By Richie Murray
Speedway, Indiana (December 14, 2023)………Scott Hall, a prominent promoter, racer and series organizer on the west coast open wheel dirt track racing scene, has been named the series director of the USAC Western States Midget series.
Hall, of Roseville, California, officially took his post on the final of November 2023, and has informed us that he has formulated a 16-race schedule for the 2024 season throughout the Golden State.
Hall contends to have a working relationship with the Bay Cities Racing Association to help strengthen and bolster midget racing on the west coast in the now and in the future. Hall’s background in the sport includes a variety of roles and in the formation of multiple sprint car series.
“I’ve raced with a lot of these guys who are now running BCRA at the management level,” Hall said. “I’ve done a lot of promoting in the past with the Sprint Car Challenge Tour and I’ve helped develop that, and also redeveloped the Hunt Wingless Series out here. And I’m still on the board for each one of those series.”
Hall also has a deep connection in racing with his daughter, Taylor Hall, who has raced two seasons in outlaw karts and one season in micros sprints in recent years and is now making the move to midget racing. Hall has witnessed several up-and-coming racers in his day and finds passion in helping them develop into becoming the next stars of the sport.
“I’m all about developing the next generation,” Hall stated. “I have my finger on the pulse of the next generation of racers. Racing with my daughter has had us in the trenches (of the sport).”
Hall’s racing lineage runs deep. His grandfather, Jimmy Sills Sr., was a winner on the BCRA Midget circuit in the early to mid-1950s. Jimmy Sills Jr. became a household name as a three-time USAC Silver Crown champion in 1990-94-96 and raced coast-to-coast with USAC, the World of Outlaws, NARC and more, just to name a few.
Recalling his upbringing, Hall can vividly remember watching the Saturday Night Thunder telecasts on ESPN during the early 1990s featuring the USAC Western States Midget at Ventura (Calif.) Raceway. The excitement and deep appreciation of the sport was firmly ingrained at the point.
“USAC Western States Midget racing is big to us and our family,” Hall acknowledged. “As a family, we used to sit around the TV and watch Jimmy run Saturday Night Thunder in a midget at Ventura. I see an opportunity with the number of midgets that are in this country right now and to try to bring that back.”
Hall aims to facilitate that type of thrill again for competitors and fans alike starting in 2024. It’s a feeling he can recall from the recent past that instilled a passion for the sport inside him, and he wants to pass on the passion to the current and future generations on the west coast.
“(Former USAC Western States Midget Series Director) Tommy (Hunt) and those guys had it down south and they were getting 60 midgets,” Hall recalled. “I’ve seen it in its prime, so I know what it’s capable of and it’s near and dear to me. I ran sprint cars out here, but I was a little big to run a midget. I’ve always loved non-wing racing and all my wins as a driver have come in non-wing cars. I have a passion for it and all those memories are with me so it’s a big deal to me.”
With his day job in the construction business (roofing and solar), Hall devotes the rest of his time to motorsports, and aims to bring together the two worlds in the form of marketing partners, the life bread of the sport.
“Sales and marketing through racing is a great combination,” Hall explained. “What I think it will take for the midget series to get back up is to work some marketing angles. There’s a lot of passion out here on the west coast for midget racing, and we need to tap into that and do what we’ve done with the Sprint Car Challenge Tour. We grew 360 c.i. racing from almost a demise when Civil War was at its end to consistently getting car counts of 30-40.”
All in all, all the work put in comes down to a true passion of the sport, something which Hall possesses in droves, in keeping the sports and the series thriving for years to come and its deep roots in the state of California.
“It’s very important to myself and everybody in my family,” Hall said. “Midget racing started with my grandpa when he got back from World War II and was running indoor tracks in the bay area. The true history of midget racing in California goes back pretty far. To see that history die would be horrible, but as we bring it back, I want to share some of those old memories of how deep midget racing runs in California.”