I don't think midgets should be a cheap series, Simply because they are a national series that some of the best open wheel racers compete in. However; Costs do need to be contained so that the guy who races mini sprints, tq's, or even a local short track sprint car guy, can afford to run a midget. And not just buy one, be able to afford the maintenance and tire bills as well. I don't think Don wants to make them a low-buck entry series, I just think he hopes to contain the costs so that its not only the super rich or those that sacrifice everything they own to race one.

This was taken from the Indy Star today:http://www.indystar.com/article/2009...otential+races

"Also, next week is USAC's engine manufacturer meeting that will focus on a new platform for the midget division. There are currently five manufacturers, and engine life and a green initiative are at issue.

Engines that produce upwards of 380 horsepower have been exploding at an alarming rate."They're like bombs ready to go off," USAC president Kevin Miller said.

Honda officials are expected to join those from Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Mopar at the Wednesday meeting at USAC's office on 16th Street."

Hopefully some good comes from this meeting.



Back when there were 30 -40 midgets showing up to every race the crowds were comparable. No matter what local track you go to or local USAC race there is always 30 -40 cars, thats why sprintcars fill the stands.

Were these "exploding engines" assembled according to the USAC rule book or............? If they are not according to the rules, then no wonder they are exploding. I have not heard of an engine being checked at a USAC/POWRi race in years except by BMARA. If no one is checking engines, then how do the race officuals know what's inside? If they have, would somebody please document what car/engine was checked on what date? ( not interested in ancient history, E.P.).

GREAT STUFF HERE!

I may suprise a few people with this, but I do not completely agree with Don here. As most of you know, we are the guys who have spent the past year developing the new Chevy ECOtec motor. I do believe that this new technology will play a role in saving Midget Racing, but I DO NOT believe it should replace what we now call "National Midgets". Allow me to explain;

Back in the Golden Era of Midget Racing, we had two divisions. The "A" division was the Kurtis/Offy bunch - they ran at Gilmore and all the other high profile tracks, drew the big crowds and paid the big bucks. Then you had your "B" division, which was everything other than a KK/Offy. This is where guys cut thier teeth, and if they had what it took, they got thier shot in an Offy.

Sprint car racing did something similar several years ago. The 410 thing got to where not everyone could run it, so the 360 evolved. These days, on any given Saturday night, you have a WOO event taking place somewhere, and a USAC race taking place somewhere, and a few other big time 410 events going on around the country. But for every 410 event happening on a given night, there must be 10-15 360 events also taking place...

Now, compare these examples to what is going on with Midgets today. We have USAC National, and then we have several regional groups around the country. Some regional groups are doing better than others (SOME are doing better than USAC, but that's another story...), but here is a snapshot of what I see as the typical, regional Midget group these days; 16 cars entered, of which 3-4 have the triple-throw-down, high dollar stuff. These 3-4 will race for the win. Then we have about 10 cars with engines that are a full step behind the top dogs - they race for 4th on back. Then we have 3-4 poor bastards who are just praying to God that the damn thing will start....

Sound somewhat familiar? I talk to competitors and regional sanctioning bodies every day, who have a story that goes along these lines. So here is where I differ from Don, just a little bit:

I SAY, LETS HAVE BOTH!

We need a high exposure, high dollar National Championship series. We need to run those cars at the high profile, big ticket events, so that Midget Racing can continue to lay claim to the title of ultimate training ground for the taxi drivers of tomorrow. Besides, Tony needs someplace to spend his money...

Now, for the rest of us, lets have a "360" division, only for Midgets. Please don't confuse this with the focus program! I did that one too, as most of you know, but this idea is something completely different. Our development of the ECOtec has produced a MUCH more competitive product, a completely different animal compared to the focus which was never meant to be a competitive "Midget" engine. Go back to the example I gave a minute ago about the typical regional series, where half the field is racing for 4th on back. If you entered a focus in that race, you would most likely finish at the tail of that middle pack (you would still finish ahead of the ones that blow up, however...) But with the ECOtec, we have shown that you would be running at or near the FRONT of that second pack. With an engine that costs just under $10K for everything - and should last for 3-4 SEASONS - and only burns about two gallons of fuel per night!

OK, so thats pretty good, but I doubt that there are very many guys reading this who are interested in racing for 4th place. So, we're not done yet. We have two choices - we COULD lean on this thing and get more power out of it, making it competitive with the top four cars. This , in my opinion, is the worst possible thing we could do with this opportunity. If we do that, what have we accomplished besides ratcheting up the Midget engine wars one more notch. I'm here to tell ya, if we open the floodgates on this new technology we will find ourselves with 400HP, $50,000.00, half-an-Indy-car motors in the blink of an eye. That would be exceedingly stupid, even by Midget racing standards.

So here is my idea - this is what I've been working towards for the past two years, and its why I did this thing with Emmett. Lets take this wonderful technology, and use it to our ADVANTAGE. Instead of unleashing it to create the next generation of bad things for Midget racing, lets put a lid on it (seal it) and make it work FOR us by producing a great power to weight ratio in a very affordable, VERY durable package that can form the basis for a REAL, competitve, Midget version of the "360" sprint car class. This way, the guys who don't like or don't want this kind of formula still have thier place to race (provided they can afford it), and the rest of us don't have to decide between feeding the kids, or racing this weekend.

Just like with the sprints cars, my vision is that one day soon, on any given Saturday Night, we'll have a USAC National Midget Race taking place somewhere in the country, and probably 2-3 other Regional programs that can still hang with the Tony and Kasey crowd, but then we'll have LOTS of regional groups around the country racing affordable, durable Midget versions of a 360 sprinter at places like Ventura, Gas City and Seekonk. And Creek County, OK.

Thanks for giving me this space to share my opinion,

Keith Iaia
Revolution Racing Engines
805-467-3424
www.revolutionracingengines.com

"THE REVOLUTION STARTS NOW"

The USAC, Badger, and POWRi rule books limit engines to cubic inch displacement, type of aspiration, number of valves per cylinder, camshaft location (cam in block vs. overhead cam), etc. They are not intended to be a guide to educate a wannabe engine builder. Other than the aforementioned examples, there is no reason for the race officials to know what's inside. Perfectly legal race engines can (and do) “explode” due to the extreme nature of their use. The last time I looked, ALL the Midget sanctioning organizations had provisions in their rule books for a car owner or entrant to protest another entrant’s engine. If you feel so strongly that your car has finished behind a car that does not meet the specifications set forth in the rule book, submit a protest.

Mark Ray

Please don't turn this thread into a personal agenda issue with my race team. If you and Chris Wilke have personal issues that you want to vent, you can call me directly at 440-355-4407.

Thanks!

Don Moore

Don,

I fail to see where I turned anything into a personal agenda issue with your race team. I believe what I did was respond to your thread. I thought that was the idea of these forums. One definition of "Forum" in Webster's dictionary is: "a medium (as a newspaper) of open discussion."

Any specific mention of my race team is off topic. This thread is not about how I conduct my race team business nor is it about giving me unsolicited advice. This is a general discussion about ideas to further the sport of midget racing. Filing protests and referring to my car finishing behind another is not on topic. the previous post by Revolution Racing is a good example of someone who is on topic. Again, if you want to give me personal advice, e.g. filing protests or want to micro manage my race team, please call me directly at 440-355-4407 rather than addressing me personally on the internet.

Don Moore

SImple solution and better racing IMHO would be a compression rule. Whatever they are running now is AWESOME but also sometimes ruins shows. Hit the brakes for any reason and you stall the car, That or it floods and takes half a lap for the motor to clear its throat.. It also probably brings a motor from twenty nights to about 7 in reliablility.

Wasn't it you Don that said you won't bring your car out for four thou for a hundred lap race because basicallly you gotta 4g rebuild to do afterward? Or was that the 400 lapper?

Anyways, Glad your your normal concerned self . After reading through it again, I did not mean to bring your personal views into it but only use a example. Obviously many other teams had that same view. 100 laps for 4g? add in hot laps heats and a possible consi and you've but 80 miles on the car that night

Cant I just text!?