It’s a tough situation because you want your race track to be good, but your also dealing with a bad night to have a big show (Sunday) and if you’re going to run on a Sunday you have to get people out by 9:30-10pm.
I also think it might be time to move midget week to later in the summer and away from a big trip to the Midwest which must have tired out the drivers and race officials who tried to do both Knoxville and Haubstadt.

Interesting that noone has tried answering my question about the crowd/attendance numbers yet and the people who love the track haven't mentioned one word about such a low attendance in the bleachers...maybe it was the camera angle on Flo that was showing low attendance numbers in the bleachers lmfao.

It doesn't take over an hour to make a great racing surface and farming the track for over an hour to make a great race. Watch Reece and Rowdy, they will show how to make drivers, teams, and fans happy without wasting over an hour to do it, Also doesn't take "green" equipment to do it either. Anyone who knows anything about tractors and farming or mowing for that matter knows when you buy green your buying the name not necessarily the best equipment for the job.

This was the first USAC Midget race of the 2023 season in Indiana this year. It should have been packed. Since some are claiming long tiring weekend for fans to show up to the race on a Sunday night and work night, is that what will happen next Sunday night for the Finale at Kokomo lmfao? Last time I checked Indiana was in the Midwest and Iowa was only 2 states away.

People are tired of seeing that crap of farming the track for over an hour at a time. I guarantee Circle City has a better attendance tonight then TriState did last night. I know 10 people that are going tonight that didnt go last night bc of the farming issue. It's sad when people won't open their eyes and see there is a problem. Run er down bc of pride before admitting there is a problem. Sad part is still no rest, still a work night, still a grind, support class being Crown Vics instead of MSCS Sprint Cars tonight, but guarantee better attendance. Kokomo is on a Sunday night, work night and is at the very end of a long hard tiring week but you can count on 3 things. Outside of a rainout, #1 great attendance numbers even after a long hard grueling grinding tiring week with a $100K late model show the very next day. #2 no farming for an hour at a time much less over an hour at a time. #3 an outstanding racing surface without using "green" equipment.

These non-wing tracks need to take notes from a track like Attica (who runs wings and 2 other classes every week) Done by 9:30 every time

Personally, I wasn't avoiding your question. I just didn't take it seriously enough to think it deserved an answer. If you're trying to imply that all a sudden, fans in mass have stopped going to Tri-State Speedway because Tommy does a lot of track prep, it means you're just uneducated. In fact, just last week, for a regular MSCS show, there was a much bigger crowd. And attendance this year, overall, has been good. And my post, like most of my posts, was just one sharing the racing experience I had on this particular night.

For one, midgets have traditionally drawn less at this track. I don't know why, but it seems to just be reality. Except the one at the end of the year. And people know they're running out of races because it's late in the season and also, it's USAC Midgets, paired with a $5K to win MSCS show and fans know the higher purse will draw a few extra sprint hot shots. And secondly. last night's event was on a Sunday night and maybe that had some effect on it.

Jerry

Okay first thing, I never said anyone avoided it or didn't take it seriously. Who cares it's a question, there's more to life then taking my question so seriously, oh my gosh, oh no. I said it was interesting. Real simple. And I'm glad you dont think it deserves an answer. Of course when a person is in denial they dont think a question needs answered, that's all of life, not just racing. I also dont really care if it gets answered. I dont own the property or track, I just find it odd that for so long so many said so many great things about it and wouldnt miss it for nothing, yet one of the worse attendance numbers I've ever seen for a Midget Week race, if not officially the worst ever.

As for the uneducated lmfao...maybe I am uneducated about Haubstadt bc I've never been there. Maybe that's why I'm trying to figure what went wrong with the attendance numbers. However I'm educated enough to read all the displeasure of people who have gone there this whole season about the track prep. Maybe your the one who is uneducated or maybe just in denial...I'll let you choose for yourself. Sunday has nothing to do with it, Kokomo will have more people just in the backstretch then there was the entire bleachers put together at TriState last night. You and others need to quit using a Sunday night as an excuse. Guess the rest of the tracks will have poor attendance this week bc its during the week huh? Indy tonight bc of Monday? GC Wednesday bc of a Wednesday? Putnamville Thursday bc of a Thursday? Kokomo Sunday bc of a Sunday? Looks like Bloomington and The Burg has the only chance of good attendance bc of a Friday and Saturday night? Lmfao wow

I would think they would have had a better crowd last week considering most everyone had Monday off.
The track surface at Haubstadt has always been something special, and I’m sure Tommy will always stick to his process. However, in a world where attention spans are decreased and there is easy access to streaming for USAC races, I can’t see people sticking by his process for much longer. Maybe the retired folks or those who have a flexible work schedule, but for the people in EST who have a job to go to early Monday morning it’s not viable anymore. It’s time to prep the surface for the entire evening or find a faster solution for mid-event track prep.

The Sunday date was a head scratcher to me.....In the world of bad track prep, I will always give TSS a pass on how they prep a track. I have always believed Indiana Midget Week is just that, Midgets.....running sprint cars during IMW is a problem in my opinion. Drags out the show and contributes to track issues. If the argument is they need Sprint cars to bring fans out to the track, then maybe we don't need a midget week.

Kokomo is the Finale and its always been on a Saturday night but yet this year on a Sunday. I scratched my head on that too. Arguably the best 2 tracks in the state and both their Midget Week dates was/are Sunday's this year? At the same time, the attendance wont be a problem at Kokomo. As for support classes, I'd much rather see MSCS Sprints then what I'm gonna see tonight...Crown Vics. I will always say and most I think would as well that track prep is needed and is better then no track prep at all. However, over an hour long? I think that's a lil absurd in my opinion and I truly feel that is 90%+ the reason attendance is getting lower and lower at TriState. There's not one single race there that people haven't complained about the long farming delays this year.

That's a good point. When you talk to open wheel fans, many of them think the perfect thing would be to have sprints and midgets on every show. A lot of people fail to consider how hard that is on the track. IMO, unless you're a Tommy Helfrich, a Reece O'Connor, a Joe Spiker @ Putnamville, etc. and are willing to do intra-show track reworks, both on the bill just doesn't usually work out that well. Very often, the sprints are ran last and they end up running look like they're running on ice. Midgets handle deteriorated track conditions a little better, but it's not perfect for them, either. The way some of these Midget Week sprint features have turned out is kind of like the elephant in the room, that nobody wants to acknowledge.

Jerry

I'm not sure which are longer, your posts or track prep at Tri-State.