As if the professionals of today weren’t exciting enough to watch, the NASCAR Youth Series presented by Cook Out will showcase the sport’s stars of tomorrow August 31st through September 3rd at Darlington Raceway. Drivers ages 5-16 will race in the Manheim parking lot outside of Turns 1 & 2 providing fans with even more action leading up to the 74th running of the Cook Out Southern 500.
“We’re honored to welcome the NASCAR Youth Series to be a part of this historic weekend,” said Darlington Raceway President Kerry Tharp. “At such an early age, with that amount of talent, these young racers are on their way to showing what it takes to compete at the Track Too Tough to Tame.”
The NASCAR Youth Series presented by Cook Out is the sanctioning body for the quarter-midget racing division of the United States Auto Club (USAC). It is a family-oriented motorsport that involves children ages 5-16 racing in specially prepared cars. The cars, rules and safety procedures are designed specifically for kids. Quarter-midget racing is divided into 15 classes/divisions. Kids typically race on oval dirt, concrete or asphalt tracks approximately 1/20th of a mile long.
A quarter-midget car is a scaled down version of an actual midget racer. The cars are built around a tubular frame and are fully suspended with springs or torsion bars and shocks. The bodies are fiberglass. The engines are single cylinder and are manufactured by Honda and Briggs & Stratton.
With almost 60 NASCAR Youth Series-sanctioned clubs located all across the country, thousands of kids ages five and up, along with their families, participate in quarter-midget racing. Some notable NASCAR graduates of quarter midget racing include Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Alex Bowman, Ryan Blaney, Justin Allgaier, Harrison Burton, Justin Haley, Daniel Dye and Todd Gilliland. For more information, visit www.nascaryouth.com.
Racing on Darlington Raceway’s historic oval begins at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 2, with the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200. Then at 6 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 3, the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs begin in style with the Cook Out Southern 500, one of NASCAR’s crown jewel events.
NASCAR fans are encouraged to purchase their tickets via phone at 866-459-7223 or online at darlingtonraceway.com.
NASCAR PR
