The first organized midget car race took place on June 4, 1933, and the first regular weekly program began on August 10, 1933 at Loyola High School Stadium in Los Angeles under the Midget Auto Racing Association, the sport's first official governing body. Midget racing spread rapidly across the United States and internationally, reaching Australia in 1934 and New Zealand in 1937.
The AAA Contest Board sanctioned midget races across the country for decades, but after the AAA withdrew from motorsport sanctioning in 1955, the United States Auto Club assumed control as the major governing body for midget racing in the United States. That institutional transfer established USAC's authority over the sport that it retains to this day.
Midget cars are defined by their small dimensions and exceptional power relative to their size. Typical USAC midgets produce between 300 and 400 horsepower from four-cylinder engines while weighing approximately 900 pounds. This power-to-weight ratio makes midget car racing genuinely dangerous, and modern cars are fully equipped with roll cages and comprehensive safety structures.
The cars are designed for relatively short-distance racing, typically between 2.5 and 25 miles per event. Midget racing takes place on both dirt oval tracks and asphalt (paved) circuits, requiring teams to develop setups appropriate for very different surface types. Some events are even staged inside arenas, the most notable being the Chili Bowl Nationals held each January at the Tulsa Expo Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which has become one of the sport's most prestigious annual gatherings.
Three-quarter midgets, a smaller and less powerful variant, developed out of the "midget midget" cars of the late 1940s. Quarter midgets, one-quarter the size of a standard midget car, serve as an entry point for young drivers.
Midget car racing occupies a unique position in the American racing ladder because of its reputation as a finishing school for elite racers. Many drivers who reached the top of IndyCar and NASCAR first honed their skills in midgets, including Tony Stewart, Sarah Fisher, Rodger Ward, A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Johnnie Parsons, Ryan Newman, Kyle Larson, Jeff Gordon, Christopher Bell, and Bill Vukovich.
The accessible yet demanding nature of midget racing — requiring excellent car control at close quarters on short oval tracks — develops racecraft skills that translate directly to higher-profile series. Midget events are sometimes scheduled on weeknights specifically so that drivers competing in major weekend series can participate without conflict, bringing star power to the local racing scene and exposing top-tier talent to the midget format.
The Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma is the most prestigious indoor midget racing event in the world, drawing hundreds of entries each January and featuring competitors from across the American racing spectrum. Other historically significant events include the Turkey Night Grand Prix, the Four Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway, and the Hut Hundred at Terre Haute Action Track.
While USAC governs the primary American midget championship, the sport has deep roots internationally. In Australia, where midget-style cars are called Speedcars, the form of racing became enormously popular through the 1950s and 1960s, with crowds of up to 30,000 attending events at the Sydney Showground. Australian promoters frequently imported American drivers to compete, and the country produced multiple national and state championships. Sir Jack Brabham, the triple Formula One World Champion, began his motorsport career in Speedcars on dirt ovals in Sydney.
National midget tours operate in Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina, and a worldwide tour has been organized under POWRi sanctioning. In addition to USAC and POWRi, numerous regional sanctioning bodies operate midget series across the United States, including the Badger Midget Auto Racing Association, the oldest active midget sanctioning body in the country.
Midget car racing established many of the foundational techniques and traditions of American oval racing. Its compressed, intense format — combining high power with small, agile cars on tight short tracks — has consistently produced skilled and versatile drivers. The USAC National Midget Series remains the benchmark domestic championship for the class, and the Chili Bowl Nationals in particular has grown into a cultural institution that draws the widest cross-section of American open-wheel talent of any single event in the country.