I have long held a deep affection for midget racing. In my youth it was considered the crucible for future Indy 500 stars. But over the years midget racing has experienced a decline in some geographic regions of the country while enjoying continued popularity in others.
Ford Motor Company in conjunction with the United States Auto Club recently unveiled a series that could catapult midgets back into the spotlight.
The Ford Focus Midget Car Series will utilize a 175 horsepower two-liter Ford Z-tech engine currently available in Ford's Focus passenger auto. The engine, pegged for sale at approximately $7,500, will include fuel injection, electronic ignition, clutch flywheel and a starter. Dropped into any midget chassis, home built or purchased, the Focus engine will remain sealed and good for 20 to 30 races before rebuild.
To start, the series will focus on the Southern California region and compete on a 20-25 event schedule.
"The compression of these engines is about 10:1," said USAC's Technical Operations Vice President, Mike Devlin. "They won't have the starting difficulty a high compression racing engine has.
"The chassis are still wide open, other than the engine sets. A guy who currently owns a midget can put this engine in and he's ready to go. All his wheels, springs and gears will interchange with other midgets."
Costs have escalated over the last decade for midget owners. Chassis and suspension components have remained within reason, but engines costs have soared to the point that a competitive powerplant can go for as much as $35,000 to $40,000. The Ford program will reduce initial and continuing costs.
"We're looking at somewhere between 25 to 30 races between rebuilds," Devlin explained. "You'll then pay a fee of around $2,500-3,000 to have your specialty equipment, injectors, header, clutch, flywheel, starter, etc. bolted on a brand new engine."
The simplicity of USAC and Ford's concept is its key. Peruse any racing paper and the classifieds are filled with midget rollers (chassis without engines). With prices from $7,000 to $15,000 these cars are sitting -- not competing. This program can easily increase fields in many of the areas where midgets have experienced a decline in popularity.
Would a Focus-powered midget triumph over a Gaerte or Ed Pink powered unit? Not likely. But, the program offers an excellent "entry level" opportunity for youngsters who move from karts, quarter-midgets or mini-sprints.
The "crate-spec engine" formula controls costs and opens the series to a pool of potential competitors who wish to enjoy the fruits of weekly open wheel racing without making a major dent in their finances. If a Ford Focus-powered team enjoys some success, the driver can easily move up in class by abandoning the Focus engine and purchasing a higher horsepowered purpose-built unit.
"In the short term, midget racing is doing fine. In the long term, we're looking at some serious cost problems," Devlin said.
This move will go a long way towards addressing those problems. I just hope that the program grows quick enough that I can get on board and run a Ford Focus engine in my car.