When Kasey Coler and the Indianapolis Raceway Park staff embarked on a plan to resurrect midget racing at the storied oval, they knew it would be an uphill battle.
USAC had long since dropped pavement from the midget schedule and the places where the discipline still had a heartbeat were miles away. Still, they persevered.
This June a standalone midget date was billed as a tribute to ESPN’s Thursday Night Thunder and the crowd could be described as respectable. Car count was always going to be an issue, and the support of teams from the Northeastern Midget Ass’n was essential. There was one interesting twist when it came to NEMA. No one made a bigger splash than Massachusetts driver Jake Trainor. In May 2023, Trainor shocked many when he scored a midget win at IRP, and then there was total disbelief when he was victorious at the famed Little 500 in his second sprint car start. There was an oddity in Trainor’s résumé. For the most part he competes in the NEMA Lites division.
Bobby Seymour is a central player in a family with a deep history in the sport. He was a vital cog in the creation of the NEMA Lites series and now laments the choice of the name. It made sense at the time. It followed the same blueprint used in the IndyCar series, but now he feared that it gave the wrong impression.
“What I realized a few years too late is when you call something a spec division or whatever, you have trouble promoting it as a full-blown racing series,” Seymour said. “Fans will wonder why they should watch spec cars. The truth is that these are full-blown race engines built by big-time engine builders. When you can use stock blocks, stock heads and so many stock components it keeps the cost down and more people have a chance to get into it.”
In what could be called a perfect storm, a series of industry leaders came together and conspired to make a statement at Indianapolis Raceway Park in August. Just as IRP was hopeful of seeing increased participation for their events, efforts were underway to save pavement midget racing in the Chicagoland area.
Midgets once ruled the roost at the Joliet Memorial Stadium, the Mazon Speedbowl and Grundy County Speedway in Morris, Ill. Only Grundy County remains and midget racing had fallen on tough times. What happened in the Land of Lincoln mirrored a nationwide trend. Local midget racing on a national midget engine rule’s platform has no chance of survival. While some may wish to argue the point, the handwriting has been on the wall for years.
David Ward, the proprietor of High Performance Lubricants experienced this directly. A few decades back he raced at the national level. By the time he stepped away he understood the economics of it all.
“When I was first involved, the cars were affordable,” Ward said. “The pits were full and there were people in the grandstands, and the purse was big enough so if you ran fifth or above you could cover your way. By the time I quit the only way you could win was to stay home.”
The Midwest Mayhem Midget Series based at Grundy County has been working to reverse the trend. Building a series based on cars using Focus and Ecotec engines, the club is trying to grow one car at a time.
Ward has been central to this effort, but he also has a business to run. It was for that reason that he called on Bobby Seymour at Seymour Performance Products in Marlborough, Mass. His goal was to convince the Seymours to stock his products. This was a revival of an old relationship. When Ward was racing midgets he had a Hawk chassis and he often called on Bobby for setup advice. So, while those previous encounters boded well for his proposition, he faced some reluctance.
“I hate to recommend specific oils for our customers,” Seymour said. “Because I am afraid that if they have engine problems, they are going to blame me for putting bum oil in them. David understood, but he told me he also sold rear-end oil and other stuff. They really are a big-time company.”
Seymour suggested that Ward attend the Boston Louie race at Seekonk Speedway in mid-July to introduce his products to participants. He also told Ward could arrange a test at one of the local bullrings and put him in a race car. With his interest piqued, Ward called back and asked if there were any cars for sale.
Seymour pointed him to Butch Lamb who had five cars for sale in Greensboro, N.C. He traveled south with the intention of buying a single race car and came back with all five of them.
It didn’t stop there. Ward had been friends with Greg Wilke for years and when the successful Wisconsin-based owner learned Ward had purchased five midgets he wasn’t happy. It turns out he had two in his shop that had been collecting dust for a decade. No problem. Ward grabbed those too. Now he had a fleet of cars that he could use to grow the field at Grundy County.
However, this is the point where all key parties came together with an even greater vision. Seymour and Ward initiated discussions with Coler about the possibility of a special race to demonstrate what these cars could do on the big and fast oval.
“I told Kasey these cars are affordable and the speeds would be similar to those we saw in the 1980s and 1990s,” Seymour said. “I reminded him Thursday Night Thunder was so popular because the cars were slipping and sliding, dipping and diving, and putting on a great show. I knew from running these cars for 10 to 12 years just how easier they are to drive at 80 percent than other cars are with 400 horsepower engines.”
With an agreement in place, it was time to get to work. They had three weeks to pull off a minor miracle, and they relied heavily on business relationships developed over the years. Ward had worked with the likes of Sammy Swindell and former supermodified standout and midget owner Jeff West.
Still, why would the public be interested? That’s when they decided to stage an all-star race. The normal frontrunners were already slated to appear in a full-throated midget, but now added to the field were Sammy Swindell. Kaylee Bryson, Jerry Coons Jr. and perhaps the biggest shocker of them all — late model standout Ricky Thornton Jr.
Everything was in place, but would the final product be worthy of a big stage? The proof came moments after the green flag waved. Thornton was running up front and Swindell was right there, but most importantly cars were side-by-side and dicing to a degree not seen in years.
In the first 20-lap feature, Trainor, who has a great deal of experience in these cars held off Bryson. That was only a fraction of the story. When Bryson took her helmet off, she was grinning from ear to ear.
Then came the contrast. The national midget feature was next and Kody Swanson ran away from the field. There were some battles for positions, but nothing like what had been witnessed just moments before. It wasn’t even close.
The finale once again featured Focus and Ecotec cars, and while it came down to a battle between Trainor and Kyle O’Gara, the racing was compelling. Ward said it reminded him of the old days at IRP.
Social media reaction agreed and many were amazed at what they witnessed from a “spec” midget. After notching second- and third-place finishes, Bryson said, “That was my first time driving a pavement midget and they are so fun to race. The Ecotec class makes for better racing in my opinion because it is a more level playing field and puts on a better show all around. It’s not very often that you get to see cars race side-by-side and swapping position for laps on end.”
Trainor put two more wins on his résumé and finished second to Swanson in the national race. That alone provided him with the proper perspective to discuss the differences between cars.
“Honestly I feel like the lower horsepower allows you to carry so much corner speed that it almost makes it pretty equal down the straightaway,” he said. “You can take the corner because they are stable. You aren’t carrying that extra 10 to 15 miles per hour you might do with the national car. That was a lot of fun. It is the most fun I have had racing there (IRP). It is really cool to race three and four wide at times and running against all those guys was almost like Thursday Night Thunder used to be.
“We were racing each other side by side, sliding each other lap after lap trying to get an edge. It is a lot more affordable than a national motor and it makes it easier for guys like Ricky Thornton who doesn’t have much pavement experience to jump in and be really competitive.”
The most commonly used word in every post-race interview was “fun.”
How does this impact the overall midget racing landscape?
Seymour is adamant that he isn’t interested in a us versus them contest. He works with Gary Stanton and has the best specialty midget engines one can buy in his shop.
“We aren’t trying to hurt anyone,” he said. “But I know what this series can be. All of the cars we had at IRP could be purchased for under $20,000 and you can go race at that level. We need name drivers to help draw a crowd, but we also need a place for a kid like Chase Locke.
“There are 16 to 18-year-old kids who come out of quarter midgets who have an abundance of talent and they have nowhere to go because their family can’t lay down $50,000 to $60,000 for a midget engine. With these cars they get 80 percent of that speed and get a chance to hone their skills.”
As for the product, Seymour thinks the reaction of the fans at IRP told the story. He was also interested in gathering some data.
“I had my radar gun out and the regular midgets were coming off the corner at 100 mph and going in at 135,” he explained. “The Focus and Ecotec cars were going into the corner at 120 and coming out at 100. That is 15 mph less into the chute. I don’t think the average fan who watched that race thought what they were watching was a joke. The cars were still averaging 110 mph.”
Where do we go from here? Ward noted that in the first eight races in the Midwest Mayhem Midget series four were won by cars powered with Focus engines, and the other half were captured by an Ecotec.
Still there are differences between the two powerplants. Ward says the Ecotec produces more horsepower, but due to the size and position of the block the Focus tends to be a better handling car. Ward lauds the efforts of Hoosier Tire’s Irish Saunders to find the sweet spot for what these cars need, and the work of Tim Engler of Engler Machine and Tool is also indispensable to this initiative.
Engler has put his chassis dyno to work to improve the handling of these cars as well as his engine expertise to enhance the overall product.
Ward is clear on what he believes is the most crucial step in the growth of this style of racing.
“Getting the rules uniform is paramount,” he said. “If you get the cars so they can go from one group to another at their own will that is a good step forward. Once the car count builds up then an opportunity presents itself to where we can go to a Kalamazoo, Plymouth or the Indianapolis Speedrome but you have to get your house in order before you can go on vacation. To be successful you need three things. You need cars, you need fans and a good purse. All have to work in harmony.”
There is little question eyes were opened by what was first viewed by some as a mere novelty race. Seymour noted that several car owners expressed a desire to come on board with the new program. That makes him optimistic about the future.
If Ward can get midget racing to catch fire at Grundy County again and IRP signs more dates for 2025, the stage may be set for a true revival for pavement midget racing. At least that’s the plan.