Busy 4th of July Weekend for MTQRL TQ Midgets
 

The Midwest TQ Racing League™ presented by Vincennes University will be celebrating Independence Day with a double header of racing activity at the Shelby County and Rush County Fairgrounds.

On Saturday July 3rd the MTQRL three quarter midgets will be the headliner at the Shelby County Fair in Shelbyville, Ind. Racing historian Donald Davidson, the newest member of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame, will be the special guest. In addition to a full field of MTQRL regulars and teams from Ohio, Kentucky and Alabama, several drivers from the IMRA TQ series based in eastern Iowa and western Illinois are expected to compete.

On Sunday July 4th at the Rush County Fairgrounds in Rushville, Ind., the tradition of TQ racing and fireworks will continue. A full racing program of qualifications, trophy dash, two rounds of heat races, a semi feature (if needed) and a 25 lap feature are on tap. At the conclusion of the regular racing program the Green Tech July 4th Challenge will be held. This 10 car, 10 lap shootout, with the top feature finishers of the weekend, will have a $1,000 winner-take-all prize.

Other prizes up for grabs both nights will be the Jackson Oil & Solvents Duel for Fuel, the Tony Stewart Racing Rookie of the Race, the Ward’s Apparel Hard Charger, the Duane & Sonja Alexander Hard Luck Driver, the INOX Slick Move of the Race and the Green Tech Tail Gunner Challenge.

These two races, along with the Green Tech July 4th Challenge and other contingency awards will make this one of the richest weekends in Indiana TQ racing history.

JULY 3 — SHELBY COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS — SHELBYVILLE, IND.

• Pit Gate Opens at 2:00 pm
• Grandstands Open at 4:30 pm
• Practice at 5:00 pm
• Qualifications at 6:00 pm
• Racing Begins at 7:00 pm
• Pit Passes ~ $25
• General Admission ~ $8 adult (12 and over), $5 children (6 and under free)

JULY 4 — RUSH COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS — RUSHVILLE, IND.

• Pit Gate Opens at 2:00 pm
• Grandstands Open at 4:30 pm
• Practice at 5:00 pm
• Qualifications at 6:00 pm
• Racing Begins at 7:00 pm
• Pit Passes ~ $25
• General Admission ~ $10 adult (12 and over), $2 children (under 12)

For more information please visit www.mtqrl.com.

Re: Busy 4th of July Weekend for MTQRL TQ Mid
 

Can't wait!! Looks like the weather will be great!! Let's see some good racing!! Ryan

Re: Busy 4th of July Weekend for MTQRL TQ Mid
 

good luck to all the racers this weekend.

Re: Busy 4th of July Weekend for MTQRL TQ Mid
 

Re: Busy 4th of July Weekend for MTQRL TQ Mid
 

If you're in the Shelbyville area or near your computer, tune into WSVX 96.5 FM or http://wsvx.com to hear MTQRL drivers CJ Leary, Chris Mann, and Joe Miller tomorrow at 9 a.m.

Re: Busy 4th of July Weekend for MTQRL TQ Mid
 

Tomorrow the Midwest TQ Racing League™ presented by Vincennes University show truck will be on display along with the TQ of Will Wilson and Vintage TQ or Russ Hankins at the Rushville downtown merchants sidewalk sale in front of Public Paint and Wallpaper on Main Street. Five sets of tickets will be given away to downtown shoppers.

Also, listen to WIFE FM 94.3 to win tickets for Sunday's race at the Rush County fairgrounds, where you can watch great racing and fireworks from the same seat.

Re: Busy 4th of July Weekend for MTQRL TQ Mid
 

Now that sounds like a neat deal. You're going to the sidewalk sale anyway, so you might as well stop by for some great conversation, see some race cars, and try to win some free tickets......all in one stop. You will have a chance to win tickets to some awesome racing, I promise. A great way to spend the 4th of July evening !!!!!!!

Re: Busy 4th of July Weekend for MTQRL TQ Mid
 

What a perfect weather weekend to see some good racing. Hope to see all of you downtwon on Friday. Support the businesses during these tough construction times. Then head to Shelbyville on Sat Night, come check out the Rushville parade on Sunday at 2 PM, and then the race at the Rush County Fairgrounds on Sun Night followed by a great fireworks show. God Bless our troops who give us the freedom to have great events like this. Thanks again Ryan.

Re: Busy 4th of July Weekend for MTQRL TQ Mid
 

I can't wait to see it NOT raining in Indiana.:14:

Re: Busy 4th of July Weekend for MTQRL TQ Mid
 

Here are photos of TQs on display at the Rushville merchants sidewalk sale.

https://www.indianaopenwheel.com/pic...pictureid=1359


https://www.indianaopenwheel.com/pic...pictureid=1360

Re: Busy 4th of July Weekend for MTQRL TQ Mid
 

It's only 9:00am on Saturday morning, and I am already stoked for this weekend's racing!!!!!! Can't wait to get to the track and see all the drivers and owners. It's amazing the effort they put out to do what we all love. I appreciate every one of them, and so does my wife, because their efforts get me out of her hair on most Saturday nights, LOL. Come out and watch two GREAT races this weekend.

Re: Busy 4th of July Weekend for MTQRL TQ Mid
 

So how did things go this weekend? Missed Rushville, had to go crew for a buddy on his figure8 car at Anderson. Here the crowd was pretty good, how did everything else go?

Re: Busy 4th of July Weekend for MTQRL TQ Mid
 

Just from an outsiders viewpoint looking in I'd say things went off pretty well. The weather was great, the racing good. If Indiana racers and fans knew just how lucky they are to have an affordable and exciting sport so near by...well, us West Virginians would just scream and yell all day long. The Rushville track was a little rough but heck, that's a
lot better than the black, slick tracks back east. To see the dirt flying off the tires in the turns brings back memories of the good old days. Had a great time.

We did miss seeing TQ29 this weekend, but everyone else was nothing but gracious and friendly. I hope racers and fans alike appreciate what they got in southern Indiana.:8:

Racerjim

Re: Busy 4th of July Weekend for MTQRL TQ Mid
 

Jimmie, we missed seeing your smiling face also, but we'll be back at Madison, that "tank slapper" at TC really re-arranged things on the 29m, got pretty much everything on the right side, but I think I now have all the parts rounded up, so I'll get back to putting it back together, a couple three years ago, I would have just put new parts on, now in this economy, I have to repair what I can, good thing I have a complete machine shop, so I can do it myself. Take care, and we'll see ya soon! Bob

Re: Busy 4th of July Weekend for MTQRL TQ Mid
 

Glad to hear things went good. The only complaint I have herd from the guys here at work, was they wished there would have been more cars. Or another division. They said the show was put together pretty well, just not enough cars. Good job by getting the crowd there!

Re: Busy 4th of July Weekend for MTQRL TQ Mid
 

We would like to say thank you to everyone who was able to race and to those who weren't able but were there in spirit. We had "spies" sitting in the crowd and the fans were very pleased with the quality of racing that they saw. Rushville is a very challenging track, yet fun to watch because you never know what will happen.

I admire the hard work and dedication the drivers put into the back to back shows. Enjoy the weekend off and we'll see you at Madison.

Re: Busy 4th of July Weekend for MTQRL TQ Mid
 

As a paying fan, I want to let this organization know that I was not pleased with the show. I have been along time reader of this site. I know about the split and the war between u guys and UMRA. I have seen these types of cars race at Anderson, and they were pretty interesting. Actually put on a good show. My wife is originally from Rushville, so we went there during the fair to visit family and caught the UMRA race. Not a bad show at all. So with what I had read on here, I really thought the July 4th show would be good so we came back and visited with the family and caught the Midwest show. Now as a fan I have to compare the shows equally, because THEY BOTH COST THE SAME TO GET IN. $10 for Adults. Overall comparison of the 2 races. UMRA brought in 9 more cars and over 30 micros. Midwest track looked a little better. Both races had some passing, mostly by driver mistakes, actually both races the cars stayed together for the most part. At the 4th of July show It seemed like I watched the same drivers in every race (I know I didn't). The UMRA show had micros with them. The micros put on a heck of allot better show than the UMRA or the Midwest TQ. I think the Midwest show moved along better. The Midwest show had a better announcer. But I still seen 1/2 the show. I really have no interest in going back to a stand alone show like this was. A show like this needs a filler. Please take this as constructive criticism. Maybe not all fans are like me, but the spie comment just makes you guys seem like you have the attitude that you are better than the other group. Maybe you guys are, maybe your not, but as a common paying fan, I wanted you to know that I felt very short changed by your show. Good luck in the future.

Re: Busy 4th of July Weekend for MTQRL TQ Mid
 

little 500,

I think what Jen meant by the "spy" comment was that the MTQRL had some of their own people in the crowd assessing their reaction to the event.

The MTQRL had 7 cars compete the night before at Shelbyville that had mechanical problems and were unable to compete at Rushville. If those cars would have been able to race at Rushville the car count would have been better.

I hope you give the MTQRL another chance. They have a Fan Appreciation Day scheduled on September 25th at Rushville. I believe they are only charging $5 for admission that night.

If you need any more information on the MTQRL please visit their website at www.mtqrl.com.

Thanks for the constructive criticism and I hope to see you at an MTQRL event in the future.

Sandy Lowe

Re: Busy 4th of July Weekend for MTQRL TQ Mid
 

the spie comment makes more sence and sorry I took it the wrong way. The fan appriciation day sounds good, but I'm not going to make an evening out of 20 cars. Even for free, I would drive by 2 race tracks on the way that i have a better chance of seeing a good show at. I understand you can not do anything at all about mechanical problems, or drivers that go run other places. Thats why you need to offer something else for the fans to watch. I go to gas city and pay $10-$12 to watch the spints. I get mods and stockers to fill the time between races. I know you can not bring them in at a track like this, but micro's, mini sprints, legands, just something. I had a few pm's from members telling me some things about the micros, but to us average fans, UMRA brought them in and made for a very good feature. It made there show much better. Hope you understand what I am saying. You have a good series, but the series is not big enough to put on a stand alone show.

Re: Busy 4th of July Weekend for MTQRL TQ Mid
 

If you have access to the Columbus Republic, newspaper, Friday edition, Tim McKinney has a nice article about the MTQRL, and it's mission statement, being, to return TQ midget racing back to it's roots, and build the car counts as it goes along, Illinois is doing a similar return. Grass roots racing on the Fairgrounds tracks is where it started, and grew from there, I've been involved since 1991, and believe me, there were hardly any cars then, we'd be lucky to have 12 to 15 after the first 3 or 4 races, but the racing was still good, and fun, then it picked back up, and we got as high as 63-65 cars for a while, and we were sending more home than necessary, and those folks soon sold out, but now, we're getting some of them back, newer cars, but in this economy, it's hard to field a car, and make all the races, but, it is coming back, we have about 5 more, that should be ready before the season is over, and there are talks of maybe doing a few pavement shows, somewhere down the line, but it won't be tied to the dirt series, it will be a stand alone venue, maybe 2-4 times a season. We also run Vernon, and Lawrenceburg, where we run with the other series, so if you feel as tho your buck didn't buy you much, pay a little more, and see more divisions race. Personally, I feel like we've accomplished a lot in just one full season, there is more to it, than meets the eye, and we have some really professional people as organizers, and workers, so it will survive. Sorry your first experience didn't meet your criteria, but sometimes that's the way it goes. Bob