Midwest short track talk from the inside lane.
Horsepower Happenings follows the pavement and dirt short track scene with a local scoreboard feel. Results, schedules, Facebook Live questions, driver interviews, and track talk move quickly, with enough banter to keep the race notes from turning dry.
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Horsepower Happenings is built for the short track crowd that wants the week in racing to feel close, current, and locally grounded. It moves fast. A typical episode can start with national series notes, swing through High Limit Racing or ASA Stars results, then settle into interviews with drivers and racing figures who are working through the same problems the audience recognizes. The show cares about results, but it cares just as much about what sits behind them. Guests talk about finishing races before chasing wins, learning a traveling series week by week, building family-owned programs, getting enough data to improve, and deciding which big Michigan shows are realistic. That gives the show a useful garage-and-grandstand texture. It is not just who won. It is how a team gets there, who helped, what the schedule costs, and why a certain facility still carries weight for someone who has won there before. The conversations are casual, sometimes teasing, and often very specific. Flat Rock, Owasso, Winchester Speedway, Hartford Motor Speedway, CRA Pro Series races, dirt late model plans, sprint car events, and NASCAR weekends all sit comfortably in the same racing conversation. Listener questions from Facebook Live give the episodes a community-board feel. The show also widens the frame when needed. One recent discussion followed Michigan racing legislation through the Senate process, including hearings, senator outreach, letters of support, and testimony from members at the Capitol. That kind of segment shows why Horsepower Happenings is more than a results recap. It tracks the ecosystem around the racing: tracks, promoters, fans, families, policy, sponsors, and the people trying to keep cars on the schedule. The style is loose and direct. There are jokes, quick pivots, memory-based references, and the occasional aside about seeing the crew at a racetrack over the weekend. For committed Midwest motorsports listeners, that informality is the point. It feels like coverage from people embedded in the scene, not a distant national digest.
Made for: For short track racing fans who follow Michigan and Midwest pavement, dirt, modified, sprint car, late model, and CRA Pro Series action closely. It especially suits listeners who want local names, track context, and candid race-week conversation.
What sets it apart: Horsepower Happenings blends scoreboard-style updates with long, practical conversations about the work behind racing: preparation, sponsorship, schedules, facilities, legislation, and family support. Its strength is how local and specific it stays.
Horsepower Happenings is the Great Lakes' Short Track Racing Authority. Former racers and current industry professionals, Zach Hiser and Rich Frantz lead the way in coverage of short track racing in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and the rest of the Midwest. Horsepower Happenings is the #1 Provider for Michigan Dirt Late Model and Sprint Car Coverage. Stay informed on some of the region's biggest events with Race Day Previews, Event Updates, and more on Facebook and Twitter. Begin each week with the latest news from the weekend during the Horsepower Happenings Podcast; new episodes every Monday at 9:00 pm ET.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Detailed interviews connect short-track results to the preparation, resources, schedules, and regional relationships that produce them.
Horsepower Happenings puts short-track racing's weekly work under the microscope. Zach Heiser and Rich Frantz talk with drivers about setup, preparation, schedules, and the practical strain of keeping a competitive car on track.
Sponsorship math meets Senate vote counts when your Michigan racing curiosity outgrows the finishing order.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Michigan short-track racing, from setup margins to a wedding in the racing family.
Horsepower Happenings frames Michigan short-track racing as work that starts well before the green flag. The episode moves from long days on a car to the fine margin in finding the right groove, then uses Mike's April win to open up the harder question of what makes a car fast.
Grigsby talks about finishing more races and working toward a touring late model win.
Gabby Grigsby has a practical plan for her second year in a touring late model: finish more races, show up better prepared, and work her way from top-20 finishes toward top-15s, top-10s, top-fives and a win.
A clear, grounded review of the Senate work around Michigan short-track racing and the local support behind it.
Michigan short-track racing gets a close look from the legislative side as the episode follows a Senate bill and the patient work needed to keep it moving.
Rusty Schlenk keeps Michigan short-track racing grounded in groove, schedule, memory, and the sponsorship bill.
Grassroots short-track racing gets its shape from the work around the car as much as the laps themselves, and Horsepower Happenings keeps that in view through Rusty Schlenk's race-weekend choices, memories, and practical limits.
A grounded look at the final gap between promising runs and victory lane.
Short-track racing is treated here as a sport built on small margins, steady preparation, and constant adjustment. After the Motor City Minute, the episode settles into a candid conversation about a CRA team trying to turn promising pace into a trip to victory lane.
Keegan Sabilo frames his young racing program around data, patience, pressure, and the CRA Pro Series schedule.
Horsepower Happenings follows Keegan Sabilo as he sizes up the next stretch of a young racing program built around family ownership, the CRA Pro Series schedule, and the pressure that comes with Owasso's big-money races.
Season 7 premiere of Horsepower Happenings, a Michigan short track racing podcast, featuring race recaps and driver interviews.
A preview of a short track racing podcast episode featuring interviews with track president Andy Hess and driver Danny Sams III, plus news on sprint car series.
Chase Rosebrugh entered Owasso Speedway’s 100-lap title race needing to beat Blake Childers, despite missing his qualifying goal.
A racing podcast covering NASCAR and USAC results, with a focus on driver-on-driver incidents during Mad Max Moment Night.
A motorsports news roundup covering NASCAR and USAC racing results from the weekend.
Horsepower Happenings uses this interview to focus on PRI and SEMA’s push for motorsports-rights legislation, with Tom Deery and Tiara Hubbard explaining why Michigan became a priority after track-pressure cases in Iowa and at Onondaga Dragway.
An episode of Horsepower Happenings featuring interviews with short track racers Avery Demland, Brett Mann, and Tanner Tallarico.
A preview of an episode of Horsepower Happenings featuring interviews with Leo Pego, JohnBoy Hotchkiss, and Gary Did Ya Know, along with racing news updates.
Rusty Schlenk explains why he moved from McClure, Ohio back to his family property in Jackson, Michigan, saying Domination Race Cars needed more space and his dad wanted back into the business.
Jimmy Tucker explains why Auto City Speedway and the "mud slinger" era still shape his late model racing.
On Horsepower Happenings, Michigan short track racing's weekly show, hosts Zach Heiser and Cody Geyer open with news of Hall of Famer Butch Fedewa's death, Winston Speedway's planned 2026 reopening, and a debate over whether Michigan has too many dirt tracks.
A short track racing podcast covering Michigan racing news, NASCAR results, and interviews with drivers and industry leaders.
A preview of a short track racing podcast episode featuring interviews with drivers Casey Smith and Austin Hull, along with news from NASCAR and other racing series.
A preview of a short track racing podcast episode featuring interviews with Johnny VanDoorn and discussion of recent racing events.