During the 15-year history of POWRi, the sanctioning body has contested 396 national midget features, with 74 different drivers representing all walks of life having visited victory lane.
It should come as no surprise that three-time POWRi National Midget League champion Brad Loyet, who earned the crown in 2007, ’10 and ’11, is the all-time series wins leader with 34 victories.
The late Bryan Clauson (30) and Christopher Bell (29), two drivers who catapulted themselves into superstardom thanks to the POWRi platform, sit second and third on the list, followed by two-time titlist Brad Kuhn (22) and single-season wins record-holder Logan Seavey (20).
It’s a mix of nationally known talent and working racers, a unique cross-section of those who Brown has worked to promote throughout his tenure.
“We have tried to, and continue to try to, cater to the grassroots racer, your drivers who work Monday through Friday and then go out and race on Friday night and Saturday night,” Brown explained. “If we do between 25 and 35 races, for the most part our motors can make it through a full season. We were a little up on that count (38 races) this year with our original schedule, but we’ve tried to stay close to that threshold.
“With us running fifth- miles, quarter-miles and mostly bullring tracks, it has let our engines last the whole year, which makes it economical for the owners,” Brown continued. “If we were running half-mile and mile tracks all the time, we might be looking at an rpm limit, but our main goal is for Joe over here to make his car last the entire season. That’s been a focus of ours for quite some time now.”
Another focus for POWRi’s has been establishing relationships across the country in an effort to expand its growing motorsports footprint.
While the POWRi 600cc Outlaw Micro Sprints have accompanied the POWRi National Midget League since the sanctioning body’s inception in 2005, POWRi has recently welcomed the West Midget League (2014), the WAR Sprint League (2017) and the Iowa Sprint League, new for this season.
POWRi also sanctions the Lucas Oil Border Tour Sprints, the New Mexico Motor Racing Ass’n, the United Rebel Sprint Series, the Upper Midwest Sprint Series, the Northern Renegades Non-Wing Sprint Series, four divisions of Lightning Sprints and a quarter-midget program, among others.
Brown estimates nearly 50 series are involved with POWRi in some form.
That level of racing diversity, stretching from young racers to those seeking a national stage, is something Brown feels sets POWRi apart from other sanctioning bodies.
“We’ve learned a lot in these 15 years with what series we want to take on, what helps us grow the sport and things like that,” he said. “Let’s be frank, midget racing is a very expensive sport. So having micros, bringing the sprint cars on, bringing in the lightning sprints, bringing the quarter midgets on … it’s just helped us open up and have a wider variety of racing under our banner. It’s helped our group tremendously.
“Unlike when we first started, now we can have kids come up through quarter midgets and into micros and then into the midgets and sprints, all under the POWRi umbrella,” Brown added. “That way, whatever direction they go, it helps us with continuing to build that ladder of success we’ve started constructing.”
The common thread throughout that ladder, one that Brown circles as a key element to POWRi’s growth and success, is that he’s surrounded himself with “really good people” to make every piece of the sanctioning body’s puzzle fit together and operate seamlessly.
“The real reason for what everyone has seen with POWRi is the people that get involved in each area,” he said. “I may be the ringleader and the guy who people see out in front of this thing, but behind every great business are a lot of good folks — and we’ve got plenty of them. Without all of them, we’d be nothing.”