After more than 90 years in the making, quarter midget racing will now be on the main stage. For the past 14 years, USAC has built the largest youth motorsports championship with the USAC.25 Series. We are very proud to have grown from five local clubs in 2009, to nearly 60 tracks throughout the nation, with multiple Regional Championships, and an over-the-top National Championship which runs at iconic venues such as Daytona International Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
In a joint announcement held today at Talladega, USAC and NASCAR announced today a new partnership in the sport. Starting in 2023, USAC's .25 program will now be known as The NASCAR YOUTH SERIES, a regional championship within the NASCAR ladder of racing series. All series branding will move to the new NASCAR colors, and all drivers will be supplied with iron-on NASCAR Youth Series patches for their driver uniforms and series decals for their cars. Clubs will be furnished with the NASCAR Youth Series flags to fly over their club track, and all series merchandise will now carry the NASCAR colors.
The new National Championship will be a NASCAR Championship. National events, including dirt events, will run in conjunction with NASCAR events nationwide, with our young racers taking part of NASCAR weekend’s as part of their racing journey. Darlington, Richmond, Fontana, Watkins Glen, Talladega..are just some of the racing venues you will experience in 2023 with the new NASCAR YOUTH SERIES.
This is the greatest change in quarter midget racing history that will grow the sport in many directions. Increased exposure to the sport will bring new members into clubs looking to participate, more opportunities for our young drivers to participate during NASCAR events and more awareness from the NASCAR brand that will potentially help young families generate local sponsorships to enhance their racing program.
With this large change in direction for the quarter midget program, we will introduce a new management structure and National Points program when the 2023 official race schedule is announced during the PRI weekend in December as part of our USAC .25 Night of Champions banquet. In 2023, our young driver champions will be NASCAR Champions!
We are very excited to start the new era of quarter midget racing with a NASCAR partnership in presenting the most influential racing series for young racers seeking a higher threshold. Thank you for your support over the years and helping establish this exciting new day for quarter midget racing.
Kevin Miller
President & CEO
United States Auto Club