History of Midget Race Cars

Midget race cars are one of the oldest, and still most popular, categories of auto racing in America and around the world. Although tiny, they are driven by full-size drivers, and many famous NASCAR drivers got their start racing midgets.

  1. Midget Specifications

    • Midget cars, also known as "sprint cars" or "dwarf cars," have a 72-inch wheel base and use four-cylinder engines with horsepower averaging 300 to 350. Because of their short length and squat size, they can be dangerous and prone to rollovers. Therefore, all midgets are now required to have roll cages. Midget races are much shorter than those of other automobile classifications and can be anywhere from 2 1/2 to 25 miles. The Quarter Midget, an even smaller version used for youth racing, is used by drivers from ages 5 to 16.

    Early History

    • Midget race cars first became popular in California in the 1930s. Although Gilmore Stadium in Los Angeles claimed to have "invented" midget racing, the first known official race was held Aug. 10, 1933, at Loyola High School in Los Angeles. Loyola continued to hold races until the following May, when Gilmore Stadium opened. A weekly racing program was held at Gilmore by the Midget Auto Racing Association. These weekly races would continue until 1950, when Gilmore was sold and demolished to make way for CBS Television City.

    Spreading Popularity

    • The popularity of midget racing spread quickly across the United States. The first known midget competition outside of California took place in July of 1934 at the Blue Mound racetrack in Wisconsin, which usually featured dog racing. The Badger Midget Auto Racing Association (BMARA) from that state was created in 1936 and remains the oldest sanctioning body in the United States.

      Many early races used board tracks (wood planked oval tracks used for motorcycle races), but soon hundreds of tracks were being created specifically for midget cars. Midget racing also became popular in other countries, especially Australia and New Zealand, where "speedcar" racing remains a crowd-pleaser.