[jojowar]

Just looking for some feedback from the community out there on this idea. Local dirt midgets on the dirt tracks we know and love with reliable, powerful, efficient engine at a fraction of the price of a " national midget engine". Is the equipment out there to support a series like this or the participation?

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[Tony74]

Go support Montpelier they are all ready trying to give midget guys a budget place to run on bi-monthly deal.

[PatrickMead#13]

Montpelier has a good mixture of power plants. I've been there twice and it's a great group of racers there too.

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what ever it takes i'd sure like to see midget racin in indiana (what a novel idea)

i've always wondered if a wankel would work out in a midget, had one in a rx7 n it frig'n ripped!

[darnall]

Originally Posted by barny oldfeller what ever it takes i'd sure like to see midget racin in indiana (what a novel idea) i've always wondered if a wankel would work out in a midget, had one in a rx7 n it frig'n ripped!

Well there is a reason that engine is not legal in USAC midgets....apparently somebody put one in a midget many many years ago, don't remember who or where, but I read a story about it once.... it weighed little more than a 12 pack of beer and freakin screamed...it could also be push started by 2 guys pushing on the rollcage.. I can't remember if somebody used it in Badger competition or if it was debuted in the Houston Astrodome races or if it was somewhere else altogether.. surely somebody on here has a better memory of this story than I do.

[Midget 89]

Mazda produced it's last Wankel engine on June 22 of this year. Major minuses of the power plant were poor fuel economy and emissions. http://jalopnik.com/5921410/the-last...has-been-built

[Andrew S. Quinn]

Originally Posted by darnall Well there is a reason that engine is not legal in USAC midgets....apparently somebody put one in a midget many many years ago, don't remember who or where, but I read a story about it once.... it weighed little more than a 12 pack of beer and freakin screamed...it could also be push started by 2 guys pushing on the rollcage.. I can't remember if somebody used it in Badger competition or if it was debuted in the Houston Astrodome races or if it was somewhere else altogether.. surely somebody on here has a better memory of this story than I do.

It was probably Drew Fornoro your thinking of in Gene Angelillo's midget "Dumo's Desire" which was a Lindblad Badger chassied midget from my sometimes selective memory. It was run in New England with NEMA,and caused an uproar and banned as I recall except they grandfathered "Mazda" Pete Pernesiglio's midget in,which was in a total different class of car than the Linblad Badger.

I think there was a story on it in Open Wheel years ago as well.

Maybe Dick Monahan will remember more about it??

I recall watching it scream down the front straightaway at Oxford Plains Speedway,and it sounded like it turned about 12000 rpms. It was very fast,but Gene Angelillo always had fast cars no matter the engine, the chassis,or who was driving,although back then (1986 I am thinking) it was Drew Fornoro.

[gearguy]

Engines are only part of the problem. We have been racing in the Illini sportsman group for the past 5 seasons and while everything isn't perfect in this club I can afford to field a competitive car. In five seasons we've been in the top 10 4 times with a 1999 Buzzard-Focus. This season we had motor troubles but swaping the Scream package over to a $500 junkyard Z-Tec had us back on track in a week.
The best thing about this series -and the most challenging- is the tire rule. American Racer DOT legal dwarf car tires on pavement & dirt. My tire bill for a season [15-17 races plus two practice days] is less than $700. Cost for the whole season [towing, pit passes, tires, even spare motor] is around $5000.
Check our races out on U-Tube. Good racing you can afford.

Chuck Schultz
Winfield, Illinois

[Pat O'Connor Fan]

Years ago, Bob Lockard debuted one in Ft. Wayne at a USAC indoor event. It was terribly loud -- can you say , "deafening"? Beer cans were rigged into the exhaust to quiet it down to an acceptable (??) noise level. Roger West later took me to the Lockard's auto salvage yard, where I saw Bob working on the engine, using an upright 55 gallon drum as an engine stand. Surely some of the other old farts who haunt this site can add details about this particular midget.

[buck2]

Originally Posted by jojowar Just looking for some feedback from the community out there on this idea. Local dirt midgets on the dirt tracks we know and love with reliable, powerful, efficient engine at a fraction of the price of a " national midget engine". Is the equipment out there to support a series like this or the participation? Posted via Mobile Device

Support the promoter at Montpelier and then find additional tracks when you have a field of cars willing to travel.
The Focus class could have accomplished what you describe but didn't for many reasons.
"Reliable, powerful, efficient engines won't ever be available at a fraction of the price of a national midget engine" so forget that.
Reliable and efficient low cost engines exist in junkyards across the country, all its takes is imagination and ingenuity to stick one in a midget...both of which seem to be scarce commodities with today's racer crowd.
A better alternative would be an older Gaerte, Fontana or Sesco where the engineering is already done and parts are available.