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Breaking News: WOMS to pay $1000 to win in 2009

The Wolverine Outlaw Midget Series is proud to announce they will be paying $1000 to win at all of their hosted events in 2009. Vans Pattern Corp out of Grand Rapids , Michigan has picked up primary sponsorship for the WOMS 2009 series. Van's is a leader in the construction of polystyrene stamping dies for the automotive industry and to this day continues to be at the forefront of technological advancement in this field. Also renewing their sponsorship this year will be Corrigan Oil. Corrigan oil is a leader in the distribution of petroleum products in Mid and Lower Michigan. Without the help of these two companies, it would be very difficult for our series to survive and prosper.Let's all thank them for their generosity.
On another note, our 2009 rulebook is currently being updated. With many new engine options available and also weight and tire rules to consider, it will be March 16th before our new revised 2009 rule book will be posted on line. Membership applications are being revised and will be available on line after March 9th. This year you must have a current license and membership from WOMS or a current memberhip and TP from UMARA or USAC to race with WOMS. There will be no TP's available except for UMARA and USAC members. At this time registration for a WOMS member will be a minimum of $25 per event and all non-members (USAC & UMARA) will be a minimum of $50 but this is subject to change. More information will be posted on our web site as it becomes available

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Here's hoping some of you Indiana boys will come up and race with us this year. We usually get one or two but we are hoping to see more of you regional guys come up this year.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

I would have sworn I read in another post on IOW a plea for more cars for WOMS. With all the restrictions and fees I'm reading in the first post, it doesn't sound very inviting. Maybe I'm missing something that's not posted.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

There are no extra restrictions then there have ever been. Our members always pay $25 for a pre registration fee and $35 the day of the race. We accept the license from USAC and UMARA who usually do not pre register. If you do not pre-register and your not a WOMS member but one of our co-sanction partners your fee may be increased to $40 or perhaps even $50. You are running for a $1000 dollars.
Personally I think this is great news for midget racing but I am always reluctant to post anything on this forum because finding fault or negativity in anything posted seems to be the main emphasis for some. I think this is just great positive news for midget racing overall and especially in Michigan. This post is something to celebrate in my opinion and any amount of nit picking can not change that good news. Name any pavement midget series that pays $1000 to win for all of their races in the Midwest, no matter the registration fee. If interested in our series please check out our web site at www.wolverinemidgets.com . I think I have posted only three times on this forum for good reasons. I don't think it's possible to post something that everyone can agree on. For our series in Michigan this is a dream come true so please try not to rain on our parade more than necessary.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Dan, don't listen to the naysayers...The one doing the complaining on this thread wants to have more affordable midget racing and complains when USAC won't listen and here's a group (WOMS) that is trying to do its level-best to keep costs under control and provide a place for real midget racers to have a good time and it gets bashed. I am reminded of the phrase about someone who would "complain if they hung him with a new rope".....

Racing for the purse ended years ago. That's why you see alot of people running midgets with an agenda, ie. promoting their 13 year old "rocket", trying to "make it to the next level", etc. It is nice to know there is a group where you can race a midget because you want to race a midget, no more no less. The $1000 to win shows a dedication that not many other traveling series (sprints, midgets, late models, etc.) are putting out there right now.

Bottom line - if you own a midget and want to race on tracks that were truly meant to have midgets racing on them, then consider WOMS. You won't be dissapointed - this coming from the 2005/06 champion car owner so I am not merely talking here. I believe in WOMS and had the most fun racing with them of my career.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Originally Posted by DonMoore10:
I would have sworn I read in another post on IOW a plea for more cars for WOMS.
With all the restrictions and fees I'm reading in the first post, it doesn't sound very inviting. Maybe I'm missing something that's not posted.

Don , if you knew something about the Wolverine Outlaw Midget Series and owner Dan VanderMolen , you would have read the post differently. To know that this is not a " plea " , just an open invitation to other groups to come participate with the regular WOMS membership. It's what they do every year. Because they know that once you make the trip , you'll return again ! This is perhaps the most inviting , user-friendly group that anyone could imagine ! The appreciation and respect shown to the competitor is refreshing and the conduct of the event is always professional.

There are no unusual restrictions. The WOMS rules are consistent with those of UMARA and USAC to allow cross competition and ease of participation. The fee's are reasonable and necessary.

I say these things to express what I know and what I have experienced. There's really not much to criticize or find fault with in this group. A trip to Springport (Michigan) or to Grundy (Illinois) is only about a 15 minute difference from Indy. These are perhaps two of the best pavement Midget venues to be found !

Best Wishes to Dan & WOMS in '09 ! :Steer



:thumb

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Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Dan, don't take anything by what Don Moore says. All he does is complain about everything that is good or bad with midget racing. Next he will be asking you to waive the cost of his pitpass because he doesnt feel a car owner should have to pay for one. You guys have some of the best tracks in the country to race at and the Guess/Anderson Motorsports 36 will try and make as many of your shows as we can.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

It's never a dull day here on IOW. Let's try this again and if you're going to get out the axe handle, please post your full name. You have no credibility when you hide behind the computer. I take full responsibility for what I post with my name clearly posted. You do the same. Thanks.

Now...... It's unclear to me after reading the original post as to what the fees are.

Specifically:

1. Total cost to register the car, license or whatever BEFORE the season begins?

2. What is the cost to run PER RACE? For example, entry fee, pit pass etc.

I really don't know a thing about your group, but if you've read my posts on here, you know that I am not from the "That's the way it's always been done" school of thought. I don't accept things at face value. I'm a very cerebral person who is usually ahead of the game with innovation. With that comes some pain for a lot of people who have a hard time accepting change. In my business and as a teacher, I've been a pioneer in looking for contemporary ways of improving the product. I've been very successful at it.

Race car drivers and owners are "hired" entertainers for race promotions. I don't think you go to the track to see the maintenance crews or the race officials. Ironically, those people don't buy a pit pass or pay an entry fee to enter the grounds of a race track. On the other hand, the entertainers (car owners, drivers) are charged all kinds of fees, e. g. registration fee, pit pass fee, license fee, etc. etc. I have been in the entertainment business since I was in junior high school and not once did I pay a "fee" to entertain people. The "fees" charged race car owners and drivers are based on the "that's the way it's always been done" mindset.

Case in point: Last season, my team raced outdoors at one of the biggest paying purse events of the year. We just missed the feature by one spot. I had a very high profile driver in my car and we were part of the "entertainment" that the crowd came to see. Now to "entertain" the crowd that evening, I paid an entry fee of $100, a registration fee (pre-season) of $130 (at this particular track, there was no discount for being a member of the midget org) and $30 for a pit pass. If you are counting, that's $260 (not including the expense of traveling and funding an expensive piece of machinery). When the evening was over, I received a check for $30 from the promoter. Yeah, $30 from the promoter for entertaining the promoter's audience. And it gets better. I actually "hire" drivers to race my cars. Yeah... one of the few left in the United States. Kind of a novel idea. So, after splitting the $30, I had $15 left. Now, if you're still with me, the bottom line is that after "entertaining" the promoter's audience and putting my equipment and driver at risk for the sake of "entertainment", I left the track "in the hole" for $245, and that does not include travel, tires, fuel and misc. expenses.

So... Let's make this perfectly clear. I am against all fees charged to car owners and drivers to entertain the promoter's audience. No, I'm not talking about ex-wives, pit crew, sons, daughters. I'm talking about OWNERS and DRIVERS. Nowhere, but nowhere in the entertainment business, except at a race track, are the entertainers charged a fee to entertain. NOWHERE. For lack of organization, e.g., a union for drivers and owners, the race promoters and midget orgs have made prostitutes out of the entertainers, that is OWNERS and DRIVERS. Yeah, there's no organization so let's just charge the %^&* out of them.

Keep in mind that my blog is not directed at WOMS specifically. I'm talking about the midget entertainment industry as a whole. IMO, this is just one part of the mystery of why midget racing is on the ropes across the country in general.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Originally Posted by Lowlife517:
Next he will be asking you to waive the cost of his pitpass because he doesnt feel a car owner should have to pay for one.

Yeah.. That's the way it's always been done!!!!!!!!!!!! Let's make it perfectly clear, Mr. Guess. I'm against ALL fees charged to the entertainers (drivers, owners) at a race track. Nowhere but nowhere in the entertainment industry is this practiced. Thanks.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Originally Posted by DonMoore10:
Yeah.. That's the way it's always been done!!!!!!!!!!!! Let's make it perfectly clear, Mr. Guess. I'm against ALL fees charged to the entertainers (drivers, owners) at a race track. Nowhere but nowhere in the entertainment industry is this practiced. Thanks.

I have to agree with Mr. Moore on this one, the driver and car owner should get a pass in my opinion, after all they are the show and without them there would be no show. I do not have a dog in this fight but to bash Mr. Moore because of his opinion on something that he has so much invested in just does not make sense. This is just my opinion and I do not mean to offend anyone in any way.

Jerry

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Don, What you fail to realize is that a percentage of the money you pay to enter a pit area ends up getting paid back to you in the purse. Another percent goes into paying the insurance for that night and another percentage goes to paying for a rental fee of the facility and I could go on and on. So even though you are having to pay to play you are still getting your money back in some way, shape or form. So instead of coming on here and complaining about a very well ran Wolverine group and there fees you should have done some research on there website as to what there policies are. They have a great thing going up in Michigan and I wish them the best of luck.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Originally Posted by Lowlife517:
Don, What you fail to realize is that a percentage of the money you pay to enter a pit area ends up getting paid back to you in the purse. Another percent goes into paying the insurance for that night and another percentage goes to paying for a rental fee of the facility and I could go on and on. So even though you are having to pay to play you are still getting your money back in some way, shape or form. So instead of coming on here and complaining about a very well ran Wolverine group and there fees you should have done some research on there website as to what there policies are. They have a great thing going up in Michigan and I wish them the best of luck.

Since you are pro fees, I think it would be great if you picked up the tab for the entire midget industry. I have two midget org "pleas for fees" sitting on my desk right now, around $200 worth. Call me and I'll tell you where to send the check.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Back to my original comment. I am so thankful, excited and grateful to be able to offer this type of purse to our midget racers this year. This is the highest first place money we have ever offered and to offer that type of winning pay out for each and every one of our hosted races makes me hope midget racing may yet turn the corner and get the exposure it so definitely deserves. I hope to see many of you participating with us this year. Dan Vander Molen Wolverine Midgets

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Originally Posted by Lowlife517:
Don, What you fail to realize is that a percentage of the money you pay to enter a pit area ends up getting paid back to you in the purse. Another percent goes into paying the insurance for that night and another percentage goes to paying for a rental fee of the facility and I could go on and on.

You're playing right into my hands, Mr. Guess. Let's try this again. NOWHERE but NOWHERE in the entertainment industry are professional entertainers charged to entertain the promoter's audience.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

it's great that the Wolverine Midgets can pay $1000 to win per event.
i also agree with Mr. Moore. i always felt that pit pass money went for insurance, but an entry fee as Mr. Moore states, paying to entertaining the promoter's audience was crazy. for all other fee's shouldn't that come out of the front gate? like purse. should all of the front gate money goes right into the promoter's pocket?????
how much money does brad pitt take out of his pocket to make a movie?????? i would guess NONE!!!! oh yea he's not entertaining race fans.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Originally Posted by Lowlife517:
Dan, don't take anything by what Don Moore says. All he does is complain about everything that is good or bad with midget racing. Next he will be asking you to waive the cost of his pitpass because he doesnt feel a car owner should have to pay for one.

This is exactly what he wants.

He wants track employees, sponsors, fans, crew members and everyone else to pay except the owner and driver, which coincidentally Don is an owner.

I've been thinking about learning to play the guitar. Maybe Don Moore will give me free lessons and free texts since I plan on entertaining people with my newly acquired guitar skills.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Sometimes an actor will defer payments to get a percentage of the gate and DVD.

Sometimes bands rent the halls themselves and take the gate.

Although Don is right for the most part, it's not easy for anyone in this game. Promotors and owners especially bear the brunt of the costs to put on the show.
While it's easy for an owner to lose money during the night, it's just as easy for a promotor to lose his shirt as well.

I too would like to see the fees and pass costs be lifted from the teams, but it really isn't feesable at this point.(Get it-Feesable)

I applaud that they have raised their purses. In my opinion, you have to crawl and walk before you run. At this rate; in a few years they may be up to $2,000 or more.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Originally Posted by 6157:
This is exactly what he wants.

He wants track employees, sponsors, fans, crew members and everyone else to pay except the owner and driver

Actually I think it would be great if you paid everybody's way in to make up for all the off topic nonsense you post on IOW.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Originally Posted by LEADERS EDGE:
Sometimes an actor will defer payments to get a percentage of the gate and DVD.

Sometimes bands rent the halls themselves and take the gate.

Although Don is right for the most part, it's not easy for anyone in this game. Promotors and owners especially bear the brunt of the costs to put on the show.
While it's easy for an owner to lose money during the night, it's just as easy for a promotor to lose his shirt as well.

I too would like to see the fees and pass costs be lifted from the teams, but it really isn't feesable at this point.(Get it-Feesable)

I applaud that they have raised their purses. In my opinion, you have to crawl and walk before you run. At this rate; in a few years they may be up to $2,000 or more.

If a promoter is going to lose his shirt by giving a free pass for owners and drivers, I'd say he has no business being in the entertainment business.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

There is some truth to that.

If you have 100 cars, that is 200 passes.(Owner/Driver) If passes are $25 that is $5,000. If the race rains out(after load in, but before the crowd is fully there), then everybody gets to come back for free. If that happens three weeks in a row, the only money they have to work with to pay staff,fuel for trucks and incidentals is the pit pass and grandstand fees which where mostly paid for the first week.

Without pit pass fees for teams and drivers, the only money they would have to get through the next couple of weeks is the pass fees from the helpers and the few fans that paid before the rain. Depending on when the rains came and how the the insurance is paid, they could be in the hole big time. On top of that, they have to let the people who previously paid; in for free.

If the weather holds off, but is cold and they don't have a crowd and now they have to pay purses on top of everything else, that's a giant hit.

I agree that is the chance they take, but it's a huge chance as you are in many ways a slave to things totally out of their control.

I agree with Don in that I wish it wasn't the case, but if it wasn't that way, there may be a chance there would be even less races.

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Thinking about it, saying that there aren't fees for entertainers isn't quit true as many states charge professional athletes and musicians taxes to be able to earn a paycheck in their state. Many states now charge what I believe is calles a sports and entertainment tax on top of all of the other fees and taxes they incur.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

If the owner doesn't pay the fee, then the money will come from the fan's pocket through the increase in the price of a ticket. It's difficult enough to get even a thousand fans at a midget race, let alone asking them to pay $3 or $4 dollars more per ticket.

Everybody must pay to be entertained. And if you as a midget owner are not being entertained by running it, then you need to be entertained by doing something else - where you get more bang for your buck.

You have two choices: Either put up with it or walk away and don't look back. Look forward to something more entertaining for your hard earned $$$.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Don't get me wrong, I to would like to see things change, but with the business model that most tracks either choose or have to work with, that is a hard nut to crack.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Most of the recent posts on here are playing right into my hands again. The "that's the way it's always been done" mindset has such a grip around your necks, it's not even funny.

First of all, you need to stop feeling pity for the promoters. Promoting has always had some risks. If you can't stand the heat of promoting, then get out of the business. That's the nature of that occupation. You can make tons of money if you play your cards correctly, or you can lose your shirt.

Now having said that, promoting motorsports and the art of presenting a product that people will want to come back and see has gotten way out of control. It's no wonder that local tracks suffer from poor attendance. The product that is being presented needs to be updated.

For one second, erase, if possible, the mindset that the back gate is going to save the promotion no matter what. Let's concentrate on the promotion from the fans prospective.

I'm going to go back to the first experience I had watching sprint cars at a short track and move forward to a recent experience. The first time I saw a dirt sprint race was at little Springfield Speedway and the last one I saw was Gas City. I had the same fan experience at both places, only many years apart. What was that experience? Well..... I was totally pelted with dirt and dust. Yeah.. it wasn't fun the first time and it wasn't fun the last time. The guy next to me at Springfield had what I would call combat gear on.. plus goggles. After the races were over, I wish I would have had the same outfit. And it was no different at Gas City, actually it was worse than ever. Now I can hear all of you traditionalists saying "hey, that's the way it's always been done." Well, maybe that's part of the problem.

So you are going to invite the unsuspecting friends, neighbors, whoever to a sprint race. Is that the kind of experience you want them to have at a race track???

Do the huge, oversized sprint tires and powerful engines make the racing a better experience for the race fan? Is that what turns you on when you go to the track? the big wide tires? Based on what I have read from fans on this message board, it's the actual close competition with side by side racing and thrilling finishes that count as a great racing experience. and BTW, the wider the race car, the more difficult it is to pass!!! And I read time and time again on here the fans concern about the number of race cars that show up. Fans want to see big fields!!!!!

Maybe some or most of the problems are with the racing orgs and their rule book. Have they been looking out for the money (engine builders, tire companies, etc etc) and not the fans??

OK... I've said enough. I would be interested in some of you IOW fans to come up with some solutions. Take over where I'm leaving off. I'll post my thoughts on this later.

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Maybe some of those sponsorships the tracks get could be used to offset particapant fees? or do they already?

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Hello Mr. Don,

You and your BS is not appreciated by me. I'm personally tired or your negative attitude / comments. I do race with the WM and am greatful for what Dan and his team has done. Why don't you start your own topic if you feel this way. Don't use our club for your benifit. I Have been racing for 25+ years and enjoy what we have here in MI. If you have a problem with the entertainment business start your own gig. Leave our series to alone. WE DON'T NEED YOU AND YOUR NEGATIVE BS. Quite honestly I'm happy to have a place to race in this economy. Leave yourself and your car home if you don't like the way things are operating. But to always be negative will never resolve a thing. If you have a comment that is fine, how about solutions. Geeze that's a novel idea!! Free everything you must be a LIB. Remember nothing is for free and sooner or later somebody will pay$$$. Maybe you won't be happy until there is no racing and or it is controlled by our govt.
WOW how about that?

Tom Fedorczyk
PS that's my real name.
No hiding here.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Originally Posted by owracer:
Hello Mr. Don,

You and your BS is not appreciated by me. I'm personally tired or your negative attitude / comments. I do race with the WM and am greatful for what Dan and his team has done. Why don't you start your own topic if you feel this way. Don't use our club for your benifit. I Have been racing for 25+ years and enjoy what we have here in MI. If you have a problem with the entertainment business start your own gig. Leave our series to alone. WE DON'T NEED YOU AND YOUR NEGATIVE BS. Quite honestly I'm happy to have a place to race in this economy. Leave yourself and your car home if you don't like the way things are operating. But to always be negative will never resolve a thing. If you have a comment that is fine, how about solutions. Geeze that's a novel idea!! Free everything you must be a LIB. Remember nothing is for free and sooner or later somebody will pay$$$. Maybe you won't be happy until there is no racing and or it is controlled by our govt.
WOW how about that?

Tom Fedorczyk
PS that's my real name.
No hiding here.

Well, thanks Mr. Tom for all the nasty and rude comments which are a violation of the terms of agreement. Apparently you have a distaste for my opinions and you keep punishing yourself by reading them. Real simple. Don't read my posts. Maybe you could contact the webmaster of IOW and apply to be editor-in-chief and delete all the comments that you don't agree with. I'm not going away, so next time, try to avoid reading anything with my screen name attached. Make your day much more pleasant. Thanks again!

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Originally Posted by aussiemidgetfan:
Don haven't you noticed that it is called motorsport. It is SPORT not entertainment.

I can see Don's head spinning after reading that one!!!

Without this "sport" being entertaining to someone (fans) there wouldn't be anyplace to race. Without fans paying to watch this sport (be entertained) it certainly wouldn't be cost effective enough to continue running these cars. I am by no means saying it is cost effective to begin with, but imagine having NO spectators at all.

WOMS,
I am grateful to see that you are making concessions to raise the purse, but I am NOT impressed with having to pay a possible $50 registration fee. It may all come out in the wash, but I would feel much better if there were NO fee's and I knew I was running for $950 to win. I honestly wouldn't even care if you still received the same purse from the promoter and kept $50 per car to yourself.

Don, would you be opposed to the pit gate passing on the fees to the NON-members of the competing series' pit passes? You will get your freebie and so will your driver, but on the backside your crew will make up the difference. Now, if you pay the pit pass fee for your crew your going to get it jammed up your poop shooter still. On the other hand if you don't pay those expenses then how long will it be before you are wrenching on your car alone.


For example.....

30 owners
30 drivers
120 crewmen in the pit area

At $25 each that's $5400

Now Take the owner's and driver's out of the equation with the same amount of money $5400 at the backend to pay the purse..

Now pit passes are going for $37.50 each.

If you raise the front gate prices to make up for the money lost at the back gate because owners'/driver's get in free with no increase in pit pass prices then you start loosing fans who feel that the entertainment is no longer important enough to pay maybe $20 bucks instead of $12 to get in.

If you can't pay a decent purse then you can't get a quality car count which in turn looses entertainment appeal. Now were back to square one.


Hopefully I didn't get off track to far.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

First, I don't think Don has been to a rodeo. You pay to enter, but if you don't place you get no money.I know, I rode bulls for a few years, didn't make much money, spent alot though. There are sports that are pay to play.

I sometimes agree with your ideas but not always.After all this time, you seem to be fed up with everyone else.Improve things, start your own series and show everyone else how it should be done. I guess put up or shut up as they say.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

I would first like to compliment Jim Anderson on always writing sane, logical and friendly post, even when we disagree. Much appreciated.

Jim, I think you are still in the mindset that the back gate is the savior to keeping racing afloat. Somehow, the racing promotions need to get off the backs of the owners and drivers AND back gate subsidizing the racing operation. If the promoter has to shut the doors because he is allowing a free pass for owners and drivers (I'm proposing 1 owner pass BTW), then the promoter must be on thin ice to begin with.

Let me go back to the race promotion that I participated in last Fall, which ended in a $30 check from the promoter, but $245 in the hole for the evening. At that race promotion, there were TWO sanctioning bodies present. Yeah, TWO and double the race officials. I would say that there were close to one official for every midget that was present. Do we need a couple of college business professors to figure out that this is way over the edge, terribly expensive and unnescessary? And my critics don't want to hear it, but a big box midget org semi-trailer hauling a copy machine present also... plus a second midget org trailer belonging to the other sanctioning body. So this is big corporate midget America with a ton of pork charging the entertainers that the fans come to see outrageous fees to enter the race track grounds. Who is zooming who?

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

By no means do I expect the registration fee to be $50 dollars. Since I have owned WOMS the registration fee has always been $25 for pre-registering and $35 for late registration or at the track registration, I don't forsee that changing but offering a much larger purse will be a challenge and we will have to look at everything. I lose money on 100% of the races we promote. I do it for the love of the sport. My main focus is the the success of midget racing now and in the future. I would be a much wealthier man had I not become involved in racing.I not only own and drive my own midget but also promote the series. What we need most in midget racing is to dramatically increase our car counts especially in our mid level blue collar class of cars. By the way, our registration pays only for our officials fee. We see none of that cash. I feel sorry for people such as Don Moore as I feel they do really want to help but really have no idea what it really takes to run a series such as WOMS and to provide an adequate purse for our racers but a low enough fee to encourage a track to book our series. It is a very difficult tight rope to walk. WOMS has decided to take a bold step this year by dramatically increasing our purse and commitment to midget racing hoping to get people off the side lines and into the game. We are hoping the midget community will embrace this bold move and strongly support our initative. Encouraging results this year could be a great precessor for success next year. I have big ideas for our future, I just need people to share my dream and to show up in numbers at our races.. Dan @ Wolverine

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Originally Posted by racephoto1:
First, I don't think Don has been to a rodeo. You pay to enter, but if you don't place you get no money.I know, I rode bulls for a few years, didn't make much money, spent alot though. There are sports that are pay to play.

I sometimes agree with your ideas but not always.After all this time, you seem to be fed up with everyone else.Improve things, start your own series and show everyone else how it should be done. I guess put up or shut up as they say.

If you do some research, you will find that most midget owners have a life expectancy in the sport of about 5-6 years, many only a year or two. In the last several months, there have been owners bailing out left and right. I'm still hanging in there on life support as a seventh year car owner, no sponsors, no factory kickbacks, no tire deals, and funding every dollar from my own pocket. Maybe you've been away on an extended vacation, but midget racing is on the ropes with very few places and choices to race in the midwest. I'm playing the game within the system. My opinions shouldn't necessarily be associated with how I conduct the day to day business of my race operation. I like to race and I have very few choices left. Are you aware that one of the most successful midget orgs/tracks in the world has suffered a 50% reduction in car count since 1999? At that rate, in time, you won't have to worry about what I have to say, or for that matter, anyone else. Do you want to look at photos and videos of midget racing or do you want to continue to see the real thing in person? Time will tell.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Racing most race cars is a rich mans sport. Most owners do it out of a love for the sport. Most do not make money at it. The ones that do make money at it generally have sponsors that spend the money for them. It is just like any other business. You race with other peoples money. Hard to do in these times. Do not use your own money if you cannot afford to lose it. Kudos to any organization who ups their purses in this current economic situation.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Yep, and none of them care to think out of the box or want to. 100% of them are following the same "that's the way it's always been done" model. Yep, as long as everybody shows up at the back gate and goes along with it, no reason to change.

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Ive been on this board for a little while.This started out as a thread that the wolverine midgets was happy to make there announcement.Everything was fine with that and I congratulate them on that.Then Don shows up with his negativity.I first of all agree with some of the last posts.If you have it figured out then start your own club and see how it goes.Good luck to you.Other wise do everyone a favor and shut it.You complain about the same stuff over and over again.Anything on this board that says midget you have a complaint about.You deserve a free owners and drivers pass for why?Everyones making money off the "backgate".Dont go to the back gate anymore.It's simple.You say you have no sponsors,no tire deal or nothing else its coming out of your pocket.Thats great,your doing better than most of us.My suggestion is to put a for sale sign on your car or just leave it set in the garage.With all the time you spend complaining on this site I dont know how you have time to take it to a track anyway.Good day.And Im not hiding behind the computer either.My name is Mike Haley and I am from Anderson.:censor:

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Are you coming over for Thanksgiving dinner?

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Congrats to the WOMS on the increase to win. What does it pay to start?
Is there a schedule avalible?

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

Originally Posted by unclebuck:
The problem is that all of us think short track racing is a big deal....IT ISN'T! It's only important to a small group of people like ourselves.If promoting tracks was as profitable as some think we would not have the turnover in promoters that we have? Most tracks in IN,MI,and IL almost never have more than 2,000 people thru the front gate. COUNT THEM SOME DAY. Most are lucky to get 1,000 in the front gate weekly. Racing is a dark hole to drop your money in. It's not going to change.
Dale Weis
Valparaiso IN

Good luck to the Wolverine Midgets, You put on a good show

Well said!-Tom Bliss

Re: Wolverine Midgets $1000 to Win in 2009
 

I feel blessed to be able to watch short track racing open wheel style. it would be nice to have larger crowds then we wouldn't have to go home when it sprinkles. The way these sprint and midgets guys race i can't understand why they don't have turn away crowds. anyway, Don, i saw your midget a couple of times last year and it is a beautiful car. Hey Tom! see you sometime this year in 09. good luck to all.....:checkered: