Quarter Midgets

They are called Quarter Midgets, which means they are just a scaled-down Midget Sprint car, according to Tim Gasseling of Potter. Fourteen years ago, Tim raced dirt track and he was looking to get his boys into something besides four wheelers.

After checking out the internet, Tim and Cassie decided "Quarter Midgets was the route we would go." And their boys took to the Quarter Midgets like champions.   

Landon, 12, started racing when he was 7, but Keegan, now 8, took a practice race when he was 4 ½ years old, but began racing when he was 5 years old. The age categories for Quarter Midgets are 5-9 years old and 9-16 years old.

The Gasseling boys have three cars each. Their chassis are built in Denver and they purchase the motors from Pennsylvania. The motors are shipped completely assembled and Tim hooks up the fuel line, throttle, power cable, exhaust and adds oil. Before each race, different setups are placed on the cars to adjust to the current track and track conditions.  This encompasses changing springs, gears, weight percentages and suspension.

During the nationals, a winning engine is completely torn down for inspection.

"When Keegan won in Daytona, there are a lot of rules, and you don't mess with them, they tore his motor down to nothing," Cassie said. "After Daytona, we just shipped all the pieces back to our motor builder in a box."

On a normal year, they are going to races every week-end from April to September. The only real practice the boys get is from a racing simulator in their basement. When they get to the track they take a 3 minute practice run per car and then they race. The circle track is 1/20 of a mile and Keegan goes 30 laps while Landon in the senior category has 40 laps to win.

The midgets have no speedometer but the laps are timed. Tim said that with "Landon having to lift in the corners in his fastest car, his World Formula, he runs under 6 second laps" and the car is probably going somewhere around 50 mph.

Landon (number 4) and Keegan (number 18) are the only quarter midget racers in the state of Nebraska, but they do their local racing on the Colorado tracks where Landon has won eight track championships and Keegan has captured one track championship.

Trophies and banners are everywhere from the boys' bedroom, living room and in the basement.

The Nationals hold a special place in the Gasseling family. The family reminisces about traveling, the wins and fun times. Landon has won at the Winter Nationals in Vegas and Keegan has won at the Nationals in Ohio, California and Daytona.

In Daytona, NASCAR was racing while the Quarter Midgets raced on the infield of the Daytona 500.

Much of racing is experience and intuition, as they can't see out the right side of the car and must lean into the corners, they can hear other cars coming up on them or see their shadows.

Safety is number one in midget racing with fewer injuries than little league football. Safety features include full roll cages, full face helmets, fire retardant race suits and gloves, six point harnesses, neck restraint and arm restraints.

The family has traveled and participated in National Quarter Midget racing in London, Ohio, Topeka, Kan., Vegas, Greenville, Ill., Chicago, San Bernadino, CA, Daytona and most recently the Mini-Indy Memorial in Indianapolis.

Quarter midget racing is a great family sport. Everyone in the family has a job at the track to keep the cars going.

The Gasselings have made many great memories traveling across the country together and have met lots of new friends from all over the United States.