"The Missile" Masters Lincoln with Third MARA Win
Davis Takes His First MARA Feature of the Season i...
Peterson Makes it Two in a Row in MARA at Peoria S...
"The Missile" Masters Lincoln with Third MARA Win

"The Missile" Masters Lincoln with Third MARA Win

7/4/2025 -
The Midget Auto Racing Association helped fans kick off their Independence Day weekend with a Thursday night race at Lincoln Speedway. A good field o
Davis Takes His First MARA Feature of the Season i...

Davis Takes His First MARA Feature of the Season i...

6/7/2025 -
(June 7, Lincoln, IL) A quick car and strong restarts powered Mitchell Davis to his first Midget Auto Racing Association feature win of the year. Dom
Peterson Makes it Two in a Row in MARA at Peoria S...

Peterson Makes it Two in a Row in MARA at Peoria S...

6/1/2025 -
Wisconsin’s Brian Peterson did the repeat in Midget Auto Racing Association action as he took night-two on the weekend schedule, this time at Peoria S

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"The Missile" Masters Lincoln with Third MARA Win

"The Missile" Masters Lincoln with Third MARA Win

7/4/2025
The Midget Auto Racing Association helped fans kick off their Independence Day weekend with a Thursday night race at Lincoln Speedway. A good field of midgets signed in with drivers from five states qualifying. Cody Weisensel and Miles Doherty made the Illinois...more
MARA Back in Action at Lincoln Speedway this Thursday

MARA Back in Action at Lincoln Speedway this Thursday

7/2/2025
It's been nearly a month and drivers from the Midget Auto Racing Association are chomping at the bit to get back in the saddle. Not since June 6, when Mitchell Davis took the checkers, have the stars of MARA been in action. This Thursday, July 3, will change all that when...more
It's a Doubleheader Weekend for the AFS Badger Midget Series

It's a Doubleheader Weekend for the AFS Badger Midget Series

6/18/2025
This weekend, starting on Saturday, June 21, the Advanced Fastening Supply Badger Midget Auto Racing Association will treat fans with two nights of wheel to wheel midget racing action. It all starts with Sycamore Speedway (Sycamore, IL), a track Badger teams are very...more
Davis Takes His First MARA Feature of the Season in Lincoln Speed

Davis Takes His First MARA Feature of the Season in Lincoln Speed...

6/7/2025
(June 7, Lincoln, IL) A quick car and strong restarts powered Mitchell Davis to his first Midget Auto Racing Association feature win of the year. Dominic Bruns took to the lead at the drop of the green for the 20 lap event. The teenager pulled away as a three car battle...more


About

From Charlene Meents – 1986 “Ten Years of MARA Racing” Yearbook

“The original MARA series, known as the Midwest Auto Racing Association, was conceived in the summer of 1977 in Springfield, IL. Under the direction of its first President, Dean Helmick, and a six member Board of Directors, MARA sanctioned its first auto race that summer at the Champaign County Fair, Champaign, IL. At that event, which featured 27 competing drivers, the thrust of MARA originated. Only one more race would be held that first year, but from that basic beginning, MARA rose to the one of the top midget organizations in the United States.

MARA sprang out from a group of Central Illinois midget owners and drivers who were dissatisfied with the club they were competing in. The two main purposes of this organization were to give owners and drivers some say in the running of their midget races and also promote the sport of midget auto racing in the Midwest.”

Original MARA Board of Directors in 1977; Ron Castleman, Rusty Kunz, Howard Lehman, Jerry Meents, Mike Motz and Dick Rhodes.

Original MARA Officers in 1977: Dean Helmick, President; Joe Dooling, Vice President; Ron Castelman, Secretary; George Anduskevitch, Treasurer.

Current - 2023

The original MARA series sanctioned midget races from that first season in 1977 until the end of the 2006 racing season. Since then, MARA has remained dormant, but always in the hearts of those who competed with the organization across nearly three decades.

In late 2022, a group of car owners approached the Badger Midget Auto Racing Association seeking help in forming a new series in Central Illinois for the 2023 season. Those owners were seeking a professional organization focused on midget racing and able to provide full sanctioning capabilities including technical inspection, scoring, officiating, marketing, etc.

The BMARA, having continuously sanctioned midget racing since 1936, agreed to be the sanctioning body. However, a series name was still needed. The BMARA along with the car owners and several families with ties to the original MARA agreed to re-launch the series under the Midget Auto Racing Association (MARA) name with a goal of preserving the history of the original series. Therefore, in 2023 and beyond we choose to race for all those who came before us under the original Midwest Auto Racing Association (MARA). We hope to make you proud and we invite you to join us in this motorsports endeavor.

Champion Drivers

  • 1977: Duke DeRosa
  • 1978: Alan Brown
  • 1979; Duke DeRosa
  • 1980: Duke DeRosa
  • 1981: Dave Ray
  • 1982: Gene Gennetton
  • 1983: Gene Gennetton
  • 1984: Gene Gennetton
  • 1985: Kevin Doty
  • 1986: Steve Knepper
  • 1987: Steve Knepper
  • 1988: Dave Dwyer
  • 1989: Steve Knepper
  • 1990: Steve Knepper
  • 1991: Phil Heavelow
  • 1992: Steve Knepper
  • 1993: Don Lehmann
  • 1994: Don Lehmann
  • 1995: Don Lehmann
  • 1996: Steve Knepper
  • 1997: Don Lehmann
  • 1998: Don Lehmann
  • 1999: Don Lehmann
  • 2000: Don Lehmann
  • 2001: Rich Camfield
  • 2002: Steve Knepper
  • 2003: Steve Knepper
  • 2004: Craig Carey
  • 2005: Don Lehmann
  • 2006: Don Lehmann


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