2008 Quarter Midget News
USAC POINT 25 IN NATIONAL SPEED SPORT NEWS
By Bob Gates Speed Sport News
USAC's new Point 25 program was featured in this week's National Speed Sport News.
When Kevin Miller took the reins at USAC less than a year ago, he stated that change would occur with a new focus and a new approach. Not straying from that concept, on Sept. 19 a somewhat surprising announcement was made.
USAC will be sanctioning quarter-midget racing in 2009. While perhaps not a racing-world shaking proclamation, it was somewhat unique. It would be akin to the World of Outlaws announcing that it's adding go-karts to its sanctioning efforts or NASCAR adding Thunder Cars to develop talent.
It's an established fact that quarter-midget racing is an excellent way for children to acquire racing skills. Accomplished drivers such as Pancho Carter, Johnny Parsons, Jr., Jeff Gordon, Robbie Stanley, Ryan Newman, and Bobby and Terry Labonte to name only a few, got their start in the diminutive open-wheel cars.
USAC, however, is the first major sanctioning body to officially recognize this potential and to make them an integral part of its organization. This decision emphasizes how the USAC leadership has made a determined commitment to tap into and grow its fan base with the youth movement that is currently permeating all of auto racing. Never in the history of the sport have there been so many young people involved in the upper echelons of racing. USAC, NASCAR, Indy Car — even Formula One — have drivers who are still in their teens yet competing and winning on a routine basis.
Capitalizing on this phenomenon has been USAC's plan from the time its new leadership took over. And quarter midgets, or Point 25 Midgets as USAC now identifies them, have been a part of that thinking from nearly that time.
"Honestly, when Kevin and I came in last December, the quarter midgets weren't something that was immediately on our agenda," states Jason Smith, USAC vice president of race operations. "But by about February, we started thinking about them. After all, when you look at the whole inventory of USAC racing, quarter midgets are really a natural fit."
What USAC has done with its latest move is to slip the last rung of the ladder into place that would allow aspiring drivers to begin and then climb to the pinnacle of their careers within USAC. They could start with the Point 25 Midgets and make a natural progression to the new, still being developed Gold Crown Series that will run aerodynamic cars on high-speed ovals as well as road courses for substantial amounts of prize money.
"We have the quarter midgets in place and the Gold Crown Series moving forward," remarks Smith. "With that, an aspiring racer could begin racing in Point 25 midgets when they're five, move to the Junior Ford Focus cars when they're 12; at 14 to the full-blown, Ford Focus midgets, then when they're 16, move into one of the national series — sprint car, midgets, the Silver Crown cars — and then into the Gold Crown Series."
USAC Development Director James Spink was assigned to put the new Point 25 series together and to administrate its launch, an opportunity Spink is obviously excited about. He realizes that his new, entry-level series very well could be the foundation for a new USAC that will provide a clear career path with an obtainable destination for drivers.
"When the quarter-midget folks saw the new directions and new focus USAC was taking," explains Spink about the groundwork laid for the Point 25 series, "many clubs began coming to us and encouraging us to get more involved with quarter midgets. And then, as we laid out the structure, they were even more enthused with where we were headed." The structure USAC has established with the Point 25 midgets is national in scope. The country is quartered into regional divisions; the East Coast, West Coast, Midwest and Mountain. Each area will compete for a district championship, and then there will be a big, season-ending race to establish a national champion. The details of this special event are on going and are expected to be released by Thanksgiving.
"We've already added five established quarter-midget clubs," says Spink about the positive reaction to and the quick growth of the new series. "And we're talking to others daily. Club presidents are gathering information and taking it back to their membership so they can vote on establishing a charter with USAC. There is a tremendous amount of interest out there in what we're doing and about the potential this new series has."
Promotion will be key in establishing the Point 25 midgets as a legitimate part of the USAC hierarchy. There has already been, and will continue to be, many cross-promotional events between the Point 25 series and the other USAC National Series. In some instances, the small cars will run on the same race dates with the larger cars. "We want to make the tie in between the Point 25 series and our other series," explains Smith. "Our long-term vision is to have a large, vibrant, growing USAC with a single focus from all its various entities."
Because of the proliferation of young drivers, some have criticized USAC of late for becoming an organization that panders to rich daddies who can buy winning rides for their kids. Nothing could be further from the truth.
USAC is indeed striving to tap the huge resource in young people by providing legitimate racing opportunities, but it's also establishing rules to make its individual series cost effective.
The future certainly appears promising for a racer entering USAC at the entry level in 2009: A true career path with an obtainable destination, an opportunity to spend an entire career with a single racing organization.
And, with the work and effort USAC is putting into its "destination series," is it possible that today's young guns could be lining up for an Indianapolis 500 in a field of 33 high-speed, designed for large-ovals Gold Crown cars?
In today's ever changing racing world, nothing is beyond the realm of probability.