(photo courtesy Leon Hammack)
It is that time again to make my trek back to the Midwest for some good old fashion dirt track racing! I am on my way to the tiny Hamlet of Belleville, Kansas for The Midget Nationals. This is the 100th anniversary of the race track there in Belleville.
For the past 32 years this little hamlet has staged a very prestigious midget race event. It is a USAC sanctioned event, so that means all the USAC boys from many parts of the USA will attend this race. Some very well known race car drivers have won this event, Jeff Gordon in 1990, Jason Lefler in 1997, Kasey Kahne in 2000 and 2001, just to name a few.
It started out as a challenge and turned into the biggest event in the world for Midgets. The Belleville Midget Nationals started at the Belleville High Banks in Belleville, Kan., after some racers involved in a 1977 challenge race kicked around the idea among themselves. High interest was shown in the track by the drivers during the Rocky Mountain Midget vs. St. Louis Midget Challenge race. With the interest in the track by the drivers and a lack of a true national race for Midgets, the Belleville Midget Nationals was born when AIMS Promoter Mitch Miller brought it to life by sanctioning the Belleville Midget Nationals in 1978.
I think that this is just what the doctor has ordered. I need to forget about my racing ticker, and go watch some fold old fashion midgets and sprint car “redneck racing”!
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!