The slide began (IMO) when USAC, in their infinite wisdom, dropped the Hoosier 100 and the other Champ Dirt events from the Championship Trail. My first Hoosier 100 was in '64 on a Saturday afternoon in September. We sat in packed bleachers which were erected along the backstretch. The place was packed each year back then. The race was broadcast live on WIBC with pre-race and post-race interviews much like the 500. After 1970 when Foyt, Andretti, the Unsers and others who had made their reputations at 16th St. and Georgetown did not need to run the dirt races for national championship points, the Hoosier 100 was forced to depend on racing fanatics like myself for ticket buying support. There just weren't enough of us to continue holding the race in conjunction (competition) with the beginning of the college football season. The Hoosier 100, as we knew it, was just another casulty of the euro formula car invasion preferred by the Colin Chapman's Roger Penske's, Jim Hall's, John Mecom's and the other road racer rich guys who came over to play in Indy cars. But, of course, that's just the opinion of a grumpy old traditionalist who doesn't presume to speak for anyone else. :checkered: