1.
Quarter Midget racing
–
Quarter Midget racing is a form of automobile racing. The cars are one quarter the size of a full size midget car. The adult size midget being raced during the start of quarter midget racing, the childs quarter midget track is one quarter that length, or 1/20th mile. Most of the classes run speeds near 45 miles per hour. Current upper class quarter midgets can exceed 45 miles per hour, the drivers are typically restricted to ages 5 to 16. Tracks are typically banked ovals one-twentieth of a long, and have a surface of dirt, concrete. Quarter Midgets have been around in one form or another since before World War II, There were over 4,000 quarter midget drivers in the United States in 2007. Many of todays most recognizable names in racing got their start in quarter midgets, foyt, Jeff Gordon, Sarah Fisher, Jimmy Vasser, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Terry Labonte, and Bobby Labonte to name a few. On the west coast, Capitol Quarter Midget Association has operated a track for quarter midgets since 1954. Jeff Gordon raced at Capitol Quarter Midget Association Quarter midget cars can be reasonably affordable or can cost nearly as much as some full-sized racing cars, engines can cost from $400 to $9,000. Car chassis can cost from $1,500 up to $6,000, There are many brands of cars as well as custom cars made by individuals. Cars are covered by body panels which are made of fiberglass, aluminum, engine costs have driven a number of changes over the years. As the cost of the Deco engine platform continued to rise, the move from Deco to Honda was first highlighted by an exhibition race at the 1988 Western Grands in Pueblo, Colorado. Attempts to put the Deco/Continental engines back into production failed, later problems with Honda engine revisions and parts tolerances led to the adoption of Briggs & Stratton engines as a cost effective engine platform. This adoption has come in the form of both the World Formula and Briggs Animal engines, USAC started using Animal engines in 2010. The QMA planned to introduce the Animal engine platform beginning in 2012, USAC includes the Animal and Honda platforms. USAC has recently discarded of the deco platform excluding the Mods, USAC also introduced the Light and Heavy modified World Formula for 2017. Red & Blue Rookie, Jr. Novice & Sr. Novice - Honda 120 Jr. Honda - Honda 120 Sr. Honda - Honda 120 Hvy
2.
King Midget
–
King Midget was a micro car produced between 1946 and 1970 by the Midget Motors Corporation. Although the company started out by offering a kit to build the car, they soon added completely-assembled cars, company founders Claud Dry and Dale Orcutt first sold the King Midget as part of their Midget Motors Supply operations in Athens, Ohio. By 1948, they began to use the name Midget Motors Manufacturing Co. too, in about 1956, Dry and Orcutt changed the name of their company to Midget Motors Corporation. Midget Motors primary methods of advertising their cars were through small advertisements in magazines that appealed to home mechanics. The ads were tiny but effective, they showed a midget car, some of the magazines featured articles about the car and several pictured the car on their front cover. This method of direct selling continued for most of the life of the company, the first generation King Midget was a single-passenger kit designed to resemble a midget racer. The kit included the chassis, axles, steering assembly, springs, instruction manual, plus dimensioned patterns for the sheet metal and it would accept any one-cylinder engine. By 1947, the Model 1 was also available in assembled form, since adding a differential would have increased the cost, the car was driven by the right rear wheel only. It used a clutch designed by Orcutt. The pair began to develop a micro car in 1947. In total, nine separate prototypes were built until the designers met their goals of simplicity, lightness, the result was the Model 2. With a 72 in wheelbase, it measured only 102 in overall, the Model 2 was still a very basic car, it had no speedometer or reverse, but it was light, strong, and available for just $500. In 1955, a model of the Model 2 was introduced. It lasted through 1957, with the price remaining under $550, by contrast, a four-passenger 1952 Crosley CD sedan could be had, fully assembled, for $943, and a wagon as low as $1002. Soon after the Model 2 was in production, the company began to offer the option of an automatic transmission that included a reverse. This transmission, developed and patented by Orcutt and Dry, was soon to be included as standard equipment and was used on all subsequent models, in the 1950s, Midget Motors developed the Junior and Trainer. Both designs were tube-framed motorized four-wheelers that were forerunners of the go-karts, the Junior was powered by a 2.5 hp Briggs & Stratton engine, while the Trainer used a 3 hp Briggs and Stratton. Both had a clutch with a geared, reverse transmission in the drive train
3.
MG Midget
–
The MG Midget is a small two-seater sports car that was produced by MG from 1961 to 1979. It revived a name that had used on earlier models such as the MG M-type, MG D-type, MG J-type. The first version announced at the end of June 1961 was essentially a more expensive badge-engineered version of the MkII Austin-Healey Sprite. Many existing MG enthusiast and buyers turned to the Sprite to provide a modern low-cost sports car, mechanically the car was identical to its Austin-Healey counterpart, retaining the rear suspension using quarter-elliptic leaf springs and trailing arms from the Frogeye. The engine was a 948 cc A-Series with twin SU carburettors producing 46 hp at 5500 rpm and 53 lb·ft at 3000 rpm, brakes were 7-inch drums all round. A hard top, heater, radio and luggage rack were available as factory-fitted extras. In October 1962 the engine was increased to 1098 cc, raising the output to 56 hp at 5500 rpm and 62 lb·ft at 3250 rpm, the doors had no external handles or locks and the windows were sliding Perspex side-screens. A heater was an optional extra, production was 16,080 of the small-engined version and 9601 of the 1098. A car with the 948 cc engine was tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1962 and had a top speed of 87.9 mph, a fuel consumption of 40.2 miles per imperial gallon was recorded. The test car cost £689 including taxes on the UK market, externally the main changes were to the doors, which gained wind-up windows, swivelling quarter lights, external handles and separate locks. The windscreen also gained a slight curvature and was retained in a substantial frame. The hood, though modified, continued to have a frame that had to be erected before the cover was put on. The rear springs were replaced by more conventional semi-elliptic types which gave a better ride, the engine block was strengthened and larger main bearings were fitted, increasing the power to 59 hp at 5750 rpm and torque to 65 lb·ft at 3500 rpm. A total of 26,601 were made, the engine now grew to 1275 cc using the development seen on the Mini-Cooper S. Enthusiasts were disappointed that this was a version of the 76 bhp at 5800 rpm Cooper S engine. A reduced compression ratio of 8.8,1 was used instead of the 9.75,1 employed on the Cooper S engine. The detuned engine was used for reasons of model range placement – with the Cooper S spec engine, the hydraulic system gained a separate master cylinder for the clutch. The hood was now attached to the car, with an improved mechanism making it much easier to use
4.
Tony Stewart
–
Anthony Wayne Tony Stewart is an American former professional stock car racing driver and NASCAR team owner. He is a three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion as a driver, in 2011 Stewart had an ownership interest in the team. He won again as an owner with Kevin Harvicks title in 2014, throughout his racing career, Stewart has won racing titles in Indy, midget, sprint, and USAC Silver Crown cars. He is the driver in history to win a championship in both IndyCar and NASCAR. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No.14 Chevrolet SS for his own team, Stewart-Haas Racing, under crew chief Mike Bugarewicz. From 1999 to 2008, he drove the No.20 Joe Gibbs Racing car, while driving for car owner Joe Gibbs, Stewart won two Cup Series championships in 2002 and 2005. In 2011, Stewart became the first owner-driver since Alan Kulwicki to win the Cup Series championship, which ended Jimmie Johnsons streak of consecutive championships at five. Stewart is the driver to win the Cup Series championship under the old points system and the chase playoff format. He is also the first driver in the Cup Series to win the championship by virtue of a tie breaker. The Stewart-Haas owned No.4 car driven by Kevin Harvick won the Cup in 2014, giving Stewart his first win as solely an owner, Stewart was born in Columbus, Indiana, on May 20,1971, attended Columbus North High School and graduated in 1989. Stewart has a younger sister Natalie who has two children, Emma and Will and his father Nelson Stewart is still single but his mother Pamela Marshall remarried when Tony was still in high school. He grew up racing go karts and was very early. Stewart was the USAC Rookie of the Year in 1991, USAC National Midget Series Champion in 1994 and 1995, and USAC Silver Crown Series champion in 1995. In 1995, Stewart became the first driver to win USACs version of the Triple Crown and his winning the Hut Hundred and 4-Crown Nationals were the highlights of the year. When he was not racing IndyCars, he raced stock cars, in 1996, Stewart made his NASCAR Busch Series debut, driving for car owner Harry Rainer. In nine races, he had a best finish of 16th place and he had more success in a one-time ride in the Craftsman Truck Series with Mueller Brothers racing, where he finished 10th. Stewart was poised to improve his Indy Racing League standing in 1997 and he failed to finish the first three races of a ten race schedule, but recovered to come in second at Phoenix. At that years Indy 500, Stewarts car was enough to enable him to win his first IRL race
5.
Chili Bowl (race)
–
The Chili Bowl Midget Nationals is an indoor midget car racing event. It takes place at the Tulsa Expo Center in January, two weeks after Christmas, NASCAR calls it the biggest Midget race of the year. It is nicknamed the Super Bowl of midget racing, the inaugural Chili Bowl is organized by Lanny Edwards and partner Emmett Hahn It was named after a local company who sponsored the first event. The race has hosted at the Tulsa Expo Center since it was founded in 1987. The 1994 event featured a battle for the lead between Jones brothers, P. J. and Page and eventual winner Andy Hillenburg from nearby Broken Arrow. The inaugural 1987 event consisted of 52 midgets competing in the 2-day event, the event now consists of four days of qualifiers for the Saturday night A-main event. One quarter of the drivers compete in each qualifying nights event, each qualifying night has heat races, dash-type events, and a 25 lap feature. Drivers who finish poorly in their event in their qualifying night start deep in final night qualifying events and have to finish high in many events to make the A-main field. A driver who started in the lowest J event would have to high in I, H, G, F, E, D, C. The Top 4 finishers in the qualifying nights feature event plus the top 4 finishers the two Saturday night B-main events progress into the 24 car feature field, the cable channel Speed Channel has televised the event in the United States. The 2008 Saturday night main event was televised on HBO On Demand and it featured a record 286 entries. The National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame uses the event to induct its next class of members, the event is held at the Tulsa Expo Center, the home of The Golden Driller. It accommodates hundreds of cars, bleachers for 15,000 fans. The clay which once covered the adjacent fairgrounds is used for the event, the quarter mile indoor track is not affected by adverse weather or drying from the wind or sun. Drivers in other series who come from a midget car background frequently race in the event. The 2007 competitors included NASCAR drivers Tony Stewart, Justin Allgaier, J. J. Yeley, A. J. J. Foyt IV, Tom Bigelow and Billy Boat, drivers in 2008 came from 29 American states, Canada, and Australia. USAC Triple Crown winner Dave Darland said, Youve got guys all over the world. New Zealand, Australia, NASCAR, NHRA, Indy Cars -- you know, theres just all sorts of different competition there, the A-Main feature is a 55 lap event
6.
Angell Park Speedway
–
Angell Park Speedway has a 1/3 mile dirt racetrack located in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. The track has been run by the fire department since 1903. Racing occurs every Sunday approximately Memorial Day until Labor Day, special racing events and the weather may alter the schedule. The races were sanctioned by the Badger Midget Auto Racing Association, some events are co-sanctioned by the United States Automobile Club. BMARA sanctions several midget car events at other nearby tracks, the World of Outlaws held their first sprint car races at the track in August 2016. In addition to the racetrack, the facility features the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame, a pavilion, the park was built by the Sun Prairie community on September 18,2007 and was dedicated on October 7,2007. The project was led by Sun Prairie residents Rebecca Ketelson and Anita Holcomb, leathers and Associates was the project architect. The track is known for its midget car races, which began racing in 1936. As of the 2008 season, it is the track in the United States to host weekly midget car races. The track was closed between 1942 and 1945, since all racing in the United States was halted during World War II, night racing at Angell Park began May 29,1949. With the lights installed, Kelly Peters of Lake Forest, IL set fast time, won his heat and captured the first feature race run under the lights. From that point forward, weekly Sunday night racing has been held at the facility except for a few shortened seasons for minor contract disputes in the late 1960s, the Angell Park Speedway board and the sanctioning body BMARA had a fall out before the 2010 season. The track ran its own sanction during May 2010, at the end of the month weekly track operation halted for the 2010 season except for special events. Some midget car drivers come from New Zealand and Australia during their countrys winter to race during the United States summer between May and September, the 2008 season featured Michael Pickens from Auckland, New Zealand and Matt Smith from Newcastle, Australia. Official website BMARA official website list of BMARA champions
7.
Multi-cylinder engine
–
For multiple-cylinder steam engines, see Compound steam engine and Triple-expansion steam engine A multi-cylinder engine is a reciprocating internal combustion engine with multiple cylinders. It can be either a 2-stroke or 4-stroke engine, and can be either Diesel or spark-ignition, the cylinders and the crankshaft which is driven by and co-ordinates the motion of the pistons can be configured in a wide variety of ways. Typically, the more cylinders an engine has, the higher the RPMs it can attain for a displacement and technology level, at a cost of increased friction losses. Peak torque is reduced, but the total horsepower is increased due to the higher RPMs attained. Although there are 1,3 and 5-cylinder engines, almost all other engines are built with even numbers of cylinders. Another form of internal combustion engine is the radial engine. Twin-row or multi-row radials are also built, which is two or more single-row radials connected front-to-back and driving a common crankshaft. In this twin row, or multi-row configuration, the number of cylinders will be an even number. For example, a single row radial such as the Wright Cyclone has 9 cylinders. The twin row Wright Twin Cyclone is based on this engine, configurations of two-cylinder engines include, Straight-twin engine, or parallel twin with two cylinders in parallel sharing a crankshaft. V-twin engine, or V2 engine, two cylinders in V configuration, sharing a crankshaft, flat-twin engine, a flat engine with 2 opposed cylinders on the same crankshaft angled 180° to each other. Configurations of three-cylinder engines include, Straight-three engine, also called the inline-triple, inline-3, or I-3 engine, v3 engine, seen on some two-stroke racing motorcycles. W engine with three cylinders, such as the Anzani 3-cylinder fan engines, configurations of four-cylinder engines include, the most common 4-cylinder engine Inline-four engine, an engine with 4 cylinders in a straight line. V4 engine, an engine with 4 cylinders arranged in a V configuration, flat-four engine, a flat engine with 4 cylinders horizontally opposed to each other at 180° apart. Square four engine, two banks of 2 cylinders, each driving a single crankshaft and geared to an output shaft. Configurations of five-cylinder engines include, Straight-five engine, an engine with 5 cylinders in a straight line, vR5 engine, an engine with 5 cylinders staggered slightly, allowing cylinder bore centerlines to be closer together, reducing overall engine length. Configurations of six-cylinder engines include, V6 engine, a V engine with six cylinders, vR6 engine, a compromise between a V6 and straight-6 engine, shorter than a straight-6 and narrower than a V-6. Straight-six engine, an engine with six cylinders aligned in a straight line, flat-six engine, a flat engine with two banks of 3 cylinders horizontally opposed at 180° apart
8.
Roll cage
–
There are many different roll cage designs depending on the application, hence different racing organizations have differing specifications and regulations. They also help to stiffen the chassis, which is desirable in racing applications, a roll bar is a single bar behind the driver that provides moderate roll-over protection. Due to the lack of a top, some modern convertibles utilize a strong windscreen frame acting as a roll bar. Also, a roll hoop may be placed behind both headrests, which is essentially a roll bar spanning the width of a passengers shoulders. A newer form of protection, pioneered on the Mercedes-Benz R129 in 1989, is deployable roll hoops that are normally hidden within the body of a car. When sensors detect an imminent rollover, the roll hoops quickly extend, cars that have a deployable rollover protection system include the Peugeot 307 CC, Volvo C70, Mercedes-Benz SL500, and Jaguar XK. Roll bars are also used historically on row crop tractors, roll over protection structure Active rollover protection
9.
Kurtis Kraft
–
Kurtis Kraft was an American designer and builder of race cars. The company built cars, quartermidgets, sports cars, sprint cars, Bonneville cars. It was founded by Frank Kurtis when he built his own midget car chassis in the late 1930s, Kurtis built some very low fiberglass bodied two-seaters sports cars under his own name in Glendale, California between 1949 and 1955. About 36 cars had made when the licence was sold to Madman Muntz who built the Muntz Jet. In 1954 and 1955, road versions of their Indianapolis racers were offered, Kurtis Kraft created over 550 ready-to-run midget cars, and 600 kits. The Kurtis Kraft chassis midget car featured a version of the Offenhauser motor. The National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame describes the combination as virtually unbeatable for over twenty years, Kurtis Kraft also created 120 Indianapolis 500 cars, including five winners. Kurtis sold the midget car portion of the business to Johnny Pawl in the late 1950s, Frank Kurtis was the first non-driver inducted in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame. Zeke Justice and Ed Justice of the Justice Brothers both worked at Kurtis-Kraft after World War II, zeke Justice was the first employee at Kurtis-Kraft. The FIA World Drivers Championship included the Indianapolis 500 between 1950 and 1960, so many Kurtis Kraft cars are credited with competing in that championship, One Kurtis midget car was also entered in the 1959 Formula One United States Grand Prix driven by Rodger Ward. It was not designed for European-style road racing and with an engine it circulated at the back of the field for 20 laps before retiring with clutch problems. From 1950 to 1960, the Indianapolis 500 was part of the FIA World Championship
