275 HP motors...hard rear tires...I like the ^ shock rule! etc...all stuff that will never happen. You'll have to live near the arch to enjoy national midget racing on a regular basis...too many other options nowdays. Or there is always that excuse to blame it on the economy...

Jason Dull
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jdull99@hotmail.com
jasondull.com (For all the Racing News)

Instead of trying to rewrite a rule book and change all the rules that will cost racers money, why don't we just schedule midgets on tracks no larger than a 1/3 mile in size. The reason POWRi is working is because all their tracks are 1/5, 1/4 and 1/3 mile tracks. Their biggest track is McCool which is a big 3/8 mile. YOu do not need big horsepower to be competitive on smaller tracks. As much as I appreciate the history of a Belleville, these tracks are a big part of the reason for the issues in midget racing. I think most racers have already shown that they will show for a big show at a 1/4 mile track versus a big show at a 3/8ths or 1/2 mile track. Even though midget engines are not inexpensive, the vast majority of midget engines in use today are the 300-325 hp gaerte style engines that can be purcahsed for lerss than $20,000 and if maintained well and run on the smaller size tracks I mentioned can get up to 30 to 40 races between rebuilds.

Last year, the Esslinger I ran at Belleville was fresh before McCool Junction because I broke a belt during midget week. I ran it 2 nights there, 2 nights at Belleville, 3 nights at Gold Crown, 4Crown, Kokomo, Chili Bowl, 2 nights at Cowtown and 2 nights at Dodge City. I was planning on running same engine midget week before i got the ride i have now. The engine I won with this year was purchased used. I agree there are issues when it comes to engines and that an older Gaerte type engine wouldn't be competitive there. Most of the engine failures at Belleville are self induced. Guys do not get the high speed rich enough and burn a piston. Someone broke an engine Thur night on the small track. If that would of happened on the big track, everyone would be blaming the track. Again, I'm not saying everything is perfect or even close to perfect. Costs do need to come down. I do know there were 24 paid entries for Belleville and some just didn't show up and I know one broke an engine at McCool. I talked to fans that said despite the low car count, the race was one of the better nationals. I have been in touch with a board member. They really don't want to give up. They need to do more than just get the car count up and they know that. I hope the fans will continue to support this race and give the powers that be at Belleville the chance to make it better.

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BCRA has the engine rule for stock block/head/crank eng. DOHC 2.5 liter Electronic Fuel Injection & Ignition allowed against the current crop of Midget engines

@ coondog - allowing EFI allows you to tune the fuel curve were you want it all the way thru the RPM band , Mech Fuel Inj is a compromise at best

Most peeps under 40 years old have No interest in Hilborn/Kinsler Inj or Holley carbs for that matter

If we get Midgets/Sprint car Engines out of the dark ages maybe we can get the younger set more interested in Midgets ?

BCRA Rules

http://www.bcraracing.com/2012MidgetRules.pdf

Places like Belleville and THAT are too fast and chew up midget engines and spit them out at $40,000.00 a pop. Even at $12,500 to win, that is more than the Chili Bowl pays to win. 1/4 mile track + nothing else going on at that time = Chili Bowl success. Nobody wants to run their stuff on mile or 1/2 mile tracks. I think midgeteers want 3/8, 5/16, 1/4 mile, 1/5 mile tracks.

There is too much entertainment (racing) to choose from. How can this already small legion of short track open wheel lovers support all this racing going on? You have to make a choice. Some come out barely OK and some don't. And gas/diesel at almost $4.00 a gallon doesn't make it too attractive for the USAC, ARDC or Badger teams or fans for that matter to make the long trek to Belleville.

JMO

I have posted the following info before, so here goes again. First off, we've got to let go of the exotic engines that are currently the norm. It doesn't matter if the engine is used, new or whatever, it still has to be rebuilt with expensive exotic parts. A few years ago I bought a FRESH Stanton Mopar at the Chili Bowl. It just had a major rebuild at a cost of $7900. I saw the bill with my own eyes and still have it here. That's $8000, people. Now, there are new engines RIGHT NOW available that use over the counter parts for $10,000-12,000. If you are still with me, that's just $2000-4000 more than to rebuild an exotic current engine. I have read that these engines will last up to 3 years or three seasons without a rebuild and when it's time for a rebuild you can use cheap over the counter parts to repair it. It makes no economic sense to continue running the exotic engines. If you look at the extended picture, running an OEM engine would be so far ahead over the long run it's not even worth a debate. And BTW, fans do not come to the race track to see speed. They come to the track to see good competitive racing.

Now let me give you one more example of where we should be looking to curb engine costs. Joe Ligouri has been running a midget at Montpelier with a motorcyle engine. Joe told me last Saturday night that the engines they have been running come from the junk yard, a long long long way from the cost of the current exotic engines. That particular car is one of the most competitive race cars at Montpelier and they are running it with a cost of next to nothing. And BTW, I have seen that car out run some of the expensive Esslingers at Montpelier!!!

Now, I have given all of you two very distinct and concrete examples of how we can drastically lower the costs of midget racing and get more people involved in the sport at a fraction of the costs of operating the current midget engines.

Let me add one more point. I would be interested to know just why the motorcycle engines are not allowed with today's current rules. They ran them with USAC way back when, I saw them compete with my own eyes. Joe Giba out of Denver used to race one. Just exactly wehat is the problem with running them? Last Saturday night at Montpelier a lady came up to me and wanted to know what was the difference between a exotic engined midget and a motorcycle powered midget. She was looking down the row of cars there and couldn't tell the difference. I told her there is no difference except for the engine.

Now I have given all of you two examples of how we can get back to more competitors, increase car counts, and get midget racing affordable again. Brian Gapinski... I hope you are reading this. And to the rest of you, if these two examples don't do it, then I invite you to explain to me in dollars and cents how you are going to keep running the exotic engines and reduce the cost of running a midget. You people have got to let go of the expensive stuff and move on to some new and fresh solutions.

Thank you for the Plug Don...maybe one day I will get to drive a midget with a expensive exotic engine.

The price of Midget racing right now is stupid and something needs to change.

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Joe, you are one of my favorite people. You've been very impressive as of late on the track.

Here is the line up board for the Belleville Midget Nationals 1990. Wouldn't it be great to see this again for the Nationals? By the way Jeff Gordon won that night.

Don,

Not trying to start anything other than some more discussion on this topic. Since you bring this to the table, what are your thoughts on car counts next year at Montpelier if they would do this simple step? I don't mean a weekly show either but maybe twice a month like they have tried this season. Is it realistic to think that maybe they could draw 20-25 midgets if this was the model? Could you build this into something that could open the door to some bigger shows of 30-35 cars in the pits?