Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing found mainly in the United States, Canada and Great Britain held largely on oval rings of between approximately a quarter-mile and 2. Auto racing (also known as automobile racing, motor racing or car racing) is a Motorsport involving Racing Cars It The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands 66 miles (about 0. 4 to 4. 2 kilometres) in length, but also raced occasionally on road courses. Road racing can be a term involving Road running, road bicycle races, or Automobile races Ovals shorter than one mile (1. 6 km) are called short tracks; unpaved short tracks are called dirt tracks; longer ovals are typically known as superspeedways. In North American Auto racing, particularly with regard to NASCAR, a short track is a Racetrack of less than one mile (1 This article concerns auto racing motorcycles, horses, and dogs also race on dirt tracks An oval track is a dedicated motorsport circuit primarily in the USA, which differs from a road course in that it only has turns in one direction which is almost Top level races are generally 200 to 600 miles (300-1000 km) in total length. Average speeds in the top classes are around 160 mph (275. 5 km/h), compared to 220 mph (354 km/h) in comparable levels of open wheel racing. Open-wheel car (Often single-seater car, in UK English describes cars with the wheels outside the car's main body and in most cases one seat Some NASCAR races can reach speeds of 204-208 mph (328-334 km/h) at tracks such as Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Lowe's Motor Speedway. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing ( NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of Stock cars in the United States. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway Indiana (an Enclave of Indianapolis) in the United States, is the home of the Lowe's Motor Speedway (formerly Charlotte Motor Speedway) is a speedway in Concord North Carolina, north of Charlotte. NASCAR has implemented the use of restrictor plates at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway for safety reasons thereby limiting top speeds to approximately 187 mph (301 km/h) when not drafting. A Restrictor plate or air restrictor is a device installed at the intake of an engine to limit its power Daytona International Speedway is a Superspeedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Talladega Superspeedway is a Motorsports complex located in Talladega Alabama United States
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Stock cars
A stock car, in the original sense of the term, is an automobile that has not been modified from its original factory configuration. Later the term stock car came to mean any production-based automobile used in racing. This term was used to differentiate such a car from a race car, a special, custom-built car designed only for racing purposes with no intent of its ever being used as regular transportation. Auto racing (also known as automobile racing, motor racing or car racing) is a Motorsport involving Racing Cars It
When NASCAR was first formed by Bill France Sr. in 1948 to regulate stock car racing, there was a requirement that any car entered be made entirely of parts available to the general public through automobile dealers, and that all cars must be from a model run of which at least 500 cars of that model were sold to the general public. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing ( NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of Stock cars in the United States. William "Bill" Henry Getty France Sr "Big Bill" ( September 26, 1909 &ndash June 7, 1992) was the co-founder of NASCAR This is referred to as "homologation". Homologation is a technical term derived from the Greek homologeo (ὁμολογέω for "to agree" which is generally used in English to signify In NASCAR's early years, the cars were so "stock" that it was commonplace for the drivers to drive themselves to the competitions in the car that they were going to run in the race. While automobile engine technology had remained fairly stagnant in World War II, advanced aircraft piston engine development had provided a great deal of available data, and NASCAR was formed just as some the improved technology was about to become available in production cars. Until the advent of the Trans-Am series in 1967, NASCAR homologation cars were the closest thing that the public could buy that was actually very similar to the cars that were winning the national races
The early years
Before NASCAR was founded in 1948, moonshine runners during the prohibition era would often have to outrun the authorities. Production Uses Usually large scale distillation is practiced for the purpose of making ethanol for drinking, yet it may also practiced for creating Biofuel To do so, they had to upgrade their vehicles and eventually started getting together with fellow runners and making runs together. They would challenge one another and eventually progressed to organized events in the early 1930's. The main problem racing faced was the lack of a unified set of rules among the different tracks. The racers could not race at different tracks because it was not legal for them to race there. When Bill France saw this problem he set up a meeting at the Streamline Hotel in order to form an organization that would unify the rules. From this meeting NASCAR was founded in 1948.
The 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket V-8 with a displacement of 303 cu. The Oldsmobile Rocket V8 was the first post-war OHV V8 at General Motors. in. is widely recognized as the first postwar modern overhead valve (OHV) engine to become available to the public, though all the major manufacturers were also in the process of modernizing their engine designs. An overhead valve (OHV engine, also called pushrod engine or I-head engine is a type of Piston engine that places the Camshaft The Oldsmobile was an immediate success in 1949 and 1950, and all the automobile manufacturers could not help noticing that its victories resulted in noticeably higher sales of the Oldsmobile 88 to the buying public. The Oldsmobile 88 (aka Eighty-Eight) was a Full-size car sold by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors and produced from 1949 until The motto of the day became "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday". However, in spite of the fact that several competing engines were more advanced, the aerodynamic and low-slung Hudson Hornet managed to win in 1951, 1952, and 1953 with a 308 cu. The Hudson Hornet is an automobile that was produced by the Hudson Motor Car Company of Detroit Michigan between 1951 and 1954 in. (5. 0 L) inline 6-cylinder that used an old-style flathead engine, proving there was more to winning than just a more powerful engine. A flathead engine or sidevalve engine (sometimes called a flatty) is an Internal combustion engine with valves placed in the engine block
At the time, it typically took three years for a new design of car body or engine to end up in production and be available for NASCAR racing. Most cars sold to the public did not have a wide variety of engine choices, and the majority of the buying public at the time were not interested in the large displacement special edition engine options that would soon become popular. However, the end of the Korean War in 1953 started an economic boom, and then car buyers immediately began demanding more powerful engines. The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korean and South Korean regimes with major hostilities lasting from June 25 1950 until the
Also in 1953, NASCAR recommended that the drivers add roll bars, but did not require them.
In 1955 Chrysler produced the C-300 with its 300 HP 331 cu in (5.4 L) OHV engine, which easily won in 1955 and 1956. The Chrysler 300 "letter series" were high-performance Luxury cars built in very limited numbers by the Chrysler Corporation in the United States between The FirePower was Chrysler 's first V8 engine Introduced in the Fall of 1950 for the 1951 model year the FirePower had hemispherical combustion chambers leading An overhead valve (OHV engine, also called pushrod engine or I-head engine is a type of Piston engine that places the Camshaft
In 1957 several notable events happened. The AMA banned manufacturers from using race wins in their advertising and giving direct support to race teams, as they felt it led to reckless street racing. This forced manufacturers to become creative in producing race parts to help racers win. Race teams were often caught trying to use factory produced racing parts that were not really available to the public, though many parts passed muster by being labeled as heavy-duty "Police" parts. Car manufacturers wanted to appear compliant with the ban, but they also wanted to win.
NASCAR tracks at the time were mainly dirt tracks with modest barriers, and during the 1957 season a Mercury Monterey crashed into the crowd. For the Monterey minivan produced from 2004-2007 see Ford Freestar. This killed many spectators, and resulted in a serious overhaul of the safety rules which in turn prompted the building of larger more modern tracks. Also in 1957, Chevrolet sold enough of their new fuel injected engines to the public in order to make them available for racing (and Ford began selling superchargers as an option), but Bill France immediately banned fuel injection and superchargers from NASCAR before they could race. Fuel injection is a system for mixing fuel with air in an Internal combustion engine. However, even without official factory support or the use of fuel injection, Buck Baker won in 1957 driving a small-block V-8 Chevy Bel-Air. Elzie Wylie Baker Sr better known as Buck Baker ( March 4, 1919 in Richburg South Carolina - April 14, 2002 in Charlotte
In 1959 Daytona opened the first superspeedway with long straights and highly banked turns, which allowed much higher top speeds, and it was soon followed by the Talladega Superspeedway.
In 1961 Ford introduced the FE 390 in a low drag Galaxie "Starliner", but 1960 and '61 championships were won by drivers in 409-powered Chevy Impalas. See also the Ford Galaxy Large MPV of the 2000s. The Ford Galaxie was a full-size car built in the
Pontiac introduced their "Super Duty" 421 in Catalinas that made use of many aluminum body parts to save weight, and the Pontiacs easily won in 1962. Pontiac is a Brand of Automobiles produced by General Motors that has been sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico The Pontiac Catalina was part of Pontiac 's Full-sized Automobile line
The Golden Age
The desire from fans and manufacturers alike for higher performance cars within the restrictions of homologation meant that car makers began producing limited production "special edition" cars based on high production base models. It also became apparent that manufacturers were willing to produce increasingly larger engines to remain competitive (Ford had developed a 483 they hoped to race). For the 1963 season NASCAR engines were restricted to using a maximum displacement of 7. 0 Liters (427 cu. in. ) and using only two valves per cylinder.
Also, even with heavy duty special editions sold to the public for homologation purposes, the race car rules were further modified, primarily in the interest of safety. This is because race drivers and their cars during this era were subjected to forces unheard of in street use, and require a far higher level of protection than is normally afforded by truly "stock" automobile bodies.
In 1963 Ford sold enough of their aerodynamic “sport-roof” edition Galaxies to the public so it would qualify as stock, and with the heavy duty FE block bored and stroked to the new limit of 427, the top 5 finishers were all Ford. See also the Ford Galaxy Large MPV of the 2000s. The Ford Galaxie was a full-size car built in the Chrysler had bored their 413 to create the “Max Wedge” 426, but it still couldn't compete with the Fords. GM's headquarters had genuinely tried to adhere to the 1957 ban, but their Chevrolet division had also constantly tried to work around it, because the other manufacturers had openly circumvented the ban. In 1963 GM gave in and openly abandoned compliance, and Chevy was allowed to produce the ZO6 427, but it did not immediately enjoy success.
Then, in 1964 the new Chrysler 426 Hemi engine so dominated the series in a Plymouth Belvedere "Sport Fury", the homologation rules were changed so that 1,000 of any engine and car had to be sold to the public to qualify as a stock part, instead of just 500. A Chrysler Hemi engine, known by the trademark Hemi, is an Internal combustion engine built by Chrysler that utilizes a hemispherical The Plymouth Belvedere was an American Automobile produced by Plymouth from 1951 through 1970 The Plymouth Fury was an automobile made by the Plymouth division of the Chrysler Corporation from 1956 to 1978 This made the 426 Hemi unavailable for the 1965 season.
In 1965 Ford adapted two single-overhead-cams to their FE 427 V8 to allow it to run at a higher RPM (called the Ford 427 Cammer). The Ford FE engine was a Ford V8 engine used in vehicles sold in the North American market between 1958 and 1976 Ford started to sell "cammers" to the public to homologate it (mostly to dealer-sponsored privateer drag racers), but NASCAR changed the rules to specify that all NASCAR engines must use a single cam-in-block. The cam-in-block Valvetrain layout of Piston engines is one where the Camshaft is placed within the Cylinder block, usually beside and slightly But even without the Cammer, the Ford FE 427 won in 1965.
In 1966 Chrysler sold enough of the 426 Hemi's to make it available again, and they put it in their new Dodge Charger which had a low-drag rear window that was radically sloped. The Dodge Charger is an American Automobile manufactured by Chrysler, under the Dodge brand name It was called a "fast-back", and because of this David Pearson and Richard Petty's Chargers dominated the series that year. David Gene Pearson (born December 22, 1934 in Spartanburg, South Carolina) is a former American NASCAR Racecar Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937) is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the Winston Cup Series
The 1969 season was dominated by the Dodge Daytona due to a radical body shape change. Dodge, an American Automobile Brand, has produced three separate vehicles with the name Dodge Charger Daytona, all of which were modified This car exceed 200 mph (321 km/h) which was a significant improvement over their competitors, 180 mph (289 km/h) was common at the time. Richard Petty could not come to contractual terms with Dodge before the 1969 season, but when he saw the Daytona, he demanded that Plymouth make something similar, but they declined (for the time being). Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937) is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the Winston Cup Series He signed a lucrative deal with Ford and they made the Torino "Talladega" which had enough aerodynamic body improvements that it gave the Torino a higher top speed with no other changes. The Ford Torino Talladega was a car produced by the Ford Motor Company during 1969 only It was not enough, however, to catch the Daytona. NASCAR feared that these increasing speeds significantly surpassed the abilities of the tire technology of the day, and it would undoubtedly increase the number of gruesome wrecks that were occurring. As a result, the 1970 Homologation rules were changed so that one car for every two U. S. dealers had to be sold to the public to qualify, hoping to delay the use of aero-bodies until tires could improve.
For the 1970 season Dodge did not sell enough Daytonas to compete with their aero-body, but Plymouth managed to sell over 1,920 Plymouth Superbirds, which were almost identical to the Daytona. The short-lived Plymouth Road Runner Superbird, a sister design to the Dodge Charger Daytona, was designed to beat the Ford Torino Talladega at NASCAR Petty came back to Plymouth in the 200+ mph Superbird, and easily won in 1970, and '71. This led to several makes of proposed 1972 "aero-cars" having their maximum engine displacement decreased to 358 cu. in. (approx. 5. 8L) or they could remain at 7. 0L with a restrictor plate to limit top speeds. A Restrictor plate or air restrictor is a device installed at the intake of an engine to limit its power As a result, Ford dropped out of NASCAR for several years.
Fans, drivers, and manufacturers alike demanded a complete revamping of the rules. NASCAR responded in a way that they hoped would make the cars safer and more equal, so the race series would be more a test of the drivers, rather than a test of car technology.
The modern era
1972 brought so many rule changes, it has prompted many to consider this year as the start of the modern era of NASCAR racing. In addition, R. J. Reynolds (the tobacco conglomerate) took over as the major sponsor of NASCAR racing (changing the name to the "Winston Cup") and they made a significantly larger financial contribution than previous sponsors. Richard Petty's personal sponsorship with STP also set new, higher standards for financial rewards to driving teams. The sudden infusion of noticeably larger amounts of money changed the entire nature of the sport.
The 1973 oil crisis meant that large displacement special edition homologation cars of all makes were suddenly sitting unsold. The 1973 oil crisis began on October 17 1973 when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC consisting of the Arab members of From this point forward, stock cars were quickly allowed to differ greatly from anything available to the public. Modern racing "stock" cars are stock in name only, using a body template that is vaguely modeled after currently-available automobiles. The chassis, running gear, and other equipment have almost nothing to do with anything in ordinary automobiles.
Modern stock cars may superficially resemble standard American family sedans, but are in fact purpose-built racing machines built to a strict set of regulations governing the car design ensuring that the chassis, suspension, engine, etc. A chassis (plural "chassis" (ˈʃæːsiː ˈtʃæːsiː consists of a framework that supports an inanimate object analogous to an Animal 's Suspension is the term given to the system of springs, Shock absorbers and linkages that connects a Vehicle to its Wheels Suspension are architecturally identical on all vehicles. Ironically, these regulations ensure that stock car racers are in many ways technologically less sophisticated than standard cars on the road. For example, NASCAR (the premier stock car organization in the U. S. ) requires carbureted engines in all of its racing series, while fuel injection is now universal in standard passenger cars. A carburetor (North American spelling or carburettor ( Commonwealth spelling) is a device that blends air and Fuel for an Internal An engine is a mechanical device that produces some form of output from a given input Fuel injection is a system for mixing fuel with air in an Internal combustion engine. Also, the majority of production car engines use a double overhead cam (DOHC) and four valves per cylinder, while NASCAR vehicles are restricted to two valves-per-cylinder actuated by pushrods using a single cam-in-block. The cam-in-block Valvetrain layout of Piston engines is one where the Camshaft is placed within the Cylinder block, usually beside and slightly Modern NASCAR engines are restricted to a maximum displacement of 358 cu. in. (5. 8L) even though there are still many production engines available to the public that are noticeably larger. In addition, the Ford Fusion, Dodge Avenger, Chevrolet Impala, and Toyota Camry that will compete in the 2007 season are all front-wheel-drive sedans, but the NASCAR versions continue to use rear-wheel-drive. The Dodge Avenger name identifies four different cars The Dodge Avenger which was a renamed " Hillman Avenger " The Dodge Avenger The Chevrolet Impala was through 1996 a Full-sized Automobile built by General Motors for their Chevrolet division The Toyota Camry is a Mid-size car, formerly a Compact car manufactured by Toyota since 1980
Engines, while still containing varying components from the various manufacturers who compete in the series, are of fixed displacement, and are generally designed to ensure all entrants have near-equal vehicles. There are several categories of stock car racing, each with slightly different rules, but the key intention of cars that look like production cars, but with near-identical specifications underneath, remains true. The super-speedways continue to require the use of a restrictor plate under each carburetor to limit top speeds, while the shorter tracks do not require them. A Restrictor plate or air restrictor is a device installed at the intake of an engine to limit its power
The closest European equivalent to stock car racing is probably touring car racing, though these are raced exclusively on road courses rather than ovals. Touring car racing is a general term for a number of distinct Auto racing competitions in heavily-modified street cars
'True' stock car racing, which consists of only street vehicles that can be bought by general public, is sometimes now called showroom stock or U-Car racing. A U-car is a type of Race car built from stock parts Because of this it is one of the fastest growing motorsports in terms of numbers of drivers and participants In 1972 (same year as the beginning of modern NASCAR era), SCCA started its first showroom stock racing series, with a price ceiling on the cars of $3,000. The Sports Car Club of America ( SCCA) is a club and sanctioning body supporting Road racing, rally, and Autocross in the United States Some modern showroom stock racing allow safety modifications done on showroom stock cars.
Stock car series
The most prominent championship in stock car racing is the NASCAR championship, currently named the Sprint Cup after its sponsor Sprint Nextel, and previously known as Strictly Stock (1949), Grand National (1950-1970), Winston Cup (1971-2003), and Nextel Cup (2004-2007). Sprint Nextel Corporation ( is a Telecommunications company based in Overland Park, Kansas. It is the most popular racing series in the United States, drawing over 6 million spectators in 1997, an average live audience of over 190,000 people for each race.
The most famous event in the series is undoubtedly the Daytona 500, an annual 500-mile race at Daytona Beach, Florida. The Daytona 500 is a 200-lap long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach Florida. The series' second-biggest event is probably The Brickyard 400, an annual 400-mile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the legendary home of the Indianapolis 500 of the Indy Racing League, an open-wheeled racing series. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway Indiana (an Enclave of Indianapolis) in the United States, is the home of the The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, often shortened to Indianapolis 500 or Indy 500, and historically known simply as "The 500" is an American NASCAR also runs the Nationwide Series, a stock car junior league, and the Craftsman Truck Series, a junior league where pickup trucks are raced. The NASCAR Nationwide Series is a Stock car racing series owned and operated by the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing. A pickup truck is a light Motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area which is almost always separated from the cab to allow for chassis flex when carrying or pulling Together the two car-based series (Nextel Cup and Busch Series) drew 8 million spectators in 1997, compared to 4 million for both American open-wheel series (CART and IRL). Champ Car, was the name for a class and specification of cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades primarily for use in the Indianapolis The Indy Racing League, better known as IRL, is the sanctioning body of a predominantly American based Open-wheel racing series. In 2002, 17 of the 20 US top sporting events in terms of attendance were NASCAR races. Only football drew more television viewers that year. American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive Team sport known for mixing strategy with
Besides NASCAR, there are a number of other national or regional stock-car sanctioning bodies in the United States. The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA), American Speed Association (ASA), Champion Racing Association (CRA), International Motor Contest Association (IMCA), and United Speed Alliance Racing (USAR) all sanction their own forms of stock-car racing, on varying types of track, and with various levels of national and media coverage. Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA is an auto racing sanctioning body in the United States founded in 1953 by John Marcum. That is owned by Ron Varney and was known as USPRO before its acquisition by Steve Dale Champion Racing Association (CRA is an auto racing sanctioning body in the United States founded in 1997 by Glenn Luckett and R The International Motor Contest Association was organized in 1915 by J Young drivers from these series generally aspire to move to the Busch Series or Craftman Truck Series in NASCAR. The International Race of Champions (IROC) series uses stock cars, but is usually perceived as being outside of the usual stock car racing scene because of its 'All-Star' design.
Internationally, stock car racing has not enjoyed the same success as within the United States. Stock Car Brasil (officially Copa NEXTEL Stock Car {NEXTEL Cup Stock Car} also known as Campeonato Brasileiro de Stock Car is a stock car Prior to its purchase by NASCAR, Canada's CASCAR organized three racing series (two regional and one national) that enjoyed generally strong car-counts; the base of the sport in Canada was the short-oval region of Southern Ontario. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The Canadian Association for Stock Car Auto Racing ( CASCAR) was the governing body for amateur and professional Stock car racing in Canada. In Europe there has been a persistent effort to introduce stock car racing. The Stock Car Speed Association ASCAR or Days of Thunder is based in Rockingham, United Kingdom, though the series has raced at the Lausitzring in Germany as well. VSR V8 Trophy is a Stock car racing series that races at circuits around the UK with a date in northern France at Croix en Ternois History Rockingham is a village and Civil parish in the Corby district of Northamptonshire, England. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The EuroSpeedway Lausitz is a Race track located near Klettwitz in the state of Brandenburg in Eastern Germany, near the borders to Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Brazil also has a successful stock car racing series, with starting grids of 40 or more cars, and four brands competing: Chevrolet, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen and Peugeot. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Chevrolet (ˌʃɛvroʊˈleɪ - French origin (also known as Chevy) is a Brand of Automobile, produced by General Motors (GM is the sixth largest Automaker in Japan and the seventeenth largest in the world by global unit sales For the article about the bicycle manufacturer see Cycles Peugeot. Brazilian Stock Car also has two developing series. Argentina also have a popular stock series, called Turismo Carretera. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics. Turismo Carretera ( English: Road racing, lit Road Touring) is probably the most popular car racing series in Argentina, and the oldest car Unsuccessful efforts have been made in Australia, South Africa, and Japan as well. AUSCAR (Australian Stock Car Auto Racing was the Australian counterpart of the American motor racing series NASCAR, starting in 1986 and continuing until 2001 The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics.
Stock car racing is also a popular local event. Many tracks exist in the United States and a few in Canada, catering to a wide variety of car types and fans. There are a few organizations that cater to these local short tracks, such as ARCA, ASA, CRA, IMCA, and UMP. Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA is an auto racing sanctioning body in the United States founded in 1953 by John Marcum. That is owned by Ron Varney and was known as USPRO before its acquisition by Steve Dale Champion Racing Association (CRA is an auto racing sanctioning body in the United States founded in 1997 by Glenn Luckett and R The International Motor Contest Association was organized in 1915 by J United Midwestern Promoters (UMP is a Short track racing sanctioning body in the United States that sanctions short track racing on NASCAR also supports local short track racing with their Elite Division and NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series racing. The Whelen All-American Series (formerly the Dodge Weekly Series is a semi-professional and amateur Auto racing series sanctioned by NASCAR.
Stock car driver career paths
NASCAR stars take various paths to the highest stock car divisions. Some start racing on dirt surfaces but all end up racing on asphalt surfaces as they progress in their career. This article concerns auto racing motorcycles, horses, and dogs also race on dirt tracks They frequently start in karting or in cars that are completely stock except for safety modifications. For other meanings see Kart (disambiguation Kart racing or karting is a variant of Open-wheel Motor sport with They generally advance through intermediate or advanced local-level divisions. The highest local division, asphalt late model racing, is generally considered a requirement to advance to the next step, regional and national touring series. A " late model car " refers to a newer car which has been recently designed or fabricated
Dirt track drivers follow the same general path. Their highest divisions are less well-known national touring late model series such as the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and regional touring series. The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is a racing championship series for Late model stock cars currently owned by World Racing Group
Tactics
While the challenges of driving and setting up the cars around near-identical banked ovals are probably fewer than learning varied road circuits, the aerodynamic factors giving advantages to a tactically-savvy driver lead to contests which bear some resemblance to some forms of track cycling, particularly at large oval superspeedway tracks such as Daytona and Talladega. Track cycling is a Bicycle racing Sport usually held on specially-built banked tracks or Velodromes (but many events are held at older velodromes where the An oval track is a dedicated motorsport circuit primarily in the USA, which differs from a road course in that it only has turns in one direction which is almost Daytona International Speedway is a Superspeedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Talladega Superspeedway is a Motorsports complex located in Talladega Alabama United States
In particular the aerodynamics ensure that cars which are following each other both have less drag than either car alone. The car in the front of a chain has slightly less drag at the rear of his car than when driving alone, while the car in the rear of a chain experiences a dramatic reduction in frontal aerodynamic resistance (called drafting). This is an important strategic advantage for team drivers, as the rear driver will get significantly better fuel consumption which will allow fewer re-fueling stops. Therefore it is in the drivers' interests to cooperate in forming chains of cars with low drag. However, a driver must at some point end cooperation in order to win the race. The combination of cooperation and non-cooperation leads to some very sophisticated strategic decision making between team members and competitors alike.
Also it should be noted that the tracks, at least those used by NASCAR, are not identical, with some being oval, some being tri-ovals, one being essentially triangular, and two of them in fact being road courses that are also used by road racing series. In geometry an oval or ovoid (from Latin ovum, 'egg' is any Curve resembling an egg or an Ellipse. A Tri-oval is a shape which derives its name from the two other shapes it most resembles a Triangle and an oval. A triangle is one of the basic Shapes of Geometry: a Polygon with three corners or vertices and three sides or edges which are Line At many of these tracks, the drafting tactics described above play little factor. More so, at the grassroots level, most stock car races take place at short tracks, where these aerodynamic effects are negligible.
Stock car racing in Britain
Stock car racing was brought to Britain in 1954. Taking place on existing greyhound/speedway tracks, the cars were mostly 'stock' cars from the 1930s with locked rear axle differentials and added armour. After the first couple of years 'specials' began to appear eventually making the 'stock' car name something of a misnomer. Since the early days of stock car racing in Britain the sport has developed into many different classes, from the destructive 'Banger' categories to the very sophisticated National Hot Rods. However, the name 'stock car' is usually reserved for that racing class which traces its roots back to these early days in the 1950's, BriSCA F1 stock cars, which were previously known as "The Seniors" or "Senior Stock Cars".
The modern British Formula One Stock Car is a highly sophisticated purpose built race car with race-tuned V-8 engines developing 650 bhp, quick change axles and gearboxes and biased and staggered chassis and braking set up for constant left turning. However large bumpers/armour is mandatory with contact very much encouraged to remove opponents. The sport can be seen at venues throughout Britain and Mainland Europe. The smaller Formula Two Stock Car Racing, previously known as "The Juniors" or "Junior Stock Cars", is also very popular. A downsized version of the Formula One Stock Car Racing, these cars are powered by the 2 litre Ford 'Pinto' engine. There are also many other formulas running on the oval tracks throughout a season that starts around Easter and continues to the end of October/mid November.
In the World Final, this year at Kings Lynn, Stuart Smith Jnr. The British Stock Car Association is widely known as "BriSCA" or "BriSCA Formula One" and is an association of promoters raced to victory becoming the 2007 BriSCA World Champion from former champion, also his older brother Andy Smith.
Mick Sworder won the F2 World Final at Arena Essex in September 2007.
Another open wheeled stock car formula that races in the UK are Spedeworth V8 Stock Cars. Licensed by Spedeworth, as opposed BriSCA, the V8 stock cars use small block 5 litre Chevrolet engines and race at tracks operated by Spedeworth. Previously known as F80 and Spedeworth F1.
See also
- NASCAR
- CASCAR
- BrisCA
- AUSCAR
- Hot Rods (oval racing)
- Nascar diecast
- Spedeworth V8 Stock Cars
- Speedcar Series
External links
United States
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
Mexico
United Kingdom
- Website covering Spedeworth V8 Stock Cars
- Official website of BriSCA, (British Stock Car Association)
- Official website of BriSCA F2 Ltd. (British Stock Car Association F2 Limited)
- Official website SCSA (Stock Car Speed Association)
- Photographic archive of the 'golden era' of British stock-car racing, 1955-75
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