I've been out of the open wheel game for a while now, but I hate what's happened to midget racing. One of my first stops when I moved out here to Indiana was 16th Street Speedway, which I miss. With that said, since people are throwing all sorts of ideas out there, here's mine. Hopefully with all of the ideas out here, somebody with the passion, power and money can put something together that makes sense.
1. I don't think we can rely on the current sanctioning bodies to change things, it's going to take someone creating something new that will hopefully pass the old guard in time. Today, if you're not changing with what the market wants, you're being left behind quicker than ever.
2. We all agree that the cars need to be cheaper, and there's all sorts of ideas out there for that. Something like the 1 tire per position a night could work bring the tire bill down...but as for engines, the other huge expense, we need wholesale changes. Not just to bring the motor cost down, but to bring some interest from other manufacturers. There are so many 4-cylinders out there that can do the job with minimal modification. Sure, they might be a bit slower, but wouldn't that help the tire bill, too? Oh, and weight limits, exotic metal ban, etc., are interesting ideas that technical experts can argue about.
3. I mentioned other manufacturer interest. They won't come unless there's a reason...a large fan-base to market to. For that, and forgive me for using this as an example, but look at what Feld has done with supercross and monster trucks. You could build a decent and safe temporary dirt circuit (sorry, I live in sports car racing world now, LOL) inside of stadiums that have huge capacities compared to the tracks midgets currently race at. Then it takes some marketing dollars/skills and business to business deals to fill the place. The financial outlay would be much more for the promoter, but the rewards could be huge, too. This would help field size, too, because who wouldn't want to racing in front of that many people, especially if they aren't spending $30k on an engine? Oh, this could breed a tv package, too. I know, I dream big. With more money coming in, a promoter can maybe provide more support to their teams that are supporting them, and not have to make such a high percentage of money off of the back gate.
4. Looking at this through a marketing geek's eyes like I do, if you are running a show like above, I'm sorry traditionalists, push trucks either have to go, or each team has to provide one for their car. Since the latter sounds like a nightmare, you can guess where I stand. But, if you're not spending $30k on an engine, some of that money can go to a simple clutch and tranny, right?
Midget racing needs a complete game changer at this point...and like I said earlier, I don't think any of the current sanctioning bodies will do any of the above, or the other great ideas I've read. That's why we need someone or a group of someones to come in and save it. History has shown that the status quo won't.
Man, I haven't typed this much about short track racing in a while...that' felt good!
