In the early 70s, I was part of a NEMA team that was running 3rd or 4th in the points. On our way to one of the last races of the year, we stopped for gas, which I paid for out of the cigar box we kept under the front seat. With nothing to do for the next hour or so, I started organizing it. Noting there was a bunch of cash there, I asked the owner how often he had refreshed it. "I put $500 in there last Spring. That's it.", he replied. I counted the cash; there was over $300 there. All expenses, including the driver's 40% had been paid out of that box. He had also spent another $5-600 over the previous winter, but his grand total was under $1000 for the year.

A year or two later, the owner, who owned a single-island Mobil station, bought a new Edmunds chassis and a SESCO engine. This was the best combination that could be bought at the time. He paid approximately $300 more than I paid for a new Ford Country Squire at about the same time.

Don takes a lot of crap here for expressing a wish that midget/sprint racing could be "blue collar" sports again, but he's not alone.