Hey Guys, Im trying to get my hands around what a season of a mostly midwest schedule will cost to run a season of the USAC midget schedule. Aside from the cars/transport, what can we expect to spend on the season with normal repairs/rebuilds, travel etc.....we're trying to move a young man up from karts into midgets. I appreciate any help you can provide.
Thanks

I think the old wise saying is true. If you have to ask how much it cost, you can not afford it.

However, I hope it works out for you. I love to watch midget cars race, and another car in the pits is always good news.

Good luck.

Hey guys, its a serious question. Im trying to have a discussion with a few folks who are interested in sponsoring a young man to move to another level of racing and we have never run a midget. Our entire experience has been in karting and road racing karts. Is this not a place to ask questions to get this kid moving in the right direction? We have the car moving forward and the transport, but dont have any experience with the day to day costs. Again, any help would be appreciated.
As for the reply that said we are starting in the wrong place, where is the right place?
Opie360

Here is a little food for thought. I have a sprint car we run around here, but we only ran local stuff on dirt. I would think there is a fairly close cost between a full bore midget and our sprint. I sat down at the end of the year and looked at what I spent last year and for everynite we ran it came out to around $1075 per event. Running USAC with travel, entry fees ,higher pit passes,and more tires plus if you are looking at pavement it probably more than doubles that amount. Just something to think about.

I think this is one of those questions if asked of five people there will be 5 differing answers , but all still accurate as depending of individual circumstances.

My answer may be the ultimate in "best case scenario" as we were fortunate in 13 events to experience no mechanical failure , no crash damage and no cost for any hard component rebuild. ( engine , rear , steering , pumps , etc. ).

Ours was a good , well cared-for used midget but with a lot of new parts ...and a fresh engine re-build prior to the first run. Our tools , equipment , spares , trailer , and so on were all new pieces that further lessen the possibility of additional expenses as opposed to working with things of previous wear and tear.

From race-to-race and over the course of the season we purchased some coil springs that we didn't have ; some gear sets , dyno'ed and re-valved existing shocks , and performed regular maintenance. Some would believe that our car was "over maintenanced" as we changed the oil & filter for every race , cleaned nozzles , adjusted valves , etc. but we experienced no problems while doing so.

The costs of car maintenance per event , a spring or another gear set needed , travel , tires ( 8 sets for 13 events ) , entry fees , pit passes ( for 5 ) , some food and drink for the crew , and picking up those needed incidentals along the way -

Our very accurately kept journals reveal an "average cost per event" of $ 880.00.

Hope this is of use and best of luck to you ! :thumb

First , call your suppliers,(engine, chassis, tire,) determine if you can proceed from their. Once you find out what your initial expense is , you will know better if you can afford to run. You would probably be better of with a sprint car.

That said ,if you want the midget, you also have to decide if you want to run 2 cars, dirt and pavement. Dirt , yes its for racing.If you are like a lot of people ,and have a desire to move beyond midgets(Nascrap, Irl), then you'll need the pavement car.That is what gets you noticed.

All I can say for sure is that if you are going to do this right, you'll need very deep pockets.

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You could do it cheeper for sure, but a realistic estimate to field a competetive midget at all the USAC races would be somewhere in the 200k range, if you're buying everything at retail cost. Leaders Edge would probably have a more accurate estimate but you're looking at a couple hundred grand...

Thank you, Bill.

Save yourself alot of money and headaches and take your 150 to 200 grand and give it to somebody like Keith Koonz at Bullet chassis . That way your driver is in the best equipment, and the car is set up perfect every time it hits the track. If you buy your own car, by the time you figure out all the set ups, your car will be wore out and you will be broke. Your driver dont have to be that good, but he will look like a king in his cars. Believe me, its all about the money if you want to win. EXPERENCE TALKS.......