No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

Huset's Speedway released its 2023 schedule and there was not a USAC date. They are having a huge 4 day WOO sprint car show paying a record setting $250,000 to win. They are moving in from another track a $53,000 to win late model show.

While not surprised, I am very disappointed that there is not a USAC show. I had decided that if they had the show this year that it was going to be my big racing vacation.

https://www.husetsspeedway.com/press/article/121881

Hopefully the race will be relocated. That being said, I won't hold my breath. We need more support from drivers and fans if you want to see big money non wing events.

June 2 and 3 is TBD on Knoxville’s schedule. The new GM of Knoxville said they thought the idea of rotating a big USAC race among different tracks in the midwest, so maybe that’s happening.

Total speculation though.

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

Isn't that typically midget week? Or close to it

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

Really think there needs to be more paying NW races and this is a loss for sure.

My beef is it should include Indiana Tracks having fifteen to twenty thou races. Kokomo does. I always thought it would be neat if a track wanted more than two USAC races then one of them has to be a much higher purse.

Some of this already happens, But I think Sprint Week would be the time to have em. Of course it's always easy to play keyboard promoter. Think a couple tracks ISW is one of very few profitable races for them.

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

I noticed the TBD on Knoxville's schedule as well. It is possible that the sprint cars come back, but I doubt that we will ever see midgets there again. I don't think the track wants them back after Chad McDaniel's death in a midget in 2009, and I don't think that the drivers want to race at a large half mile.

Once to Knoxville in the summer is about all I can make for the Nationals in August, but if June 2 and 3 was a USAC sprint show and 100 lappet for silver crown, I’d be there

I agree but some of the Indiana tracks don’t have adequate seating to pay a big purse even if you sold every seat.

Kokomo already does a great job with what they have, Terre Haute ideally would be the track that could support a big NW race, it just hasn’t worked out.

We made it to the first Huset Nationals,made a vacation out of it,great racing & vacation,glad we went,may never be back.

Glad I made it to one of these. Now the question is what will fill the void in 23?

Scott (that) paid a $10.000 show and no fans showed, or many cars, so why would a promotor want to pay a big purse. now days both racers and fans stay local.jmo

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

And Diesel is back to six bucks a gallon in some places. What was typically about a thirty cents difference between cheap gas and diesel is now almost double price. I remember times where diesel was cheaper than gas.

2 day show at Lawrenceburg. Friday, Saturday with Sunday rain date. More than adequate fan amenities lots to do in the area, This is one of the few facilities in the heart of non-wing country that has the infrastructure to host a marquee event. Obviously promotion is central, but IMO it makes more sense than trucking all the way to SD.

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

What about doing a big non wing show at eldora?

Earl tried that once. It didn't seem to work out too well. He ended up 1 hot dog away from breaking even.

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

Earl took sponsor money to make most o fthat happen and Mopar was a very small part of that. I do remember kinda pocket estimating how the event did and it was a signifigant profit without sponsor The gate price was I think 90 for both nights and the Pit's a hundred.

If you figured it out to ten thousand fans (I believe about 15-18k were there sat) It comes up to about a million on that. Nevermind the hot dogs.

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

I know Earle Baltes did the Mopar Million . That’s kind of why I suggested Eldora as a possibility. I could not attend that event. I could not get out of working. I was glad when Haud won it. Are you saying Earle didn’t do to well “ money wise”, ie he didn’t make money off of that show? Anyways I guess I am saying Eldora would have to be considered the best track to handle a “big” non wing show. It has the name, the facility, and it is non wing country . It is right next door to Indiana and Ohio has a non wing presence with the BOSS series. Just my two cents.

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

Except Tony wont run USAC without running a wing series with it.

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

Or, he won't even run his own WING series without USAC supporting it.

Good or bad, Eldora always gets at least ten thousand fans or more for a big show. That's probably double any Indiana Track.

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

If it means a bigger gate for both, why would that be a problem?

Glad I made it this year. What an awesome facility. That being said, I’d rather it move somewhere closer like Oskaloosa. Big events are better on half miles. Unfortunately, not much support for USAC racing outside of Indiana these days and that doesn’t even include Terre Haute.

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

Several years ago. I talked to Doug Johnson. About having a USAC show. Add Jackson Motor Plex. This was before.Tod Bought Husets. When I talk to Doug about it. I said, You also have to include. Poweri And Badger. Along with the non wing sprints. At that time, it fell on deaf ears. Then Matt Woods. Had the show at Husets And we all seen the end results of that. I pretty much knew. What was gonna happen after the first year? With the poor attendance. Of people in the stands and. A very good car count. Of both the Midgets and the non wingsprints. I was hoping the change of dates. To a Midsummer show would help. But it was the exact same turn out. And I knew it was done after that. So what didn't surprise me when I seen it was gone. From the schedule. For 2023. I have to give Matt Woods credit for trying. I don't think it would have made any difference if they would've had 50 cars in each class. The people up in this part of the country. Don't know what good racing is. All they care about is wingsprint cars. But I guess I have to say, there are good. Wing sprint car shows. But not near as good as the Midgets and non wingsprints. Guess I'm gonna have to save my pennies this winter. And make a few trips out to Indiana. Next summer. Probably try and Make Indiana Midget week. And probably try and start out the year down at Tulsa. And April. By the way, I just wanted to let everybody know. Very good possibility. There will only be. Three races at Jackson Motorplex this year. That will be the three day world of outlaw show. This came right from Tod. He claims Jackson is losing too much money. People don't support the race track. Really sad. He spent millions of dollars on that place. One of the nicest race tracks in the country. And it's just gonna sit there with no races. But there's a lot of race tracks in that situation. Hope things turn around for Dirt track Racing. I have my theory on what's wrong, but I won't go into that. Everybody has a safe winter. Glen Murra

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

How about Lucas Oil Speedway in Missouri, about half the distance than Husets.

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

Lucas oil only has shows that they sponsor at their facility. Why you don't see the Outlaws there.
I think what killed the event was no local support. You just aren't going to draw enough traveling fans to make money.

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

There is has been a two day POWRI/WAR show at Valley/Lucas Oil in early May that always is a great show. It has both POWRi midgets and WAR sprints. (both sponsored by Lucas Oil) Going from Valley to Lucas Oil is always an exercise in contrast.

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

I attended the first season and what a great event it was. Sadly the fan support was not there. I watched the second effort and the fan support again wasn’t there. After asking around I was informed most people of the region are wing sprint car fans and don’t really know much different. Sadly with very very little traveling fan support the event was doomed. Again after asking around I’ve been informed there is a little show in Knoxville every August that has grown by leaps and bounds over the years. I wonder if it’s only local fan support that drives this event to greater heights each year.

Good point 76. It does make you scratch your head why that event keeps growing. It appears that it has more than local support. Never mind the fact that wing racing is way more popular than wingless. But as we all know quantity doesn’t always equal quality

No need to scratch your head… maybe you’ve been I don’t know but if you haven’t you should. The atmosphere is by far the most intense.
One reason the event is so successful is if you’re a race fan you can go and you can take your spouse who may not be a fan but they will have a good time. It’s more than a race, it’s an event that the whole town is backing

Understood 748, I was applying a bit of sarcasm and reminding us all that we, those who prefer to go to wingless races, are a smaller portion of racing fandom. As we have covered many times here on IOW, I’m skeptical whether this type of event would ever take hold and grow regardless of venue and location. It’s been already proven that we really don’t care enough to drive past our local track in favor of a big national event, and our local track won’t close because they believe it’s in their best interest to race. But I sure hope someone does continue to try to put on a big event. And getting back to that, I would think it’s got way more chance of success back here towards the hub of non wing racing. I was thinking maybe Joliet might be a good spot. I have a little hope that racing may return there because they did finally run a demo around Halloween. Great facilities and a little further west if we think that would help get maybe some of the WAR type racer’s.

With races being streamed and more and more fans taking advantage of that, traveling fans are are starting to become extinct. That is, with the exception of some of the longest running, historical events. Does not apply to everyone, but more and more fans are watching from home. Especially with gas and diesel prices and inflation.

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

It is a quicker drive to Indianapolis than Chicago for the WAR drivers. A point in the middle would be St. Louis. Perhaps Tri City Speedway? They have a history of promoting USAC shows. They just don’t have a history of great support. (Gold Crown midget shows)

You’re not going to be able to plop a big time USAC race in an area that doesn’t have a history with non-winged racing.

The places where I think it could work are Indiana (obviously), Eldora, Knoxville (given the history of non-winged racing), Arizona and California. Central Pa could also make it happen.

If I were USAC, I’d create a new triple crown where Kokomo Smackdown and the Sprint car portion of the 4 crown each paid $25k to win, and you rotated the 3rd event to Knoxville, Williams Grove and some other historic track.

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

Just a little off subject. Id like to see a two or three day midget show at Haubstadt

By definition an event has to have more to offer than just the race,like a casino across the street, major league sports nearby, historical old river towns, etc. And sadly for non-wing racing a track under a 1/2 mile.

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

I TOTALLY disagree. The Knoxville Nationals are the biggest event in dirt track short track racing, and it has NONE of the above.

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

I think Central Pa. would actually work out better than Knoxville. Eastern Storm always gets good crowds, & I've met plenty of Pa. guys at Kokomo, etc. who were getting bored with wingers. On the other hand, I've met locals at Knoxville who had no interest in "traditional" sprinters cause they were "too slow". How was the support for big USAC races at Knoxville a couple of years ago? Series dropped, no? :11:

Jonr, Joliet is a comfortable distance from Chicago but I understand your point

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

:24:People, remember one small thing yet. The USAC season is not over yet so the 2023 schedules have not been released. Tracks on the schedules may not be able to release any dates yet. Now, since I live 50 miles from the track, I have been to both of them. And, my photos are posted on my website www.spot-photos.com just click on the 2022 Racing tab to view. And, if 2022 was the last USAC Nats show at Huset's one can hardly blame Matt Wood for not continuing a third year. He has rented the track for this show now two years in a row and taken a financial beating both times. It was the best racing that nobody saw. And there is one more thing yet, after the final race of the Nats this past year, I did see the scoreboard say Thank you for coming. We'll see you next year. This was not the final night of the season for racing at Huset's I'll leave that on the minds of all on here.

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

I love the fact that all USAC shows are included in FLO. However it's pennies per race per viewer on the subscription Perhaps maybe races with fifteen grand or more to win be a five or ten dollar Charge on top of subscription with 100% going to the track.

I remember back in the NRA days a local team borrowing some wings and making the show (I think at Bloomington) and bragging they made the show and the grand they made doing it. (Thats twice what ive ever made at any track) he said. And yes, they made a green flag lap and pulled in.

I love USAC. there's about ten guys that can absolutely make a sprint car float on dirt and fly. However they need car count and aparently five hundred to start is not enough to get em off the home porch..

Re: No return visit to Huset's for USAC
 

Sounds a lot like the Burg... Also a distillery LOL