[cecil98]

The MOPAR Million was one of the greatest weekends of racing I have ever witnessed. Even qualifying was exciting...I think they flipped about 7 just qualifying. Also, in many of the "BIG" shows the feature is anti-climatic or, a downright disappointment. The MOPAR feature was incredible......there were all going after it. Dickie Gaines put on a great show in Hoffman's car and almost won the thing. He led most of the race......

[treecitytornado]

You forget Stevie Smith about beating Haud to the line, first and only time without the Wing!! That was the Show!!

[wvwildthg]

Originally Posted by sprinter14 I was 20th in the E-Main and I remember it paid $850. It was a VERY VERY good purse back through the field.

BOSS series could do this.....

I still have not heard the one question that matters to a promoter --- DID EARL MAKE MONEY?
Maybe there's a reason it has never been tried again.

[wideopen24]

.

[SRT93]

3/4 million purse for the 600cc micro sprint and 1/4 million purse for the 270cc micro sprints on the kart track. A lot will disagree, but the micro sprints provide some of the best racing I've ever seen.

Maybe even 1/4 million 270s, 1/4 million for the 750cc+ upright and micros, and then 1/2 million for the 600s.

OR lol.

1/4 million 270s, 1/4 million 600s, 1/4 million 750+ uprights and micros, and 1/4 million midgets.

[short track scott]

Originally Posted by Wallsracing we need another million...i loved that race.even though we got told by the police to settle down and be quiet

Heee heee heee! There were a LOT of us that got that line that weekend. I heard it more than once. I think that was about the beginning of the end of "the way it used to be" for camping. Oh well.

I remember buying our passes in a light steady mist of rain. The place was soggy and pretty gloomy right up until we got to unloading then the sun came out and we were set for the day.

It was great racing all the way through! Someone might repeat the event one day, but never capture the atmosphere of that one.

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[Charles Nungester]

Originally Posted by bigmojo5 I still have not heard the one question that matters to a promoter --- DID EARL MAKE MONEY? Maybe there's a reason it has never been tried again.

That race was never about Earl Making money, But fulfilling a promise he made to try to have a million dollar to win race one day. His Objective was to not lose too much holding it by selling sponsorships ect. I don't know this for a fact but several people told me that MOPAR put up 40g to put their name on the race. That leaves a ton of sponsors on the table.


There were also many factors he allowed to happen the way they did that had a major effect on the Gate take of the show.
1. Allowed Racers to Choose, Wing or Non Wing and if all the money would be to win or spread out.
2. Late date of Race (Replaced 4 crown that year) Kids still in school ect.
3. Limited Participation to 100 entries.
4. 2 nights for one program
5. He also notified his track regulars and the Sprint Bandit series ahead of time to get their registration in, Which may or may not have kept some other top teams out of the event.

While Id say it was well attended, it was probably half what a Kings Royal or World One Hundred have. Still much better than the four crowns I've attended and he paid ten grand to win each several years with a extra ten if you won all four. This ended a couple years before Jack actually did it.

I'll just say Im very glad I witnessed it and that he held it and held it the way he did.

Thanks Earl!

I don't know any promoter who holds a race with the idea of not losing too much money.

[cecil98]

Originally Posted by treecitytornado You forget Stevie Smith about beating Haud to the line, first and only time without the Wing!! That was the Show!!

Didn't forget it...it's just that Gaines was not given much of a chance to be a factor at all, and he came close to winning the thing in Hoffman's back up car (Hines was their #1 and regular driver). Haud and Smith got by Gaines very late in the race. Compared to Gaines, Smith had a ton of experience on that track, wing or not. Most of Dickie's experience came on the 1/4 miles of Indiana. So...for me, Dickie was the show (not to diminish the great finish!!) JMO