3/12/2023
Midget Auto Racing Association
Battefeld Ready for New MARA Series in 2023
Lincoln, IL (March 16, 2023) - Thirty-year-old Havana, Illinois native Kevin Battefeld is ready for the inaugural Midget Auto Racing Association season set to commence on April 7 at the Lincoln (Illinois) Speedway. His team's preparations, while not exclusively different, are not considered the norm in motorsports today.
While teams still assemble their own cars, most teams do not build their own engines in the current era of motorsport. They hire professional engine builders who make their living prepping and building performance race engines. However, the Battefeld family takes pride in the fact that they can claim their engines as their own.
“We are sort of gearheads,” says Battefeld, “and to save on expense we decided to build our own Honda engines. We make our own MSD mounts and pump drives too.”
The family got their start in a unique side of motorsports not commonly known for developing dirt oval track stars. Nonetheless though its a part of motorsport and one that gleams its fair share of attention from adoring fans.
“My mom and dad met garden tractor pulling,” stated Battefeld, “that got kind of expensive so we pulled the plug and got into midget racing.”
Battefeld made his first midget start in 2017 and eventually found his way to the Badger Midget Auto Racing Association. He made his first career series start in 2020 at the Beaver Dam Raceway in Beaver Dam, WI. However, when it was announced that the MARA series would be servicing central Illinois, Battefeld was on board.
“I have a boy, 4, and girl, 2 so travel isn’t as easy for me,” says Battefeld, “so running MARA just makes sense for us. My dad takes the car and I meet him at the track.”
Battefeld has found some support for his racing endeavors and credits them for getting his team to the track. He also credits his two sisters for helping him along the way as well.
“Unzicker Equipment, Speedquip Motorsports who builds my Phantom Chassis, and Holden Automotive Machine all support us during our race season. My sisters Katie and Mallory help with the team as well. I really appreciate the help everyone gives us all season,” says Battefeld.
When he isn’t working on race cars, Battefeld can be found working at Unzicker Equipment repairing and servicing forklifts and forklift engines.
The inaugural MARA season is ready for action and you can expect Battefeld and his hard-working team to be in attendance. And just maybe in victory lane a few times as well.
Article Credit: Droz Andrews