Originally Posted by sprintcar39:
I think this is a great idea. I wish it had been done several years ago so that our time in Quarter Midget racing would have better managed and promoted.
There are so many more options and possibilities with future growth for the kids and the sport of Quarter Midget racing with an organization like USAC.
Change is good. Many are looking forward to this series.
The ones who are looking forward to this need to talk to the many disillusioned who have tread a path before them. What it looks like from the outside and what it is are two totally different things. Ask the West Coast Sprint guys if they are better off then they were 3-4 years ago.
Honestly, to the newcomer it won't be much different. Q.M. racing under QMA,USAC, or whatever other club will continue to provide a great place to learn, but it is a latteral move at best and USAC and Hoosier(If the spec tire rumor is true) are the ones that will truely benefit.
I am going to say this:Yes. If it where about the racing and the idea of providing a path for drivers to pursue a career from beginning to end, then it is great.
I don't believe it is about that at all though. I believe it is all about collecting fees. USAC provided administartion for QMA for a few years for a fee, then QMA pulled the contract. During that time, they saw the amount of cash flow that went through there and wanted a piece of it. At the same time, Hoosier needs a place to sell their tires because they haven't been fast enough to catch on, so they and USAC can now work together.
I know I am a broken record, but I will continue to be one until the day that I believe that USAC puts their real product(Drivers/Teams) first. When they begin to do so, they will then be able to run a more effective show and start giving true value to it's promotors. The fans will follow. When the fans follow, they will do better than they ever thought. USAC is great at selling what they have been, but they are terrible at delivering on what they could be.
I realize that T.V. today is different than yesterday, but when people talk about the "Thunder Series" they don't talk about USAC and the cars mostly, they talk about the personalities that where driving them. Stanley,Vogler,Gordon,Gordon(both),Kalitta etc. etc.. My point is, when the drivers where finally put out in front and allowed to be shown, the popularity of the sport went up. Until then;as today, USAC waits for others to showcase their product and they collect the fees. Be it IMS, track promotors or the Lingner group, others have always had to be the ones to actually showcase the product. USAC just organizes. I see it being no different with the Q.M. series. It will have sponsors, but they will be "Their" sponsors.
How does anyone think that an organization that is barely able to function with all that is on it's table right now, will be able to effectively run a rather large organization like the region they are taking over? They are struggling with all of their premier series, the closest thing they have to an entry level division at this point very scrambled and looking to almost completely revamp in under eight years of existance, and their regional series(That was established and developed without them) with the most success of training and moving drivers up(In the midwest at least) appears to be in some sort of reorganization. The reason being that it interfers with the corporate backed development series that they initiated, but never concentrated on what it's true purpose should have been:Make young drivers better racers.
Sure there will probably be more banners with corporate logos on them, but I will be very surprised if any of that trickles down in any type of beneficial way for the competitors.
I will say this: Many of the problems I describe or mention are before Kevin Miller got there, so some of the resposibility does not fall on him. That said, his job is first and formost to make USAC cash positive again.
I hope I am wrong. USAC's foot soldiers are hard working guys that I feel really believe in this sport and do want the best and I hope at the end of the day I am eating Crow on this. I hope that it works out differently than I see it. It just has to start being change for the common goal of true betterment of the sport and not the bottom line at any cost. In a Utopian world, this is a great move, in reality I doubt you will see any real benefits or differences other than where the money goes.
