drivers would’ve enjoyed preliminary nights to size things up for the finale. Jonathan Davenport clicking off one of the few major events he’d yet to win is noteworthy, and he’s also the lone driver in 2025 with four victories paying $30,000 or more. The first driver to pair Dream and Firecracker victories since Brandon Overton in 2021, Davenport’s workmanlike success doesn’t always excite like that of Bobby Pierce and Ricky Thornton Jr., but could he turn out to be 2025’s best driver?
Kyle McFadden, DirtonDirt staff reporter: Other than the frustrating amount of rain thats wiped out so many Pennsylvania events this year, I had a feeling that Jonathan Davenport would emerge as a first-time Firecracker champion. Following him at Georgia-Florida Speedweeks, Illinois Speedweek, the Northeastern swing and other races this year, Davenport and his Double L team have been mightily consistent and perhaps the most steady bunch in 2025. Saturday’s racetrack played right into Davenport’s favor — slick with the middle being the preferred groove. It was also another long-distance event that turned out more entertaining than Davenport’s domination suggested.
Richard Allen, Motorsports Report: The obvious points that could be brought up here are the win by Jonathan Davenport or the weather knocking out the Thursday and Friday portion of the event. But something that might have gone a bit under the radar was the run by Max Blair in his home state. It feels like he and his team have gained some momentum since the decision was made to run a pick-and-choose schedule and that came to fruition with a podium finish at Lernerville against a top field. I am anxious to see what the No. 111 will be able to achieve during the second half of 2025 while hitting tracks in a region where they're more familiar.
Evaluate WoO’s weekend with the Summer Nationals at I-55.
Turner: The question was when, not if, Drake Troutman would win on the WoO circuit, and he was impressive in this one. I’ll also give a nod to the Summer Nationals drivers with solid showings of top-fives for Jason Feger, Tyler Erb and Mike Harrison, the runner-up to Troutman. (It’s hard not to mention the Late Model features started after midnight one night and after 1 a.m. the next. Lots of factors here, but if I-55’s two-series weekend continues, let’s start with sending the midget series to another track.)
McFadden: Pevely is one of my favorite tracks on the circuit. It’s exciting and makes a driver really get up on the wheel. There’s no skirting around that bullring, as shown as by Bobby Pierce and Drake Troutman. Even though Troutman’s first WoO win had been a long time coming, I was kind of hoping Mike Harrison would pull Saturday’s win off. But Harrison said it best as he congratulated Troutman in victory, that the 20-year-old is truly forming into a solid, more-steady racer at the right time. And that he has a bright future ahead of him.
Allen: In the same way Tyler Erb turned his 2024 season in the right direction when he went to the DIRTcar Summer Nationals and won numerous times, Drake Troutman has found himself in victory lane on that minitour on multiple occasions this year. Like Max Blair, the driver of the No. 22 parlayed his recent success into a strong weekend with the World of Outlaws by scoring a top-10 and a victory. At just 20 years of age, there is a major upside in Troutman’s career and I think we’ll be discuss his success for years.
Kovac: I still can’t believe how late both nights lasted. Trouble prepping the track — promoter Josh Carroll said in a social media post that his crew did what the World of Outlaws “wanted done with the track” — certainly contributed to the length shows, but there was also a ton of cars there and that created a dire situation once things didn’t go smoothly. It was an unfortunate look for a national tour. That dominated the weekend storyline, but deserving of some flowers was Bobby Pierce for yet another win — his first national tour triumph at Pevely — and the WoO breakthrough for Drake Troutman, who is really blossoming running for G.R. Smith at the age of 20 and notably without having a veteran crew chief overseeing him on the road.
What’s another recent result, driver or news item that caught your eye?
McFadden: Despite three of eight events being rained out, Appalachian Speedweek organizer Jim Bernheisel told me that his miniseries is paying the full point fund following July 11’s rescheduled finale at Selinsgrove (Pa.) Speedway. I don’t think that should get lost in the busyness of our sport. It’s always nice to see sponsors and generous purses being cashed out toward regional racers because it’s paramount in keeping our sport as healthy as possible. That’s also the main reason why Bernheisel didn’t want to end the miniseries on the originally scheduled final event on June 15 at Bridgeport, so his minitour could log one more event to justify paying the full point fund. Kudos to Bernheisel and team for navigating a frustrating, rain-plagued spring to make that happen.
Allen: Schedule a big race at I-75 Raceway in Sweetwater, Tenn., and expect Cory Hedgecock to be in contention. That proved to be the case this past weekend in the Crate Racin’ USA show in the J.T. Kerr Memorial when Hedgecock earned his sixth win in that race formerly held at 411 Motor Speedway driving a car that was not his own No. 23 machine. And it’s important to remember that he competes in Super Late Models as well as 604 Late Models and some drivers struggle with those differing types of cars. I think that sometimes Hedgecock doesn’t get enough credit for being as good as he is because so much success comes around home, where he truly tough to beat.
Kovac: I was impressed by Joseph Joiner’s $10,000 victory in Saturday’s Southern Thunder-sanctioned Grassy Smith Memorial at Cherokee Speedway. The Florida driver capped off a month-long road trip with his second five-figure win at the South Carolina track in just over a month, repeating his successful run in last month’s Mike Duvall Memorial. Joiner deserves a pat on the back for winning two in a row at Cherokee — he even overtook Chris Ferguson, a guy who knows the track well, to take the lead for good on Saturday — and doing it with a Capital Race Car that wasn’t highly represented in Cherokee’s field.
Turner: I’ll tout Super Late Model rookie Braiden Keller’s arrival. The recent high school graduate won his first feature Friday at Farmer City and was on track for a next-night victory at Fairbury when a tangle with a slower car knocked him out of the lead. I hope to catch up with the West Lebanon, Ind., soon for our Weekly Notebook presented by FK Rod Ends.
For the driver of your high-profile race team, would you prefer someone hands-on intimately involved with car's preparation and maintenance, or a helmet-carrying hired gun?
Kovac: I think I’d do everything I could to invest in an experienced crew chief and let them hire two full-time mechanics they’re comfortable with, then put the preparation of the equipment in their capable hands so my driver could completely focus on driving. I certainly want my hired driver to have knowledge of the car and be capable of working on it, but I don’t want them putting in long hours in the shop if that can be arranged. Today’s racing requires teams to find every edge possible, and having a driver who can study video and be totally focused on their job behind the wheel seems like it could be advantage as long as my driving hire is responsible enough to handle that role.
McFadden: The fan of the old-school days in me always appreciates drivers who regularly wrench on their own machines. But if I had a high-profile race team, I’d have enough means to hire a top-tier crew chief and mechanics so my driver doesn’t have to shoulder the brunt of the car stuff. I think drivers who handle their own setups are often too worried about what changes they ought to make on their cars while racing rather than purely focused on hitting their marks. I don’t want my driver to race analytically. I want him hands-on to some degree, sure, like bolting on tires and making small adjustments around the car when the team needs help. But I want my driver purely focused on their race craft, which is crucial these days.
Allen: There are so many possible scenarios to consider with this question. With there being such a shortage in terms of crew help, it almost seems essential that the driver has to be able to work on the car because, quite simply, there may not be anyone else to do it. That said, I used to be firmly in that camp that the driver should work on his own car because he knows exactly what he wants. Scott Bloomquist was an excellent example of this type of approach. But I have changed that view to some degree because of Kyle Larson. He admits that he knows very little about what makes a race car go fast so he just tells the crew what he feels and lets them do their work. And that is true whether it’s NASCAR, sprint cars or his stint in Late Models. Granted, there aren’t many talents like Kyle Larson around to drive a race car.
Turner: My gut says I’d like a driver who likes to get his hands dirty. In reality, he probably depends on the driver (or the results? If we’re winning, it doesn't matter to me if the driver is crawling under the car or napping in the hauler). Teams have made it work both ways, but I think the driver that shows up at the track late, or seems uninterested in the preparation of the car, can be a bigger target for criticism if the results are lackluster.
When behind the wheel of a passenger car, which move are you most likely to make: slide job, crossover, ride the cushion, hug the hub — or pit stop?
Allen: My kids say that I'm a slide-job driver on the interstate. After I pass a car, I tend to jump immediately back to the right-hand lane because I don’t want to be “that guy” who holds up traffic in the left lane. However, I have a few documents provided by law enforcement that indicate holding up traffic isn't necessarily a major concern when I’m behind the wheel.
McFadden: Sometimes I’m told (either by girlfriend or other passengers) that I drive dangerously close to the outermost edges of the road. I’ll say, “Well, I trust my depth perception." And on iRacing, I’m ride-or-die around the cushion. Crossovers and sliders are fun, but there’s nothing that beats the thrill of riding the cushion to perfection.
Turner: Maybe parade lap? I’m not a fast driver (my wife’s family, not good drivers and not readers of Fast Talk, frequently speed as well as remind me I drive too slow). If I do get more daring, maybe it’s a crossover move. I’m not a fan of non-signaling drivers who cut in front of me, often slowing down to exit or take the next turn. A crossover seems like a reasonable reaction.
Kovac: I guess hugging the hub is my style, in that I try to just stay smooth and patient and avoid bad situations. I’m not trying to pull any moves on the highway. Just stay defensive, keeping an eye on the other cars on the road to reduce the risk of being involved in an accident. I don’t need to be aggressive just to try and get somewhere a little bit faster.
Correction: Fixes Davenport's crown jewel total to 24 sted 23
