Originally Posted by Ray3:
Scale your car before you leave for the race track....problem solved.
The 1100lb weight limit is right on for a midget and IMO should be recognized by every midget series in the United States. The 1050lb weight limit caters to the 5'4" 90-120lb drivers. The average weight for a male in the United States according to the CDC is 195.5lbs (180.85 average for male and females combined). So how many race ready midgets are out there that weigh 854.5lbs(869.15 using the average of men and woman)??? The USAC and POWRI weight rule used to be 900lbs without the driver. If you take the average weight of a male in the United States add 900lbs you get 1095.50 (1080.85 for average of men and woman). Now add the weight of your safety equipment and you are far above 1100lbs. So 1100lbs seems logical to me but why not USAC, POWRI and apparently the Tulsa Shootout? Let the smaller drivers add weight.
Darn right man.
Taking it a step farther.... lets assume that 1050 is an acceptable number for a national midget weight rule (being a guy that weighs 220 I don't think it is, but thats another topic).
If I have a midget with the newest esslinger, a carbon fiber hood and panels, all the titanium options in the driveline, the super lightweight hoses and fittings, titanium bolts everywhere, etc etc and I am racing against 20 other cars with all the same high dollar stuff maybe 1050 is an acceptable number....
Now lets replace that esslinger with an OEM production chevy cobalt engine. That engine alone has to weigh AT LEAST 30-40 pounds or more than my flyweight esslinger (an ecotec is a huge engine...it looks like a monster compared to most inline 4 banger midget engines)... how in the heck do I still roll that car across the scales at 1050? That boggles my mind .
Going one step farther. Lets say 90 percent of the people that want to race a midget can't justify a $40,000 engine that needs a few $5-8,000 rebuilds per year. A D2-Sportsman class looks like a great alternative.I don't want a class with an anemic spec motor with half the power of an old fontana, especially when a bunch of the guys in that class have all the lightweight stuff on their cars. I can't go buy a new Spike roller loaded with titanium so this D2 deal is looking better and better. Hundreds of options for powerplants that still kick you in the pants pretty good. Plenty of used rollers out there anywhere from 2 grand to 15 grand in cost. A 2000 Stealth chassis is easy to find, and most hardware stores have just about any fastener I would want to replace on the car for no more that 2 bucks each.
I buy a roller. I go to the salvage yard and pick up a low mileage ecotec for under a grand. I can have it in a midget for another 500 bucks and some elbow grease, or I can spend 5-8 grand to make it work in a midget if I want to.
I get the car running. It seems to run great. I roll across scales 15 pounds heavier than the posted weight rule and life is GOOD. Until 6 cars show up tricked to the hilt and the promoter/tech guy decides to make my car 100 pounds to heavy with a last second rule change.
Guess what....most guys in that situation suddenly have a change of heart. That car they were so happy with gets posted on every classified site in the country the neext Monday...with a tag at the bottom that says "Sell for $4500, OBO, or TRADE FOR A MODIFIED OR SPRINTCAR ROLLER.
We lose people that easily. And now we have a serious grass roots movement for people to actually be able to race midgets. Not USAC caliber midgets, but midgets that are every bit as fast as midgets were not too many years ago. If some guy actually builds a car that can't safely get up to 1100-1150 pounds, he has no business being in this class...at least not with that car. He is more than welcome to put a car together with grade 8 bolts and standard hoses and body panels and come race. Or put a heavy steel floorpan and motorplate in it and bring it...or bolt some lead to it. But to cut a weight rule 75 pounds...to the same weight as all these top notch USAC cars run at, just to allow that guy to race....ridiculous.