Many of these "Kids" have been racing for 10-11 years before they got to sprints and midgets.

I am not going to say that running a mini or quarter midget is the same as running a sprint or midget, but they learn how to "race" long before they get to these cars.

I think what is hard for many fans to get used to is that they are rooting for people MUCH younger than they (average sprint/midget) fan base are. Thing is, if you started watching races when Parnelli, Mario, and A.J. were the youngsters, then almost every driver(besides Mel and Red Farmer) is younger than you.

The "old" guys in the local openwheel scene(No Offense to those I am going to mention) are Jon,Dave, and Tony(Part-Time). Look at NASCAR; Jeff and Tony are now the"Old Guard" or "Seasoned Veterans".

Fact of the matter is, just about anyone who wants to race is going to start at a very young age(5-10) and they are ready to move to Sprints/Midgets by the time they are 15-18. That is how it's going to be for the near future at least and I would say that is how it will be for a very long time. Someone like John Wolfe will still come around every now and then, but it will be rare that they will be able to compete at the high level he did(John) with starting so late.

Times are a changin'. Hopefully for the better. I personally think that the racing right now is excellent on both the local and National Scene. I would say(I know that I am going to get shelled for saying this) that this type of racing is as competitive if not more competitive than it has ever been. It's just that we haven't run long enough for this crop to be "Household" names yet.