Even though things looked bad, there continued to be a few folks who wouldn't let the sport die. 

David Daniels was an Avenger car dealer in Kentucky and he decided to form yet another new sanctioning body to try to bring the sport back together.  One of his first calls was to Pete Neimeier, webmaster of this website.  They decided to work together to promote minicup racing under David's new sanctioning body.

Meanwhile, the SRL sanctioning body had been transferred to Bo Elswick and Ken Stabley.  Bo owned and operated the BDE Racing Series based at Old Dominion Speedway in Virginia and Ken was another Avenger car dealer.  Bo's BDE Racing Series became the backbone of the SRL, and he and Ken organized races in Virginia and Pennsylvania.

All 4 of these guys who stepped forward to promote minicup racing agreed on one thing - the public bickering and fighting that had existed between MMRA and SRL had to stop.  It was like a civil war where every casualty was from your own country.  A "truce" was declared and both sides decided to work hard to build the sport.

Eventually, Pete and David decided to acquire the rights to MMRA and bring it back to life, rather than start a new organization that would further divide the sport.  With Pete's web background, they quickly established the new www.mmraracing.com website and began the task of gathering the remnants of the old MMRA groups around the country.  Starting in March 2002, they decided to bring the old MMRA regions together for a big race - the MMRA Nationals Presented by the U.S. Air Force.  The involvement of the Air Force marked a new milestone for minicups - it was the first "outside" major national sponsorship for the sport. 

With both the MMRA and SRL now run by experienced minicuppers who knew not to expect to make lots of money, the sport started to move in the right direction.  MMRA had success in bringing new sponsorships to the sport and the SRL held their National event at the famous South Boston Speedway in Virginia. 

During 2002, another new achievement took place.  Ricky Dennis of Townsend Racing Products had taken over Bob Jewell's MMI manufacturing business, but he had a longstanding dream of racing minicups indoors.  His dream was finally realized in the debut of the Arena Racing USA series which ran at the Norfolk, VA Scope Coliseum for the first time.

Things continued to improve in 2003.  MMRA unveiled an ambitious Touring series of high profile events throughout the eastern US, and also welcomed the west coast minicup racers back to the fold.  Now with a truly nationwide footprint, the sport attracted the attention of the Hoosier tire company who developed a tire just for minicups. 

Hopefully minicups have now come full circle.  They grew, died, and have now returned stronger than ever.  New manufactueres are joining the sport, and new racers are getting involved.  minicup.com is excited to see things moving in the right direction, and hopes that this report can help.  New racers can learn about the rich history of the sport, and old racers can remember the mistakes of the past so they aren't repeated.

Throughout their history, minicups have thrived by being the only way an average guy can compete in stock car racing without risking his life or spending a fortune. Every week, all across the country, minicups give a select few people a taste of what it’s like to truly race a stock car.  If it sounds like fun, that's because it is.  What are you waiting for - get out of the stands and into the action!

Related websites:

GENERAL INFO – http://www.minicup.com/

MMRA – http://www.mmraracing.com/

ARENA RACING USA - www.arenaracingusa.com