For 50 years Don and Mel Kenyon have embodied the spirit of midget racing and served as inspiration for generations of aspiring race car drivers. Driven by the love of the sport, this dynamic duo has overcome prodigious obstacles to become the most successful racing team in midget history with more than enough wins, records, and awards to line a half-mile track. By harnessing an innate passion for racing and incorporating intuitive and skillful mechanics, the Kenyon brothers have proven that above all else, dedication wins championships.

 Early Years

Mel’s fascination with racing began in 1946 when he saw a race car at a gas station as he walked to church in his parents’ Cedar Rapids, Iowa neighborhood. Soon after, the brothers’ father Everett took them to see a race in Marion. Mel was hooked.

“I met Emery Collins and Gus Rader, and I knew this is what I wanted to do,” he says. “I began pedaling my bicycle by the track and watching Dick Eliot build cars.”

Mel struck up a relationship with Eliot, who allowed him to help out in his garage. There, Mel learned the mechanics of race cars and how to interpret how the cars handled on the track in a way that allowed pit crews to tweak them for optimal performance – a skill that would play a large role in Mel’s eventual successes. At that time, young drivers couldn’t race until they were 21, but as Mel approached that rite of passage he encountered his first major obstacle – Eliot was hesitant to let his friend drive in what was deemed a dangerous sport, and so Mel had no car.

Meanwhile, Don enlisted in the Air Force and served as a mechanic and flight engineer; and quickly proved to be an exceptional craftsman. 

“For myself, as a youngster, I was not interested in racing,” Don says. “But when I got out of the Air Force I had a few extra dollars, and my brother – who was always interested in racing – came to me and said ‘Let’s buy a midget.’”

At that moment, a union was formed from Mel’s formidable racing prowess and Don’s brilliant mechanical engineering that sewed the seed for two of racing’s most illustrious careers.




Early Success

Success was never far from the Kenyons’ reach, but like other racers they had to balance their skills  against challenges like budget constraints, family life, and heart - breaking setbacks.  Competing financially against the big boys of racing wasn't an option, so Don and Mel made up for a lack of funding
with dedication and enthusiasm.  The pair worked tirelessly to hone their cars, pit skills, and racing methods to perfection; and both brothers agree that the family support they received was critical.  "It's essential," Don says.  "If they don't support what you're doing, you won't go very far in racing.  Or, you won't go very far with that person."

With Mel behind the wheel and Don running the pit crew, the brothers began realizing moderate success in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1962, Mel won the NASCAR Florida midget racing championship. In that same year, the Kenyons began competing in the USAC championship series; and two years later Mel claimed his first of many USAC Championships.

Team Kenyon seemed primed to make a run in the USAC IndyCar series when Mel’s career hit a wall – literally. While racing at Langhorne Raceway on June 20, 1965, Mel’s engine ignited and spun his car into a wall. Mel barely survived the accident, which claimed the fingers on his left hand and left him with third-degree burns over 40% of his body. After numerous surgeries and rededicating his faith in the Lord, Mel made a remarkable recovery and raced in his first Indianapolis 500 merely 11 months later.

Indy and Beyond

To counteract the loss of Mel’s fingers, the racer, his brother, and their father worked to devise a glove with a sewn-in socket that could be placed over a pin in the steering wheel and allow Mel to turn it with his left hand. 3K Racing was born, and Don and Mel finally began to find the success they worked so hard to achieve.

From 1966 to 1974, with Don as his crew chief, Mel started in eight Indianapolis 500s and earned finishes of 3^rd, 4^th (twice) and 5^th – without the big budgets of the big-name racers. They built and maintained their own engines and their own cars, and in 1968 they began building cars for other drivers.
 

After their success in IndyCar, Don and Mel returned to their roots and have been building and racing midget cars ever since. Don matched his mechanical talent with business aptitude, and became one of the most successful owner operators in USAC’s history; while Mel won more races and earned more titles than any other midget driver in history and earned himself the moniker Mr. Midget.

He’s called Mr. Midget, Miraculous Mel, The King of the Midgets, and The Greatest Midget Racer of All Time. All-in-all, Mel has won an estimated 375 races, finished in the top 5 in the Indy 500 four times in eight starts, won seven USAC National Midget championships, and won three NAMARS midget championships; he amassed 111 feature wins, 131 seconds, 107 thirds, 81 fourths, and 69 fifths for a total of 419 Top 5 finishes; and has earned a slew of awards and distinctions.

He’s also co-authored two books, “A Hand for the Wheel” and “Burned to Life”; which serve as thoughtful accounts of the brothers’ colorful careers and provide a meaningful glimpse into Mel’s faith.

As an owner, Don has an equally impressive track record with nine USAC Owner’s championships, three NAMAR Owner’s championships, and 92 feature
wins. He has served on the USAC Advisory Board and in 1987 was honored with the Jim Blunk
Memorial Award for his contributions to auto racing. 

Collectively, the brothers have been inducted into six Hall of Fames, including the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, and the National Midget Hall of Fame. The Indianapolis Raceway hosts the annual Mel Kenyon Classic midget race in Mel’s honor, and the pair regularly engages in speaking engagements throughout the country. Today, they’re widely recognized as the most successful duo in midget racing history.

“We worked hard on doing a good job at the race track,” Mel says. “We were always one of the first ones to get there, and one of the last ones to leave. “

No Slowing Down

Today 3K Racing has three young drivers under its wings, each vying for their shot at racing glory. But that doesn’t mean that Don or Mel have slowed down, even into their mid-70s. Mel still races – and wins, while Don continues to apply his mechanical ingenuity to the sport. 

“I like it, I love it,” Mel says. “I love the feeling of winning a race, and challenging the car and other drivers.”

Don has expanded his business horizons by designing and building Kenyon Cars, stepping-stone midget cars that bridge the gap between quarter midgets and the Ford Focus series; and by founding DK Promotions, a regional USAC-sanctioned midget racing series.

True champions of auto racing, both brothers are quick to offer advice to young drivers.

 “In this game, you’re more or less individuals,” Don says. “There’s a lot of heartache. It’s not an easy game, and its highly competitive. Winning is nice, but only one guy can win each race. It teaches patience and how to deal with the good and the bad, because there are more disappointments than successes with racing… you’d better have fun, because if you’re not having fun doing what you’re doing you’re not going to win very many races.”

Mel adds that young racers should invest in the right equipment, and doesn’t necessarily mean the most expensive equipment:  "Know the race car and how it works so you can work with your mechanic. And, race for the enjoyment – you’ve got to have fun and if you’re not having fun you’d better find something else.”

The lure of the track – and the successes they’ve achieved on it – have revered the Kenyons to many aspiring drivers. 

“The young kids invigorate us older folk,” Don says. “It makes us feel ten years younger because they’re so full of energy and enthusiasm.”

For Don and Mel Kenyon, racing is life. And they’ve earned success by applying the lessons they’ve learned on the track to their own lives. Mel probably sums it up best when he says: “You must challenge the day as you challenge the track and the race car. A lot of drivers are in too big a hurry, but you have to be patient and look for opportunities to turn out ahead.”