1970 Trevis Sprint Car

Conceived as a more economical alternative to a standard-size race car, compact 'midget' racers first appeared on the West Coast in the early 1930s. Around the same time AAA limited engine displacement in 'big' cars to 205 cubic inches for non-championship events, first on the Pacific Coast but nationally by 1941.

At first, the distinctions among midgets, big cars, and championship cars were not always well defined. By moving the front axle, the same car might run as either a big car or a championship car; while championship and non-championship big cars often raced together. By the early 1950s, however, the championship-level cars that raced at Indianapolis were becoming increasingly specialized, largely to lower the center of gravity. And by the early 1960s, people were calling the more upright, non-championship big cars sprint cars - probably because they usually raced in shorter events.

Floyd Trevis built midgets in the 1940s and his first Indianapolis car in 1946, the twin-engine, four-wheel drive Lou Fageol Twin Coach Special, which Paul Russo qualified second and then wrecked 40 miles into the race. Trevis also rebuilt the chassis that became A.J. Foyt's Indy-winning 1961 Bowes Seal Fast Special.