The Future of MMRA

Ever since MMRA brought new management on board at the beginning of the 2002 racing season, there has been tremendous change.  In our first year, here were some of the major changes:

1.  Opening of MMRA to other manufacturers than the traditional MMI.
2.  Introduction of our Regional Support Awards program.
3.  First ever national sponsors with the U.S. Air Force and Honda Engines

In our second year, there were more major changes including:

1.  New east/west points structure.
2.  New Touring and Grand National race program.
3.  Introduction of championship ring award program.

Now entering our third year, there are more major changes including:

1.  Front brakes required on all minicup racecars.
2.  Expansion with new PRO Division which also brought MMRA to Alaska and Canada for the first time.
3.  MMRA Racing News magazine - scheduled for publication April 2004.

It has been a wild ride these last few years, but we are pleased with the progress we've made, and super excited about what the future holds.  MMRA is now a complete driver development program that can take young racers and prepare them for professional level racing.  In addition, we are seeing great synergy between our minicup and Baby Grand racers.  Some minicup racers are moving up to Baby Grands, while Baby Grand racers are getting minicups for their kids.  We brought Baby Grands on board because we knew that the combination of minicup and Baby Grands would be much stronger than either one as a single entity.  This is already proving to be true and that synergy will only grow in the future.

Big changes are not confined to MMRA.  Just take a look at Nextel Cup racing where in one year they have a new leader, new series sponsor, new official fuel, new points system, and even major schedule changes.  The reality is that racing in general is changing quickly these days - but MMRA racers should be excited about our future. 

We believe the future of racing is miniature motorsports for two reasons.  First, we put on a better show for the fans because our cars can race 3 wide on tracks that only have single file racing with big cars.  Second, our lower cost means more people can afford to race our cars than big cars.  The next 10 years will see an explosion of miniature motorsports and you are part of this leading edge development in racing.

Whenever major changes occur, it is easy for people to become concerned.  In order to help ensure our traditional minicup members are as comfortable as possible, we wanted to answer a few questions we've heard raised.

1.  Will MMRA be dropping minicups in the future?  Absolutely not.  Minicups make up 2/3 of MMRA with our Future Stars of Racing and Open Divisions.  Bringing Baby Grands on board was designed to strengthen MMRA, not become a replacement for minicups.

2.  Why has there been more coverage of Baby Grands than minicups in the last month or two?  A lot of that is coincidence, and the fact that Baby Grands raced during Speedweeks.  Next year, look for an expanded Speedweeks that also includes both divisions of minicups.  Also, once racing season starts, you'll see race coverage of all divisions on this website.

3.  Are there any great new things coming up for minicups?  Definitely.  MMRA will continue to only post the things that are signed, sealed, and delivered but we are working on some great new things for minicups right now.

4.  All those PRO Division members on the website - are they former minicup racers?  No.  We will actually have more minicup racers this year than last year.  The PRO Division members are generally Baby Grand racers who raced under the Baby Grand Stockcar Association last year.

5.  What happened to the Baby Grand Stockcar Association?  It was dissolved.  All promotion and organization of Baby Grand racing is now under MMRA as our PRO Division.

6.  How many members will MMRA have this season?  When all the memberships are in, we expect between 200 and 300 members across the US and Canada.