You IOW race fans love to see big car counts and, yes, there was a tremendous amount of posting about hardly any cars showing up at some of the USAC pavement midget shows this past Summer.
I just read today on another message board about the practice session held (I believe) the day before the Turkey Night USAC midget race took place.
FACT(according to the poster): Toyota Speedway charged each car owner $200 to practice.
FACT: Thousands and thousands of dollars for Hoosier tires had to have been spent for this session.
So my question is: Why in the world is USAC allowing this to take place, or for that matter, at any track they sanction?????? I don't get it. It's quite obvious that these "day before the event" practice sessions drive up the cost of running a pavement midget. Is this not a no brainer that these sessions should be banned or is it that the almighty dollar is in charge here again????
OH, yes, I know... the teams didn't have to participate, but can you tell who is going to sit by and watch all the multi-millionaire teams practice and dial in their cars while you sit in the pits?
I don't get it. What's the problem with one free practice session the day of the race?? It's all equal if everybody does it the same way. Just what is the point of a high dollar practice session the day before a midget race?????
I don't think USAC allows this to happen though.......it has to happen in order for them to get the races.
Hoosier and the tracks have them in one hell of a position and I believe that they are told what is going to happen.
I personally believe that USACs revenue stream is very out of joint and hopefully they can find new sources before they are out of business. The days of the teams carrying the load are nearly over.
This is sort of a sore point with me. But just wth does Toyota provide for those naming rights? This is not just Toyota but a lot of other "sponsors" that don't seem to be doing much in the way of sponsoring. It started before this, but I started noticing it with the Infiniti Pro Series. They were offering engine leases for a 450hp engine for $60K a year. I asked a lot of people what was Infiniti providing for their name in lights and nobody could/would answer that question. Since then I've noticed it a lot.
Unfortunately the answer is the bitter pill that was suggested above and that is choosing NOT to run.
If you read their forum, it doesn't sound like it is a done deal with USAC. Ten cars for WOMS or ten cars for USAC is still ten cars. Will USAC bring another 10 cars? If so from where? What was the average car count at a USAC regional show this year? Don't get me wrong, I would love to see all the guys from IN tow up to MI and there be 10-12 midget races drawing 20 car each time, but it has not happened in the past.
One practice night entry fee $200.00, One set of (3) tires used on practice night $$, One Turkey Night Grand Prix win, PRICELESS !! Some people just sit on the sidelines and complain and others strive to achieve their dreams !! NUFF SAID
Originally Posted by JstAbvVMC:
One practice night entry fee $200.00, One set of (3) tires used on practice night $$, One Turkey Night Grand Prix win, PRICELESS !! Some people just sit on the sidelines and complain and others strive to achieve their dreams !! NUFF SAID
I agree; no doubt about it. It is priceless, but what about having to do that for nearly every show on the schedule? That is a budget breaker that in reality can be avoided to a great extent.
