Highlights From The Gravel Show with Gio Scelzi & Danny Dietrich

On Friday night, World of Outlaws sprint car driver David Gravel held a live show on his Youtube channel. Gravel does a great job promoting our sport on social media and I highly recommend subscribing to his channel in order to catch guest appearances from other drivers and people involved in sprint car racing. Last night, he had World of Outlaws rookie of the year, Gio Scelzi, on to discuss his first full season with the outlaws and his thoughts on the current state of sprint car racing. He was also joined by PA Posse legend, Danny Dietrich, for an entertaining discussion on High Limit racing and his plans for 2024.

For a full replay of the show, see below.

Key Takeaways

On High Limit Racing

• Gravel – Sad to see the All Stars go. He appreciates what Brad Sweet and Kyle Larson are doing for the sport by pumping more money into sprint car racing. He expects most drivers to wait until full schedules come out to decide their 2024 plans. The “free races” that Outlaw drivers get throughout the season will be harder to choose based on schedule and larger payouts. Gravel expects 2024 to be a huge learning year for both the High Limit Series and the Outlaws. With Brad and Kyle competing in their own series, Gravel thinks there is a massive opportunity for a lot of mistakes to happen.

• Gio – He does not know if there is room for two major national touring series in the United States. He felt like the All Stars worked really well with the Outlaws. It will be really weird not racing against Brad Sweet every weekend. The drivers will benefit the most, but not necessarily the teams.

• Dietrich – He believes High Limit bought the All Stars for the purpose of gaining access to the big races. They needed those races for their brand. He is not a fan of both Brad Sweet and Kyle Larson competing in a series that they own. He thinks it might deter other drivers from signing on full time. He thinks the World of Outlaws have the best package (tow money, payouts, points fund) for full time teams and he doesn’t see why anyone would leave the tour for High Limit. “You are not going to beat the Outlaws.” Dietrich thinks that every wants to be Rico Abreu or Brent Marks in terms of schedule and race team. He was disappointed that they contracted Ohio Speedweek out to the FAST Series and believes that they are hurting the “little guy.” He doesn’t think FAST is ready for Speedweek and part of him wants someone else to jump in and take it over and expand to Indiana, Kentucky, PA, and New York.

2024 Plans

• Gravel – Already announced that he is coming back to run the World of Outlaws.

• Gio – He did not technically announce his plans, but by saying he would not be racing against Brad Sweet full time next year, he hinted that he would be back with the Outlaws.

• Dietrich – Will continue a full PA based schedule and is waiting to hear about the plans for Ohio Speedweek before he commits to other races.

Danny Dietrich’s Top 5 PA Drivers

1. Brent Marks
2. Anthony Macri / Danny Dietrich
3. Lance Dewease
4. Devon Borden

“Other than Lincoln or the grove, he sucks balls” – DD on Freddie Rahmer

On Flo and Dirtvision Hurting Track Attendance

• Gravel – He thinks it does not hurt the national series and the big races but knows that it probably does not help the tracks that host weekly racing.

• Dietrich – He thinks that there should be a “blackout” radius so that people who live close to the tracks cannot watch. He enjoys watching Huset’s on Sunday nights 2,000 miles away. He thinks the streaming channels are definitely hurting the local tracks.