From the looks of the POWRi schedule,it looks like I will be spending a fair amount of time in Illinois this summer. Lots of those nights I could be watching races closer to home,but POWRi always seems to have good midget races everywhere they go.

From my view:

With attendance and sponsorship money expected to be down this year...how exactly could promoters feel comfortable letting drivers and owners get into the gate for free? The only feasible way to let drivers/owners in for free would be to lower the purse...which case everyone would complain even more that they race for little to no money. If you're going to let the owner in for free you might as well not charge anything...how can you determine who the owner is? What if there are multiple owners? All of a sudden you'll find everyone is an owner.

Lets face it, auto racing has come down to the facts that there are very few ways to police rules fairly or to make it "equal" for everyone....with that in place, its going to be very difficult to keep costs down. It will be even tougher to make rules that will satisfy everyone.

Tire rules will never make anyone happy. I'm certain it was a good financial decision by powri to allow hoosier to be required for their events...which at this point if it helps powri put on a show then so be it. I've been to every belleville, il powri show and the car counts are strong...if not growing every time...so I'm not sure thats ultimately hurting the sport.

The chilibowl has been successful despite the purse for the fact that its become a prestigious event, its a dirt event that works with alot of drivers schedules and allows racers from all forms to attend. Where else can you find an event with the best drivers of winged/nonwinged sprints, modifieds, late model, nhra, nascar and midgets in one event? In addition the chilibowl has put a good spotlight on drivers who are trying to make it in the sport...which never hurts.


Just my thoughts...
--Robert

If someone really wants to control the cost in midgets, they need to look at the blue prints of the successful 305 sprint car series. There was a nice write up in NSSN a couple of months ago. However, they require a lot of things that people don't like.

Spec engine with a Spec head. If I remember correctly, the engine has to be sealed by a series official.

Weight rules. No light weight parts.

Spec tires.

The pay structure is a lot different. First place is only around $400 dollars, but it pays $250 to start.

Finally, you have to realize that you are limiting your choices. 305 cars don't compete with 360's or 410's. So your "spec" midget will not compete with the USAC or POWri shows.

I assume that the last two people that posted are not midget owners. I'm finding it interesting that several that have posted are hunting for excuses to defend some of the practices, lack of enforcement of rules, etc etc. It goes back to "that's the way it's always been done" aura. I can't believe that a promoter/midget org is going to go out of business by eliminating the owner/driver entry fee and pit pass. If that's the case, then it further points out why midget racing is in trouble, or for that matter, short track racing in general.

Beside engines, tires are the most expensive item for an owner. We race with a monopoly, forced to buy one tire brand, while the Indiana tire company pays big bucks to stay in the door of which the overwelming majority of cars owners never see. I've explained this before on here, but I fail to see why I must pay $140-180 for Hoosier tires while others get them at a reduced cost and some, probaby for free, all under a forced monopoly. American Racer sells midget tires for $80. Some off brand street tires cost less than that. Why are we forced under the monopoly to buy tires at twice the cost of other brands. I don't get it. Who's looking out for who here???

You people are going to wake up some morning down the road and discover that midget racing has been eliminated. You can keep singing about the Chili Bowl and maybe that will be the last midget racing you will see in the United States. It may be already too late in Wisconsin where one of the strongest midget programs existed for the last 50 years.