SUN PRAIRIE, Wisc. — The AFS Badger Midget Series will begin its 86th year of sanctioning midget auto racing this Saturday at Sycamore Speedway.
Joining the midgets will be the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Car Series and IRA Mini-Sprints.
Jake Neuman and Jack Routson, both winners at the track, will be returning to do double duty this weekend. Neumann and Routson will be driving the familiar No. 57’s by RAB Racing entries, and both of their families owned 410 sprint cars with IRA.
Neuman found his way to victory last year running the cushion to perfection, and Routson has not visited the track since 2019. The AFS Badger Midget Series will make a total of six trips to the one-third-mile action track in 2022.Â
Eighteen times the winner of the season-opener has gone on to win the Badger Midget Series title. Seven-time Badger champion Dan Boorse won on opening night during three of his championship seasons at three different tracks: 1984 at Capital Super Speedway, 1998 at Butler Speedway, and 1999 at Angell Park Speedway.
Other Badger drivers who have won on the opening night of their championship year more than once include Billy Wood (1954-55) and Keith Thomas (1961-62).
To take the crown this season, drivers will have to battle across the Badger state and trek across state lines into Iowa, Illinois, and make a rare visit to sprint car country in Indiana.