4.00 a gallon gas in February

IMO the TQ's are the best class for a little guy racer. And, the quality and quanity of TQ's is growing. But, like everyone else the gas prices are more than scary. One thing the TQ's also have going for them is most of the racers live relatively close to the tracks. Then there's that one guy who lives about 5 hours from the closest track. Costs of getting to the track outway the costs of putting a car on the track by a lot.

Jimmy, you talkin about big d? I think he's a bit further south than 5hrs, he's workin on gettin another one for this season, course then there's Larry, but he's got several races at different tracks close to him this year, then there's you, that must be the 5hr energy trip. You're makin me hungry, may have to try one of the McD's onion burgers. Bob

Mike, I am hearing what you are saying about the highest gas prices for this time of year, I saw gas for $3.59 today that is .19 cents higher than I paid last Tues.. I figured it is going to go sky high since we are planning a coast to coast trip this year taking us from Az. to Maine back across to Washington State and home to Az.. Gas prices will be what they are, I don't think we will canceal our trip. Actually I have been going to contact you to see what race tracks we should try to visit on our return trip, never been to Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington or Oregon. Any interesting race tracks in those areas I should know about?

Patti

P. S. Sorry for goimg off topic everyone!

Not much help Patti on the other states, maybe some others can give you ideas, but I would recommend Knoxville in Iowa for sure. A very nice facility right in the middle of town. Unfortunately, it will be a wing show but at least you can say you have been there. Safe travels and hopefully for all of us the price of fuel comes down.

Thanks Mike, I also hope these fuel prices come down for all of us and especially for all the racers we love to support.

As HinesFan said there are many more options to choose from now. Twenty years ago if you wanted to get started in open wheel racing with your 14-16 year old son or daughter you didn’t have many choices. 14-16 year olds racing midgets and sprint cars were a rarity. That is not the case today.

In 1989 when Tony Stewart began racing three quarter midgets he was an 18 year old rookie.

Many drivers who had aspirations to move up to a larger class of car got valuable seat time in a three quarter midget. Some of those who went on to win championships after moving up and out of TQ racing include Pete Abel, Gregg Cory, Austin King, Jason Knoke, Bill Luse, Tate Martz, Kerry Norris, Billy Puterbaugh, Derek Scheffel, Don Schilling, Jason Setser, and Travis Welpott. Plus countless others on the east and west coasts including Lou Cicconi, Jr., Nick Fornoro, Jr., Robby Flock, Jason Leffler and Jay Drake.

With the minimum driver age being lowered in all forms of racing more fathers now buy a midget or sprint car and bypass the more “grassroots” level of racing altogether.

HinesFan listed 13 different classes to choose from. I’m not even sure of the difference between some of them. Kokomo Speedway opens their season April 12 & 13 with the Kokomo Grand Prix and will be running the POWRi 600 micro sprints. Plymouth Speedway opens on the same weekend and will be running the USAC 600 sprints non wing and the USAC 600 sprints restricted wing in their Cabin Fever.

What are those classes? Are any of the USAC cars the same as the POWRi ones? I consider myself to be a somewhat knowledgeable fan and I want to know the difference but I have no clue what they are.

At least with a three quarter midget, as long as you stay in the state of Indiana, a TQ is a TQ. If you happen to have one you have many options of where to race. The King of the TQ Midget Series has 20 confirmed and 2 tentative dates on their 2013 schedule. The Midwest TQ Racing League (MTQRL) has 14 races & a TBA on their preliminary schedule. The final MTQRL schedule will be released on March 16th and should have 18-19 races.

Between those two organizations you have 40 races to choose from. I don’t think there are many people involved in TQ racing who can afford to race 40 times a year but the races are there.

Back in the mid 1960’s my dad would go to his job in Miami, Fla. on Friday morning with his TQ in the bed of his pickup. He would leave work and drive to Indiana to race on Saturday (before the interstate system was completed) and then drive home after the race to get back to work on Monday morning. These are different times with most people not wanting to travel more than an hour to race.

Last year the MTQRL averaged 24 cars per event. There have been a lot of TQ’s bought and sold over the winter so I believe there are people interested in racing a TQ.

Five years ago, with only one TQ club - not three, the average car count was 28. I don’t have any data to prove this but I would think that five years ago, with a better economy, car counts were higher at most racetracks in most divisions.

No one will get rich racing but at least there is a little more return if you race a TQ with the MTQRL. All features pay $350 to win, $165 for 5th, $100 for 10th and $75 to start. In addition there is $50 tow money for anyone that doesn’t make the feature and there are no entry fees. The complete payout breakdown can be found on the MTQRL website at http://www.mtqrl.com/rules/2012%20St...e%20Payout.pdf.

In my opinion I think three quarter midget racing is growing in Indiana not shrinking. If you are looking to get into “small car” racing I think you should look into TQ’s. Take a look at the MTQRL website at www.mtqrl.com. There are a couple cars for sale listed in the Classifieds section and another was listed on IOW just yesterday CLICK HERE.


Sandy Lowe, Public Relations
Midwest TQ Racing League

Another thing with the TQ's is no wings, and close racing. This is last year at an MTQRL race at Martinsville during the fair. Nice to see someone still doing fair dates. The MTQRL does a lot of them.


IMG_8740 copy by uncloose1, on Flickr

I agree that fuel prices are high and I'm not at all happy about it. At the same time, TQ racing in Indiana seems to be growing. Cars are being imported to our dirt paradise left and right. I have seen new TQs being built, and new faces driving them. I am stoked about the 2013 race season. Three clubs? Are you serious! It may not be good for the clubs but at least for this summer it looks to be good for the teams. It will at the very least give us a chance to stay closer to home and still spin the tires!

I paid $4.09 out here last week and it was one of the cheaper prices around here at the time. Out here two years ago right now, it had jumped to $3.35 a gallon and everybody was screaming. Would love to be paying that now.