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Racing for Kids |
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A VINTAGE ARTICLE
The History of
Quarter Midget Racing
This informative article was extracted from the Program
for the 3rd. Annual Cal Expo. Winter Indoor RACE, 1985, the author's
name could not be found. This was a Quarter Midgets of America
(racing association) event. It then follow that credit must be
given to that organization for it's original creation.
History Miniature auto racing has been with us almost as long
as auto car racing itself. Although it is nearly impossible to
date the start of the sport, I'm sure the early 1930s were the
real spawning years. Children have always copied their elders,
so it was not uncommon for them to turn to "soap-box" racers as
soon as the first big cars stripped down and began to race one
another. It didn't take long before fathers began to attach washing
machine or similar engines to the wooden boards and toy wagon
wheels, so their children could drive on country lanes and in
backyards, in imitation of the race cars of those days. The first
notice of an organized meet was two day event called the "Children's
Speed Classic" staged on May 26-27, 1934 at the famed Indianapolis
Motor Speedway. The cars were built by Floyd "Pop" Dreyer, who
worked for the Duesenberg Brothers, Indianapolis race car builders.
Oil drums were placed on a section of the main straightaway to
mark out a small oval here the cars reached the fantastic speed
of 20 m.p.h. Pop's three-year old son was one of the drivers.
Prior to this, in 1932, the Winston Corporation of Joliet, Ill.,
manufactured a "Winston Racer" which was large enough to hold
either a child or an adult. By 1934 the Maytag Washing Machine
Company of Newton, Iowa was turning out a somewhat similar car.
Both cars had an engine mounted behind the driver and drove the
wheels by a "V-belt" arrangement. The engine in this case was
the same one cylinder "Multi-Motor" used by Maytag to power their
washing machines. During the years from 1934 to 1940, Maytag sold
over 500 of these little "Maytag Racers". By 1938 a group of fathers
had banded together in the small Los Angeles community of San
Marino, and under the guidance of a local service station operator,
Coyle Tracy, formed the Junior Midgets of America, Chapter One,
more to keep the little motorized cars off the street than to
promote racing. Some cars were the aforementioned Winston and
Maytag Racers, but most were home built. Very few had any form
of a body, only wooden frames. Power came from a variety of sources,
including ex- washing machine engines, lawn mower and pipe threading
engines. One car used an electric battery powered auto starter.
Ages of the drivers ranged from six to 14 and included girls.
Speeds up to 30 m.p.h. were reached on the 1/10th of a mile flat,
dirt oval during the weekly races. Of the 21 cars, in the club,
costs varied from $65 up to $1200. Anything was raceable as long
as it had four wheels and an engine under two horsepower, no body,
no floor board, no seat belt. Safety equipment, as such, was not
required, with the exception of goggles to protect the eyes from
the dirt. By winning the "Helmet Dash" several weeks in a row,
a youngster could win a driving helmet. A unique aspect of membership
in the Junior Midgets included the drivers' school grades provision,
failing grades and no racing that week. Nation-wide attention
was given this group of racers by articles in major magazines
and newspapers as well as in newsreels and films. A big boost
to the sport of miniature car racing came with the formation of
the Junior Midget Motor Car Company by a Los Angeles auto parts
dealer, Joe Lucus, and Lou Faegol, the son of the owner of the
Faegol Truck Company. They began making a hand-made production
model racer styled after the "big" midgets of those days. The
engine was mounted in front of the driver and used a chain drive
to the rear axle. Without a body, it was called a "Midget-Midget"
and looked like the first GoCart. The appearance of these cars
brought a standardization to the cars and a few safety features.
After World War 11, various groups across the nation formed local
Junior Midget clubs to resume racing the small cars. A couple
of kids driving their cars on the street were invited to a vacant
lot to participate with other youngsters in some informal races.
One of these boys was Jimmy Caruthers, now an Indianapolis 500
race car driver (remember the original vintage of this article).
Jimmy was nine years old and brother Danny only four. The skill
and enthusiasm of the youngsters inspired Jimmy's father, Doug
Carruthers, to build a track for them on the grounds of his Viking
Trailer Company. Dubbed the "Jelly Bean Bowl" it was a 1/20th
of a mile, banked, dirt oval. Having had prior racing experience
racing dragsters on the dry lakes of Southern California, Doug
Caruthers saw the need for some form of organization to the races,
and thus formed the Quarter Roadster Association, styled after
the big time URA (United Racing Association), using many of the
same rules and regulations. Caruthers also saw the need for a
standardization of cars and engines and soon began the manufacture
of a rear engine, one- fourth scale midget--a true quarter midget.
Many of these cars were sold through a large department store,
and soon after many clubs across the country adopted similar engine
and car specifications as those of the Quarter Roadster Association.
Within a few short years, there were more than a dozen companies
turning out hundreds of these little Quarter Midgets. The hand-formed
sheet metal bodies were replaced by the light weight fiberglass
style that were easier to produce. Safety standards were raised,
with the introduction of mandatory driving helmets, roll bars
and seat belts. National growth came in leaps and bounds to the
sport. In Northern California, alone, there were 17 tracks and
almost 3000 drivers in 1957. During this period there were 35-40
companies mass producing quarters as well as hundreds of smaller
garages turning out custom made cars. Realizing the strength in
a national organization, another attempt was made to nationalize
the sport by the formation of a single association to be the governing
body for all races. These races were to be run under a program
of standard car and engine specifications and a uniform set of
racing and safety rules. From these efforts was born the Quarter
Midgets of America, a nationally recognized sanctioning body for
quarter and half midget races in this country and Canada. Since
its birth, the organization has been responsible for setting uniform
engine, car, racing and safety rules. Coordinating and sanctioning
racing events, providing insurance for tracks and drivers, and
publishing an Annual Directory and a bimonthly newsletter--The
QuarteReporter all came into the realm of the Association. Annual
meetings of National Officers and Directors are now held at the
yearly Grand Nationals, Since the formation of QMA, membership
growth has not been rapid, but nevertheless it has been constant.
In 1964 the first "QMA Grand National Championships" were held
in Hayward, Calif., with 150 entries. By 1975, and the running
of the 12th Annual "Grand", attendance has grown to well over
500 participants. A recently added region in Florida has brought
the Quarter Midgets of America into 13 regional areas, including
a club in Canada. Governed by elected national officers and a
board of directors, QMA has taken steps recently to gain more
national recognition, including the entry of a float in the Indianapolis
500 Festival Parade. Many of the regional States Races and the
Grand National have had a financial assist from major auto parts
companies. As to the future of quarter midget racing: it will
continue to grow and make changes the same as the sport it imitates.
Already the past 10 years have seen several innovations, such
as mandatory safety roll cages, quick release seat and shoulder
harnesses, new style fiberglass bodies with such added strength
that it replaces the need for bumpers and nerf bars. In addition,
better performance from the small engines has in turn lowered
track records with increasing regularity.
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