23 replies to this topic

[HistoricMustang]

A search found nothing on Micro Midgets. A friend provided this photograph of circa - 1963 perhaps. What was the good, the bad and the ugly on these vehicles and was it just a Southern (US) adventure that was a "flash in the pan"?

Henry

[philippe charuest]

you didnt find anything cause in the usa the usual appellation is "quarter midget" and "half midget " . i thinq that those class are as old as the USAC and still exist

[Terry Walker]

TQ (Three quarter midget) speedway racing boomed in Australia in the 1960s, at least here in Western Australia. Some were front-engined, like tiny sprint cars, but for the rest think Cooper-500 style cars specifically designed for speedway racing. There were clubs and tracks throughout this State. Most used motorcycle engines.

The early ones were a touch basic, like this 1962 example:



A number of TQ drivers took their cars to the bitumen, and several evolved into smart little rear-engined racers.

Today the name is micro-midget, and although the big boom is over, the class is well entrenched.

[petefenelon]

Derek Bennett's first car in the mid/late fifties (the PRM - Pendleton Racing Motors) was a midget of similar style to those. (i.e. looking rather like a somewhat cruder 500cc F3).

Some years later, Dastle used to make midgets, which I seem to recall were of the 'looks like a small American sprint car' front-engined variety, before moving into FFord/F3. (Hesketh were an early Dastle F3 user, IIRC?)

Midgets clearly lasted for over a decade in the UK, and I think limped on into the 70s...

[MPea3]

The cars in the photograph are based on quarter midgets, but given the size of the drivers, they'd be half midgets unless they're running as an outlaw class at an independent club somewhere. 1963 looks about right for those cars, and at that time there were tracks all over the country, running under QMA sanction as well as independently of any sanctioning body. Quarter Midget of America rules dictate a maximum driver age of 15, while half midget drivers can be older. In recent years, half midget racing is just about extinct, with the possible exception of in Syracuse, NY, which uses an oversize track out of normal QMA spec.

Micro midgets these days are also called modified midgets, and are mini-sprint car looking things which usually have either 250 or 600 cc motors. The term midget and some variation on the term has meant just about anything one can imagine over time though. Current micro midgets look like this.

Interestingly enough, full midget racing was quite popular in Atlanta just after WW2, although the exact location is a bit unclear. There is mention of midget racing at a track on Fair Street, but there were 2 Fair Streets in Atlanta, one just west of the Lakewood Fairgrounds (and the Lakewood Speedway), with the other a couple of miles west of the downtown area.

True quarter and half midget racing came to Atlanta in about 1970, to a 1/20 mile asphalt track just west of Powder Springs, GA. That track was replaced by a concrete track in 1990 just behind the Cobb County Jail in Marietta, followed by a 2nd track in the Cumming, Georgia fairgrounds in 1995. The Atlanta track was lost to County building expansion in the late 90's, while the Cuimming track continues running. Earlier tracks in the Southeast included Irondale, Alabama (near Birmingham) and Jacksonville, Florida.

By the way, the car in front in your picture looks like an early 60's Curtis , before roll cages were required.

Modern day quarter midgets look like this.

[Jim Thurman]

Originally posted by HistoricMustang
A search found nothing on Micro Midgets. A friend provided this photograph of circa - 1963 perhaps. What was the good, the bad and the ugly on these vehicles and was it just a Southern (US) adventure that was a "flash in the pan"?

Nope, definitely not just Southern and definitely not a "flash in the pan", the name was changed from Micro Midget to Modified Midget. I'm not sure exactly when, but by the 1970's. The national association is celebrating it's 50th year in 2006:

http://www.nmmaracers.com/default.htm

The site has links to history, rules, list of national champions, etc.

And despite the NMMA, there has always been a fair amount of this type of racing done by unaffiliated clubs.

Oklahoma is an area that I am aware of being a strong hold (at least some of the top drivers were from Oklahoma and used to trek to California's San Joaquin Valley on occasion), but there are widely scattered pockets of activity all around the country. In California, there have been some very far flung pockets, usually in more rural towns. To give an idea, one track was carved out in an almond orchard South of San Jose and another was behind a feed store. Easy to do when an 1/8 to 1/10 mile dirt oval is the norm. The class has raced on pavement, but it's much less common. There was a small club run dirt oval just a short distance from the Sears Point Raceway entrance.

Another thing that adds to confusion is much of this type of racing has been renamed "Mini Sprint" racing. Mini Sprints is a very loose term that is applied to a type of car using engines ranging from 250cc all the way up to 4 cylinder motors, including what is basically a T.Q. Midget (got all that?;) ). For example, "Mini Sprints" in Texas were 750-850cc (like T.Q. Midgets in California and Indiana), "Mini Sprints" in Northern Nevada/Northern California used 4 cylinder engines and "Mini Sprints" in Central California were 250cc-500cc classes (Modified Midgets).

[Jim Thurman]

I'm sorry, I hadn't seen MPea3's post before sending mine. He covers the situation well. I'm not sure one way or the other whether the cars in the photo are 1/2 Midgets or Micro Midgets. In seeing early photos of T.Q. Midgets when they began in California, they looked similar as well. The early years of each class looked remarkably similar.

Thanks MPea3 for your excellent post, I'm sorry mine was redundant for the most part.

1/2 Midgets indeed were for teenagers and older. There were a few drivers that raced 1/2 Midgets in Southern California that graduated to Champ Car racing. There used to be a 1/2 Midget club track across from the Harvey Aluminum plant near Torrance (I think that company name might ring a bell). 1/2 Midget racing had died out in Southern California before I was old enough to pay close attention. It was only in going through one particular Southern California racing paper from 1965 that I ran across items on 1/2 Midget racing and tracks.

And thanks to Pete and Terry for their posts on Midget racing on opposite sides of the oceans.

[MPea3]

Also, this old home made dirt car and this car both are on ebay right now. Both have the correct Continental/Deco engine normally found in almost all quarter midgets before Honda engines were introduced in 1995. Most half midgets used a 125cc motor, either 2 or 4 stroke.

Aah, memories. In 1994 my older son raced on 37 weekends in a quarter midget... now he's getting ready to graduate froom college and go on to grad school in math. DAMN do I feel old!

[HistoricMustang]

Just a quick side note for documentation.

The track in photograph was 1/8 mile in length and dedicated solely for micro-midgets.

Thanks to all for helping put this information "down on paper".

Henry

[HistoricMustang]

May 1960 information on Micro - Midget specifications.

Quote:

"Micro-Midget Racing Cars are of the same basic design as Indianapolis and Dirt Track Sprint Cars, only on a scale down proportion - average weight for car and driver is 480 pounds.

Engines are usually converted motorcycle units, however some water cooled outboard engines have been used very successfully.

Before each race all cars are safety checked for oil leaks, brakes, parts or components subject to failing on the track. Tires and driver qualification."

A great photograph accompanies the above information but quality will not allow reproduction. Sorry.

Henry

[MPea3]

Looking at the radius of the inside of the corner, 1/8 mile certainly looks more believable than the 1/20 mile tracks we used to race on... they had an inside radius of 16 feet!

No walls on the outside for crowd protection... on skinny tires with a fairly wide track, I suppose that was okay. In the worst case one could jump out of the way! On our tracks where we turned lap times in the mid 5 second range, with accelerometer readings in the corner of 2.5 Gs, and with kids driving, walls were a necessity. I'll never forget one of the fathers foolishly running out onto the track to help a car before everyone had stopped fora red flag... almost being hit, Pancho Carter yelled out to him "Keep it up and you'll walk like me". Great times.

Neat pic Henry. Any more?

[WGD706]

Just north-west of Orlando, there used to be a Mid-Florida Quarter Midget Racing Association track at Clarcona Horseman's Park..
Tony Renna began his racing career at age 6 in mini-sprints, karts, micro-sprints and quarter midgets in which he earned 252 wins and two National Quarter Midget championships at this track.
I believe that the track has now been closed down.
http://quartermidget..._Page.asp?ID=58

[MPea3]

Originally posted by WGD706
Just north-west of Orlando, there used to be a Mid-Florida Quarter Midget Racing Association track at Clarcona Horseman's Park..
Tony Renna began his racing career at age 6 in mini-sprints, karts, micro-sprints and quarter midgets in which he earned 252 wins and two National Quarter Midget championships at this track.
I believe that the track has now been closed down.
http://quartermidget..._Page.asp?ID=58

With the unstable land that track was built upon, it had a lumpy surface. My son used to describe that track as being like a "roller coaster". It was in Apopka.

Renna was just finishing up when we began, and his father was helpful to us at our first out of town race. Nice guy. It was heartbreaking when Tony died. Jimmy Kite was also finishing up about that time, and his family was also a great help to us in the the early years. We also got to watch Reed Sorenson come along from the age of 6 and race against him.

[HistoricMustang]

Originally posted by MPea3


Neat pic Henry. Any more?

Let me work with the one mentioned above to try and get quality up. It is a great period photo from 1960.

Thanks for all the information!

Sorry to say the track shown in photo has recently been removed. At least it is for a public school and we are working with the local "Board of Education" to document this track, plus the kart track and a section of the former NHRA drag strip that is being removed for the school project.

Perhaps the "smoking area" at the new school will carry a Marker telling the young folks what took place where they are hanging out.

Henry

[WGD706]

Originally posted by MPea3


With the unstable land that track was built upon, it had a lumpy surface. My son used to describe that track as being like a "roller coaster". It was in Apopka.

I actually live about 5 or 6 miles south of that area and 'unstable land' is putting it mildly. We've had so many sink-holes in the last few months that the county is starting to look more like the lunar surface.
I took my kids up to the track on many Friday and Saturday nights to watch the action. Couldn't get the girls interested.
Warren

[WGD706]

Originally posted by MPea3


With the unstable land that track was built upon, it had a lumpy surface. My son used to describe that track as being like a "roller coaster". It was in Apopka.

Just out of curiosity, I took a short drive up there and the only remaining structure that had been a part of the quarter midget track is the building that housed the offices and timing/scoring. The rest has been converted over to stables, exercise rings and show rings for horses.

[Antoine Pilette]

Saw this one with Walt, last year at Naples FL

[VWV]

Now we know what kind of car we saw! At the time neither Antoine or myself could identify it.

It's hard to believe its been a year since the Collier visit. I'm looking forward to seeing your pics from your upcoming trip to Monaco this year Antoine.

[Joe Nix]

CAR CRAFT 1957 December has a 12 page article with photos, "Quarter Midget Buyer's Guide".

My ex and I watched them race a couple of times in Marlboro Massachusetts circa 1960-61.

CAR CRAFT 1958 April has an article "350 young drivers participate in 1957 Quarter Midget Nationals in Phoenix Arizona"

[Terry Walker]

Not a great pic, but this was taken at the shortlived Clontarf circuit in Perth Western Australia on 18 February 1962, showing the crowded start grid of a TQ (micro midget) race.

Car 4 on the right has the proper midget car shape, the others are a little more agricultural. There was a period when practically every reasonable sized country town had a TQ club and a track.

[Buford]

I had the first Quarter midget in the Midwest in 1954. My father bought it from California where they were racing them after he saw the photos in Popular Mechanics Magazine. My car was built in Hemet California by an orange farmer. The second one for my brother was delayed while he had to pick oranges. I was 7 1/2 when we got it. My brother age 3 also drove it the first night it arrived, nearly causing a divorce. My mother was trapped up in the grandstand and her men were all stark raving crazy.

My father bought it as an advertising stunt to use at intermission at the stock car races to try to defuse the unpopularity our team had for winning all the time. It caused a sensation that first night we took it to the track in primer directly from the airport. We didn't intend to run it, but all action stopped in the pits when they saw it, they got it started, and for the first time in my life I heard my name announced over a race track PA system, to report to the pit gate. We ran it out on the track, delaying the evening’s race schedule for nearly an hour, and there were thunderous boos from the crowd when we finally had to stop so they could run the stock cars. The car created a massive sensation. Nobody had ever seen anything like it before. Everybody was measuring it, and asking where to get one, and by the next year there were enough in the Chicago area to begin racing them.

The half midgets came a few years later, so older early teens could still drive. We had both Quarters and Halves in our club. The next step up was Micro midgets, big enough for adults, and then the TQ’s. I don’t think I ever saw Micro Midgets in the Midwest, but they did have some TQ’s.

[A E Anderson]

Originally posted by Buford
I

The half midgets came a few years later, so older early teens could still drive. We had both Quarters and Halves in our club. The next step up was Micro midgets, big enough for adults, and then the TQ’s. I don’t think I ever saw Micro Midgets in the Midwest, but they did have some TQ’s.

Micro's did indeed run in the Midwest, Buford, at Lake Cicott, IN to be exact. I believe there were a couple of other tracks as well.

Former USAC Midget Champion, and 1977 Indianapolis 500 co-Rooke Of The Year (shared with Rcik Mears) Larry Rice cut his racing teeth in his HS and early college years driving his dad's Micro Midget at Lake Cicott.

Lake Cicott and the race track are on US 24, about halfway between Logansport and Monticello, Indiana. The track is still active, Mini-Sprints run there all summer long.

Art Anderson

[HistoricMustang]

AIRPS has received this request for information. Can any of the TNF members help?

Henry

My dad ran Micro Migets in the 50's & 60's out of Leesburg FL.
They ran in GA, NC, & SC.
I have 3 Nascar Collectibles Shops in TN and just opened a Hot Dog shop with Robert Pressley and would like to make a wall with old pics of Mirco's.
When we were kids my brother and myself cut all the trophies up to use the cars on top to race with.
His name was William (wild Bill)H Burton and his cars name was Slow Poke #00
If anyone can help it would be nice.
Thanks Steve

[HistoricMustang]

Sand Bar Ferry track in Augusta, Georgia circa mid sixties.



Augusta International Speedway just five miles from the Sand Bar Ferry track, same time.



Documentation only, no information on drivers or cars..............sorry!

Henry