Rookie Of The Year Award For Western World

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. — The 58th annual Western World Championships on October 24-25 at Central Arizona Raceway will include a special Rookie of the Year Award honoring one of the greats from the Grand Canyon State.

Team AZ-Petty-Rossi will present The Whiz Kid Award, named for Eric Wilkins, the Arizona Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee who won 83 features and six driving championships in his sprint car and midget racing career, including a USAC National Midget victory in 1992 at Denver, Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Speedway.

Wilkins now serves as a mechanic on the Team AZ-Petty-Rossi team and won the Western World as a crewman in both 2022 and 2023.

The Whiz Kid Award will reward multiple rookies of the year at the Western World in both the 410 portion featuring the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship and the Avanti Windows & Doors USAC CRA Sprint Car Series, as well as the 360 event for the Sands Chevrolet Wild West Sprints.

At the conclusion of Saturday night’s program, the Western World Rookie of the Year in each division will earn a $500 reward and a trophy for their efforts across the two-night event at the three-eighths-mile dirt oval.

It’s all part of an increased purse across the board for the Western World Championships, which is renowned as one of the most storied events in dirt track racing and boasts a rich legacy dating back to its debut in 1968.

The 2025 Western World will pay a record $35,000-to-win for the USAC portion of the event on Saturday, plus $15,000 in lap leader money and a minimum of $1,000 to start.

The two-night Western World purse for USAC has already exceeded $100,000 thanks to supporting sponsors Avanti Windows & Doors, AME Electrical, Apache Transport, JUGO Superfoods, Buffalo Wild Wings and Busch Light.

All previous 57 editions of the Western World Championships have been held in the state of Arizona. Not only is the famed event a source of pride for those from around the country, but especially to those hailing from the state of Arizona.

“We are committed to making this race one of the crown jewels, as it used to be, and increase the purse every year,” said Michael Burkhart, an Arizona native and Western World winning car owner who is the originator of the Whiz Kid Award.