Video: Off-road midget racing may be the most intense motorsport

11th March 2020

Laura Thomson

Racing, like fine wine, comes in many different flavours. And like true

connoisseurs, we enjoy them all.

Particularly the quirkier types, such as midget racing in America. Midget

racing involves pitting miniature stock cars against one another, with

competitors flying at full chat, on full lock around a dirt oval. And its

biggest race of the year is called the Chili Bowl – an event that has been

called the ‘Superbowl of midget racing’.

The latest and 34th edition of the Lucas Oil-sponsored event took place back in January, and it is from this edition that the above clip stems.

Filmed from the cockpit of Michael Pickens’ Swindell Speedlab midget car, it shows the fast-paced, dizzying action in full HD. No quarter is given by the racers, who keep their right feet down in an attempt to take the title.

Pickens is a Chili Bowl regular, with half a dozen entries to his name, alongside a host of other midget and speedcar accolades. Most notably, he is an eight-time New Zealand Midget Champion, with the 2015/16 International Midget Series title to his name. In 2016, he became the first ever New Zealander to win the Australian Speedcar Championship.

Welcome to Goodwood Elevenses, a mid-morning helping of motoring-related amusement to help break up your day. Watch the last video: The Porsche 934/5 is an underrated barking monster