If midget driver Mariah Ede had to pinpoint a monumental moment in her career, it would source to when she was racing outlaw karts at California’s Cycleland Speedway in 2019.
All season, Ede battled against an array of formidable contenders, but she went head-to-head with her fiercest opponent yet when the Outlaw Kart Showcase rolled around that September.
On night one of the showcase, Ede wheeled her No. 4 kart into the lead and was keeping tight control of the feature. Hot on her heels was NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson, who was unable to make up ground on the youngster as the laps clicked by. As fate would have it, Ede became a victim of lapped traffic late in the race, which allowed Larson to sneak past and win. Ede finished fifth.
Still, when the 17-year-old looks back, she recognizes her days at the one-eighth-mile dirt track played a vital role in propelling her to where she is now — racing on the national midget circuit.
Her performance at Cycleland Speedway caught the attention of micro sprint driver and owner Joe B. Miller, who gave Ede the opportunity to step up to 600cc micro sprint competition in 2020.
After spending two seasons immersed in the micro sprint world, the high schooler moved to full-sized midget racing with Keith Kunz Motorsports last year.
Though every advancement she’s made since wheeling an outlaw kart has arguably been just as important as the next, Ede might have to update her “monumental moment” after her career-best finish last weekend.
The No. 71e driver landed her first podium in the POWRi National Midget League during the Illinois Speedweek race at Lincoln Speedway. She drove from 12th to third in the 30-lap feature.
In a season where Ede’s focus has been on gaining experience, the result was encouraging.
“We’re definitely looking for experience more than championships,” Ede said. “As long as I’ve been racing, I’ve never raced for a championship in my life. It’s more about getting experience with a wide variety of racing.”
Along with POWRi, the California native has competed in the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series and select USAC midget races this year.
Her best finish in Xtreme Outlaw competition was fifth at Millbridge (N.C.) Speedway, while her strongest showing in USAC was 18th at Missouri’s Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex.
Though her underlying season objective is simply to log laps, Ede can’t help but want more.
“I definitely want to win this year. That would be a big confidence booster,” Ede said. “But in the long term, I’d hopefully go to asphalt racing in some type of way. Maybe NASCAR. That’s the end goal, really.”