Originally Posted by Jonr:
Several thoughts on the subject:
1. I am not convinced that open tire rules don't raise the cost of racing. Have you ever seen the tires that the Late Model guys cary around? Tire A for a heavy track, Tire B for a dry slick track, Tire C for an average track. I can see the midget guys doing the same. Purple tire for this track, AR for that track. Now the tire bill has gone up. The odds of USAC or Powri going to a spec tire are remote, and I am not sure that I want the national series to have spec tires.
There is a very simple solution to your argument, and thanks for being one of the few in this thread that has the intelligence to post something worthwhile. Adopt the around $80 American Racer tire compound/type and allow Hoosier or any other tire company to make the same tire. The original tire of this variety was the Mickey Thompson tire. The rights to the MT tire were bought up by Summit Racing. Apparently they decided not to make the tire and American Racer is now making a copy of it. Purple tire or any other company would have to sell the tire at around the same price to stay competitive. This tire is already being successfully used by one midget org. IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE TO THE FANS WHAT TIRES ARE BEING USED IN COMPETITION. Greed is in the way of progress here to cut the tire cost dramatically. It's not the fans, it's not the car owners, it's not the drivers.. it's the midget orgs with their greed that is the problem. This tire is universal for both pavement and dirt, BTW. This is sensible solution that can be implemented immediately to reduce the cost of midget racing.
Almost all the midget orgs in the country already have a spec tire rule for all four corners. For example, the right rear must be a purple SP2, 3 or 4 at the cost of $140+ and some teams use up a couple in an evening. the $80 tire can be run on multiple surfaces and, according to some, can be run for an entire season+. It makes absolutely no sense to me why we are forced to pay $140+ for several tires an evening when this tire is available for $80. And recently I bought a tire for my trailer for $56. So what's with the $140-180 price tag? ***