Latest / Pushin' the Cushion / Weekly Race Recap 4/15: Fifield Scores Kennedale and Plenty of Races this Weekend
Transcript
- Slim Pushins: Hey everybody, welcome back to the Push on the Cushion weekly recap. I had a great night, I know, at Kennedale. What about... Jim Gardner: So we heard. We weren't there. Corby Scherb: Lot of cars, ⁓ the track was a little bit iffy this weekend. We praised them a lot their first weekend. There was rain, there was moisture in the air. It is tough to do all that, but Kennedale, a lot of times, whenever it's wet, just gets brutally rough. Slim Pushins: I wasn't there. Jim Gardner: I thought for sure it was gonna rain out. I was planning to go to I-44 with Justin Bates in the midget and we ended up bailing on that because we were like, man, we're gonna drive up there and get rained out and they got the race in. And Kennedale same way just kind of look and it looked like it was gonna dump rain and so it's really hard. Corby Scherb: I did too. Mm-hmm. Slim Pushins: I thought it was going to rain out and I got called out for not being there. I'll tell that story on the podcast this week, but I definitely got called out for not being there. Jim Gardner: Yeah. Corby Scherb: was good, was cool. Braxton Weiger, super quick, young kid, he's got talent, sitting in a good car, ⁓ led it, start to finish, and the ol' unlucky came up light on the scales. Slim Pushins: I a lot of us have been there before. Well, I let's be honest. I don't think it was egregious ever. It wasn't a, it wasn't anything like that. But let's just talk about, you know, the disaster of a first seven laps. quit. Corby Scherb: I don't even think it was first set of maps, I think it was the whole race, huh, and was just car after car. Yeah. Slim Pushins: My pen ran out of ink. At one point, five laps in, there were two reds and at least two cautions. Jim Gardner: And they hung, they hung another one up in the fence and turned forward too, concerns me a little bit. ⁓ they're just going from 60 miles an hour to zero. Dead stop is, is violent. So. Corby Scherb: Yep. I won't lie to anyone, I know that Kennedale is one place, I don't want to say this ever, I don't think you can get through that fence. That thing is serious. I agree. Jim Gardner: No. Slim Pushins: It has been tested so many times. Jim Gardner: I mean, Buddy Kofoid hit it so hard leading that outlaw show and just wrapped his right rear tire around it. I just would like, I would like to have them cut it down and so you can hit the fence. Slim Pushins: started cold macita. Corby Scherb: Yeah, homo-sito, ⁓ what's it, shield and hot shield. It's aggressive, like you can just, I mean, absolute impact. Jim Gardner: Yeah. Yeah. But, ⁓ yeah, it was, it was a rough start that race didn't have very many, ⁓ it didn't have any rhythm for awhile there. Slim Pushins: But anyway, they ran probably. They ran probably 60 total laps. I bet a lot of people were on the brink of being light. Corby Scherb: No, not at all. ⁓ I agree. I'd say well I'd say this and I will say this openly because I have watched it happen to my younger brother Don't rely on fuel for weight Make sure your car empty call it if you want to call empty three gallons because it's probably gonna start missing at that point if You're not passing weight at three gallons Same concept you have no idea what their skills are the same Kerbo like we went to 105 I told you it's gonna be a long one and we almost brim the fuel cell Slim Pushins: Yeah, that's. Jim Gardner: Yeah. Slim Pushins: Yeah. Corby Scherb: You just you got a plan for that stuff and you should be passing weight empty on fuel in my opinion Jim Gardner: Yeah. Yep. I got popped for. Slim Pushins: There were a bunch of guys that ran, landed Venezuela, who we've talked about before, shows a lot of speed and as soon as he hones in his craft is gonna be a weekly contender. He was what, plus 11 to finish seventh. ⁓ Corby Scherb: But, Fyfield went on, he got the win, you know, by default. he doesn't race every weekend. Absolutely. Absolutely. Jim Gardner: Yeah, and I think. Yeah. So star Joey had another bullet in the chamber run one, two, and that's not really shocking, especially on a racetrack like that, where it's just locked down and heavy. The cars that make that's right. ⁓ Slim Pushins: Yeah Corby Scherb: Yeah. Slim Pushins: That's the most Joey Starnes thing ever, just to have one just on deck. Corby Scherb: So. Slim Pushins: uh, Landon Thompson was plus 10 after he caused a car or was in a caution. I think he might have spun out himself. I don't know if somebody got into him or not. He was plus 10 to finish a ninth. Um, and then you've got the perennial front runners. Corby Scherb: Yeah. Jim Gardner: Yes, this. Corby Scherb: Well, let's call it, let's go ahead and say Mr. Consistency right now. DJ S is doing what he does. know, DJ looks really good. He looks comfortable. Right now, I think he's sitting there and he knows he's only got a third place car and that's where he's sitting. Jim Gardner: Mm-hmm. Yeah, he's averaging. Slim Pushins: A lot of people don't come to realize that. Corby Scherb: It's a hard thing. It's a really hard thing to know that when you push out there and that this is it, this is what I have. If I move forward, it's because things happen to other drivers. You just kind of got to sit there. Slim Pushins: How many times it's sitting in a chute did I tell you that this it's going to be a long race and to take whatever the track will give you. Corby Scherb: ⁓ for sure, know, and rough tracks like that, it's more about being methodical, being smart. love to, my favorite, one of my favorite racers growing up, his name was Ronnie Jones, he was from Oklahoma City, and his definition was go slow to go fast. Slim Pushins: And you have to learn that. Jim Gardner: I don't know about on that racetrack though. They, I ⁓ I saw, I saw the, ⁓ the 31 ran a 12 seven during the feature, which is hauling ass and they qualify there in a couple of weeks. ⁓ I bet the pole speed won't be 12 sevens for the quick time, you know? So, ⁓ anyway, that's that. Corby Scherb: Man, you just, you close your eyes, you pucker up real good. Slim Pushins: You Corby Scherb: Yep. Thanks. Yep. Right. Slim Pushins: We had national tours. ⁓ Where were they at, Jim Gardner: Uh, the outlaws were at Peevely, Missouri, I-55, which, um, both nights were wars, especially Saturday night, uh, was just wild in traffic. Buddy Kofoid comes out the winter both nights. Um, shoe heart and gravel got into it. Uh, again, they had a big crash in Volusia night one. They, they crashed again down the front stretch. It looks like just hard racing, switching lanes. Corby Scherb: ⁓ yeah. ⁓ yeah. Jim Gardner: ⁓ trying to break guys momentum especially in traffic and ⁓ and you end up tore up like that yeah ⁓ Slim Pushins: I was on Team Gravel for that one. I... Corby Scherb: Man, you can say that all you want, man. My favorite nickname in racing, ⁓ Bill Balog, he was moving there for a bit, kinda got bottled up on a restart, but... Jim Gardner: Yeah, and he got jammed up on Friday too, ⁓ issue that wasn't his own. And he just got the brunt of it. I 55, just got walls on both sides and a quarter mile. mean, can you imagine running Kennedale with a wall in the infield too? Dicey. Corby Scherb: Yup. Yup. Slim Pushins: They turned. Corby Scherb: Peaveley, that place is just, and you can watch the four 10s and you can clearly see them during qualifying just how much they're just turned like this all the way down straight away. Jim Gardner: ⁓ yeah. Yeah. Especially when it gets real slick like that and they had them tightened up and they make a lot of wing speed down at end of the end of the straightaways. ⁓ Corby Scherb: Mm-hmm. Yep. Slim Pushins: I couldn't believe that they turned gravel around. that, was no, I would have lost every dime that I've ever made on that bet. But. Jim Gardner: He got the past champions time in the work area. Probably, but I don't know if it's a high limit guy in there. gets that much time, but ⁓ you know, they got to take care of their own guys. got no real problem with it. The weird thing was, you know, who missed the show both nights was Rico. And he's won a couple of iron mans. I believe he's usually really fast there. So, ⁓ you know, he doesn't run the outlaws full time and he was ⁓ just invading, but. Corby Scherb: ⁓ yeah. ⁓ yeah. Slim Pushins: There's always that. Corby Scherb: For sure. For sure. I know. I know. Yep. And I'll say this again, openly, it's so important how you qualify. ⁓ You can just get bottled up and in the heat race, just about anywhere we go, there's not a ton of passing. Qualifying is so important. Jim Gardner: Well, we were talking about land Valenzuela with another big charge this week. And I think I saw a video where he was up on the bike and the heat race and, know, then you miss the invert and you start 19th and you have a really good car and get it figured out and get going and you're just buried and you run out of time. So, ⁓ you know, Corby Scherb: Mm-hmm. Yep. Slim Pushins: Well, those are the type of races that allow you to make big moves. You you pass three or four cars and then you catch a caution, catch your breath, brings the whole field back together. And then the same thing happens three or four times. The next thing you know, you find yourself in the top 10 and just now fighting for your life. Jim Gardner: Yeah. Put yourself in a position and never, never give up that, that spot you're running for eighth, you know, becomes running for fifth if something happens up front. So a good world of outlaws races there. ⁓ USAC was at my home track Lawrenceburg for the Justin Owen Memorial. Briggs Danner takes home the win. It's not very shocking. He's, he's run Bridgeport, New Jersey a bunch and those tracks are nearly identical. It was up on the fence, big three story slide jobs. That place is awesome. Corby Scherb: Yeah. ⁓ it was gnarly. Jim Gardner: Man, Kyle Humm, Kyle Cummins won Terra Haute Sunday. Terra Haute's gnarly. We were talking before this. ⁓ if you're in Indiana, like Rutherford's going to Indiana and he was asking me stuff to do on Memorial Day week. said, go watch Terra Haute Wednesday. I don't care what's there. Go and like go stand in the infield for hot laps. And, ⁓ it is just eye opening. ⁓ Terra Haute's super cool. Corby Scherb: Yep. Slim Pushins: I forgot he's going up there. Kevin Rutherford's going to the Indy 500, right? That's what's taking him up there. And like always, you just filled him full of information. Jim Gardner: Right. Yeah. Yep. So. Man, that was my, for the last 20 years, that was my favorite week of the year to go up to Indiana and, um, you know, go to terror hope Tuesday, Wednesday, uh, circle city, Wednesday, Thursday, then the little 500, the greatest payment race of all time, um, has qualifying Thursday and Friday, go to IRP Friday night or Bloomington. And then, uh, Saturday, go the little 500, the greatest race on the planet at Anderson. And then, uh, you know, drink beer till 3 AM, then wake up at six and drive to the big speedway and, and, and go party at the infield at turn three for a couple of hours, grab a nap and, and, uh, it was just the best weekend of all time for a long time. So, but now we have speed week. So that's what I do now. Slim Pushins: Do they let you in that stream down there to hunt for bricks or is that awful and it's for everybody that's not named Dale Arnard Jr.? Jim Gardner: I think that's off limits. That was, that's not on, ⁓ that wasn't on my itinerary for Kevin, but I wouldn't be shocked if he comes back with one. ⁓ anyway, so, ⁓ Chris Martin wins at the Salina high banks. ⁓ his brother was upfront at one point too. ⁓ they might've been running one too. I don't know if they finished one too or not. Slim Pushins: What about ASCS? Corby Scherb: I think that's only the second ASCS National Tour win ever too. Yeah, no, I think he ended up fourth. He had a restart and he started, I think, third and he tried to roll the outside and it kind of took rubber on the bottom and he had him cleared and then he busted off and then turned three a little bit too deep and slipped off the rubber and kind of got swallowed up. But our board. Jim Gardner: Our guy, Ryder LaPlante, was plus nine. Corby Scherb: Yeah, I broke a power steering line in the heat race, put him pretty deep in the feature. Same thing goes back to qualifying and the, yeah, he made a good charge there in the feature, but it's tough. It's tough to start deep in these races. Slim Pushins: pushing the cushion zone right out of the plant. Jim Gardner: He was plus nine to finish 14. Slim Pushins: plus nine. Jim Gardner: I'd like to get up to Salina. That place looks awesome. Corby Scherb: place looks really cool. Actually, me and Lucas talked about it. I don't think we've ever even been there. Jim Gardner: No, no, it's it it looks rowdy and it was super slick it yeah Slim Pushins: We finally found a place? Corby Scherb: Yeah, yes, Kerberos. that. Yeah, I don't remember. mean, maybe when I was really young, but no, I don't think that we've ever even been there. Jim Gardner: Uh, this week, the outlaws, another good week, um, are at Jacksonville Friday night and then, uh, tri-state speedway, Hobbistown, Indiana, which is another one of my favorite tracks growing up, uh, to bullring quarter miles, uh, this week. Uh, I don't believe USAC's running. I don't know what's, there's a lot of 305 racing going on around here this weekend. Corby Scherb: Yeah, RPM's opening up this weekend for their 305s. ⁓ Abilene, Wes Cranfield, everyone go support them and support ⁓ the amazing fans at Abilene. Abilene and Grayson County kind of run hand in hand with the coolest sprint car fans around. They don't even care what kind of sprint car it is, they just want to watch sprint cars. Jim Gardner: That'll be a show. Slim Pushins: It's a big weekend for RPM. ⁓ Abilene. Jim Gardner: ⁓ That's right. 105 Speedway down in Houston is running again. ⁓ We have a couple of our guys go down there is why I keep kind of bringing it up and watch what happens down there. I know. Slim Pushins: Which is great. Corby Scherb: Yup. Yup. And then... It's a great place. know that Curvo complains about the pit area a ton, but it's a cool racetrack. It's super unique. It's kind of like an Abilene, honestly. It's got very unique parts of it. Jim Gardner: you Slim Pushins: It's The entire pit area is like a sand volleyball court. You get zero traction. Jim Gardner: It's like Boyd. Yeah. Corby Scherb: ⁓ yeah. Slim Pushins: ⁓ it's Boyd. makes Boyd look like pavement. it's, I mean, it's truly like once you get off the pit, most of the pit areas where the trailer spark are on kind of like grass berm type things. but anywhere that you are in need of pushing a car off is all sand. But one, I don't know if I've said this on the podcast or not. One of the coolest things about that track. Jim Gardner: Hahaha You Slim Pushins: is that they've got a little scoreboard in the chute that looks like a 25 second clock for high school basketball that counts down the laps of the race that's on the track. ⁓ Corby Scherb: It's also got a leader tower that I learned to look at whenever you were telling me to keep digging just to know who was behind me. They didn't have a lap counter. I was counting laps in my head, Jim Gardner: Yeah. ⁓ and then the last race going on this weekend is OCRS is at Thunderbird up in, ⁓ Muskogee, ⁓ Oklahoma. It's big. Jeb and I drove all the way up there a couple of years ago just to get winded out of a Outlaw or High Limit show two or three years ago. It was a nice, beautiful five hour drive. Just we literally pulled in and Slim Pushins: We're going to tell that story on the podcast tonight. I've heard that's a cool place. Corby Scherb: It is. High-level race, I think. Jim Gardner: saw regs leaving we're like uh-oh you know because jeb was going to get there late so Slim Pushins: Were y'all just talking about conspiracy theories and stuff all the way up there? Jim Gardner: I, yeah, ⁓ I forget what it was about, but it was, it was a nice long drive up to Muskogee, ⁓ even from my house. It's a long drive. So, mostly we are, ⁓ keeping an eye on the OCRS cause of our buddy Carson Bolton. I believe he is trying to run that, that whole deal, which is good. They pay, they pay good money. They have tow money for their, you know, top 10 and points. got a good contingency program. Corby Scherb: Yup. Jim Gardner: ⁓ so we're going to keep an eye on that series, ⁓ which is a mix of 305s and two barrel three sixties. run some cool tracks, Arrowhead and Creek County and, ⁓ Thunderbird is big. It's like the Terre Haute of Oklahoma. So, ⁓ you know, we're interested to see how our buddy Carson does up there. Corby Scherb: It's a good series. Slim Pushins: I wish it was closer, but that's great. Corby Scherb: Yep. Mm-hmm. ⁓ yeah. ⁓ yeah. Slim Pushins: 10-4, what else we got? Anything? Corby Scherb: I think that's it for the recap. Jim Gardner: I think that's it. Everybody get out to the races this weekend. ⁓ I will not be anywhere. My little girl's getting baptized Sunday, so we've got some family in town, but get out, take your cars to Abilene, RPM, go down to Houston, go to Muskogee. We don't care, but take your cars out, support these tracks. They're all paying pretty good money. All the purses are posted. They're paying pretty good money. So, and then, you know. Corby Scherb: big day. ⁓ yeah. Jim Gardner: We got four 10s down in Ennis next weekend. Kennedale's back on. We are in it. You're in the thick of it. It's full blown race season now, so hopefully the weather cooperates. Corby Scherb: Tis the season. Slim Pushins: Alright everybody, thanks for listening to the recap. We'll see you next week.