Originally Posted by Jim Gardner:
I'm a fan of the term "Lightning Sprint" over any other name. For me, anybody outside of racing (and some within it) have no idea what a midget is. I was in college talking to a buddy and telling him that I was staying in to watch the Chili Bowl on pay-per-view. He asked what it was- to which I replied "oen of the biggest midget races of the year." and I received a blank, confused stare. If you're goal is to attract sponsors and new car owners why use a name that will typically be misinterpreted by the casual fan/general public? They are sprint-style cars, they run sprint-style races, they are sprint cars. Lightning is a nice adjective to separate them from their big sisters. It implies that they are quick and fast- which they are. Just my thought on this name controversy. Sorry to get off topic.
Do we need a new organization to poach cars from already successful groups? I don't think at this point. In the area the AMSA, MMSA, Waynesfield, and 35 are all doing relatively well or growing. I hope be race with all of them next year. What we need is uniform rules across the board so guys can race where they want to. Then maybe you can classify them all under one group like the UMP or NASCAR home tracks do. This would help an infrastructure of the class across the country because you get get some big national races where everybody knows what the rules are and are familiar with them.
Ken Brown did have a few races in the winter at Duquoin and it was a blast but we didn't get many cars. The micros have a huge following in northern Indiana and Illinois and they had 60 cars to our 20-24. Right now all of the cars that would run Duquoin from Ohio to Illinois follow different motor, weight, and tire rules.
Jim
I grew up with "Midget fixation disorder". Midgets just really turned me on, and probably many people my age have the same disease. If I could only get them to change a few rules I'd be racing one.
What I have noticed about the un-informed people out there is they don't know a midget from a sprint or a mini from a lightning and changing the name ain't going to help.
Years ago when I spent money on advertising, My TV commercials would always end with my motto "NO Muff Too Tuff" . Well some old lady would call ever few weeks to complain about the profanity used in my motto. I didn't know what she was talking about and she would not elaborate on her point. This went on for about a year or so and "Ma Bell" came up with caller ID. I was the first on the list to get it so I could ID my competitors calling for quotes. Sure enough in a few week she called, I reverse checked her address and I sent her a triple X large T shirt-nighty with our unadvertised motto on it "NO Pipe Too Tight" and a note asking her if she liked this motto better, it must have pleased her because she never called back.
We are not only selling this form of racing but we are selling a name that we want the public to identify us with and "LIGHTNING" has just never turned me on. My question is what is a "LIGHTNING". In fact even when I want to say "1000cc Midget" I usually end up saying "MINI SPRINT" then I bite my tongue old habits die hard.
Maybe it's time for an IOW survey and see what the fans and racers think? Or better yet hire one of them advertising agencies to do research and study groups and come up with a suitable name that would work to our advantage.
Honest Dad himself
PS I'm going to "all domains" to buy a few domain names.
