2012 USAC Midgets

Midget auto racing has always been a favorite of mine both as a photographer and a fan. The USAC MOPAR National Championship if the top of the heap in midget car racing and a special congratulations is in order for 2012 champ Darren Hagen.  At the page's bottom is a race by race listing of the track, and the winner.

The banner image at the top of this page came from the USAC website. The two pictures below this paragraph are mine. The first is a USAC Midget round about 2006 at The Milwaukee Mile, and the second dirt shot is from Sun Prairie and is a Badger Midget. That was around 2004.

 

Mopar National Midget 2012 Championship

Date			Location	Track	Type	Winner
Mar 30 2012			Altamahaw, NC	Ace Speedway	Paved	Bobby East
Mar 31 2012			Altamahaw, NC	Ace Speedway	Paved	Darren Hagen
May 04 2012			Dodge City, KS	Dodge City Raceway Park	Dirt	Kyle Larson
May 05 2012			Dodge City, KS	Dodge City Raceway Park	Dirt	Tracy Hines
May 26 2012			Clermont, IN	Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis	Paved	Tracy Hines
Jun 02 2012			Haubstadt, IN	Tri-State Speedway	Dirt	Brady Bacon
Jun 13 2012			Gas City, IN	Gas City I-69 Speedway	Dirt	Darren Hagen
Jun 14 2012			Putnamville, IN	Lincoln Park Speedway	Dirt	Bryan Clauson
Jun 15 2012			Bloomington, IN	Bloomington Speedway	Dirt	Levi Jones
Jun 16 2012			Lawrenceburg, IN	Lawrenceburg Speedway	Dirt	Darren Hagen
Jun 17 2012			Kokomo, IN	Kokomo Speedway	Dirt	Kyle Larson
Jun 22 2012			Newton, IA	Iowa Speedway	Paved	Bobby Santos
Jun 29 2012			Toledo, OH	Toledo Speedway	Paved	Caleb Armstrong
Jun 30 2012			Morris, IL	Grundy County Speedway	Paved	Kyle Hamilton
Jul 06 2012			Plymouth, IN	Plymouth Speedway	Paved	Darren Hagen
Jul 07 2012			Plymouth, IN	Plymouth Speedway	Dirt	Cancelled
Jul 08 2012			Sun Prairie, WI	Angell Park Speedway	Dirt	Bryan Clauson
Jul 26 2012			Clermont, IN	Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis	Paved	Tracy Hines
Aug 19 2012			Sun Prairie, WI	Angell Park Speedway	Dirt	Brad Kuhn
Sep 22 2012			Rossburg, OH	Eldora Speedway	Dirt	Kyle Larson
Oct 04 2012			Pontoon Beach, IL	Tri-City Speedway	Dirt	Tracy Hines
Oct 05 2012			Pontoon Beach, IL	Tri-City Speedway	Dirt	Rained Out
Oct 06 2012			Pontoon Beach, IL	Tri-City Speedway	Dirt	Kyle Larson
Nov 09 2012			Peoria, AZ	Canyon Speedway Park	Dirt	Rained Out
Nov 10 2012			Peoria, AZ	Canyon Speedway Park	Dirt	Kyle Larson
Nov 22 2012			Perris, CA	Perris Auto Speedway	Dirt	Kyle Larson

Race Musings

Just a few thoughts about NASCAR drivers and Twitter.

The most interesting for me personally, is Hall of Fame retired driver Darrell Waltrip. Darrell is a NASCAR Fox commentator as well. Nobody talks to his fans more regularly than Darrell. He is smart and always has an interesting take on racing, other sports or the world at large.

I enjoy Mark Martin very much. If you enjoy being treated as an equal more than a fan, Mark is your guy. If you are not interested in racing, daily workouts and diet, or flying, you may find Mark dull, but if you like people who are gracious and just plain decent, Mark is worth following.

Kyle Petty is a different animal. Kyle is the most fun….sort of. Kyle is a smart ass in a good way. He will re-tweet the most damning criticism of himself, and do so with sarcasm. He will always reply kindly to a kind post. He is always thankful and polite to charitable tweets. The biggest downside is that if Kyle is not appearing on Speed or another television network, you generally will not hear from him.

Being from the Midwest, Matt Kenseth is a favorite of mine. He goes days or weeks without tweeting but when he does, he is usually good for several hours of communication. Matt is also a master of sarcasm but he has a good feel for when he is headed over the line. All in all….a good follow.

Will Brad Keslowski make a good champion? Yes. Brad is smart and more than capable of representing NASCAR with dignity. Once we get back to the race track, the possibility of his temper making him a loose cannon is there. If he slips once or twice he won’t be the first champ to do so. He also drives for an owner (Roger Penske) who owns more than just a little class. That alone will keep Brad ‘mostly” on track…so to speak.

The World of Outlaw Sprints cars wrapped up their season at the Charlotte North Carolina dirt track on November 2 and 3. Veteran Sammy Swindell won his 13^th feature of the season on the 2^nd, while Dale Blaney held off Paul McMahon to win the final on the 3^rd.

Donny Schatz won the championship.

Final Standings

1 Donny Schatz

2 Craig Dollansky

3 Sammy Swindell

4 Joey Saldana

5 Steve Kinser

6 Kraig Kinser

7 Cody Darrah

8 Kerry Madsen

9 Lucas Wolfe

10 Chad Kemenah

I thought I would close with a few of my own photos made during the late 1980s through 2007

Our first shot is a classic from the ASA Series in the late 80s or early 90s.  This is Bob Senneker and an unknown driver at The Milwaukee Mile.

A NASCAR Late Model at Lake Geneva Raceway, Wisconsin.

 

Badger Midgets Sun Prairie, Wisconsin

Sprint Cars Wilmot Speedway, Wisconsin