Revolution Racing Engines builds a nice little engine that sells for under 11k, complete from the air filter to the muffler and from the pumps to the U-joint. This engine is not fully competitive with traditional Midget engines costing three times as much, but most people who have seen it run agree that its not that far off. We have finished many short track races with this engine in the top 5 with regional Midget clubs around the country - earlier this year, one of our cars ran wheel to wheel at Chico with the likes of Clauson, the Swanson boys, etc in a USAC event. But more important than all of this, is that after three years of racing this engine we have found it to be extremely durable. Three full years of competition, with no internal maintenance whatsoever, is what you can expect from this engine. Most people want to talk purchase price when discussing the cost of Midget racing but the cost of KEEPING AN ENGINE RUNNING is even more important. I feel we score well on both counts.
Cost and upkeep issues aside, as I said this package is admittedly not fully competitive against current engines. We are developing a 'Stage II' engine that we feel will close this gap for short track applications. Our initial tests of this package have been positive but we have a little more work to do. As you all know, nothing is for nothing in racing - the stage II engine will cost more and be less durable than the original package, but we are talking about perhaps 15k and two years with no internal maintenance - still IMO far better than the average today.
Kenny Brown with POWRi has welcomed this formula, as has the SOWS group down south. BCRA here on the coast features 3 RRE ECOtec Midgets at every show, and one of them is currently second in overall Championship points (this car also finished second in points last year). Many other Midget groups around the country are aware of our program, and are I believe prepared to accept the formula. Granted, it is different from what we are all used to. But I believe our package can solve some (many?) of the problems the sport currently faces regarding car counts.
I am not opposed to traditional engines. My best friend in racing runs a Gearte and I help him with it every chance I get. Our problem is that we just don't have ENOUGH new racers - for WHATEVER reason - who are willing to get into Midget racing with a traditional engine. The proof of this statement is in the car counts, we can't deny it. There are thousands of young drivers across the country right now running quarter midgets and micros, and Midget racing simply is not attracting enough of them to remain viable, with the overall program we currently offer. To those new guys who do come to the sport and choose an Esslinger or a Fontana I say 'God Bless You'. But we are not going to save this deal with those guys alone. We need to drag this port - kicking and screaming apparently - into the 21st century.
