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Quarter Midgets Of America

As a member of the Auto Racing Legends Organization, I was invited to attend the Quarter Midgets of America and at the same time possibly learn to judge their races in the future. Needless to say I was amazed at the professionalism of the staff, racing officials and especially the drivers and their parents. I spent 2 years working for NASCAR at Daytona International Speedway in 1988 and 1989, 5 years at Volusia County Speedway from 1992 thru 1997 while it was a NASCAR sanctioned speedway and last night if the drivers were a little taller, I could have sworn that I was at either one of the speedways mentioned.

To give you a little background of the local branch of the Quarter Midgets group that race on a regular basis on Friday nights, let me start 5 years ago when the club started. They are one of four clubs in this region and the others are Mid Florida, Tampa Bay and South Florida. The drivers who by the way range in age from 5 to 16 years old can race at any one of the 4 tracks for points as well as run the Florida Cup Series which is a Regional event.

There are 8 divisions, Junior and Senior Novice for beginners, Junior Honda ages 5 thru 8, Senior Honda ages 9 thru 16, Heavy Honda [driver must be at least 100 lbs], Light 160, Heavy 160 [driver again 100 lbs], and World Formula where the driver must be 100 lbs and 11 years old and have run in an unrestricted class for at least one full year. As you can see so far, the club is structured in comparison to most series of auto racing organizations. The season runs from March to early December ending with a banquet where the drivers are awarded trophies based on their points for that year.

Some of the names that have been and still are involved in this local chapter are: Mark Martin, Dan Pardus, Randy Dye, Scott Laughlin, Tony Pelican, Ray ''Rocky'' Siracusa and now the Auto Racing Legends.

For information on the race schedule or how you can get involved with this great organization and their quest to give children a chance to become the race car drivers of tomorrow please contact: Charlene Sozio at NSQMRA2@aol.com or Ray ''Rocky'' Siracusa at rayspubs@msn.com.