First of all, Bill I think that's it pretty funny you saying you quit because of people making posts that are personal.

To your point, Chris, I think there are a lot of things that factor into that. A couple of years ago, I was having a conversation with Tom Helfrich and one of the things that was a concern to him was the was some of the technology in the sport today and how a lot of these guys who do this for fun just don't have a chance against some of the top tier of teams. With $5000 on the line, I think quite a few of the guys who could make up the bulk of the field end to going where they think they have a better chance to compete. The same applies with motor differences. Also, this race has always had it's challenges because traditionally, it's run on a very busy weekend. They always have it on the same night as the Bellville Midget Nationals main event. That eliminates the possibility of getting a few more top flite contenders. And this year, it went up against Waynesfield paying $3000 (which is a lot closer for drivers living in the North part of the state), The Burg holding a special race and Putnamville running it's regular show, which usually draws a healthy car count. And gas prices aren't helping matters any.

With equipment and technology differences between the haves and the have nots, the cows are already out of the barn on that issue, so there's no real answer to that. And this time of year the tracks are trying to get the last of their big events in before the season winds down, so the scheduling part will always be a challenge, too. I just hope that the fans continue to come out to support events like this, so they can keep putting them on, because we saw several racers race like they were racing for the last $5000 on earth last night.

Jerry