When did USAC start paying race purses? Last I checked (also last contract I read), it was the track putting up that cheddar. WoO (with the exclusion of some select places like Eldora) lease tracks and they DO pay the purses.

22 USAC races in the state of Indiana alone for 2019. USAC is not strong enough outside of Indiana to be able to market an event at the scale of WoO and $30+ tickets.