I know it's the dead of summer and with all the great racing going on all around the country a winter indoor race is not of prime concern in late July.

However, I have a question as to whether there will be a December USAC National Midget event this year at Du Quoin. There is no mention of the traditional December Du Quoin show on the USAC schedule.

In the past the Du Quoin indoor event has been one of the better shows of the season dating back to it's days of being a POWRi sanctioned event.

The dirt late model/non sanctioned midget race over at St. Louis is scheduled for the weekend that the Du Quoin show has traditionally been held. The dome deal has been scheduled against Du Quoin a couple of times but that was before the midgets were part of the St. Louis deal and it didn't seem to hurt Du Quoin much, if at all. But the midgets being a part of the dome deal changes the whole scenario.

Really hope the pre-Christmas Du Quoin event doesn't go by the wayside. We have little to no interest in doing the dome thing given it's urban setting and lodging/parking/food/beverage prices being offered at larger city prices. Also, the December race at Du Quoin was a stand alone midget event as opposed to the dome having late models and mortified's there as companion divisions.

I agree with your stand on the st louis race.But I have been the last 3 years and we eat and drink before we go to the race and drink some more afterwards at the bars right down the road to avoid the money and Let me tell ya if that's what really holding you back you need to support this event. The racing is fantastic in all classes. Yes there is a few yellows but overall the program is great!!

I shouldn't have included anything about the St. Louis deal because all I'm looking for is information as to whether the Du Quoin event is still in the mix or if it's dead.

With that said, since I regretfully opened the can of worms I'll reluctantly respond. Given that the St. Louis deal wasn't scheduled directly against Du Quoin last year, as it had been the previous 2 years, we checked into attending the St. Louis show last year after learning the midgets were added. The tickets, lodging and parking for one night would amount to about double what it would cost us to attend Du Quoin for the same time period. That's not factoring in the traffic and parking inconvenience and aggravation. The two destinations are about the same distance (4 hours) for us. We've attended all but one indoor midget event ever run at Du Quoin going all the way back to the days when the the POWRi guys and gals raced in the Southern Illinois Center during the fair on the Friday and Saturday nights prior to the Silver Crown and ARCA races on the Mile so we pretty well know what we're talking about in regards to attending an indoor event at DQ.

It always has been generally a sure thing that the racing program in the Southern Illinois Center will be very good, and well run. Even if the costs were similar we're inclined to choose the sure thing over the unknown every time. Having hit some of the downtown St. Louis drinking establishments after attending many Cardinal's baseball games over the years we know for sure it's substantially cheaper to toss a couple back at a neighborhood watering hole in Du Quoin as opposed to downtown St. Louis.

Nick Knepper recently raced with POWRi at Belle-Clair during one of our broadcasts and at that time he told me there would not be a Knepper 55 event in Du Quoin this year. That's not to say things couldn't change but at this time it's not happening.

Thanks Chet. Sorry to hear that. The pre-Christmas event at the SIC has been an event many of us look forward to for many years now.

Hi All - Just to clarify, we have not officially communicated that the race will not happen. We continue to review our options w/ USAC.

Stay tuned.

Thanks,
Nick Knepper

Hopefully you are still able to make a go of it. It is a can't miss event!!

Thanks for the further clarification, Nick. We have our fingers crossed hoping it happens! As crf said, Knepper 55 is an event that shouldn't be missed!

Hello All! Are there any updates on a 2019 Jr. Knepper 55 potentially happening?

No race this year.