[ISF]

I made the 9 hour trip from Illinois to The Belleville Midget Nationals a half dozen times or more in the years leading up to it's abandonment by the midgets. Glad I did, and wouldn't take a million for the experience and friends I made and at least 2 or 3 of those events were some very good racing. The battle between Christopher Bell and Rico Abeu was nearly epic and immediately comes to mind. I don't ever remember it being oppressively hot and the North Central Kansas Free Fair going on at the same time was a cool deal and further added to the charm of the whole experience. It was nice to have Beloit and Fairbury as preliminary events of sorts leading up to the Nationals

No question the midget engines took a beating on The High Banks but they seemed to hold up satisfactorily. I watched both nights of the late model shows and the guy who won the first night on the High Banks said the car was heating up pretty bad by the end of his heat race. He also said running The High Banks was like driving down the interstate. Just from my distant and unattached perspective the situation had the appearance of the late model teams weren't expecting such a demanding track. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know all that much about the late model guys besides Larson so I don't remember who is who but one of them said The High Banks is a LOT faster and more demanding than even Eldora.