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Just a few years ago the entire Regional Series schedule was comprised solely of Speedrome events. The series needs to be a traveling series with some diversity but still in consideration of travel distance and related costs. In that context the Madison event seems out of place.
More so , the Mount Lawn / Madison / Grundy trek of three races in four days is a mistake. This will likely hurt car count at Madison. The top 10 in points will make the trip ; others will stay away as distance and cost will be a deciding factor.
This '08 schedule includes 19 dates including 3 "TBA". ( It will be interesting to see what those "tba" will be ).
By comparison , the 2007 schedule originally started 6 weeks earlier and included 27 dates. After some early adjustments that schedule was trimmed to 25 and after a couple rain-outs and cancellations that primarily involved Mt. Lawn , a total 20 events were held.
This schedule could prove "light" if similar problems with weather and attendance ( Mt. Lawn ) is again encountered.
The '07 schedule was heavily weighted in Mt. Lawn dates ; 14 to be exact , with a now more appropriate 6 dates. The series visited Anderson only once in '07 , now up to 5 and that should be met with approval by most all competitors.
In summary , Anderson takes up where Mt. Lawn left-off and Plymouth is omitted altogether.
After a multitude of improvements to their facility including the best newly repaved three/eights mile track in years , Plymouth Speedway , Plymouth , Indiana , once again became a great Midget venue. Attendance seemed great and especially on those "special event" evenings that featured Cruz Pedregon , Ken Schrader and an appearance by Tony Stewart. "Best wishes to the folks at Plymouth and thanks for providing a great track and midget venue in '07 ; you will be missed in '08".
I equally like Mt. Lawn ; I know some don't .... no , it hasn't been repaved but has a great family atmosphere and is a challenge to drive. Think of it as a road-course disguised as an oval. And ,the family ownership there is the best ! "Sincerely hoping that multitudes of fans will support your shows in '08"
The best Regional events of '07 were the last two ... Grundy with UMARA co-sanction and Berlin with WOMS co-sanction. I am assuming the Grundy events and Berlin date in '08 will again be co-sanctioned. That's a good thing !
If you like Grundy , UMARA has found a great home base there and similar to what the Regional's were to the Speedrome a few years back.
The WOMS organization is surely one of the very best in friendly accomodation offered to fan and competitor alike ! Dan VanderMolden , WOMS President , will also be adding a couple or three dirt races in '08. "Continued success to Dan and company" !
Concerning the USAC Regional Midget Racing Series ...the greatest factor to it's detriment is that it is largely a Wednesday Night affair and will remain so. This makes the series very difficult to grow and to attract a greater audience.
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