Ask any veteran open-wheel racer in the pit area today and they\u2019ll not be shy in talking about it \u2014 Midget racing has changed over the last 25 years.<\/p>\n
For better or worse, Midget racing and its constant evolution has given the motorsports world some of the best racing action and most iconic moments. And there\u2019s a reason for that.<\/p>\n
\u201cMidgets are always about as exciting as it gets,\u201d said veteran open-wheel racer and multi-time Xtreme Outlaw Series Feature winner, Thomas Meseraull. \u201cThat\u2019s because you\u2019ve got these awesome race cars, and they\u2019re a little bit smaller than everybody else like a Stock Car or a Sprint Car, and they\u2019re racing on the same track, so you\u2019ve got way more room to be two, three and four-wide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meseraull, 43, of San Jose, CA, began his professional Midget career in the 1990s and has since established himself as one of the nation\u2019s most experienced open-wheel racers. He\u2019s seen the evolution of the sport firsthand, from equipment and technology upgrades to several different driving talents come through the ranks.<\/p>\n
Though he\u2019s now one of the few remaining veterans on the national Midget scene, he recalls his days as an up-and-comer racing against the generational heroes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you went to the national scene, you had to bring your best A-game, for sure,\u201d Meseraull said. \u201cIt was (Dave) Darland, Jerry Coons, Jay Drake\u2026 it was pretty obvious that the big teams \u2014 you had Steve Lewis, and even back then, Keith (Kunz) was one of the veterans of the sport \u2014 there were some teams you could tell it wasn\u2019t a family operation, it wasn\u2019t built out of their garage. It was tough in the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Racing with his family-owned operation, Meseraull admits he was, at first, more focused on the pavement side of Midget racing over dirt. In turning laps on the asphalt, and through extensive testing sessions at his home tracks in California \u2014\u00a0including Madera Speedway, Stockton 99 Speedway and Altamont Speedway \u2014 he learned the discipline and determination necessary to be competitive, which he still uses to this day on dirt.<\/p>\n \u201cWe would test a lot and just try things,\u201d Meseraull said. \u201cI really feel like that kind of put me where I am now, where I\u2019m just open for whatever because that\u2019s kinda how we grew up racing. You buy a car, and you just put every bar package you have in it and see what it does. You put all the springs in it and see what it does. You talk to your neighbor and see what they\u2019re doing. Try to get faster.\u201d<\/p>\n In the dawning of his career at the national level, Meseraull raced with the equipment his family team could bring together. Now piloting a new package for car owner and engine builder Tim Engler, featuring a special-built EA Stealth engine and MF1 Chassis by Farrell FrameWorks, he\u2019s experienced the change in dirt racing technology and the impact it\u2019s had on the racing.<\/p>\n \u201cEven Midget motors were starting to make more power,\u201d Meseraull said. \u201cWhen I started, the Midget motor I was running made 300 horsepower. Now, they\u2019re making over 400, 420, I think. And that\u2019s kinda changed the way the cars race.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the shock packages and the technology, and the torsion bars and springs have come a long way, and maybe even so the tires. Because the cars didn\u2019t do what they do now. They\u2019ve really figured out how to make these dirt cars have so much grip in the middle of the corner, where back then, they didn\u2019t, and it was kind of just\u2026 the bravest man wins.\u201d<\/p>\n Not only have the cars changed, so have the tracks they race on. The 2000 USAC National Midget Series schedule featured 23 completed events on both dirt and asphalt \u2014 only seven of which were on tracks of less than a half-mile in length. Fast forward to 2024, and it\u2019s rare to see a single half-mile track on any of the three national touring Midget schedules.<\/p>\n \u201cNowadays, the big tracks are harder on equipment, motors, and (are) more dangerous,\u201d Meseraull said. \u201cThings have definitely gotten to smaller tracks, which probably made the racing a little more aggressive too because the risks aren\u2019t as big on some of these smaller tracks. But it seems like the racing is at a high either way.\u201d<\/p>\n The route in which most of national championship contenders take into the sport has changed as well. While several of the sport\u2019s most historic names began in Quarter Midgets \u2014 including inaugural Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series champion Zach Daum \u2014 much of the new wave of youth sweeping the sport was brought into Midget racing an entirely different way.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s impressive how Micros and Outlaw Karts can really hone a driver,\u201d Meseraull said. \u201cKeith (Kunz) has a Micro program and Chad Boat has a Micro program, and those guys are at the Micro races and can see the kids that have potential and bring them into the next round and bring them in right away in good equipment. Stuff that\u2019s capable of winning.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lessons in Laps and Life<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n From the most experienced veterans to the newest rookies, time in the seat is invaluable at the professional level. The more laps driven in the car \u2014 any car \u2014 the shorter the learning curve.<\/p>\n Reigning Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series champion Jade Avedisian is getting more laps in more cars than she thought possible in 2024 after signing a multi-year agreement with Toyota Racing\u2019s driver development program after clinching her first national Midget series championship last fall.<\/p>\n This year, the 17-year-old from Clovis, CA, is taking on the entire Toyota GR Cup Series schedule, piloting a Toyota GR-86 car on a nationwide tour consisting of 14 races at some of the country\u2019s famed asphalt road courses. She said it\u2019s been an onslaught of new racing information far different than what she applies to Midget racing.<\/p>\n \u201cAn asphalt car or a road course car \u2014 you have to have a lot of patience,\u201d Avedisian said. \u201cThe simple race craft is a lot different. I feel like when you go get in the Midget, yeah, you have to have patience at some points, but for the most part it\u2019s as hard as you can go for 30 laps.\u201d<\/p>\n While she\u2019s been developing her skills outside the Midget world, Avedisian\u2019s not been shy about staying active on the dirt. In both 2023 and 2024, she\u2019s taken to the 1\/6-mile red clay oval of Millbridge Speedway multiple times in the track\u2019s weekly events for Micro Sprints \u2014 the division in which she first made headlines in after winning several marquee events in 2020 and 2021.<\/p>\n After being discovered by CB Industries team owner Chad Boat, Avedisian set sail on her Midget career and signed with Keith Kunz\/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports (KKM) for the 2023 season, where she joined several teammates who also came from the Micro Sprint ranks.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always said this, but I think it\u2019s hard to beat someone with a lot of experience and a lot of laps,\u201d Avedisian said. \u201cYou can take Gavin Miller, for example, during Mid-America Midget Week \u2014 he ran the Micro and the Midget in the same nights, and he said it\u2019s helped.\u201d<\/p>\n While both drivers saw new heights of success in 2023 \u2014 Avedisian with five wins and a national championship; Miller with two wins and a third-place championship finish \u2014 both were separated from the KKM crew chiefs they worked with throughout the season. Together, they formed bonds that made them more successful than the sum of their individual abilities \u2014 another crucial attribute of successful Midget racers.<\/p>\n \u201cLast year, I clicked with the team from weekend one,\u201d Avedisian said. \u201cTimes have changed; my crew chief left last year and I\u2019m now working with a different group of guys, but it\u2019s the same thing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s whoever can build the best relationship the fastest. Honestly, whatever crew chief and driver clicks the best is who\u2019s gonna do the best.\u201d<\/p>\n In racing with her new teammates and crew members at several new tracks across the country, Avedisian and her life have never been the same since breaking through in the motorsports world with her first Midget win in 2022. She\u2019s since moved out to Mooresville, NC, to be closer to the Toyota Racing family and get access to their amenities and receive direct coaching on her lifestyle to help improve her game at the track.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m grateful that my family was able to move me out to North Carolina full-time,\u201d Avedisian said. \u201cMy family has probably sacrificed more than I have. I\u2019m not with them all the time, and I\u2019m sure that\u2019s hard on my parents.\u201d<\/p>\n Most 17-year-old kids don\u2019t get to live a life anything like Avedisian\u2019s. She admits it\u2019s been a thrill ride that\u2019s only getting started but knows the sacrifices she and her family have had to make for her to be in her position. What were once math tests, homework and after school athletics are now midweek track walks, morning meetings with fitness trainers and late nights at dirt ovals in the Midwest.<\/p>\n And she wouldn\u2019t trade it for anything.<\/p>\n \u201cMy life is definitely very different than your average 17 or 18-year-old kid,\u201d Avedisian said. \u201cBut I can\u2019t really complain; this is obviously what I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A Strong Team<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n From Feature events to season-long points championships, staying consistently competitive in Midget racing takes a team of dedicated professionals behind every driver, armed with the right equipment and knowledge of both car and track.<\/p>\n For the past 25 years, few teams have been able to match the preparedness and professionalism shown at Midget racing\u2019s most dominant team \u2013\u00a0Keith Kunz\/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports (KKM). Led in part by veteran crew chief Beau Binder \u2014 now in his 20th year with KKM \u2014 the Texas native and former Sprint Car\/Micro Sprint racer has applied his knowledge of fabrication, team management, car setup and driving experience to become one of the team\u2019s most valuable players next to co-owner Keith Kunz.<\/p>\n With upwards of five cars racing at any event on the team\u2019s calendar, Binder has helped to develop and manage the team\u2019s weekly maintenance routine. With multiple different car chiefs, tire specialists and other crew members in the shop and at the track, KKM has improved their process over the years as their driver roster grows.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s one of the big things, just trying to make everything manageable,\u201d Binder said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got so many cars, so many guys, so many hands, everything that we\u2019ve got a torque spec for. That\u2019s the biggest thing \u2014 getting our checklist reset for the week and then going through and making sure that motor milage, valve spring mileage, driveline mileage, all the things we need to check on a regular basis gets done on all these cars.\u201d<\/p>\n Like any extensive process, the maintenance checklist \u2014 which Binder keeps on a large Google Sheet, accessible to all members of the team \u2014 starts with a single step after a race weekend.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce the first car\u2019s done being washed, one of us will go over, get the water blown off, get it all WD-ed and bring it back inside \u2014 that\u2019s when we start our post-wash maintenance that all gets done the first day,\u201d Binder said. \u201cWe oil the cylinders, blow out the torsion tubes, grease our bird cage bearings, our spindles, things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n While most Midget teams service only one or two cars after a race weekend, KKM works on five-to-eight cars during the regular season and has prepared as many as 15 to bring to the marquee Chili Bowl Nationals<\/em> event in January. These cars, while well-built with top-of-the-line parts and materials, can sometimes get damaged and also require repair or more in-depth inspection.<\/p>\n \u201cLately, we\u2019ve been running closer to seven or eight cars, and with that, the driveline mileage and motor mileage is all kind of \u2014 we try not to get to where everything is needing changed at the same time,\u201d Binder said. \u201cSo, every week, we\u2019re gonna have at least one that needs a motor swapped or driveline gone through.\u201d<\/p>\n While reliable equipment is crucial to success on the national circuit, Binder indicated that coachable drivers and the rapport they develop with the crew is the element that wins not only the races, but the season-long championships as well.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of our crew guys and crew chiefs \u2014 they\u2019re all reliable,\u201d Binder said. \u201cI feel like it\u2019s really the bond they build with the crew chief that gives them that confidence.<\/p>\n \u201cYou see Cannon and Ryan right now \u2014 their confidence gets so high that a lot of times, it\u2019s not even necessarily about the setup, it\u2019s about them being confident that the car is capable, and they go make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n With 17 national Midget series championships in the trophy room, KKM has seen more than its fair share of driving talent come through the walls of its Columbus, IN-based headquarters over the years \u2014 all of whom have become better drivers because of the team around them.<\/p>\n \u201cYou look at Keith and Cannon and the relationship they\u2019ve built, and we had Kaz Townsend work with Brenham Crouch when they won the POWRi championship, Brandon Selph work with Gavin Miller and they ended up second in the Xtreme points,\u201d Binder said. \u201cI\u2019ve always felt like I\u2019ve had a good relationship with Taylor (Reimer) and Ryan (Timms), and I had Kaylee Bryson and Bryant Wiedeman when we won the POWRi championship.<\/p>\n \u201cI just feel like this group \u2014 we know what the goal is, we know what the job is. But at the same time, everybody\u2019s still human. We\u2019re able to build these good relationships with these kids where they always end up with that confidence no matter who they\u2019re with.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.dirtcar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2024\/09\/06183945\/RJS_9532a-1024x731.jpg\")
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