The Xtreme Outlaw Midgets will make their debut at Jack Crook’s Airport Raceway, May 23-25
Airport Raceway in Garden City, KS was built from a love for racing.
When the city closed down the area’s dirt track to build a landfill, Jack Crook and a few of his friends were determined to keep racing alive for local racers and fans. Their answer was the construction of Airport Raceway – less than a mile from the Garden City Regional Airport – in 1990.
“We just all loved racing,” Crook said.
That love has allowed for the growth of Micro and Midget racing in the area and for the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota to make its debut at the track during Memorial Day weekend for the Midget Roundup, Friday-Sunday, May 23-25.
Airport was built as a 1/6-mile dirt track, which at the time, Crook said he and the other owners thought might be big for a Micro track, but has turned out to be the perfect size for Micro and Midget racing.
“We’re hoping with the geometry and the banking, they’ll enjoy it,” Crook said. “Out on the outside, I would guess it is real close to a quarter mile. We’re right inside of there. It’s about a quarter at the top. It’s not quite, but it’s almost there. It’s wide. I promise you, the looks of it… matter of fact, I think our track has a little more banking than the Chili Bowl, but you wouldn’t know the difference from one or the other.
“I’m telling you, it’ll be wall to wall… there will be a lot of good side-by-side action… It’ll be, I don’t know how better to say it, dynamic.”
The Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series will race in association with the Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Association (RMMRA), which has had a fundamental impact on Airport Raceway.
RMMRA is the oldest Midget association in the country, having been founded in 1940, and was one of the first groups to race at Airport when it opened.
“As far as keeping the Midget series alive, they’ve been the backbone,” Crook said about their involvement with the track. “Without those guys, I wouldn’t have kept running Midgets. They are still what I call old school… a club. I have good relations with all their club presidents. With those guys, I appreciate them, and I know they do us as well.”
Crook left the ownership group of Airport for about 15 years to support his son’s Sprint Car career. During that time, those left in charge of the track decided to no longer run Midgets. But when Crooks returned 10 years ago, becoming the sole promoter of the track, his first goal was to bring Midget racing back to Airport and did so with the help of the Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Association.
Between the cars RMMRA and Xtreme will bring, Crook expects a healthy car count for the event, which will also feature Micro classes.
When Airport Raceway opened in 1990, Crook said about five cars showed up for the first race. But since then, he’s seen it grow into his original vision of a haven for local racers, now bringing in over 30 cars on race night.
Adding an Xtreme Outlaw Midget event to the schedule has brought his vision to a level Crook said he has a hard time putting into words.
“It’s a dream to be honest,” he said “I can’t say it any other way. How else can you word it when you have the premier Midget series, in my opinion, coming to your track? Everybody is talking about it. It has been a cool deal for our community.
“It’s important to myself and my crew to pull this off because we want them back. There is no doubt in my mind I want them back. We’re going to try and pull out all the stops.”
The Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series will be hosting a cookout for drivers and teams on Saturday night, sponsored by Honest Abe Roofing, with nearly $6,000 in prizes to give away from CSI Shocks ($500 in product) DIRTVision (annual FASTPASS), DMI ($1,000 in product), Driven Midwest, FK Rod Ends (four complete sets of rod ends), FK Shocks, Sharp Advantage (two knee guards), Ultra Shield Race Products (three boxes of tare-offs), VP Fuels (one set of fuel jugs), and Wilwood Brakes (complete Midget brake package).
Don’t miss the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota, along with the Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Association, at Airport Raceway for the Midget Roundup, May 23-25. Friday will be a practice night with Saturday’s Feature paying $4,000 to win and Sunday’s Feature paying $5,000 to win.
Get your tickets now by CLICKING HERE. Get $5 off your ticket when using code MCINTOSH71K.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch every lap live on DIRTVision.
