MIDGET CARS: Fans chip in to boost Belleville Nationals

Above: Bryan Clauson celebrates at the 2015 Belleville Nationals.

You could make an argument it's the best dirt racing in North America, but there is no debating that Belleville, Kansas has some of the most committed fans anywhere.

When the Belleville Nationals fell on hard times a couple years ago with a short car count, a drop in paying customers and shrinking purse, an amazing thing happened. Led by Dennis Erkenbrack – a former basketball coach from nearby Cloud County Community College who became a big fan of the annual midget race on the high-banked, half-mile dirt track – some of the locals came to the rescue.

"Dennis went around to the farmers and local businessmen and asked them for $1,000 each to help save the race and he got 20 donors last year," said Jimmy Melton, a board member who handles the public relations for the track.

"This year he got 17 and the purse is back to being the biggest anywhere and the car count is back to 35-38."

Brad Boyer, Ken Ebert, Scott Hoard, Kevin Jensen, Wade Jensik, Tanner Johnson, Don McChesney, Jim McDonald, Arlen Mickelson, Adrian Polansky, Jon Russell, Brent Scott, Jeff Sothers, Jeff Strnad, Darrell Wineeinger, Erkenbrack and one anonymous donor comprise "The Fans of the High Banks" and helped push the two-day purse to $86,000.

And that, in turn, raised the interest level of competitors.

So Bryan Clauson and Jerry Coons Jr. – both three-time champs – will be after the $12,500 winner's share in Saturday night's 39th annual Belleville Nationals – which also pays $1,000 to start.

Friday night's 25-lap prelim pays $3,000 to win, and both nights will be streamed live by Speed Shift TV.

"We've got more fans and cars this year and, thanks to Dennis, more money and he did all this on his own so we all owe him a big thank you," Melton said. "We bill it as the fastest half-mile race (for midgets) and it's now the richest again."