By Dick Jordan
The 2010 USAC Regional and USAC/WOMS Midget Series debut this Saturday at the Columbus (Ohio) Motor Speedway.
Saturday’s race honors the memory of the late USAC Sprint and Midget racer who passed away at age 20 in 2007. Pruett, of Carefree, Ariz., impressed many USAC participants and officials with his infectious smile, cooperative attitude and courteous demeanor on his way to second place in the 2007 USAC Regional Midget Series standings and left us at much too early an age. During the 2007 season Alex notched 17 top ten finishes , including two wins, three seconds and three thirds. He was on the podium in all of the last four races of the year on his way to second in the championship points. In the final race of his career he finished tenth in the national midget race at Anderson Ind., his only national start in 2007.
Kyle Hamilton of Danville, Ind. is the reigning USAC Regional Midget Champion and nearly pulled off a sweep of last September’s USAC National Midget/Ford Focus Midget doubleheader at the third-mile Columbus oval.
The Columbus race kicks off a 13-race Regional and six-race WOMS calendar. Champions of the Wolverine Outlaw Midget Series (WOMS) were Gary Harrell (2003), Ike Beasley (2004), Nick Mitchell (2005 and 2006), Chris Hettinger (2007) and Doug Dietsch (2008 and 2009). Dietsch won last year’s title by a single point over Jim Anderson.