We went to Macon for the June 11th POWRi National Midget event and there were 33 midgets there for that show. What happened that way over half of those teams didn't show up at St. Francois?
There was a full field of mini-sprints at Macon, as well.
I sure hope there is more than 12 or 15 national midgets for the Fairbury POWRi event. They'll get laughed out of that place if that's all the midgets they draw. They get 27 or 28 late models for a regular weekly show there and the place is full every Saturday night.
Fairbury is our home track and we'll definitely be there on July 15th & 16th with the camper weather permitting but we'll take some serious ribbing from our late model buddies if there are 15 midgets as the top division. Those Fairbury late model people are hard core and that will be the only night all season that the late models will be running in basically a support class roll.
Silver Crown Championship Dirt Cars properly driven on a one mile dirt track are classic poetry in motion. Using that analogy, Jack Hewitt is one of the greatest poets of all time.
What night of the week do those guys race on????????
Honest Dad himself
DAD, if you're asking me, it's mostly Sat nights, except during Fair season, then it's usually 7 nights in 10 days, which has worked in the past, kinda hard on a one man operation, but it can be done, if you don't break the wagon! Bob
"Being old, isn't half as much fun, as getting there"! Ole Robert I!
Most people miss the real culprit for the rising costs and, in turn, low turnouts: inflation.
Do you know what the minimum wage was in 1964 (the last year our money was backed in any way by silver and/or gold)? It was $1.15 an hour in September of 1964. That was one silver dollar, one silver dime, and one nickel/copper nickel. Excluding the actual value of the nickel in today’s terms, the silver dollar and silver dime would be worth about $21. Consider that for a moment.
That means that the minimum wage in 1964 had an equivalent buying power in today’s dollars of about $21 dollars an hour. That was minimum wage.
Without getting too political, let me just say that ALL OF US are getting screwed by this "invisible tax". Everyone is getting poorer each and every day, as the value of the dollars we have is worth less and less. Our "lawmakers" know that we won't stand for higher taxes, so this is their answer.... and it ain't gonna magically just come to an end unless the good people of this country put a stop to it.
(I'm sorry if I'm out of line for posting this here, but it's something I think about everyday and I believe it to be pertinent to this discussion.)
Reading and taking part in these discussions about the demise of racing and midget racing in particular take me back to my coming of age in the turbulent 60's. We had songs for everything.
Racing like everything and everyone have a time in life that it blooms and prospers and a time for harvest and a time to die. This is the natural progression of everything around us. Enjoy it, try to propagate it share your love for and it make the most of it. It does have it's Time.
I think everyone is underestimating the weather effects from this weekend's shows. The St. Louis area has been brutally hot, and there was every reason to assume that rainouts would be the winner last weekend. We went to Belleville and the stands were as empty as the pits. It's unseasonably early for this kind of weather in the area.
I'm not ready to say the sky is falling just yet. We had some really great car counts earlier this year. Hopefully this weekend was the exception.
Originally Posted by Charles Nungester:
Im sorry, I don't get the comparison whatsoever as there is no competiton to it. If four tracks were running them Wed's nights, would the counts in both cars and fans be anywhere near what it is? As it is, Its the only thing going in divisions that are not top tier but fun and affordable to more vs a full up sprint or midget. And both entry level and some stars racing in it because it competes with nothing. Is it a success, Yeah, But it didn't happen overnight. They built it that way and competed with nobody to do it.
I'm also sorry you don't get it.
Someone mentioned that car counts are down EVERYWHERE obviously not true, that's all I was trying to show.
As for running on Wednesdays, couldn't anyone ?
Is POWRI a top tier division ? No you say, just like the racing I was talking about.
12 cars vs 35-40 STR midgets plus another 50 or so micro's, yep nothing to possibly learn here.
Yep, not built overnight but built none the less by not following the leaders right down the tubes.
Originally Posted by Backitin:
I'm also sorry you don't get it.
Someone mentioned that car counts are down EVERYWHERE obviously not true, that's all I was trying to show.
As for running on Wednesdays, couldn't anyone ?
Is POWRI a top tier division ? No you say, just like the racing I was talking about.
12 cars vs 35-40 STR midgets plus another 50 or so micro's, yep nothing to possibly learn here.
Yep, not built overnight but built none the less by not following the leaders right down the tubes.
I wasn't trying to be sarcastic and your point about not following the others is valid. I never said Powri wasn't top tier, You did.
I still ask if five tracks ran the classes would it still be "THE THING"?
And your point about a couple of our tracks doing something different is valid as well.
Hell, Id love to have the old days of Sprints, LM and Sportsman as our every week show and thats reverting.
19 Powri cars at Belle-Clair Friday ($200 to start) with 15 Powri D2 cars 2 hours up the road at Lincoln ($300 to win, $200 second). All of the low buck mid level guys that used to battle for transfer spots out of the b have decided to be a part of "the revolution" instead and form their own series that they feel is a better bang for their buck... Nothing wrong with that. I get it from an owners perspective. But it's created a new racing climate with split car counts and disgruntled fans going to low car count shows.
Bloomington had the same issue Friday. 20 cars for the nationally televised sprint main that paid $300 to start while 16 305s battled it out for $600 to win (3rd paid $250).
Originally Posted by Jim Gardner:
19 Powri cars at Belle-Clair Friday ($200 to start) with 15 Powri D2 cars 2 hours up the road at Lincoln ($300 to win, $200 second). All of the low buck mid level guys that used to battle for transfer spots out of the b have decided to be a part of "the revolution" instead and form their own series that they feel is a better bang for their buck... Nothing wrong with that. I get it from an owners perspective. But it's created a new racing climate with split car counts and disgruntled fans going to low car count shows.
Bloomington had the same issue Friday. 20 cars for the nationally televised sprint main that paid $300 to start while 16 305s battled it out for $600 to win (3rd paid $250).
BINGO!!!!!!!! on both counts. and on both counts, Yes there is nothing wrong with it. But to the casual fan willing to travel for the headliner having four heats and a consi. What I see is it hurting it. as far as my leisure investment is concerned. It cost me 60 bucks to get there and back, in the gate and some concessions. If I see three NW Sprint races, Two heats and a feature. Thats $20 per race. If I see six races of NW sprints. its ten bucks a race. A second consi's a bonus
I Know its different for locals, There are going to be fans of every car and every class. And in the Mods I might know some from my home track and others I've been too.
Will D2's and Race Savers be feeder classes? The jury is still out, Right now its looking more like the future and a future im going to decide if I like or not.
