Gold Crown Nationals
 

Are the Gold Crown Nationals at Granite City a thing of the past and was POWRi part of the nail in the coffin ?

Re: Gold Crown Nationals
 

Wow. First post and you're slamming someone or something. For what reason?

Re: Gold Crown Nationals
 

I don't believe he was slamming; he asked 2 legitimate questions. It is not a big secret that POWRi is not a member of any USAC fan group.

Re: Gold Crown Nationals
 

Will say weather was probably the biggest factor always rained out and has for when it was stopped usac had taken over sanctioning of the event a couple years prior and we know how that story goes.

Re: Gold Crown Nationals
 

It didn't get rained out when they ran it in early September of 2015. We loved it since we were camping over at Du Quoin for the Horn Memorial and Southern Illinois 100. It's a little over an hour from Du Quoin and we made the trip.

That deal only lasted one year.

Re: Gold Crown Nationals
 

If you'd open your eyes you'd see that goes both ways.

Re: Gold Crown Nationals
 

I disagree with that. When did USAC reschedule a rain date less than hour away from a POWRi event? Sad thing is St Louis area races are probably never going to run for that kind of money again. Selfishly I lost one of my favorite events. They are co sanctioning the Lefler Memorial in a couple of weeks.

Re: Gold Crown Nationals
 

Three factors killed the Gold Crown. The first was the weather. How many rain outs or near rain outs did they have? In many ways, a near rain out is worse than a rain out. A poor weather forecast will keep many fans at home or deter many fans from making the trip. However, the expenses at the track remain the same.

The second was POWRi. If memory serves me right, the first couple was co-sanctioned. Then POWRi didn't co-sanction, but they did not compete against the date. Finally, in the end, they started to sanction against the date.

Finally, many owners decided that Tri-City was a horsepower track and stopped coming. There have been other stand alone midget races that have not drawn a great car count.

It is a shame because I really loved that weekend.

Re: Gold Crown Nationals
 

Actually Jon they made up a rain out at Bellville on that Saturday night. It was won by Austin Brown

Re: Gold Crown Nationals
 

Well, POWRi did evolve from Gateway. I did personally hear the founder of Gateway (whose son has already been named in this thread) say that it was his intention to bury USAC midgets. Not to worry, though. USAC has done a fair job of that for years now all by themselves. I think I have my eyes open far more than you assume. I've been attending midget races since 1957, and that includes many sanctioning bodies in addition to USAC.