Cunningham Juniors USAC Midget Racing program was founded in 2008 in a joint effort between professional driving coach Bob Perona and Cunningham Motorsports, one of the most successful teams in ACRA Racing competition. Our goal was to train and develop young, promising racing drivers for the next step on the racing ladder, the ARCA Racing Series championship, in our 380 hp, 900 lb USAC Midget race cars. Our program is a serious development program that gives talented drivers a way to not only hone their skills in the USAC Midget race car, but also a direct line to one of the top NASCAR teams today, as Cunningham Motorsports enjoys a close development program with Penske Racing.

In 2008 Drivers Parker Kligerman and Danielle Dickson enjoyed success in the Cunningham Juniors program, running full time schedules in the USAC Regional series as well as some selected National Events. Kligerman advanced to the ARCA Racing Series in 2009, winning 9 events and Rookie of the Year honors, and narrowly missing the championship by just 5 points. In 2010, Kligerman signed with Penske Racing to drive selected races in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Danielle Dickson remained in the Juniors program in 2009, where she finished third in the USAC Regional Championship with a best finish of second at Plymouth Speedway.

In 2010, Former Indy Lights and F3 Series driver Ali Jackson of Ireland has joined Cunningham Juniors with the hope of having the same kind of success that has propelled Kligerman up the ladder toward the top rung in NASCAR. Jackson will contest 20 races this season in both the USAC Regional and USSA Regional Championships, as well as selected USAC National events. Providing coaching and driver training for the Juniors program is Bob Perona, a highly respected driver coach who has worked with some of the up and coming race car drivers in North America. Perona has been a part of Parker Kligerman’s excellent run over the last few seasons, and has also helped Simona DeSilvestro climb the ladder in the open wheel ranks over the past 3 seasons to become the 2010 Indianapolis 500 rookie of the year.