Motorsport: Kiwi qualifies for speedway 'Indy 500'

Speedway champion Michael Pickens will line up today for the Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, US. Photo / Supplied

One New Zealander has already qualified for arguably the biggest event in world midget racing for the first time as part of a two-car Kiwi team.

Michael Pickens will line up today for the Indy 500 of speedway at the 24th running of the Annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals.

Another Kiwi, Brad Mosen, won his qualifying heat against Nascar star Kasey Kahne which means he's through to the third night of qualifying and a chance to join Pickens.

"The Chili Bowl is like the Olympics of speedway car racing," said Mosen. "It attracts the best of the best, and to succeed here you need to have something pretty special."

More than 250 drivers have spent the past four days trying to make it to the 50-lap main event. Qualifying races took place on the nearly 0.4km clay oval in the Tulsa State Fairgrounds each night for four nights in front of 15,000 fans.

The Synergy Racing team, run by Synergy V8 engine developer Simon Longdill and his business partner Luke Fisher, are running two CRC-backed midgets for top New Zealand drivers Pickens and Mosen.

"We basically want to see how well we can do against the world's best midget race teams. We have put together a very strong package in New Zealand speedway ... so this is a challenge to ourselves to see what we can do at the Chili Bowl," said Longdill.

"As far as we know, this is the first time a whole New Zealand team has transported their own cars to the US to contest this prestigious event."

The Chili Bowl is a standalone event with its own rules and regulations and it's up to the event organisers whether you compete or not. Competitors can build what they want as long as the vehicle is, at its basics, still a midget speedway car.

Pickens was one of the quickest during Monday night's practice before finishing second in Tuesday night's main qualifying race, earning him a place in tonight's feature race.