Sam, I can't speak for Checkered Past (he has forgotten more about the Little 500 than I'll ever know) but photos I've seen from the first Little 500 in 1949 show a full house. It was a different era, pre-TV, and it was infinitely easier to sell tickets to sporting events. You could also argue that the city of Anderson was a completely different place than it is today.

All things considered, last night's race was a pretty decent start. One of these days maybe we'll be bragging that we saw the very first Midget 400 at Anderson!