FF: This Week in Ford Racing 2005-09-13

This Week in Ford Racing
September 13, 2005

USAC Ford Focus Midget Series

Forty-one Ford Focus Midget drivers from all over the counrty will compete this weekend in the inaugural USAC Ford Focus National Championship. The quarter -mile dirt track at Limaland (Ohio) Motorsports Park and the quarter -mile pavement track at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway will host the inaugural races on Sept. 17th and 18th, respectively. All Ford Focus midgets are powered by Ford's Zetec engine, the same engine that comes standard in the popular street version of the Ford Focus.

The races at Limaland Motorsports Park and Anderson comprise the first-ever National Championship for the Ford Focus Midgets, which debuted under USAC sanction in 2002 and recently celebrated its 200th event.

The Ford Focus Series national champion will be determined by using USAC's points system, which awards points to drivers for qualifying, heat races, semi-feature and feature. The driver earning the most total points for the two races will be the USAC Ford Focus National Champion.

Forty-one drivers from 14 states will participate, including 12 from Indiana. Seven drivers are from California. Other states represented: New York, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania (three apiece); North Carolina and Ohio (two apiece); and Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada and Virginia (one apiece). The field also includes four women drivers. Overall, women drivers have recorded 22 total USAC Ford Focus feature victories, including five in 2005.

The overall winner on Sunday will be presented the Henry Ford Championship Trophy.

The trophy is a cut-glass recreation of the original glass punch bowl trophy presented to Henry Ford when he won his first and only auto race at Grosse Pointe, Michigan, on October 10, 1901.

Ford's victory over Alexander Winton, the premier racer of that era, in a 10-lap event at the Detroit Driving Club's one-mile dirt track earned him the punch bowl and the national renown among those interested in the fledgling auto industry . That recognition ultimately gained him the financial backers who would help him start the Ford Motor Company less than two years later.

Mr. Ford's original punch bowl, which was one of his prized pocessions, was lost after being sold in a family estate sale in 1951, following the death of Henry and his wife Clara. It had occupied a prominent spot in his Fairlane Estate home in Dearborn, Michigan.

"Mr. Ford's victory helped him realize his dream to build Ford Motor Company. Helping these aspiring, talented USAC Ford Focus Midget drivers realize their dream is what this National Championship is all about," said Dan Davis, director, Ford Racing Technology.

"This event will bring the best-of-the-best together for two days of very competitive, hard fought competition with one driver coming out on top. That driver will be remembered for beating the best - much like Henry Ford did back in 1901."

-ford racing-