USAC NATIONAL MIDGETS MAKE 26th APPEARANCE at ANDERSON SPEEDWAY
By David Sink - Anderson IN April 1, 2008 - On Sunday afternoon April 6 the USAC National midget series will return to the high banks of Anderson Speedway with a huge field of midgets expected. The Ford Focus midgets will also share the bill capped off by a 50 lap feature for the National midgets.
Sunday's USAC National midget series event will be the 26th appearance for the National series to be contested here at Anderson. USAC National midget events at Anderson date all the way back to the inaugural appearance here on 6/10/60. A.J. Foyt would capture that first event less than two weeks removed from competing in his 3rd Indianapolis 500.
Incredibly through twenty-five events here there have only been two repeat winners. A.J. Foyt and Jay Drake each have claimed two wins during this forty-seven year span.
Midget racing at Anderson Speedway has played an important part in the tracks sixty-one year existence. The speedway was originally built to showcase midgets in 1948 when then owner Joe Helping decided to bring in AAA midgets on a weekly basis. At the time midget racing was the most popular sport in the country rivalling only major league baseball.
Speedways were being built all over the country in great numbers during this period. Midget racing could be found in virtually every part of the country seven days a week.
Soon the introduction of the hard top stock car sealed the fate for the popularity of the midget. Crowds across the country became fascinated with this new form of contact auto racing and Anderson Speedway, then Sun Valley Speedway, was no different. Helping decided to scrap weekly midget racing towards the end of the 1949 season in favour of the hard tops and roadsters while showcasing midgets in special events only.
Through the tracks sixty-one years midgets have continued to play an active role here at the speedway. Virtually every year there has been at least one midget event staged here at the speedway. Perhaps no other division can lay claim to this feat.
The 2008 season promises to once again showcase midgets in several special events. The USAC National, Regional, Focus, and Kenyon series will all compete here as will the UMRA TQ's. But perhaps the biggest news of the off season was the announcement that on July 24-26 the inaugural Anderson 400 Midget Classic will debut. This 400 lap midget event promises lots of excitement with live pitting in the infield and will be the world's richest pavement midget race. This event alone adds yet another chapter in the history books of midget racing here at Anderson Speedway.
ANDERSON SPEEDWAY ALL - TIME USAC NTL. MIDGET WINNERS
06/10/60 A.J.FOYT
07/08/60 GENE FORCE
08/05/60 GENE HARTLEY
06/09/61 CLIFF SPALDING
06/30/61 A.J.FOYT
09/13/63 JOHNY WHITE
09/17/65 BOBBY GRIM
05/11/79 BOB WENTE
09/07/79 STAN FOX
05/09/80 RICH VOGLER
05/08/81 JEFF NUCKLES
06/28/97 TRACY HINES
06/17/98 RICKY SHELTON
06/26/98 JIMMY MCCUNE
06/30/99 BRIAN GERSTER
04/02/00 JAY DRAKE
06/30/00 MICHAEL LEWIS
04/08/01 JERRY COONS JR.
09/29/01 BOBBY EAST
04/07/02 DAVE STEELE
09/28/02 DAVE DARLAND
07/30/03 JAY DRAKE
06/12/04 TEDDY BEACH
09/11/04 DAVID GOUGH
09/15/07 BRYAN CLAUSEN
For more information contact:
Anderson Speedway at:
765-642-0206
www.andersonspeedway.com
