I'd like to pose this question:
If someone like lets say Jack Calabrase was to come back to life as a promoter like he used to be with NAMARS, what would he or what could he do to right the ship of PAVEMENT midgets, not DIRT! I would like to hear ideas about PAVEMENT...
The absolute first thing I would do would be to establish to the same tire rules as STARS. Hoosier would be GONE! I've been saying this for years!
We don't need their point fund money that the racers see none of now anyway. Not to mention their one night and done tires that are engineered to be that way!
You've got a dozen "middle class" type teams there that would participate if the shows were local enough. Yes, travel costs do factor in! If they could use the tires they already own, that brings their interest level in attending even higher.
It's common sense people....
The engines need to be brought under control as well. Big time! You can buy a 15-20 year old sprint car engine right now for around 10k +/- and be competitive with it. Can you do that with a midget engine? Not really!
Stop the engine of the year stuff that's crippled midgets IMO.
I'd really like to hear more ideas on this...
Someone needs to move on beyond USAC and start something new with a common sense approach.
My question goes to the point that several people have made on here in the last few posts. It has to do with purse money. It's been stated that you just don't see purses go up much any more. Back in the 80's and 90's it cost $10k to run a sprint car or midget, and there were several big races that paid at least that to the winner. Today, costs have obviously sky rocketed to $30-40k. That's just to put the car on the track. Yet purses still remain the same. Take the Belleville Midget Nationals as an example. I understand the cost of running a motor on that track has a lot to do with the lower car counts these days, but when that race had its inception in the 80's it was a $10k to win race. Here we are 30+ years later, and it has only increased to $12k to win. That is astonishing to me. Does someone have more insight in to why these purses can't get any bigger? Is it a sponsorship problem? I would like to get more feedback on that. Thanks!
To answer to original problem here.... Midgets need cheaper motors and the same car for dirt and pavement. Rules could be put in place for this but USAC chooses not to. Why? That is the $400,000+ question.
Originally Posted by ThrowbackRacingTeam:
To answer to original problem here.... Midgets need cheaper motors and the same car for dirt and pavement. Rules could be put in place for this but USAC chooses not to. Why? That is the $400,000+ question.
Or do you mean the 1.5 million dollar question?
USAC is no different than our very own government as far as I'm concerned...
Misappropriation of funds!! That money is going somewhere! Definitely NOT back to the racers! They take and take and give very little in return.
The difference here is we (open wheel owners and drivers) do not have to continue to donate money to USAC. We have no choice but to give it to the gov't. (Try not paying your taxes and see what happens!)
We can choose to go elsewhere as many already have by obvious car count depletions.
I used to have much love and respect for USAC. But, their actions have ruined all of that now. I'd love to see this whole issue rectify itself, but at this point I don't see how, unless massive changes are made for the good of all and not of the few! Bad ******** are happening on 16th street and it needs to stop! Or else...even the Roman Empire fell!
Originally Posted by Thyfault925:
My question goes to the point that several people have made on here in the last few posts. It has to do with purse money. It's been stated that you just don't see purses go up much any more. Back in the 80's and 90's it cost $10k to run a sprint car or midget, and there were several big races that paid at least that to the winner. Today, costs have obviously sky rocketed to $30-40k. That's just to put the car on the track. Yet purses still remain the same. Take the Belleville Midget Nationals as an example. I understand the cost of running a motor on that track has a lot to do with the lower car counts these days, but when that race had its inception in the 80's it was a $10k to win race. Here we are 30+ years later, and it has only increased to $12k to win. That is astonishing to me. Does someone have more insight in to why these purses can't get any bigger? Is it a sponsorship problem? I would like to get more feedback on that. Thanks!
Speed costs money... How fast do you want to go. It's a shame it's gotten to be like that but fans like speed... Nothing like seeing the midgets hauling a$$ down the front straight at IRP and going deep into 1!
Most business endeavors start out with the best of intentions and ideas. Kenny Brown saw a flaw in the USAC business plan and capitalized on it. His observation was right. Midgets don't belong on 1/2 mile tracks dirt or pavement. They put on a much better race on the 1/4 mile tracks maybe just a little bigger or smaller. The track size is the great equalizer. To race big tracks or for that matter any pavement track of any size you need lots and lots of horsepower. Horsepower costs MONEY>
Midget organizer have chosen to race with rule that encourage 40 year old engine technology. It is possible to get a lot of power out of one these old motors but to do so makes them very labor and cash intensive. Racing on the short tracks the lower powered cars have a chance to win but throw in a 1/2 mile dirt or pavement track and the guy with the money is going to win every time and the other racers are going to just stay home thus the low car counts. Big track racing is a very exclusive club these days just as purpose built pavement racing is very exclusive also.
Most of the newer small bore street driven cars today tend to be between 2400cc's to 3400cc's. With the overly protective size limitations placed on the new 4 valve dual cam motors makes it impossible to build one into a racing motor for midget racing. Just like a couple of years ago when they brought a small v8 motorcycle based motor to the Chili Bowl usually a run what you brung type of race what happened? They outlawed it!! Why? It sure was a cheaper motor than most of the motors it was racing against. So why the concern and fear.
Promoters are suppose to make money that after all is why they are in it in the first place. Perhaps if maybe they were just a little more concerned about their racers to change their rules to make the 40 year old high dollar technology 2 valve motors non competitive by allowed the development of newer multi valve motors designed around their displacement limits as the motors exist in the modern automobile they might be able to turn the thing around. After all the Esslinger started out as a lowly Ford Pinto 40 years ago didn't it?
My idea of a perfect Midget track would be a Little Bell-ville with a stadium of 10,000 seats built all the way around the thing and the cars entering and exiting through a tunnel under the fans seats. They could probably do the same thing with Kitley for a pavement track.
