http://open-wheels.com/?p=1313


Hope you all enjoy my article from my conversation with Davey Hamilton. Looking foward to seeing what he does with USAC this season.

Continually spreading misinformation about engine midget costs does not help midget racing. I am so tired of hearing every conversation state the problem is $50,000 midget engines. Outside the couple top national teams, the norm of engines are $20,000 or less. There are many people who have more in a micro/mini sprint than most have in a midget, yet there popularity isn't dead.

Some of the best stories and races in midget racing history have taken place over he last 5 years. For some reason few people want to talk about them.

Why is it in the 70s all I heard was the 60's were the best years and drivers and the costs was now too much...then I heard the same thing About the 70's in the 80's and the same about the 80's in the 90"s and the 00's about the 90's? I bet I will hear about the 10's in the 20's.

I agree with Mr. Baue, always going to be folks talking about "how good it used to be" or "how cheap it used to be" I think when you are totally enveloped in the sport and want to do it with everything you have, you don't associate the expense. When you are not in the heat of the battle (5, 10, 15 years later) you look at the money being spent and shake your head in disbelief. I know my Dad could have a much nicer retirement program if it wasn't for the "cost of midget racing in the late 90's and early 2000's" which don't even compare to the money being spent today.

Midget engines have never cost $55,000. RUMORS have put those numbers out there and the story just keeps getting bigger as people play the game of "telephone." October of 2013 a BRAND NEW Toyota we put in for Gold Crown, out the door, with some spare components was in the car for less than $40,000. That was oil tank, plumbing, ignition, fuel system, etc. I don't think that number has gone up by over 37% in less than two years time. Maybe Davey was going for a high number, sticker shock, but it isn't good for the "new guy" to come in mis-representing information about a division that he is trying to "rebuild."

MY CURIOSITY lies in the manufacturer/numbers that continually keep getting thrown out there when talking about the price of midget engines in the FUTURE. Didn't someone get on here after Chili Bowl to give an account of their the Honda Engine that Jim Stewart is working on and currently running with in POWRi? Jeff Davis maybe? The name Honda keeps coming up in USAC press releases (they do sponsor the series), but why? What are they getting out of a series that they don't have an engine even competing in? A series that only has 6-8 guys following, carrying the banner? 10 cars in the HPD deal? Also sponsored by them? USAC, for the last year and a half or so, keeps referencing $15,000-20,000 engines being the future of midget racing. Jim Stewart is building a $15,000-20,000 HONDA midget engine currently. Is that a matter of pure coincidence? Is there a direct correlation involved there? Seriously, if there is not an attachment somewhere between 16th street offices, Honda sponsorship and a gasoline alley engine shop I would be shocked.

Clauson would have to verify, but I am pretty sure BCI/Corey Tucker Won a TON (Belleville, Hut 100, etc.) of races a few years back with a $15-18k Esslinger. If that price range is the future of midget engines, how did we ever get away from that? How does USAC plan to pull the reigns back on everyone and get them to stop spending more than that? Unless they have something that becomes mandatory maybe? I hate to say it, but SPEC?

I don't want to be doom and gloom here, but overall, USAC is in a tough spot anyways. There is a successful club near St. Louis that doesn't need to alter their platform and currently they are more successful than USAC with car counts and scheduling races on bull rings. They schedule point races against USAC's Premier events and have pretty much asserted themselves as a midget group that is going their own direction. Co-sanctioning of events is getting fewer and fewer.

It may be premature, but I think that the Badger (BMARA) engine rules for this year may be the direction that USAC is heading towards. Maybe not the exact same STOCK/STOCK/STOCK/NO TITANIUM, but a similar enough platform. How else are they going to pull $20,000 out of the current price of a NEW engine? How else are they going to FORCE competitors to spend less money?

OVERALL, they need to find a way to make it more of a "show." Why is Supercross dang near sold out in Indy every year? It isn't because the racing is so tight you are on the edge of your seat the whole time. But, they put on a SHOW. Music, fireworks, flame throwers, etc. They introduce each (top 10-15) rider to the crowd before the races ever start. The kids (future of any sport) get to pick a guy. This year, we went with the rider that shot a bow and arrow that was on fire into a gasoline covered pile of number plates of other riders. I have a 5 yr old boy, and that was just "Awesome" for him. Maybe the old timers of the sport don't agree, but every year they get older and they are dying off. Who is going to replace them? I am as much of a stickler as anybody for traditions and "old school" ways, but they days of people just coming to a USAC race, because it is "A USAC RACE," are over.

USAC used to have a traveling announcer (Klepper) that did an awesome job with driver intro's and otherwise (IMO). They bought a "BIG SCREEN" outdoor TV that Mr. Miller paraded around a little bit. But it wasn't really being utilized to put on a "show." IMO, the "show" aspect of the racing needs to come back as much as the cost of the engines needs to come down. WHY??? WHY are we not hearing advertisements all over Indy radio this week about this weekends upcoming midget race at ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING TRACKS TO WATCH midget racing???? WHY are we not hearing advertisements about COMING TO KOKOMO THIS WEEKEND TO SEE INDY 500 DRIVER BRYAN CLAUSON RACE A DIRT MIDGET THIS WEEKEND AT EXCITING KOKOMO SPEEDWAY? He is still running the 500 this year, right? WHY ARE THEY NOT EXPLOITING THE LIVING CRAP OUT OF THAT? => COULD BE GOOD FOR BRYAN, AND GOOD FOR USAC, AND GOOD FOR RACING IN INDIANA! Why are we not all over the INDIANAPOLIS STAR to run a DECENT story about OPENING ROUND OF THE NATIONAL MIDGET SERIES TAKING PLACE RIGHT HERE IN THE HEART OF OPEN WHEEL COUNTRY? They have to be craving something good to write about, stories have been boring enough lately that the sports guys were weighing in on the RFRA instead of SPORTS => AUTO RACING, the most exciting sport of them all!




Disclaimer: Just my opinions, you may not agree, I am OK with that!

I have heard several mention the "show" at a Supercross event & wish that USAC had that same "show" quality. I don't follow Supercross, but was wondering how many times do they race in Indy in a year?

Brad Kuhn for the win. Best post I've read in any platform in a long, long time.

If a spec motor is the future at a certain price point....every current manufacture could build a motor that fits within a 20000 price point. The arqument then is the cost of rebuilds, but I imagine a full up race version of a Eco tech rebuild won't be cheap.

What we suffer from in the open wheel community concerning USAC is the law of diminishing returns. We see the best open wheel drivers non-wing division 3 times a weekend . It's devalued. Great racers and racing...but the crowds are jaded.

If the Chili Bowl was every weekend .... The crowds would go down even if the action was equally great each time.

Motor X comes to town once a year. You see the races on TV and there is an excitement to go see your favorite rider. That and the fact your girlfriend or wife can go ....look good And not have to worry about looking like the characters from the Grapes of Wrath because of the dust storm when it's over.

The videos and fireworks are cool...but are the cherry on top instead of the dessert.

I'm not saying that what Brad is saying is wrong. He would like it to grow stronger as I would. I'm not against any of what he has said...there has to be a focus on not only the car count, but getting people to the track.

There is a very easy way to start to take care of the engine issue.....RULES. The current rules create limited options which creates more expense. When you are an organization trying to survive/grow in 2015 but your engine rules are still supporting a 1970's engine platform, you might have a problem.

Honestly, when it comes to engines and tires it is basic economics......you create limited supply you create high prices.....you create options and ample supply you create low prices.

Would be great if USAC would broadcast sprint,midget, and silver crown races in audio format just as WOO do on the internet. Johnny Gibson makes you feel like your there.Don't have any idea what the cost would be, just hoping fans that can't attend had a 2nd choice for following the race action live.