By Dick Jordan
The USAC HPD Midwest Midget Thunder series is pleased to announce plans for the upcoming race season. The series is planning a schedule of dirt and asphalt races in 2015, with a goal of expanding on the previous focus as a developmental series to involve grass roots racers seeking a cost effective formula for midget racing.
The Midwest Midget Thunder series will be open to competitors with HPD legal Honda and Focus engines, and will move towards a ‘one car’ concept based on the traditional dirt midget chassis. The series is committed to stringent enforcement of rules for 2015, and will work closely with competitors to seal and inspect cars in order to meet the objective of low cost, competitive midget racing.
In order to provide full fields to promoters and competitors, The Midwest Midget Thunder Series has elected to partner with area mini sprint/lightning sprint associations to co-sanction the dirt series races for the 2015 season. Montpelier Speedway’s midget series, the recent DuQuoin Indoor race, and associations such as BAM (Budget American Midget Series) have demonstrated that the HPD legal cars and mini sprints have very comparable performance on dirt tracks. There are three strong mini sprint associations in the Midwest, (American Mini Sprint Association, Midwest Mini Sprint Association and Southern Ohio Lightning Sprints) which primarily run winged races. Mini sprint participants will be required to meet the rules and membership requirements of the co-sanctioning mini sprint association, and will not be required to obtain a USAC membership. Each association will track points for its own members for any applicable point championships. These partnerships will benefit mini sprint racers by providing non-winged race opportunities at premier speedways in the Midwest, including Waynesfield Raceway Park, Limaland Motorsports Park, Atomic Speedway, Jackson Speedway, and Plymouth Speedway, and benefits current and potential USAC members by giving them assurance that they can own a HPD legal car and have ample opportunities to race in the Midwest throughout the season. Negotiations are ongoing to finalize purse structures and points’ funds, however several tracks including Waynesfield, Limaland and Atomic have committed to a $500 to win, $100 to start payout.
The series is also committed to a long term strategy to bring asphalt midget racing back to the Midwest. Columbus Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis Speedrome, Kalamazoo Speedway, Shady Bowl Speedway, and Toledo Speedway have demonstrated their support in the future of asphalt midget racing by committing to dates at their facilities for the 2015 season. In order to provide the best possible field to these promoters, the Midwest Midget Thunder Series will utilize USAC HPD national rules for these events in 2015, and will work with the North Carolina based Eastern HPD series for a ‘home and away’ series for races at Speedrome, Columbus and Hickory Motor Speedway.
Please contact 317-771-6596 for additional information on the series, the Honda HPD engines, or rental car availability.
USAC HPD Midwest Midget Thunder Series Schedule
April 25 – Columbus Motor Speedway (1/3 mile asphalt) open to all USAC national HPD legal cars
May 1 – Toledo Speedway (1/5 mile asphalt) with the USAC Silver Crown Series
May 2 – Shady Bowl Speedway (3/10 mile asphalt)
May 23 – Indianapolis Speedrome (1/5 mile, asphalt) co-sanctioned with USAC HPD East Series
June 6 – Waynesfield Raceway Park (1/3 mile dirt) co-sanctioned with American Mini Sprint Association
July 24 – Limaland Motorsports Park (1/4 mile dirt) co-sanctioned with American Mini Sprint Association
July 25 – Waynesfield Raceway Park (1/3 mile dirt) (co-sanctioned with American Mini Sprint Association)
Aug 8 – Plymouth Speedway (3/8 mile dirt dirt) co-sanctioned with Midwest Mini Sprint Association
Aug 22 – Kalamazoo Speedway (3/8 mile asphalt) USAC HPD National Race
Aug 28 – Jackson Raceway Park (1/4 mile dirt) co-sanctioned with Southern Ohio Lightning Sprint Association)
Aug 29 – Atomic Speedway (3/8 mile dirt) co-sanctioned with Southern Ohio Lightning Mini Sprint Association)
Sept 5 – Shady Bowl Speedway (3/10 mile asphalt)
September 18 – Columbus Motor Speedway (1/3 mile asphalt) open to all USAC national HPD legal cars
Nov 21 – Hickory Speedway (1/3 mile asphalt) (co-sanctioned with USAC HPD East Series)