MIDGETS: Teddy Beach clinches NAMARS Regional Midget Championship

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

August 30, 2001

(Donnelsville, OH) - Most young people just entering into their senior year in high school have all sorts of things on their minds - plans for the year that involve their final farewell to the daily home away from home they've gotten used to for three years. Proms, senior parties, graduation, college, and even their future occupy their minds as they work through the tedium of their final year of high school.

Teddy Beach's life is much the same as most other 17-year-olds, however, after clinching the NAMARS Regional Midget Series Championship last Thursday at the Indianapolis Speedrome, his future is indeed bright and quite definite. His "schooling" has not only come in the classroom, but on the bullrings and highbanked race tracks around the country. He and his Beach Boys Motorsports team have certainly earned a solid "A+" for their performance this past year.

With four wins to his credit already this year (3 at the Indianapolis Speedrome, 1 at Toledo Speedway), Teddy is going to be crowned the NAMARS Regional Midget Champion at the year-ending banquet, but that may not be all of the hardware he takes home that day. Teddy is a mere 37 points behind teenager Travis Miniea in the NAMARS Championship Midget Series points chase, and is highly likely to wrap up the "Rookie of the Year" title for the year. Not surprisingly, Teddy's younger brother, 14-year-old Todd, has already racked up that same "Rookie " title in the NAMARS Kenyon Midget Car Series, primarily run at the Indianapolis Speedrome. Todd has two wins to his credit this year, the first on the high-banked red clay of Bloomington Speedway, and also at the Speedrome on the night of the "NAMARS 500."

Teddy's whirlwind NAMARS tour this year has come of somewhat of a surprise to this young man. He explains, "Because it's only my rookie year in Midgets, anything I achieve this year is a privilege. It's awesome that I was able to contend for any point championship, let alone two. Now that I'm in contention in the National series, that's really cool. It would be really, really special to win the National Championship, too."

Asked what winning a National Championship would mean to him in just his first year of racing Midgets, he replied, "I don't even want to answer that now, because it hasn't happened yet. I sure don't want to jinx it."

You'll get a chance to see how this adventure plays out in the next month when Teddy and the Beach Boys Motorsports team visit three Ohio tracks: Toledo Speedway (televised, tape-delayed on Speedvision - Teddy won the last race at this track), Sandusky Speedway and the quirky Shadybowl Speedway in September and early October. The team will finish out the NAMARS National tour at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, IN for the "Indiana Five Crown Nationals" make-up date after an earlier rain out.

Text provided by Janie Vogel

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.