The beginning and the first part of the Midwest Sprint Car Association 25-year history….
Prior to becoming the Midwest Sprint Car Association, the USA 360 Division was founded in 1996 by Gary Schlafer, owner of Beaver Dam Raceway. Gary created a Sprint Car class using hi-performance and durable 360 cubic inch motors that would be competitive, exciting, and affordable for a driver wanting to experience the thrill of sprint car racing. Under Gary's direction the USA 360 Division continued to grow through the 1997 and 1998 seasons. In 1999 the USA 360 class organized itself as the Midwest Sprint Car Association (MSA) with about 25 regular drivers. For the 1999 and 2000 season the MSA was a traveling race program going from track to track for shows in and around Wisconsin. A partnership was formed with Beaver Dam Raceway formerly known as The Raceway at Powercom for the MSA to run the 2001 and 2002 season. The 2003 season had the MSA touring throughout Wisconsin with 11 different venues on the schedule.
In 2004 MSA found their weekly home at Wilmot Speedway on 18 Saturday nights as well as continued touring many tracks throughout Wisconsin. In 2005 MSA moved its support to Sheboygan County Fair Grounds to assist with the development of Plymouth Dirt Track Racing. MSA has continued to support the Saturday night sprint program for 19 years at Plymouth and kept the sprint program running straight and going forward. The 2008 Season brought MSA a new adventure of supporting Manitowoc County Fair Grounds and EWSC Racing on their Friday Night Program. The MSA group began a full season of back-to-back racing with Friday Nights and Saturday nights. The MSA group became fortunate to have 2 weekly programs as well as a few traveling shows making it the strongest sprint car association in the Midwest with a 45-48 night yearly schedule….to be continued
We will be adding more to the history throughout this season, as well as a looking back at some of the events, drivers and people who have contributed and help build the MSA over the last 25 years.