Taking what Kevin B. had to say earlier in this thread, it reminded me of a letter that I wrote to USAC just before DuQuoin last Summer:


Rollie,
First off, I would have sent this to Mr. Snyder also, but I do not have his address.
I know you have much bigger concerns than what I am about to say here, but I'm sure that I am not alone on this.
We were trying like mad to get the car together to run DuQuoin. I know our presence there would not mean much to the big picture, as I just try to make shows. BUT! Another quality car in final car count never hurt anyone. I stopped by the USAC office to grab the registration paperwork on Friday morning in order to not have to fill it out in the pit line at DuQuoin. I had barely walked out your office doors when the math hit me... $815 TO JOIN!!! WHAT???!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? I walk back in where Greg tells me that that is correct. Then to top it off, NO T.P.'s??? WHAT THE...????? So your telling me that if I pay the "registraion fees, the entry fee of an additional $125, and two pit passes.. I would have to finish 10th just to break even on what I paid USAC to be there??? Again, I say, ARE YOU KIDDING ME???!!!!

A whole 5 dirt races on the schedule, and you raised the already ridiculous "registration fees" approx. $200 from what they used to be AND took away the T.P.'s? I am sorry Rollie, but this is a joke!
What am I getting more of, for the raise in fees, from what I was getting before?? What exactly was I getting before, when I registered the car? I have never understood why it costs $450 just to register the car for 5 dirt races? Where is all that $ going? I have asked many folks (why the high cost), and the only response that I have been given was, "because they race on the bigger tracks".... Yea??... And?... What does that mean? You can register for the Midget or Sprint Car divisions for $250 less, yet run 15 and 20 more races respectively (that is supposing you have both pavement & dirt cars of course)(when compared to the full SC schedule). How does that make any sense?


The T.P. thing is a total farce! You took that away from the Silver Crown division, yet I could have run all of Sprint Week on a T.P.. Where you historically have not hurt for cars at all!!!... Is there a coralation here???? Small entry fees, T.P.'s allowed, and if your running for points, a smaller "registration fee", and a heck of a lot more races to "break even" with USAC!

This is wrong. Very wrong! Our true feeling is that the 60-70 or so pavement cars that you used to have register with you (that is before any dirt only guys registered) are now gone. So you just raised the prices on the whole division to make up for the lost revenue. By doing that, you just priced a guy like me (a dirt only guy) right out of the game! I cannot have only 5 chances to run, and spend 1-2 of them just trying to pay my USAC bill!!! These cars, as you know, are costly enough just to put on a race track, without having to (overly) pay just to be allowed in the gate!

O.K., so there is my rant. You or Owen or both, need to somehow seperate the dirt division from the pavement deal. These are now, more than ever, two totally different types of owners. I am not talking about the Tony Stewarts of the world, but us average guys that still try to to this for fun, sport, and competition.
Respectfully, Craig Dori

When Kevin Miller solicited IOW's to e-mail him any concerns shortly after he started, I sent this letter.. To both Mr. Miller and Jason Smith. Neither of them has ever responded.