Kieth is absolutely correct...And having drove a late model a couple times and having been in a midget off and on for the last 4 years I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that the midget is going to provide 10 times the fun as the late model....other than engines the maintenance isn't very costly if you aren't getting on your lid every weekend...I know with the latemodels you can easily spend 500 bucks a week just replacing sheet metal and graphics..

So many of PowrI races are on smaller tracks that you can run very respectable without a brand new top notch engine that's tuned on KILL...a Fresh Gearte midget engine is about as bulletproof of an engine as you can find for any kind of racecar and there seem to be plenty of em on the classifieds used for a good price...Another option would be the new Esslinger or Revolution Ecotech engines that are CDI controlled...I have seen great performance out of each and they are designed to be much cheaper on the maintenance budget than many of the popular engines over the last few years...


Before you sink a bunch of money into your program you should consider a one night rental to be sure you are going to enjoy it...Johnny Murdock usually has a car that somebody can rent for a night to see how they like it...

The reason I recommend doing a rental is to make sure you can handle it...I do know a few different guys who raced modifieds or late models for years and when they tried open wheel stuff they were scared sh*%less due to the increased speed and the feeling of being unprotected without all the bodywork around them and immediately sold out and went back to fenders.

And once again...Kieth is correct...you live in the best area in the country for somebody who wants to run a midget.

That's what I figured. I been to plenty of powri races and they seem like a great organization and have heard nothing but good about the drivers and officials. Thanks Mr. Anderson.
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and having a one car garage myself I can totally understand & agree how much easier it would be to have a midget than a LM.....you can also run a midget program out of a 7x14 trailer or a single axle open trailer which cuts down travel cost quite a bit over a big LM trailer.

If you want to hang out on this site with a clean concience it's imperative that you switch :2: either a midget or full size car. Heck my minisprint seems pretty fast, it's only 230 hp or so but it's light at 705lbs with half tank of fuel. For me least amount of work the better. thats why I like the full size sprints, they're easy to work on and the engines can last awhile. That is why I like my minisprint, hard to beat a jap engine. I know drag racers that were running 350-400 horse 1200 gsxr oil cooled engines with never no problems. Thats something I dont understand here, most tracks have a 1000cc limit which outlaws the older, stronger, CHEAPER engines. I have one dream and one goal for the car. My dream is to get my head and neck alittle better and come run in Indiana for a couple of weeks. I'd have to look at rules and see where I could run. My goal and I cant believe I'm saying this is to throw the wing on her, take it out next spring to bug day at one of the local big time modified and lm tracks and set fast time. Promoter believes it's highly likley I could do it. Shortly afterwards were gonna take the wing off and run it over with the truck. And also what he said above, my boat is laying in the yard and I have a sweet little open trailer. Total out of pocket for trailer was 68 bucks. Just like the ole days with the tail hanging off the back a little. People love it. I hope you plan on being poor for the next 20 years or so, of course you said first child so probly longer. Other nice thing about a sprintcar of some sort is they're family friendly to work on, no pit crew really needed. Some of the best times there are, watching my 11 year old girl wrench on her car, totally into it and learning how to be independent down the road.

I'm glad i'm finally getting some position responses. Thanks
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If I were you i'd find a local midget team and help them inthe pits and in the shop dor six months or so.Once you learn the car well enough ,maintenence -set up...rent one -see how they perform and then decide whether midgets are right for you..

I wouldn't get in a midget with a newborn child at home. Midgets are awesome, but many, many have been injured and killed in them whereas I cannot recall the last guy to be seriously injured in a late model. Not a fan of late models, but a fan of responsible fathers. Good luck to you in your decision.

Maybe, but recently I dont recall a bunch of serious midget injuries or deaths. I find the part about being a responsible parent and how you might not be if you drive a midget hiliarious.

Well thank you to everybody who has helped me to make my decision and I think I'm going to give the open wheel world a try.
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Chris, first off I would like to welcome you to the board and congratulate you on the up coming birth of your first child.

One of my long time friends has done the reverse of what you are asking about, he was always an open wheel racer that has changed over to late models because his family felt they were safer. He has raced both supermodifieds and sprint cars, was injured in a sprint car at Manzy, went from being a sprint car driver to a sprint car owner. Finally when the urge and desire to drive again just wouldn't go away he and his family decided late models were the way to go from a safety aspect. He has been driving the lm for about three years now and luckily has never had to be airlifted from a race track like the accident at Manzy in the sprint car.

Just this year a late model driver, William Mefford died in an accident at Anderson Speedway when he hit a wall. While allot of people feel late models are safer than other forms of racing, 55 plus years of supporting auto racing has shown me a serious or fatal accident can happend no matter what type of race car you are in. It has also taught me that most racers do not talk about this part of our sport. An I also firmly believe racers are safer on the track than any of us are driving down the highway on a daily basis.

Chris, I feel you have been given allot of good information in this thread and one of the earlier posters told you it will be your decision to make. I couldn't agree with that more, it will be a decision that you need to make for you and your family and what works best for you. Wish you all the best in making that decision and welcoming your new baby into the family.

Patti