Vibin’ in Vado: #FantasyDirt Primer for the 17th Annual Wild West Shootout
We made it!!! The gruelingly long off-season, just over a month, has finally passed! The Wild West Shootout, what many consider the unofficial start of the Late Model season, kicks off tonight. I couldn’t be more excited!
Interestingly enough, I made it to one of the two shows that comprised the unofficial end of last season. Ol’ Gal, the Knuckleheads, and I made the trek from Minnesota down to St. Louis for the Gateway Nationals this past year. Let me tell ya, it was one of the coolest events I have been too. The tight track, the packed house Saturday night, the Driver Introductions, all of it just created an electric environment for racing. If you haven’t been, you should make it a point to get there ASAP! And not just for the racing.
It was a risk taking a couple of low double digit Knuckleheads who, at best, tolerate my love for dirt racing on a 10-hour drive to watch a three-day show. But let me tell ya, it was worth the risk! The memories we made away from and at the track will last us a lifetime. From walking around the city on our first night, to having to descend 23 flights of stairs for a “false” fire alarm, to seeing the absolute devastation on the younger Knucklehead’s face when Rocket Shepp pulled off during the feature, to turning the corner after my meeting in the pits and seeing the biggest smile on the younger Knucklehead’s face as he held his signed Chase Holland shirt and hearing him tell me the story about getting the autograph, to seeing the nerves on the face of the older Knuckleheads face when we were chatting and taking a picture with The Kamikaze Kid.
I’m so thankful to have a partner as amazing as Ol’ Gal who fully supports, and often initiates, my wild ideas and lets me chase my silly dreams. I know you’re reading this ‘Roo, I love you! I’m also so incredibly thankful to have those two Knuckleheads to make and share memories with. You’ll never believe this, but they hardly complained during the car ride to and from St. Louis! They were absolute troopers dealing with the grueling schedule of a three-day show. I’m one of the luckiest dudes I know to have these three support me!
With that, let’s get into the meat-and-potatoes of why you’re here.
The Series and Format: The Wild West Shootout
The Wild West Shootout is a six-day mini-series that kicks off tonight and also runs Sunday, Jan. 8th, Wednesday, Jan. 11th, Friday, Jan 13th, Saturday, 14th, and Sunday Jan. 15th. This is the mini-series’ second year at Vado. Each show runs independently, meaning each day the we get Hot Laps, Qualifying, Heats , B-Mains and a Feature each day. We also get a non-qualifiers dash where the winner can take the money and run or tag the back.
The Track:Vado Speedway Park
Vado is a 3/8-mile oval in Vado Speedway Park. From what I can gather from driver comments and replays, this track looks super racey and should produce some excellent shows and wild finishes.
Quick Strategy Note: There are mentions of plus-value and negative value throughout, simply defined this refers to a drivers finishing position compared to their salary slot. As an example, the highest salary cannot deliver plus-value. If said driver finishes first they have delivered even value in the sense their finishing position is exactly the same as their salary slot. If said driver finishes 2ndor worse, they have delivered negative value in that their salary slot was higher than their finishing position. A driver with the 20thhighest salary, can deliver plus-value by finishing 19thor higher. Given that DirtDraft operates on a salary system, we are trying to do two things: First, obviously, is to score as many points as we can with the salary available. Second, to maximize the value we receive from each driver. The best way to do both of these things, in my opinion, is to find drivers who have the best chance to deliver significant-plus value. By approaching things in this manner, we will, more often than not, finish in a points paying position and always have a chance at winning the whole dang thing!
The Drivers: With this show running across two-weekends and WoO kicking off Florida-Georgia Line Speedweeks on Jan 18th, we’ll likely see some drivers come and go. If there is anything notable, I’ll do my best to update this article to reflect those changes. I’ve listed today’s salaries as a point of reference, but I’ve done my best to make sure the commentary has some usefulness across the entirety of the mini-series.
Jonathan Davenport $22,000: C’mon, it’s friggin’ Superman! There is little doubt in my mind that JD will pick off one or two feature wins during his time in Vado. Even if he is opening the season with a new crew chief, the Million Dollar Man is still running some of the best equipment and is one of the best drivers around. The issue I have with rostering Davenport is that his salary doesn’t leave much room to find positive value. If JD stumbles on the first day or two, we might be able to scoop him for a top-5/10 salary. But going into tonight, if he doesn’t win he’s delivering negative value. Hell, even if he wins, he’s only delivering even value. For at least tonight, I’m steering clear.
Kyle Larson $21,900: Yung Money needs no introduction, obviously. Nonetheless, Larson had 24 Starts in a Late Model this past year, racking up 4 wins, including the Hillbilly Hundred, 10 Top 5s, and 14 Top 10s. He’s definitely a threat to win any, and multiple, nights. Between his ability to win in anything with four wheels and the top-notch equipment that Kevin Rumley provides, it’s hard to ignore Larson at just about any salary. That being the case, I’ll probably avoid rostering Yung Money at a top-3 salary, but I don’t begrudge anyone taking a shot on him anytime he isn’t the highest-salaried driver, as is the case tonight.
Mike Marlar $21,800: The Winfield Warrior is coming of one heck of a 2022 season, having entered 107 events with 14 wins, 52 top-5s, and 64 top-10s. On top of that, Marlar was the 2022 Wild West Shootout overall points champion after going 3rd, 4th, 2nd, 5th, 1st, and 1st in the 6 events. Any time the Bluehorn hits the track, there’s a chance it wins the whole damn thing. With that in mind, I think we have to keep an eye on Marlar all series long. His third-highest salary tonight be one of the best chances we have to roster Marlar and still get plus-value. Bolstering this belief is the fact that Marlar was looking sporty last night in practice, ripping off the 7th fastest time (of 28) the first time he hit the track, followed by a 3rdfastest time, 4th fastest time, and Fast Time the last time he was on track.
Bobby Pierce $21,600: The oldest Knucklehead managed to pick up two #DirtMerch shirts at the Dome. The first was a TCarp shirt and the second was a Bobby Pierce shirt. Going into the final day, we had a debate about who was going to finish higher/had the best chance of winning (the kid is a frontrunner, clearly). He settled on the Miami Vice Bobby Pierce shirt, but, unfortunately for him, TCarp ended up finishing better. The first thing the oldest Knucklehead says after I took his picture with TCarp after the race is “And of course, I wore the wrong shirt!!!”
The Smooth Operator heads into his first season in a Longhorn chassis, after coming off a ‘22 season that saw him accumulate 21 wins, 45 top-5s, and 65 top-10s, Included in those results are the 2nd, 8th, 6th, 3rd, 8th, and 4thfrom the Wild West Shootout. Those results landed him 3rdin the series standing. Personally, I don’t think the chassis switch is anything to be afraid of. Bobby is one hell of a wheelman and I think he’ll take to his new equipment like a duck to water. Even still, a top-4 salary would have resulted in plus value in only 2 of 6 nights in last year’s Shootout.
Brandon Sheppard $21,500: The youngest Knucklehead, on the other hand, had no choices to make, as he identified the B5 (5 being the kiddo’s football and baseball number) and Rocket Shepp as his one and only during the Gateway Nationals. If I was picking a favorite driver for the youngest, it would have been B-Shepp so it wasn’t much of a surprise when he came to that same conclusion. Man was he bummed when Sheppard pulled off during the Feature!
Sheppard is another driver switching to a Longhorn for the 2023 season. Much like Pierce, I don’t think the switch is anything to fret over when setting your lineup. If he’s fast in qualifying, roll with it. Another thing to consider is that Sheppard started out last year’s shootout hot, heading to Victory Lane on Night 1 and Night 2, before going, 5th, 13th, 12th, 13th the rest of the series and ending up 5th in the point standings. Rocking the 5th highest salary tonight, I think you could end up with some plus-value if you slide him into your lineup. As the series progresses, I’m less inclined to roll with Sheppard if his salary increases.
Tyler Erb $21,400: Terbo heads into the Shootout coming off an emotional victory at the Gateway Nationals. We’ll see if he continue that momentum at the Shootout. Last year, Erb finished 8th, 2nd, 3rd, 1st, 5th, 11thand finished 2nd in the Final Standings. The 2023 Wild West Shootout looks to be a bit deeper than last year, both in car count and quality, but I can’t shake the feeling that Terbo will be a big player here. I’ll be considering Terbo any and every time he has a salary outside the Top-5.
Garrett Alberson $21,200: The 2022 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Rookie of the Year heads into the Wild West Shootout with a bit of home-field advantage. Alberson is from New Mexico, so its fair to assume he’s been around Vado a time or two outside of last years Shootout. Speaking of which, Alberson finished 16th, 3rd, 1st, 8th, 2nd, and 16th, coming home 7th in the Final Standing in last year’s series. Entering tonight as the 7th highest salary, I think there is a chance he delivers plus value. Throughout the series, I think Alberson’s salary will dictate how much I consider him for my lineup. If he drops precipitously following a bad night, I’ll be on the hunt. If he rises to a top-3ish salary following a particularly good night, I’ll be a hard pass.
Ricky Weiss $21,000: The Manitoba Missile has a relativity light schedule since last September, with only a 1st at Smoky Mountain in a 604 and an 9th at 411 in FloRacing action at 411 in October, and an 11th, 10th, and 6that the WoO World Finals and a 10th and 7th at the FloRacing shows from Senoia. If nothing else, he and his equipment won’t be tired. Last year at the Shootout, Weiss went 6th, 7th, 7th, 7th, 4th, 12th, finishing 6th in the Final Standings. Overall, it looks like Weiss could deliver plus-value at his Saturday salary slot.
Johnny Scott $20,700: Scott will be shooting to be the WoO RoY this season and the Shootout should give us a glimpse of what to expect from him this year. I’d imagine Johnny would like to roll into Volusia with as much momentum as possible. While those are soft factors, they still weigh on my thinking and I’m eyeing Johnny going into today action. Last year, Johnny went 11th, 18th, 11th, 4th,and 17thfinishing 11thin the Final Standings at the Shootout. With tonight’s 9th-highest salary, there is definitely a chance he delivers some plus-value. We also may only see Johnny for the first two nights, before he heads off to Volusia.
Stormy Scott $20,500: Scott, the Stormy version, finished 4th, 9th, 6th, and 5th in his four nights of action last year. Even still, these results landed him 10thin the Final Standings. Scott’s most recent results were from the XR Duel in the Desert where he went 6th, 5th, and 11th. That’s pretty dang impressive! With tonight’s 10th-highest salary, I think we should be intrigued.
Cade Dillard $20,300: The Thriller ran the first two nights of the 2022 Shootout, finishing 7thand 19th. Interestingly, Dillard also won 2 of 3 features, in a Modified, at last year’s Fall Nationals. Needless to say, he can get around this track. As long as Dilliard’s salary is outside the top-10, he should be worth heavy consideration.
Billy Moyer Sr $20,100: Here is what I wrote about Moyer heading into the XR Duel in the Desert: “Mr. Smooth has run a pretty light fall schedule. After running well in the early stages of the Knoxville Nationals, Moyer lost the engine and had to call it a weekend. Since, he’s logged a 10th and 9th at FALS Frenzy, a 22nd/DNF and 4th at Tri-City with the MLRA, followed by a 22ndat Humboldt, 2nd at 81 Speedway, and 23rd at US 36 Raceway with WoO. This salary feels just about right for Moyer, so if we don’t nuke an engine during Qualifying, I’m going to be giving strong consideration to including him in my lineup.” The salary referenced in that write up was… $20,100!!! At the Duel in the Desert, Mr. Smooth ran 7th, 11th, and 3rd! Unless he nukes an engine in qualifying, I am again giving strong consideration to his inclusion in my lineup!
Chris Simpson $20,000: Simpson had a pretty solid 2022 season with 4 wins, 14 Top-5s, and 22 Top-10s in 63 races mostly racing the best of the best in the Midwest with series such as the MLRA, MARS, and WoO/LOLMDS. Most recently Simpson went 6th in his qualifying Feature and 18th/DNF in the Feature at the Dome. I think this is a fair and accurate salary.
Don Shaw $19,800: The owner of I-94 emr Speedway in Fergus Falls, MN and presenting sponsor of the $25,000-to-win-feature at this year’s Shootout, who resides in the same city I grew up in, also happens to be one hell of a racecar driver! Last year, Shaw went 25th, 9th, 12th, 17th, 6th and 16th, finishing 13th in the Final Standings at the Shootout. On the season, Shaw had 9 Late Model Feature wins, 2 at Cocopah and 7 in WISSOTA action. At a sub-$20,000 salary, I think you could give Shaw a hard look.
Jake Timm $19,700: This salary is an abomination!!! The Fastest 49 should be way more expensive!!! (Says the Jake Timm stan who is writing this while wearing his Cushion Slamma shirt!). For real though, Timm is one hell of a driver. Last year, Timm split his time between whooping ass in a Modified and whooping ass in a Late Model. Timm led laps at both the National 100 at Cedar Lake and the 2022 $25,000-to-win Feature at the Wild West Shootout. His overall Shootout results of 14th, 5th, 15th, 15th, 9th,and 3rd, with an 8th in the Final Standings support my outlandish statements to begin this blurb. Any time Timm is sub-$20,000 salary, we should be on notice.
Kyle Beard $19,600: Beard is a TWO-TIME!! COMP Cams Super Dirt Series Champion. He also made the trip to the Shootout last year and showed quite well for himself with finishes of 9th, 6th, 14th, 14th, 10th, and 9th, finishing 9th in the Final Standings. Saturday’s Salary slots Beard 16th, my man outplaced that all 6 races last year. Do you smell that? It’s the smell of sweet, sweet plus-value. Give Beard a look daily, he’s gonna be the reason I win at least once these next two weeks.
Rusty Schlenk $19,400: Officially, Schlenk has replaced Hudson O’Neal (it would be easier if Hudson and Jake could agree on one spelling (also, that’s my hint to look for Jake on the Modified roster list)) as Ol’ Gal’s second favorite late model driver. His placement on the highly coveted list is three fold, he has a pink car, his Dome shirt is Ol’ Gal’s favorite piece of #DirtMerch, and he is the only known driver to defy the “Curse of Ol’ Gal!”
Schlenk made his way down to Vado last year in a badass looking CJ Rayburn throwback and showed well with finishes of 13th, 21st, 13th, 11th, 11th, and 14th, finishing 12thin the Final Standings. Schlenk is also a three-time (at least) DIRTcar/UMP National Champion. At the Dome, Schlenk came home 11thboth nights of racing. Keep an eye on Schlenk these next coupla weeks. If he rips of a solid qualifying effort and is sporting a sub-$20,000 salary, lock him in your lineup.
Terry Phillips $19,300: Fun fact I learned recently, Terry Phillips is in the Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame! Phillips mostly runs on the USMTS series these days and he does it damn well. I think Phillips will be considered a steal at some point over this mini-series.
Rodney Sanders $19,200: Here’s what I wrote about the Rocket heading into the XR Duel in the Desert: “Sanders is one heck of a Modified driver, having won the USMTS championship 4 times and finishing a respectable 5th in the season standings this year. The Rocket isn’t just a modified driver though, as he’s made a handful of Late Model starts this season with wins at Clay County on September 13th, Murray County in Tri-State Late Model action on October 7thand 8th.”
Sanders then had an 11th, 24th DNF, and 16th in Late Model action at the Duel in the Desert. Last year, Sanders had finishes of 12th, DNQ, 23rd, 23rd, 25th, and 22nd, finishing 23rd in the Final Standings. I like Sanders as a driver and am eyeing him heavily in Modified action. As for Late Models, this salary is about right and I don’t think we’ll see much plus-value coming our way from it.
Dustin Sorensen $19,100: The 2022 USMTS National Champion is moving to full-time Late Model action in the MB Customs House Car for 2023, filling the seat previously occupied by the “Ice Man” Jimmy Mars. Personally, I’m excited and intrigued by this move and the chance to watch Sorensen race all over my neck of the woods this year. But for our #FantasyDirt purposes, there is some risk in rostering Sorensen. That being said, Sorensen does have a 7thand10thin a Late Model at the 2021 Wild West Shootout from Arizona Speedway and he won a 2020 WABAM Dirt Kings Feature atMississippi Thunder. I’ll look to see how Sorensen runs in the beginning of the series and might end up rostering him at least once if I like what I see.
Tad Pospisil $18,900: This is such a CPA name and, no shit, Tad Pospisil is a CPA!!! He also happens to be one hell of a Late Model Driver, sporting a number of SLMR/Malvern Bank Late Model Championships, among other track and series championships. Pospisil had 4 wins, 18 Top-5s, and 23 Top-10s in 41 starts in 2022, including a 4th at Off-Road in LOLMDS action and a 10thand a 7th at Belleville in XR action, both nights he also bagged a top-5 in Malvern Bank/Hoker Trucking SLMR action!! I think I just became a Tad Pospisil fan! Anyway, enough riding, I’m seeing a some plus-value. Watch Pospisil like a hawk throughout The Wild West Shootout.
Morgan Bagley $18,800: Mo’ Bags spends most of his time racing around the Ark-La_Tex region and had 1 win, 10 Top-5s, and 23 Top-10s in 43 starts in 2022. Bagley finished his season at Senoia with FloRacing Night in America, failing to make the Feature both nights. I’d put that field on par with the one we get here at the Wild West Shootout, for what it’s worth.
Bill Leighton $18,700: Leighton is a regular on the Malvern Bank SLMR, finishing second in points and winning the Hard Charger on the season. In 34 races, Bill had 4 wins, 16 Top-5s, and 23 Top-10s. If we get a solid qualifying night, I think the skill is there to end up with a solid plus-value night from Leighton.
Blair Nothdurft $18,600: Here’s what I wrote for the Snowdrift heading into the Duel in the Desert: “Another driver with a light fall schedule, which would make sense for a driver based out of South Dakota. Since September, Nothdurft’s has a few touring series results, starting with a 9th with Malvern Bank Series at Lakeside Speedway, an 8th with LOLMDS from Lucas Oil Speedway, a 14th with WoO at Humboldt, and he failed to start the LCS at 81 Speedway (I am guessing that was a catastrophic failure since he missed US 36 too).” Nothdurft then proceded to have finishes of 13th, 16th, and 15th. At this salary, with those results, its somewhat wise to consider the Snowdrift if he finds himself high up on the Qualifying charts.
Daniel Hilsabeck $18,600: If I recall correctly, Hilsabeck was the lapper involved in the Brandon Overton and Chris Madden battle at the end of the Gopher 50, sigh… That would have been so epic! Sigh… Honestly, that was one of the coolest environments I’ve been in to watch a race, I can’t wait to head down to Deer Creek Speedway and do it all again this year. Anywho, Hilsabeck is a regular on the MLRA tour and despite not having the counting stats, in the form of wins, Top-5s, or Top-10s, he did acquit himself well in high level action. He was in the Feature in the Gopher 50 (although I think that was a provisional), finished 17th at the Knoxville Nationals, and had a 13th, 16th, and 16thduring the October WoO swing through Kansas/Missouri.
Dustin Walker $18,600: Walker will be running the WoO schedule this year, vying for the RoY title. He’s also got a pretty cool story and showed up in Vado on an open trailer! On the 2022 season, Walker had 10 Top-5s and 22 Top-10s in 53 starts. Walker also had finishes of 18th, 14th, 19th, 22nd, 20thand 10that the Shootout last year. Walker is another driver looking to start his season off strong in advance of WoO kicking off. While I suspect Walker is only in Vado for the weekend, I won’t hesitate to slide him into the roster should he warrant it.
Justin Duty $18,500: Another driver I wrote about heading into the Duel in the Desert: “I gotta admit, I’m intrigued by Justin Duty. MRP has him racing out of Oregon, yet he spent the better part of the summer racing in the Midwest, hitting up all the touring series events. The results might not have been what he had hoped for, but I respect the heck out the effort and would venture to guess it made him a better racer. As the summer progressed, the results got a bit better too. Duty managed to finish 19th at the Knoxville Nationals, finished 8th at Sycamore with MLRA, and then had a 14thand 15th at the FALS Frenzy. Call it a suspicion, but I think Duty has a chance to outperform his Thursday salary. From there, he might continue to be a solid plus value driver all weekend.” Duty managed a 23rd DNF, 13th(I was right!), and a DNQ (I was way wrong!) at the DitD. I remain intrigued.
Thomas Hunziker $18,500: Last year at the Wild West Shootout, Hunziker managed finishes of 24th, 13th, 17th, 19th, 21st, and DNQ. As I’ve said earlier, I think this field is deeper than last year. I don’t see myself giving Hunziker much of a look.
Kent Rosevear $18,400: Heading into the Duel in the Desert, here is what I had to say about Rosevear:“Rosevear had a few feature appearance at the Wild West Shootout to begin 2022, but failed to place higher than 18th. Since then, he’s had 11 more starts split between a IMCA Modified and a Super Late Model with middle of the pack type results.” Rosevear failed to make a feature in Las Vegas.
Terry Carter $18,400: Carter made the trip down from Alberta last year as well and had finishes of 20th, DNQ, 16th, 20th, 17th, and DNQ, ending the series in 22nd.
Jeff Schildmeyer $18,300: Here’s what I had to say about Schildmeyer heading into the DitD: “Schildmeyer is billed as racing out of Las Vegas, so maybe we could say he’s working with a home field advantage? Not sure that is the case, but in 18 starts Schildmeyer has one win at Vado on September 3rd, 6 top 5s, and 8 top 10s. Most of those results appear to be in regular racing at Vado, so take them with a grain of salt. Even still, he won’t be completely out of his element and that stands for something way down here on the salary list.” Schildmeyer failed to make a Feature in Las Vegas. Last year at the shootout, Schildmeyer had results of a DNQ, 24th, 24th, 21st, 19th, and a DNQ.
Rob Mayea $18,300: Another DitD driver: “Mayea has 11 starts on the season, primarily in the Pacific Northwest, with 3 wins, 7 top 5’s, and 7 top 10s. Most recently, Mayea took down two victories at Desert Thunder Raceway in Utah in features with less than 10 starters. It does merit mention that Mayea made both Late Model features last year at the Duel in the Desert, with finishes of 23rd and 24th.” Mayea made one Feature coming home with a 16th DNF. Last year, Mayea ran the final three Shootout races, finishing 24th, 24th, and 21st. There is a chance Mayea makes a few features, which would be plus-value. .
Devan Smith $18,200: Smith had a tough 2022 Wild West Shootout, with finishes of a DNQ, 15th, DNQ, DNQ, DNQ, and 24th.
Jason Strand $18,200: Strand races WISSOTA (point of clarification, I’m not doing all caps because I live in Minnesota, that’s just how they capitalize it, but make no mistakes I’m proud of our WISSOTA drivers!) Late Models out of North Dakota. On the 2022 season, Strand had 2 wins, 8 Top-5s, and 15 Top-10s, and also made the WoO Feature, finishing 22nd, from River Cities. Objectively, Strand might be worth a look a night or two, depending on how he Qualifies.
Preston Luckman $18,100: Here’s what I said about Luckman heading into the DitD: “Luckman runs out of Coos Bay, OR, but that didn’t stop him from making 8 starts with the Hell Tour. Sure, Luckman only managed one top-10, but that at least represents a modicum of success against formidable competition. Luckman also has 7 wins in action around Oregon and Washington. If you’re inclined to take a calculated risk on your lineup to pack in some upper-tier drivers, you could much worse than Luckman.” Luckman made 1 of 3 Features, finishing 18th.
Steve Stultz $18,100: Another one: “Color me intrigued by Stultz, as he put together a nice little run of results in the middle of the summer. Starting with on June 24th, Stultz pulled down a 10th and a 9thwith MLRA at Off Road Speedway, followed by an 8th at 34 Raceway on July 2nd. Stultz then managed to qualify for the Gopher 50 at Deer Creek with LOLMDS, finishing 24th. Then followed that up with an 18thin LOLMDS action at I-70 for the Diamond Nationals tune-up followed by a 23rdin the Diamond Nationals itself. From there, Stutlz has put together a solid run of mid-pack finishes with MLRA and Malvern Bank Late Models. All in all, it’s worth giving Stultz a look if the qualifying results put him on your radar throughout the weekend.” Stultz made the Feature on Night 1 only in Vegas, finishing 14th. Stultz also had a pair of 20s finishes, out of four starts, last year at the Shootout.
Collen Winebarger $18,000: Winebarger impressed me during the Duel in the Desert, making all three Features and finishing 7th on the final night. That’s enough for me to have him on my radar. The fact that he’s buried way down here in salary is a boon to me and those who’ve made it this far. I’ll have Winebarger on my radar.
Jack Riggs $18,000: Riggs is, theoretically, driving the same car as B-Shepp, them being teammates and all. Riggs split time last year between CRUSA and some regional Late Models, failing to secure a Top-10. Despite all of that, I’m still gonna give Riggs some consideration based on who hes pitted with and the equipment he’s in. Editor Note:Unfortunately, suffered terminal damage in practice and is done for the series.
Clayton Stuckey $17,900: Stuckey finished off the season in style with a pair of 15thplace finished with XR down at All-Tech. Before that, Stuckey spent most of 2022 racing Crate Late Models racking up one win, 12 Top-5s and 26 Top-10s in 54 starts. I am actually kind of intrigued by this driver.
Eston Whisler $17,900: Primarily a modified driver.
Jimmy Whisler $17,800: Jimmy ran the final weekend of the 2022 Shootout and showed quite well for himself with finishes of 16th, 13th, 19th. That enough for me to at least perk up if I see the name near the top of the speed charts.
I ran out of time before publication for the remainder of these drivers. I have massive respect for every driver who gets in a race car, but I don’t think the remaining drivers will find themselves on many rosters.
Jon Kirby$17,600
Mercedes Abercrombie $17,600
Brandon Brzozowzki $17,500
Chris Hawkins$17,500
Cole Wells$17,500
Dallas Caldwell $17,500
Dillon McCowan$17,500
Glen Powell$17,500
Josh Cain$17,500
Justin Mills$17,500
Mikey Kile$17,500
Trenton Jessen$17,500
Walton Kyle Jr $17,500
