Bring back the VW's

Guys were are forgetting one key point when talking about payouts. The promoters!! These guys must be profitable and make it count because the only have 21 weekends to do it in and the track is what pays their bills. Keeping that in mind how do u expect a promoter to pay the kind of purses you would like Don when 6 cars show up! (not a dig on you Don). Im just like the rest of you guys I want to race somewhat close to home on a semi-regular basis. Knowing that i have a 11 headed gaerte i dont expect to compete with he big dogs on the national stage. However i still want to race. USAC takes a beating on here most of the time! Whether they deserve it or not another topic! They did do one thing right (not perfect) D1! Again I say no perfect but a step in the right direction. The biggest problem was nobody showed up!!! IMO they could have changed 3 things and got approx 25 cars each night.
1. Spread the races over the state not just up north get all the promoters involed ask each one to do 1 race and the second could tag along with a regular usac sprint show. This would increase visibility to the startup program and lesson the blow (risk) to the promoter.

2. 1 tire per night. This limits cost to owners/ driver. You could do it with or without a tire spec.

3. Purse structure. 850 to win 175-200 to start. The big dogs wont run their high dollar engine for that when they can win 2k national midgets. 175-200 will still keep the total purse reasonable for the promoter to book a show! And still cover some expenses for team owners.

To make this work we must keep in mind that this is not national midgets but a feeder series to make the national midgets better. Both for power i and usac!!

Lastly, we all must support it. I would bet if you could guarantee 25-30 midgets with the above purse (which is not bad) you could book any track in indiana with the exception of Lawrenceburg. Not because he wouldnt do it but because the motors that would be running in this series couldnt take it. Like my 11 headed gaerte.

I dont think you need a 22k motor to make a national show. My gaerte has won a couple of heats with Usac and 2 top tens with poweri. IMO. Motors are not the problem.

Not saying everything should be done this way but, maybe a start.

Michael Koontz
Posted via Mobile Device

What Don has said in regard to the midgets over the years is/has become largely true. I have had my vehement disagreement's over the years with Don (as moderators of this board can vouch for.)
What Don says in regard to many of the points of contention ring true.

The policy of the Rumble In Fort Wayne is to have a larger payout at the back and middle of the field. Not perfect, but it adds up over a full payout each day for two days.

Here is the payout I have had over the last several years. We get 39 to 44 midgets both days.

http://www.rumbleseries.com/entriesftwayne.php

Let's not lose sight of reality. Almost everyone on this board agreed with Don's message that midget racing is in trouble. He was not saying anything that anyone with a little common sense could see. The solution to the problem is where everyone disagrees.

There is a cheap midget tire already available that will last all year on dirt and pavement. The 13" American Racer dwarf/legend car tire that IRS midgets run. The only way for midget racers to come out ahead at the end of a night is if you don't have to buy ANY tires. My dad and I made money with our modified beacause we only had to buy two sets of tires for the year! Those tires would also be easier on engines and equal out the haves and have nots. It's good to hear there are cheaper engines available now and if you combined that with the tires I mentioned the sport would flourish again. Hell, I would probably get back into it if they did that. I'll bet many others would too. After Lasalle I fear the worst for Granite City but aren't they running non-wing sprints each night also? If so I'll still go.

The solution to the problems are with the CUTTING of costs of building and operating these cars...someone should compile a graph on how much they have spiraled out of control since the late 80's.

Don and many others have posted ways to do that. I don't agree with all of them..but for the most part, they have been proven correct. Others with the same cost cutting opinion should post what they think here.

As for Poweri, they have tried to come support Indiana racing, but ask Kokomo what happens when you schedule thm in Indiana. It isn't poweri that's the problem, as long as they stay in Illinois,as some people think.Too bad the well in midget racing has been poisoned, it used to be great racing.

we need REAL promoters to put a lot more people in the stands. thats a very big reason why we cant get paid more.

First of all the rev limit was set at about what the engines were normally running anyway so that rule didn't do anything to help. The weight rule USAC instituted 2 years ago weighing the driver and car actually makes the cars have to be lighter than they were before. It was 900lbs.W/o driver. Now it's 1050 with driver. For a 900 lb. car the driver can only weigh 150lbs. It is now legal to build a car less than 900lbs. The average midget without a bunch of titanium weighs approx. 975lbs. If USAC was actually trying to help out the average guy their weight with driver should be atleast 1100lbs. It's obvious to me and apparently everyone in Poweri that USAC's "cost reduction rules" are nothing but smoke and mirrors! I'm with D.O. bring back the VW's!!!!

Is that really only the responsibility of the promoter? Sure, he's the one who has to pay the bills and stands to profit on a good night. But if we could fill the grandstands everywhere we raced, then we could all race for more money.

Wouldn't it be easier to accomplish that goal if 30 participants took an active role in helping to fill the grandstands? How many Facebook followers do most of these drivers have? 10 more fans per driver is 300 more fans in the stands, or probably $4,500 more in grandstand revenue.