Midget auto racing on display

at the 2018 PRI show 

There was a wide selection of midget auto racing displays at the 2018 Performance Racing Industry show in Indianapolis Indiana. 

The #21 KS midget race car driven by Karter Sarff from Mason City Illinois in the 2019 Lucas Oil POWRi National Midget League was on display in the PAC Racing Springs booth. The car is powered by a Stanton SR-11 engine. PAC Racing Springs is the racing and aftermarket division of Peterson Spring Company  Check out their entire product line at https://www.racingsprings.com/

The Automotive Racing Products (ARP) booth featured the Honda engine that Scott Hatton used to win his fifth Badger Midget Racing Association championship in 2018 on display. The development  engine was built by  Haisley Machine of Farimount Indiana and used ARP fasteners throughout. Check out ARP's website at   https://arp-bolts.com/ 

The Mobil One display featured the Keith Kunz Motorsport Spike.Toyota that won  the 2018 United States Auto Cub (USAC) P1 Insurance National Midget championship driven by Logan Seavey. Seavey from Sutter California is only the third driver in USAC history to win the national midget championship as a rookie. 

Seavey started the 2018 season out right with a win in the season's first race in March at Southern Illinois Center indoor race, then added wins at Sweet Springs Missouri and Bakersfield CA on his way to the championship. Logan was a model of consistency thorough 2018 as he scored 15 top-ten finishes and started every feature event. 

All photos by the author 

     

USAC 2019 national event schedules

The United States Auto Club (USAC) announced the 2019 event schedules for their three national series at the 2018 Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show in Indianapolis Indiana.  

NOS Energy Drink becomes the new title sponsor for the all-dirt national midget series, while AMSOIL remains the title sponsor of the all-dirt national sprint car series.  The Silver Crown series expands to twelve races for 2019 evenly split with six races each on dirt and pavement.

Mike McLish’s 1968 Camaro

At first glance a visitor might dismiss this wide, low 1968 Chevrolet Camaro on display in the Flowmaster Mufflers booth at the 2018 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) as just another Camaro. But this Camaro built for owner Mike McLish by the Cotati Speed Shop in Santa Rosa California really is unique.

While a custom Art Morrison frame with Corvette ZR-1 suspension parts Brembo brakes and Forgeline wheels is not all that unusual, the powerplant is what really sets this car apart. The engine is an all-aluminum fuel-injected Donovan 410-cubic inch block built by Gaerte Engines of Rochester Indiana that has a unique racing history. 

It was with this engine that Brian McLish (Mike’s son) won the sprint car portion of the 2012 Gerhardt Classic at Madera Speedway and the 2012 United States Auto Club (USAC) Western Classic Racing Series pavement title. 

The detuned 750-horsepower engine, which now runs on gasoline instead of methanol, is connected to a six-speed sequential gearbox and differential from Australia’s Holinger Engineering.

After the SEMA show, Mike McLish intends to use his all-steel Camaro which was on the cover of the December 2018 issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines magazine, in Ultimate Street Car Association event and for track days.   

All photographs by the author