California midget racing

By Jack Peters Since midget auto-racing has become a national 'sport throughout America, many stories have arisen as to its origin. Members Of the racing fraternity of the Atlantic coast claim that they began the. Those who follow the peewee game on the Pacific coast will swear to it that their section Of the country introduced midgets to the Speed fans just four years ago. While in one respect both are wrong, statistics and records show that those of the Golden Gate State are nearest to being right.

Racing at Placerville will kick off on Tuesday, Nov. I must have too much time on my hands, because I called Scott Russell from Placerville and told him we should put on a race and what I thought the purse should be. He raised it from there and we were in business. The event will feature a modified version of the popular Trophy Cup format, used for the crown-jewel sprint car race of the same name run annually at Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway, which uses heavy inversions and forces the fastest drivers in the field to come from deep in the field every time they hit the race track. The Hangtown will mark the first USAC national midget event at Placerville, though the Western Midgets have competed at the quarter-mile four different times.

The passing of Sam Hanks last week was more than the death of a great race driver. He was perhaps the last link to the golden era of midget auto racing in Southern California, a time before air conditioning or TV when watching midget racers at Gilmore Stadium was what many people did on warm summer nights. Stokes are today that racing flourished.

Tripp got his nickname as a youth when he would fall asleep in his quarter midget car while waiting for his next race to start. He stayed on the national tour for several more years before he started racing in the Western States series, on the West Coast. He consistently placed first or second in the series points, winning championships in , , , , , and He reached his th win May 2, at Ventura Raceway.