The Vapor Trail: Vol. 3 Eyeing the Young Guns

The “Vapor Trail” is your weekly 410 sprint car notebook. It will be a journey through the past week of sprint car racing around the United States.

The Trailhead: PA Speedweek Recap

For the second year in a row, Anthony Macri was crowned the champion of Pennsylvania Speedweek. His week started with disaster after he crashed out of the lead on night one at Williams Grove. Once Danny Dietrich won the first two races, many assumed Macri had no chance to rebound and contend for the title. So what did Macri do? He averaged a 1.8 finishing position over the final 8 races of PA Speedweek, winning 3 races along the way. Ultimately, Macri defeated Dietrich by just 29 points when it was all said and done.

It wasn’t for a lack of effort from Dietrich, whose worst finish during the 9 race stretch was 8th on two occasions. Dietrich won three PA Speedweek races, bringing his season win total to 10. His start to 2024 has been nothing short of incredible and he and the no. 48 team deserve a ton of credit for what they have been able to accomplish so far.

Another driver that deserves a shout out is Justin Whittall. Whittall seems like he has some of the worst luck in sprint car racing over the last two seasons. He’s been involved in some of the worst wrecks I have seen in recent memory and suffered a few injuries along the way. After another scary wreck at Port Royal earlier in the season, Whittall has returned with speed that we haven’t seen out of the no. 67. He battled with Macri and Dietrich at Williams Grove, ran fourth at Port Royal behind Logan Wagner, Brent Marks and Anthony Macri, and capped off his speedweek by going 21st to 5th at Selinsgrove. Excluding a 20th place finish at Williams Grove, Whittall’s average finish over his last 9 races is 4.75. If you include that 20th place finish, the average finish is still 6.4. It has been a very impressive stretch for Whittall and he is definitely one I will have my eye on for the remainder of the season.

Troy Wagaman Jr competed in all 9 PA Speedweek races and ended up finishing 3rd in the points standings. He suffered mechanical failure at Williams Grove on night 7, putting a damper on what was another strong week for he and the no. 27 team. Wagaman was one who I expected to breakout in 2024, and he is certainly doing just that. Four top five finishes and six top 10 finishes is nothing to hang your head about. In 2024, he has collected three wins, 19 top fives and 26 top 10’s through 34 races.

Water Break: Scouting the Next Corey Day

Okay, so maybe we won’t be finding the next Corey Day anytime soon, but there is still a lot of young talent that exists in the 410 sprint car world at the moment. It’s kind of hard to compare anyone to what Corey Day has accomplished, especially since most, if not all of the guys I am about to list off are older than him. The truth is, winning a 410 sprint car race in 2024 is extremely difficult. I don’t care if you are racing at Farmington with 15 cars in the field, putting a complete race together takes talent. I think some of the problem is that if these guys are not consistently showing up at High Limit or Outlaw shows, they tend to fly under the radar.

Take Danny Sams III for example. The young driver has made lots of headlines this season for holding his own against the Outlaws and winning three Ohio Speedweek races. However, did you know that Sams won three times last season in a 410?

In no particular order, here is a list of a bunch of young drivers who have caught my attention at one point or another during the first half of the season.

The Guys we Already Know About

• Corey Day
• Ryan Timms
• Chase Randall
• Garet Williamson
• Danny Sams III

The Guys you Should pay Attention to / are Overlooked

• Xavier Doney
• Landon Brooks
• Jace Park
• Cameron Smith
• Scotty Milan
• Darin Naida
• Logan Julien
• Daison Pursley
• Bryce Lucius
• Dominic Gorden
• Kalib Henry
• Zeth Sabo
• Trevin Littleton
• Kody Hartlaub
• Kaleb Johnson
• Jake Bubak (not exactly young by sprint car standards, but is definitely overlooked)

Of the 16 guys I just listed off, 9 of them already have wins in 2024. Bryce Lucius is leading the charge with 3 wins, and he just earned himself a new ride with a newly formed team. Landon Brooks picked up a win at Skagit earlier in the season and now we are starting to see him racing in the Midwest. Cameron Smith has won at Lincoln and Williams Grove. Kody Hartlaub has taken a car that many presumed as “junk” and turned it into a consistent top 5-10 car every night.

Dominic Gorden ran a nearly perfect race to pick up his first career 410 win during a Skagit Dirt Cup prelim night. Zeth Sabo and Kalib Henry have established themselves as two of the best cars in Ohio. Xavier Doney just picked up back to back top 10s against a strong POWRi field at Lake Ozark, just a few days after he put together a complete night against the High Limit field at Lucas Oil. Logan Julien, who I believe is the youngest driver on this list, just picked up a top 5 with the IRA at Beaver Dam.

Daison Pursley has expressed interest in moving into the winged 410 ranks despite his impressive USAC season. Pursley won at Huset’s in just his 6th or 7th career winged 410 start. He’s been fast each time he gets behind the wheel of the no. 25. Jake Bubak is just a guy who can flat out wheel a sprint car. His name pops up at some point every year, but we barely get to see him on a big stage. Jace Park has been getting plenty of experience racing with the best and it’s starting to pay off. Park just got his first top 5 of the season over the weekend.

Kaleb Johnson is a guy who I think can sneak into the Knoxville Nationals field this year. He held his own against the Outlaws recently and he can win at Huset’s on any given night. Scotty Milan got some attention for his performances against the High Limit guys earlier in the year and has one win under his belt already. Finally, Darin Naida, who will be behind the wheel of the Marc Dailey no. 2MD at Eldora in a few weeks, has been consistently getting better as the season progresses. Naida already has a win this year and was 5th and 9th over the weekend at Attica and Wayne County.

Halfway: Weekend Thoughts

When I look at this list, Brandon Spithaler picking up his 5th win of the season stands out to me the most. Spithaler is a guy who can just flat out get it done. He’s clearly out-performing his equipment every time he hits the track. If there is an open seat out there, I would be calling Spithaler.

It was great to see Scott Bogucki finally pick up that first Knoxville 410 win on Saturday. He’s another guy who I find having some of the worst luck in the sport. Still, his attitude never changes and his skills behind the wheel are impressive. He qualified for the Nationals last season and I wouldn’t be surprised if he did so again this year.

Hunter Schuerenberg appears to have found a home in the no. 19. That car has shown signs of speed with High Limit, and has found victory lane 3 times in POWRi competition this year. For someone who has bounced around more than anyone over the last year, it’s nice to see Schuerenberg finding success.

Are we there yet? Looking Ahead

Both the World of Outlaws and High Limit return to action this week. The Outlaws have a rare mid-week show at Beaver Dam on Wednesday before a two-day weekend with the IRA at Wilmot. High Limit will head to Portsmouth for the $25,000 to win Dean Knittel Memorial on Saturday before preparing for a huge weekend at Eldora.

The FAST Series has a two-day weekend scheduled in Indiana. The regional series will be at Circle City on Friday and at Paragon on Saturday. AFCS will continue their usual weekend at Attica and Fremont. POWRi has a two-day show at Paducah on Friday and Saturday. The ASCS Elite Outlaw teams will head to Texarkana 67 on Saturday. Both NOSA and MSTS will be in action on Friday, with NOSA racing at River Cities and MSTS heading to Jackson. Finally, on Saturday, NARC will continue their season at Ocean.

In regional action, Lernerville and Williams Grove will return to their normally scheduled Friday programs. On Saturday, Knoxville, Farmington, Lincoln, Pittsburgh, Port Royal and Skagit plan to host 410 races. The weekend will conclude with Tri City and Huset’s on Sunday.

Photo Finish: Riding the Struggle Bus

Through 35 races this season, Brock Zearfoss is yet to finish inside the top five. He has just 8 top 10 finishes so far. I expected Zearfoss to contend during the PA Speedweek events he entered, but his best finish was 15th at Port Royal on Saturday. The no. 3z team is clearly lacking speed during a year where the opportunity has never been better to climb up the World of Outlaw points standings. Going back even further, Zearfoss has just one top five finish in his last 147 starts. It’s been an extremely difficult road for Zearfoss, but I have to give credit to his dedication and determination. Racing is filled with constant highs and lows, and Zearfoss is certainly going through some of the lowest. Hopefully he and the team can turn things around and pick up some solid finishes before the season is over.