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Los Angeles, CA. - The expanding USAC Ford
Focus Midget Series began in 2002
with a California Series of 18 races that included three dirt tracks
(Bakersfield, Perris and Santa Maria) and three paved tracks (El
Cajon, Irwindale and San Bernardino). All cars used the
four-cylinder, 16-valve internally stock 2.0 liter Ford Focus ZETEC
engine that racing teams purchased for $7,500. In early 2004 the FF
racing engine cost competitors $8,250 including shipping. Presently
the FF engine cost to racers is $8,995 including shipping. The FF
series encouraged teams to use an existing combination chassis
(both dirt and paved tracks) to help control costs. The
cost-effective, low-maintenance FF engine
then and now was advertised to provide two to three seasons of
trouble-free racing if teams just changed oil as recommended. Many
of the original FF engines are still racing in the series. An
advantage of the FF series was the fact FF midgets had on-board
starter and clutch and were self-starting, eliminating the need for
a promoter to provide push trucks, thereby expediting FF racing
events.
Keith Iaia, of SCREAM, Inc. in Harbor City, CA, was the series
originator and
exclusive engine supplier. He received Ford Focus engines in crates
from Ford
Motor Co. and added the necessary components for racing. Originally
SCREAM
did all foundry work in-house, but it then out-sourced that work,
including the
bell housing, oil pan, intake manifold and brackets. SCREAM modifies
stock
Ford ZX3 engines, adding Hilborn fuel injection, air cleaner,
ram tubes, fuel
pump, SCREAM intake manifold, electromotive HPX ignition, Moroso
plug wires, CS
Sports stainless "Tri-Y" exhaust with muffler, ITG air
filter, modified wet
sump lubrication with SCREAM oil pan and Master Lube accumulator,
remote air
filter, SCREAM bell housing, aluminum flywheel, starter, clutch,
hydraulic
release bearing and motor plate. Options include clutch master
cylinder, fuel bypass
spider, battery with battery box, power steering pulley kit and
Earl's
plumbing. SCREAM relocated north in April 2005 to the central
California coast town
San Miguel, seven miles north of Paso Robles. The four-employee firm
now only
assembles the completed Ford Focus racing engine and ships it to
FOMOCO in
Dearborn, Michigan for central shipping to customers nation-wide.
SCREAM
originally had a problem keeping up with the demand for FF engines.
In 2004 it was
able to ship three engines a day. More than 200 FF engines have been
delivered
and 35 FF engines are in stock at Dearborn ready for delivery. There
is no
waiting list now for a FF engine. FOMOCO is able to deliver a
race-ready FF engine
in seven or less days.
Todd Hunsaker became the first USAC FF Midget champion. Starting in
2003,
USAC added separate FF circuits in other parts of the country. In
addition to the
original California series, USAC added the Midwest (dirt and paved),
Carolina/Virginia, Northeastern and Indiana Regional Series. USAC
now crowns seven
regional FF Midget champions annually. In 2003 the California FF
Series split
into two circuits-north and south-and honored two champions each
season through
2004. Josh Lakatos (north) and Hunsaker (south) were the 2003 FF
champions.
Bradley Galedrige (north) and Chris Rahe (south) were 2004 FF
champions. For 2005
USAC dropped the north and south series and split into separate dirt
and
paved track circuits that operated throughout California. Chase
Barber won the
dirt track championship and Alex Harris took the paved track title
in 2005. The
same dirt and paved track series operated again in 2006. Purses for
both dirt
and paved tracks were $3,920 per event.
Nationally known drivers have raced in FF midgets at Irwindale
Speedway. In
2003 NASCAR drivers Kurt Busch and J. J. Yeley raced in a pair of
SCREAM
"house" FF midgets in a USAC main event on Irwindale's
third-mile. Champ Car drivers
Michel Jourdain, Jr. and Patrick Carpentier were in the area on
March 27,
2004 to race at California Speedway in Fontana. They raced Iaia's
"house" cars in
a USAC FF midget event at Irwindale. Carpentier impressively
finished fourth
in the main event and "enjoyed the experience". IRL driver
Danica Patrick did
a one-day test session at Irwindale in one of Iaia's FF midgets.
Several years
ago NASCAR drivers Terry Cook (trucks) and Elliott Sadler (Cup)
test-drove FF
midgets at Homestead, Florida at the end of the season.
On October 21, 2006 the California dirt track series concluded a
13-race season contested at two tracks-Ventura Raceway and
Bakersfield Speedway. There was
one rain-out at Ventura on March 18. Car counts ranged from a low of
19 to a high of 29 with the average count 22.7 cars per event. Eight
different drivers won the usual 20-lap features that followed time
trials and heat races. Bobby Michnowicz won four mains and Cameron
Veach captured three. Solo victories went to Keith Janca, Thomas
Gray, Chris Veach, Quintin Crye, Dennis Howell and Nick Faas. Every
driver except Michnowicz is a
first-time USAC FF feature winner. Michnowicz won his first FF
championship by one point (754-753) over Chris Veach.
The 2006 California paved track series has run ten completed events
through
October 25 at four tracks-Altamont Raceway Park, Madera Speedway,
Irwindale
Speedway and Lake Havasu 95 Speedway. The first race of the season
on April 1 at
Irwindale was a wash-out after rain; only time trial points counted.
Two races
(Blythe and the finale at Irwindale on Thanksgiving) remain on the
12-race
2006 schedule. Car counts have ranged from a low of 12 at Havasu to
a high of
21at Irwindale, with the average count 14.5 cars per event. Five
different
drivers have won the usual 25 to 40 lap main events that followed
time trials and
heat races. Tim Skoglund, 18, won four mains and fourth generation
driver
Michael Faccinto, 16, has three triumphs. Chris Veach, 21, Jace
Meier, 17, and
Laura Hayes, 16, are solo feature winners. All five drivers
won their first USAC
features in 2006.
Car counts for the FF paved track series have lagged behind the FF
dirt track series this year because of the influx of specialized
pavement only chassis by Beast and Gerhardt. Some owners of combo
chassis (used on paved and dirt surfaces) are limiting their FF
racing to dirt tracks because they found their combo cars were
significantly slower than the faster, specialized pavement only
cars. USAC officials met at Indianapolis recently to address that
problem and to increase FF car counts at all tracks. Look for
announcements from USAC headquarters in coming months about possible
rule changes to curtail costs and increase FF midget competition.
USAC is not the only FF midget racing organization. Independent FF
midgets
complete in Oklahoma and in the expanding northwest (Washington)
circuit that
has grown to 18 cars. Jim Naylor's Ventura Racing Association in
2006 operated a
junior FF midget circuit for teenagers under age 16. Fourteen
drivers earned
points and there were multiple winners of eight main events at the
fifth-mile,
clay Ventura Raceway. Some teens are instructed by open-wheel
championship
driver Cory Kruseman at the racing school he has operated for years
at Ventura
Raceway. A new FF midget paved track series will be operated
starting in 2007
at the quarter-mile, paved Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino.
Recently
retired championship open-wheel driver Wally Pankratz operates a
racing school at
that track and he will be training new FF midget drivers. The
Ventura and San
Bernardino circuits will allow only dual or combination dirt/paved
track
chassis to compete, thereby keeping the competition on paved tracks
equitable.
With FF engines plentiful and chassis builders Beast, Stealth,
Spike, Stewart and
Bullet building midget combination cars, the future looks bright for
new
independent series. Youth from quarter midgets, karting, dwarf or
legend cars, and
newcomers are getting an earlier start in open-wheel racing than
ever
possible before the advent of FF midget racing.
There have been 114 USAC Ford Focus main events run in California
from the
2002 series debut through October 25, 2006, with two races remaining
before the
2006 season concludes. A total of 35 drivers have won California FF
features
since 2002, including ten first-timers this season. Leading
California FF main
event winners are Chris Rahe (12), Josh Lakatos (11), Bobby
Michnowicz (10)
and Alex Harris (8). Three drivers-Bradley Galedrige, Todd Hunsaker
and Chase
Barber-have six victories and Audra Sasselli has five. The FF Midget
Series has
served its stated purposed admirably as an entry series to USAC
open-wheel
racing. Among the FF feature winners who graduated to full midget,
360 or 410 cu.
in. sprint car racing are Rahe, Lakatos, Harris, Hunsaker, Galedrige,
Chase
Barber, Ryan Kaplan, Garrett Hansen, Garratt Boyden and Ryan Pace.
Others who
raced in FF without winning a main event before moving up the racing
ladder are
Darren Hagen, Tyler Brown, Tim Barber, Bobby Grewohl and Scott
Pierovich. The
2006 class of FF midget drivers is sure to add more young drivers to
the USAC
pipeline as the FF series continues to serve as the first step on
the open-wheel racing career ladder.
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