As this thread has shown, there are a wide range of opinions on this topic. Somewhere, I think that we have lost our point of reference. Everyone can agree that spending $30k to 40k on a "National" engine is the upper limit of the conversation. We can also agree that this will limit many people from purchasing this engine. However, I think all of the conversation about running junkyard parts on a midget is almost as unrealistic.

As a guy who went to the junkyard to get suspension parts for his entry level stock car, it was always a pain. Not many times did I wake up and say, "Hey, lets go to the junk yard. Let's hope that the mud puddles have drained and the mosquitos won't eat me up, Lets hope that the guy who stacked the cars three deep on top of each other was paying attention and I don't have a car fall on me. Lets hope that last bolt doesn't strip off and the 30 minutes I spent to harvest this part is not wasted. Lets hope that I get the owners son who hates being at the junk yard and charges me half price instead of the owner who wants to charge me top dollar." So once you fight that battle, you get to refurbish the parts that you bought. The next day a racing catalog shows up and you can buy the same part refurbished for $25 more than what you have tied up in the parts and the refurbish. Well, it doesn't take much to say, I would gladly pay $25 more to get it store bought. The same is going to happen with the engine parts as well.

Also, when was it said that spending $15k to $20k for a midget motor was unrealistic. I am willing to bet that most of the A-mods that I watched last night have that much in their motor program. I would imagine that some of the Super stocks that I watched were also approaching that number. Good grief, entry level stock classes people have $3k to $5k in their motors.

Is the answer for an economical midget division a $40k motor? Probably not. However, to think that you will be building up a junk yard motor is probably just as unrealistic.

My final question is how many people are having this debate with a $40k tow truck and a $10k enclosed trailer. Racers spend money in some of the strangest places.