Kids who aren't old enough for a driver license can find out what it's like to be behind the wheel on a race track. The Little Wheels Quarter Midget Association will host its next Ride Day Feb. 20 at its track at Frontier Park in Graham. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., weather permitting, children 5 to 16 years GÇô the same age range as ones who race the cars GÇô old can drive the quick-moving rides around the one-20th of a mile oval. The fee of $15 per child covers instruction, safety gear and insurance. Participants must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to sign a waiver. A Ride Day held Jan. 23 attracted participants as young as 5. They got a taste of what Little Wheels competitors experience, though not at the speeds that can reach about 40 miles per hour in official races. Quarter-midgets, which get their name from their size compared to midget racers, have bodies made from fiberglass and single-cylinder, 2.5-horsepower engines. Roll cages and multi-point seat harnesses are standard equipment, and drivers wear full-face helmets. Little Wheels is part of Quarter Midgets of America, a non-profit organization with more than 2,500 family memberships and about 4,000 drivers in 50 quarter-midget clubs nationwide. Racing is at the club and national levels. The track that Little Wheels members built at Frontier Park in the early 1970s is the club's home.
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