[DonMoore10]

Several of the midgets at the Chili Bowl had the "dished" hoods . What sanctioning bodies are allowing this latest deal? If it's allowed, here is one more example of piling on more expense for midget owners that is not needed.

air is "free" and sooner or later you're going to need a new hood so buy a dished one or whatever...... before it was hoods with big scoops for air even tho half the ones i have saw didn't have the opening cut out....lol most people will buy it because everyone else has one

[DonMoore10]

Most midgets DON"T have one.

[Sandy Lowe]

I HATE dished hoods on sprints & midgets when the number is in the bottom of the dish. It makes it very hard to line cars up under caution when you can't tell what the car number is until you can see the number on the tail.

Here are two examples from Dave Merritt Photo's. In the first one you can see the number clearly.

http://www.pbase.com/pitpass/image/115129724

http://www.pbase.com/pitpass/image/115129710

[rmr6nm]

I gotta be honest, and all due respect to Don - but of all the issues we have in midget racing right now that are a detriment, a dished nose piece has to be the least of our worries. I am not really sure that this will make the difference on whether you win or not on your average Saturday night race.
Now if you told me I had to have one, that might be an issue - though I'm not sure if it would be the $$ or the fact I can be a non conformist!

[DonMoore10]

Call it petty if you like, but the dished hood is just one small piece of the puzzle of the "midget money game" that owners have been chasing for an eternity. First of all, what advantage does anyone gain after everyone buys one??? I don't get it. Once everyone has one or midget A part or Midget B part, everybody ends up equal and in the meantime spending money on parts that aren't needed. Are the fans screaming for dished hoods??? If not, then maybe you shoud listen to what the fans are saying or not saying instead of guys dreaming up more ways to push the costs of midget racing to another level.

The dished hood amounts to a built in camoflouged wing. If you want winged midget racing, put wings on the car and be done with it.

[darnall]

Does USAC allow the dished hoods? If they do I have to laugh. When the USAC sprints ran at Lake Ozark Speedway a few years ago a buddy of mine decided to pull his wing off and try it. He had a brand new 3 race old car with all the latest safety equipment and USAC officials nitpicked the car to death before he could run. We had to cut 2 inches off the sunvisor, tape a shop rag on the steering wheel to represent a pad, and double the amount of rollbar padding already on the car.

The funniest thing was what we had to do to the dished nose/hood he had. We had to stuff the dish full of newspaper then duct tape a big piece of cardboard over it to make it flat. If they now allow dished hoods i find it funny.

We had no problem with adhering to the body rules that night, but we were amazed at how silly it is to require a steering wheel pad in the days of full face helmets and Hans devices. O.K. maybe it's not silly to mandate the pad but for an official to recommend taping a shop towel on the wheel then passing it thru inspection. COME ON...REALLY?????

I'm going to play both sides of the fence here. I agree with rmr6nm that dished hoods are a drop in the bucket regarding the expense but ultimately i am going to have to agree with Don that it just becomes one more thing people are going to buy to feel like they are back on a level playing field.

40 grand in a motor versus 12 grand, 3 grand in shocks versus $130 standard aluminu shocks, titanium, carbon fiber, new tires all night long, weather stations, engine heaters, shock dynos, bar dynos, weight jackers, dished hoods, blah blah blah blah, MAKE IT STOP!!!!

[hoosierhillbilly]

Wasn't there some "controversy" in World of Outlaws about a hood that Karl Kinser ran on Steve's Car? Wasn't there some comment about if Karl/STeve won everyone else would copy?

I know it is a little off topic but it jogged a memory

[Rpracing1]

Do you HAVE to buy one??????

I don't think so........

[Jake]

Don, would you rather see midgets resemble stick figure drawings?

You always bring up cost..if you think a dished nose is so essential to keep up with everyone and you couldn't afford to buy one, why don't you just buy the material(about $10 worth of aluminum), and make one in your shop?