Originally Posted by Dick Monahan
It's really sad for those of us who followed ARDC in the 60s, when they were almost as strong as the USAC midgets with whom they occasionally sanctioned some shows. When a few ARDC cars ventured to a NEMA race, they tended to kick our tails. During the 70s, Ed Darrell promoted a weekly ARDC show at Grandview, and I believe that eventually killed them. The owners who wanted to travel switched to some kind of sprint car, rather than go to Grandview every Sunday night. Then, when the weekly shows died, a number of local (to Grandview) cars dropped out because they didn't want to travel. The car counts never recovered.
They lost more support when they went to wings and then dropped them.
Even if their own actions didn't hurt them, trying to run in an area that had 420 sprints, 360 sprints, 358 sprints, super sportsmen and various sizes of minisprints would have made it very difficult, anyway. There just wasn't room in the schedules to fit in a class that was confusing to many racing fans, but was trying to maintain a relatively high payoff.
In contrast, NEMA is surviving in New England. They started a "Lite" class that runs a lesser engine and, as a result, can deliver a 2-class show that regularly brings close to 30 cars. Last year, NEMA averaged 13 cars, while the Lites averaged 15. The costs still hurt, though. During the 2018 season, 31 NEMA cars and 48(!) Lite cars ran at least one show. NEMA ran 13 shows and the Lites ran 15 shows. For those who aren't familiar with them, both classes run wings and only pavement tracks.
Finally, there is a USAC-sanctioned group, the DMA Midgets that run without wings, with dozen or so shows at Bear Ridge Speedway in Northern Vermont, with a few shows at a couple of other nearby dirt tracks. I don't get to many, but I've been told the average 12-15 cars. Like the Lites, they run lesser engines. As with similar situation throughout the years I've been following them, I don't believe any of the engine rules are compatible between USAC, Nema, Lites, and DMA, which is sad.
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