[DonMoore10]

I am going to give you my account of what I observed as a midget car owner and as a race fan regarding the race show May 8 at Twin Cities Raceway, North Vernon, IN. This was my first visit ever to the facility. I had a difficult time finding it. The street sign traveling south on route 7 is very poor. Once I got on the correct road down the big hill there is another road to the left that ends up at the speedway, but there is not a sign in sight. That was a tip that something was a bit off here. If there is no sign, how are the fans going to know where the place is?

The weather was terribly cold and very windy. If I hadn't had a race car there, I would have stayed home instead of going to any race in Indiana regardless. I had two sweatshirts on plus two other layers of clothing and it was still cold.

I paid a $30 pit pass fee and a $25 membership fee, there was no entry fee. The fees were as advertised. My driver and I took a look at the track before it was raced on. I noticed tons of rocks, big rocks, on the racing surface. If I had a five gallon pale, I could have filled it with rocks in a few minutes. I also noticed the catch fence in turn three which looked like it had been violated in the past and the turn three dirt creeping up the wall leaving about a foot of concrete.

The pits were full of race cars and several big names were here. You can't get any better than Shane Cottle. Others Hunter Shurenberg, Dickie Gaines. There were about 16 midgets. I was expecting no more than 10 and 16 was impressive to me since nothing like this has been tried in several years. I watched the two midget races and, honestly, unless you were an expert on midget race cars, you could not tell the difference between the full midgets, mini sprints and focus cars. The minis were very competitive and even the focus car was fast.

The evening was going quite well until the mini car went through the fence. Actually, I think the fence being like it was cushioned the blow. He mowed down about 30 of it. I did not see the actual crash, but the result of it. There was no way that the fence was going to be repaired. It was trashed.

There was a long wait while they tried to fix the fence and then an announcement was made about a drivers meeting. John Gurley, head of ASCT/AMCT spoke briefly that the fence could not be repaired. He said he would pay the midget and sprint guys $100 tow money and that the race would be rescheduled for a later date. I didn't hear anybody disagree with his offer. If somebody was upset about it, they should spoken at that time. Mr. Fleetwood then took over the meeting, addressing the other classes of race cars. I left at that point. Later I collected my $100 and left the track.

Here are conclusions:

1. John Gurley has worked night and day organizing his race promotion business. He's done a great job of putting his organization and personnel together. All of his staff working the race were very professional and efficient. The gentleman who conducted the preliminary drivers meeting was excellent. The sprint and midget races were run off quicky and officiated professionally. For the first promotion, he gets four stars for the effort.

2. The midget racing. First, Gurley should get a medal of honor for atttracting 16 midgets for a race meet in Indiana. That's amazing in itself, especially happening on the same night as the Hut 100. Now for those that doubted the mixing of various configured midgets, you were totally wrong. It may have been the new tire rule, but the racing was very competitive and nobody ran away with the lead. I'm wondering why we are buying $30-40,000 engines when the Asian cycle engines for next to nothing are just as competitive??? This was a great test of the opinions that have been swirling for many years. The doubters should have been there to see it.

Finally, I would like to address those who thought they were cheated out of whatever $$$$$ they spent for the evening as a competitor. The sprints and midgets ran two heats races for each division. There was never a feature lineup posted. We hadn't gotten to that point. The fence went down and the race was called. This is no different than a rainout. Mr. Gurley advertised a $100 payout for tow money for those not making the feature. There was no feature and the $100 tow money was paid to each participant. End of story. Those few that were demanding to be paid feature positions have no basis for their request. There were no features and Gurley kept his word. In comparison, if you raced at a USAC event and it was called, you would receive $50 tow money, POWRi the same. The total amount in fees for a USAC midget race with entry fee is $75, for POWRi $85. If you do the simple math, the participant is "in the hole" $25 and $35 dollar respectively to race with those organizations with a called race.

I left the track last night with $70 more in my pocket than when I arrived, not counting the one time membership fee (POWRi member fee is $180 BTW). That has never happened before in the eight years I've been racing. Anytime you can leave a track with more money in your pocket than when you arrived, it's a happening. Appreciate it.

ASCT/AMCT is not going away, IOW. This is only the beginning. Next race is June 4 at Montpelier, IN. come out and see what this group has to offer. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

Let me get this right, you got a $100, paid $30 for a pass (I guess no crew?) and $25 for a membership which totals $55 and you somehow come up with a $70 difference? LOL Let me ask this also, does that midget of yours run on water?????? And while you might not have used up a tire you did put a few dollars worth of wear and tear on them... So you have no crew who are out money, what about your driver? Out of that $100 did you give HIM a cut? After all he is the one risking his LIFE to put on the show. There are many holes in your side but it is YOUR side and you are entitled to it. I would like to ask a question tho, wouldn't you have rather been part of a well run race at a great track that has a fantastic promoter and at the same time tried to rebuild some midget history? You could have done that at TSS...... And if this had been a USAC deal you would have been on here last night screaming bloody murder over only getting a $100 even tho the heats had been run and the field set..... It wasn't ASCT's fault the fence broke but then again they rented that track and it is ASCT's fault he didn't pay start money. I don't always agree with everything Tony Barhorst does (or says) but he WOULD HAVE paid start money and bitten the bullet because he cares about the teams and drivers as well as the fans, apprently this new series isn't as much about the racers as advertised......

[DonMoore10]

Please do not try to hyjack the thread with all your other issues that have nothing to do with the post. This thread is not about my non participation in the Hut 100. Sounds like you want to micro-manage my race team. If so, you can start by sending me $5000. My number is 440-355-4407.

Now for the fifth grade math, to answer your question: I paid $30 for a pit pass and NO entry fee . A membership fee is not part of the racing fees for the evening. We don't pay a membership everytime we show up at a track. Duh. So, let's go over this again, just for you. If I pay $30 at the track and get back $100 tow money, that's 70 more dollars in my pocket. Any other simple math problems you don't understand?

Originally Posted by DonMoore10 Please do not try to hyjack the thread with all your other issues that have nothing to do with the post. This thread is not about my non participation in the Hut 100. Sounds like you want to micro-manage my race team. If so, you can start by sending me $5000. My number is 440-355-4407. Now for the fifth grade math, to answer your question: I paid $30 for a pit pass and NO entry fee . A membership fee is not part of the racing fees for the evening. We don't pay a membership everytime we show up at a track. Duh. So, let's go over this again, just for you. If I pay $30 at the track and get back $100 tow money, that's 70 more dollars in my pocket. Any other simple math problems you don't understand?

Gee, no wonder you think you made $70 last night if all you passed was 5th grade math and didn't bother with any BUSINESS classes later in life! LOL I guess your midget runs on water, your tow truck has a sail and is powered by the wind and your tires NEVER wear and you have no crew, don't eat and don't pay your driver, and dude, you spent $55 to get in last night and you're hoping you get some mileage out of that $25 membership fee. And I didn't hijack the thread and make it about the Hut, just asked a reasonable question, you CLAIM to be wanting to make midget racing better, did you guys help last night or did some one else? I guess i should have realized you weren't posting a thread to discuss something but rather a story, next time make it easier to see that by starting out with the words "Once upon a time"... and again, if this had been USAC you'd still be screaming....

[DonMoore10]

A good example of why the U.S. education system is in trouble. As bad as you are trying to make it be, the thread is not about my race team, my business decisions or my personal life.

Originally Posted by DonMoore10 A good example of why the U.S. education system is in trouble. As bad as you are trying to make it be, the thread is not about my race team, my business decisions or my personal life.

LOL, seriously, I think the education system failed in your case since you don't seem to believe that expenses should be deducted from the gross to achieve the net....... no sense arguing with a businessman like yourself.....LOL let me know when you want investors for that water powered engine! Take care Mr' Moore, we'll just agree to not agree

[DonMoore10]

You are a classic example of many on here that have nothing to debate about the post, so you try to ambush the poster. You've posted three times now and said zero about the topic. Congratulations.

[cleatziff]

I very rarely agree with anything Don Moore says. But, it seems he has a low budget team. So please explain to me why anyone would expect him to take his low budget team to the Hut 100 to race against teams with endless financial support. Especially, when he can take that same car and race somewhere where he would be competitive. I think if I was in his situation, I would have gone to North Vernon as well.

[buck2]

Keep in mind that sanction requires a special RR tire...you have to buy a few to get stagger and have spares... there's a few dollars out the window because that tire is not likely to be used anywhere else.

[DonMoore10]

Cleatziff,

Your post is off topic but I will respond anyway. A good many of the teams that entered the Hut 100 would have been more competitive at North Vernon. The Hut 100 would have equaled several races on the engine but they only raised the purse for first place $1000. A $10,000 to $15,000 to win purse would have been more in line with the stature of the race.

---------- Post added at 08:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:35 PM ----------

Originally Posted by buck2 Keep in mind that sanction requires a special RR tire...you have to buy a few to get stagger and have spares... there's a few dollars out the window because that tire is not likely to be used anywhere else.

Once again my post referred to actual fees paid to the racing org for that particular night of racing. Other expenses are what would be spent regardless of where you are racing. Once again, it was $30 out and $100 back. I'll take that anyday of the week.

For TC, we bought one American Racer for a cheaper price than a similar Hoosier. The purchase of tires is not a peculiar issue to any one org or race. You have to buy them anyway. Doesn't make any difference if you're buying a Hoosier SP2 for the Hut or Gas City, AMCT or whatever. You usually need a new tire. By buying a cheaper American Racer, I went home with even more bucks in my pocket.