United Midget Racing Association is a midget car open wheel racing group established in 1961. The racing association schedules TQ Midget races for May to October. [1]
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2012) |
UMRA is often used as training ground for young go kart racers to gain open wheel skills before moving on to high level pro-racing formats. [2] But UMRA racers are not all young: many are long time hobby drivers.
UMRA was the start of open wheel racing for NASCAR Driver Tony Stewart. [3]
Former UMRA turned pro drivers return to UMRA races for the fun of racing. One such example was in 2000, when Tony Stewart returned to UMRA for a quick race before a Winston Cup test. This was the first time he had raced against his father, Nelson Stewart. [4]
As of 2008 the following eight drivers had United States Auto Club (USAC) and UMRA titles. [5]
UMRA feature wins (11)
UMRA Feature Wins (120)
UMRA feature wins (6)
UMRA feature wins (2)
UMRA feature wins (1)
UMRA feature wins (1)
UMRA feature wins (1)
UMRA feature wins (1)
UMRA feature wins (1)
The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500. USAC serves as the sanctioning body for a number of racing series, including the Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Cars, National Midgets, Speed2 Midget Series, .25 Midget Series, Stadium Super Trucks, and Pirelli World Challenge. Seven-time USAC champion Levi Jones is USAC's Competition Director.
Midget cars, also speedcars in Australia, is a class of racing cars. The cars are very small with a very high power-to-weight ratio and typically use four cylinder engines. They originated in the United States in the 1930s and are raced on most continents. There is a worldwide tour and national midget tours in the United States, Australia, Argentina and New Zealand.
James Richard Davies was an American racecar driver in Champ cars and midgets. He was the second man to win three USAC National Midget Championships. When Davies won the 100-mile (160 km) AAA Championship race at Del Mar, California on November 6, 1949 – aged 20 years, 2 months, 29 days, he became the youngest driver to win a race in a major U.S. open wheel series, a record not broken until Marco Andretti won the IRL race at Sonoma, California in 2006. Davies raced AAA on a false birth certificate showing him older, and was racing illegally.
Leslie Eugene "Gene" Hartley was an American racecar driver. He was born and died in Roanoke, Indiana.
David Lee Darland is an American auto racing driver from Kokomo, Indiana. He was the 1997 USAC Silver Crown Champion, 1999 USAC National Sprint Car Champion, and 2001 and 2002 USAC National Midget Champion, making him the third driver to claim all three USAC National Championships. He is nicknamed "The People's Champ".
Mel Kenyon is a former midget car driver. He is known as the "King of the Midgets", "Miraculous Mel" and "Champion of Midget Auto Racing." The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America says "Many consider him to be midget car racing's greatest driver ever."
Robert John East was an American professional stock car racing driver. He raced in USAC, ARCA, and NASCAR. During his career in the latter two, East was a member of Ford's driver development program.
Richard Frank Vogler was an American champion sprint car and midget car driver. He was nicknamed "Rapid Rich". He competed in the Indianapolis 500 five times, and his best finish was eighth in 1989.
Bryan Timothy Clauson was an American professional auto racing driver, best known for his achievements in dirt track open-wheel racing, such as USAC Silver Crown, Midget and Sprint cars. Clauson was increasingly seen competing with the World of Outlaws (WoO) sprint cars in his last couple of years. Clauson also competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Indy Lights, and IndyCar Series and was a development driver for Chip Ganassi Racing.
The Chemung Speedrome is a 3/8 mile asphalt race track in Chemung, New York, USA. Built in 1951 by the Bodine family, the track was first dirt-surfaced, then paved. It was closed in 1978. After buying the track in 1985, one of the current owners, Bob Stapleton, started to rebuild the track in 1997, and, in 2000, the track held its inaugural event.
The Automotive Racing Products Turkey Night Grand Prix is an annual race of midget cars. It is the third oldest race in the United States behind the Indianapolis 500 and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. It has been held on Thanksgiving night most years since 1934, where it was founded by Earl Gilmore at his Gilmore Stadium in Los Angeles. It stayed at this location until 1950. Since that time it has been held at various southern California race tracks. Since 1955, the race has been promoted by J. C. Agajanian and later his descendants, currently by son Cary. Traditionally a dirt track event, it has sometimes been on asphalt during the turn of the 21st century, although it returned to dirt in 2012. The feature race was held over 98 laps in the modern era, the same number that Agajanian used for his racecars.
Michael Pickens is a racecar driver from Auckland, New Zealand. He races midgets and sprint cars in New Zealand, Australia and the United States. Michael is a 7 time New Zealand Midget Car champion and was the 2021 Speedcar champion. He was also the 2016 Australian Speedcar Champion. He has won races and championships in New Zealand, Australia, and United States in Quarter Midgets, 3/4 Midgets, Midgets, Sprint Cars and Karts.
Robbie Ray is an American professional auto racing driver. He races midget cars on the United States Auto Club (USAC) National tour. He won the 2003 Indiana (Midwest) regional midget championship and the 2005 national championship.
There has been auto racing in Illinois for almost as long as there have been automobiles. Almost every type of motorsport found in the United States can be found in Illinois. Both modern and historic tracks exist in Illinois, including NASCAR's Chicagoland Speedway and Gateway International Speedway. Notable drivers from Illinois include Danica Patrick, Tony Bettenhausen, and Fred Lorenzen.
Terre Haute Action Track is a half-mile dirt racetrack located at the Vigo County, Indiana, fairgrounds on U.S. Route 41 along the south side of Terre Haute, Indiana. The track hosts annual United States Automobile Club (USAC) midget car, sprint car and Silver Crown events. Notable drivers that have competed at the track include A. J. Foyt, Jeff Gordon, Parnelli Jones, and Tony Stewart. The track has held events sanctioned by USAC, its predecessor American Automobile Association (AAA), and the World of Outlaws.
The Dave Steele Carb Night Classic is a United States Auto Club dirt track car race held near Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, which takes place in late May before the Indianapolis 500 at the nearby Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Over its history, the event has been held at several different short tracks in Indiana, but since 1980, it has permanently been hosted at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Brownsburg, Indiana. The event has long been considered one of the Indianapolis 500 traditions, along with the Hoosier Hundred and Little 500, which are also held over the same weekend at different venues in Indiana. Over the course of its history, numerous Indy 500 drivers have competed in the Night Before the 500, some winning.
The Chili Bowl Midget Nationals is an indoor midget car race that takes place in January on a 1/5 mile dirt oval track at the Tulsa Expo Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. NASCAR calls it the "biggest Midget race of the year". It is nicknamed the "Super Bowl of midget racing".
Kevin Swindell is an American former racing driver and entrepreneur, who has competed in USAC and NASCAR competition. He has won 77 races in various dirt racing series including the Chili Bowl Nationals. Swindell is the son of three time World of Outlaws Sprint Car champion Sammy Swindell. Swindell owns and operates Swindell Speedlab, a clothing brand as well as Victory Fuel, a brand of flavored water.
Jerry Coons Jr. is an American racecar driver. He currently competes in the United States Auto Club sprint car, midget, and Silver Crown divisions. He is one of only six drivers to win the USAC Triple Crown, with championships in the USAC Sprint Car, Midget, and Silver Crown divisions. At the close of the 2017 season, Coons has 19 USAC Midget wins, 17 USAC Sprint Car wins, and 7 USAC Silver Crown wins.
Bradley "Brad" Riethmeyer is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He has raced in the United States Auto Club (USAC), NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and the ARCA Racing Series.