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Stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile "fast-back", and because of this David racing found mainly in the United States Pearson and Richard Petty's Chargers and Great Britain held largely on oval dominated the series that year. rings of between approximately a The 1969 season was dominated by the quarter-mile and 2.66 miles (about 0.4 Dodge Daytona due to a radical body to 4.2 kilometres) in length, but also shape change. This car exceed 200 MPH raced occasionally on road courses. which was a significant improvement over Ovals shorter than one mile (1.6 km) are their competitors (180 MPH was common at called short tracks; unpaved short the time). Richard Petty could not come tracks are called dirt tracks; longer to contractual terms with Dodge before ovals are typically known as the 1969 season, but when he saw the superspeedways. Top level races are Daytona, he demanded that Plymouth make generally 200 to 600 miles (300-1000 km) something similar, but they declined in length. Average speeds in the top (for the time being). He signed a classes are around 160 mph (275.5 km/h), lucrative deal with Ford and they made compared to 220 mph (354 km/h) in the Torino "Talladega" which had enough comparable levels of open wheel racing. aerodynamic body improvements that it Some NASCAR races can get up to speeds gave the Torino a higher top speed with of 200 mph at tracks such as the Daytona no other changes. It was not enough, International Speedway and the Talladega however, to catch the Daytona. NASCAR Superspeedway. feared that these increasing speeds Stock Cars significantly surpassed the abilities of A stock car, in the original sense of the tire technology of the day, and it the term, is an automobile that has not would undoubtedly increase the number of been modified from its original factory gruesome wrecks that were occurring. As configuration. Later the term stock car a result, the 1970 Homologation rules came to mean any production-based were changed so that one car for every automobile used in racing. This term was two U.S. dealers had to be sold to the used to differentiate such a car from a public to qualify, hoping to delay the race car, a special, custom-built car use of aero-bodies until tires could designed only for racing purposes with improve. no intent of its ever being used as For the 1970 season Dodge did not sell regular transportation. enough Daytonas to compete with their When NASCAR was first formed by Bill aero-body, but Plymouth managed to sell France Sr. in 1948 to regulate stock car over 1,920 Plymouth Superbirds, which racing, there was a requirement that any were almost identical to the Daytona. car entered be made entirely of parts Petty came back to Plymouth in the 200+ available to the general public through MPH Superbird, and easily won in 1970, automobile dealers, and that all cars and '71. This led to several makes of must be from a model run of which at proposed 1972 "aero-cars" having their least 500 cars of that model were sold maximum engine displacement decreased to to the general public. This is referred 5.8L (358 cu.in.) or they could remain to as "homologation". In NASCAR's early at 7.0L with a Restrictor plate to limit years, the cars were so "stock" that it top speeds. As a result, Ford dropped was commonplace for the drivers to drive out of NASCAR for several years. themselves to the competitions in the Fans, drivers, and manufacturers alike car that they were going to run in the demanded a complete revamping of the race. While automobile engine technology rules. NASCAR responded in a way that had remained fairly stagnant in WWII, they hoped would make the cars safer and advanced aircraft piston engine more equal, so the race series would be development had provided a great deal of more a test of the drivers, rather than available data, and NASCAR was formed a test of car technology. just as some the improved technology was The Modern Era about to become available in production 1972 brought so many rule changes, it cars. Until the advent of the Trans-Am has prompted many to consider this year series in 1967, NASCAR homologation cars as the start of the modern era of NASCAR were the closest thing that the public racing. In addition, R.J. Reynolds (the could buy that was actually very similar tobacco conglomorate) took over as the to the cars that were winning the major sponsor of NASCAR racing (changing national races. the name to the "Winston Cup") and they The Early Years made a significantly larger financial The 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket V-8 with a contribution than previous sponsors. displacement of 303 cu.in. is widely Richard Petty's personal sponsorship recognized as the first postwar modern with STP also set new, higher standards overhead valve (OHV) engine to become for financial rewards to driving teams. available to the public, though all the The sudden infusion of noticeably larger major manufacturers were also in the amounts of money changed the entire process of modernising their engine nature of the sport. designs. The Oldsmobile was an immediate The 1973 oil crisis meant that large success in 1949 and 1950, and all the displacement special edition automobile manufacturers could not help homologation cars of all makes were but to notice that its victories suddenly sitting unsold. From this point resulted in noticeably higher sales of forward, stock cars were quickly allowed the Oldsmobile 88 to the buying public. to differ greatly from anything The motto of the day became "Win on available to the public. Modern racing Sunday, sell on Monday". However, in "stock" cars are stock in name only, spite of the fact there were several using a body template that is vaguely competing engines that were more modeled after currently-available advanced, the aerodynamic and low-slung automobiles. The chassis, running gear, Hudson Hornet managed to win in 1951, and other equipment have almost nothing '52, and '53, with a 308 cu.in. inline to do with anything in ordinary 6-cylinder that used an old-style automobiles. flathead, proving there was more to Modern stock cars may superficially winning than just a more powerful resemble standard American family engine. sedans, but are in fact purpose-built At the time it typically took three racing machines built to a strict set of years for a new design of car body or regulations governing the car design engine to end up in production and be ensuring that the chassis, suspension , available for NASCAR racing. Most cars engine, etc. are architecturally sold to the public did not have a wide identical on all vehicles. Ironically, variety of engine choices, and the these regulations ensure that stock car majority of the buying public at the racers are in many ways technologically time were not interested in the large less sophisticated than standard cars on displacement special edition engine the road. For example, NASCAR (the options that would soon become popular. premier stock car organization in the However, the end of the Korean War in U.S.) requires carbureted engines in all 1953 started an economic boom, and then of its racing series, while fuel car buyers immediately began demanding injection is now universal in standard more powerful engines. Also in 1953, passenger cars. Also, the majority of NASCAR recommended that the drivers add production car engines use a double roll bars, but did not require them. overhead cam (DOHC) and four valves per An excellent example of Homologation is cylinder, while NASCAR vehicles are when Lee Petty won the national restricted to two valves-per-cylinder championship in 1954, when he raced a actuated by pushrods using a single Chrysler New Yorker with the largest cam-in-block. Modern NASCAR engines are factory brakes available, using a Dodge restricted to a maximum displacement of automotive Hemi V-8 engine with a 358 cu. in. (5.8L) even though there are heavy-duty Dodge truck transmission. still many production engines available Dodge was a division of Chrysler, and to the public that are noticeably all of the parts he used were available larger. In addition, The Ford Fusion, to the general public. Dodge Avenger, Chevrolet Impala, and In 1955 Chrysler produced the C-300 with Toyota Camry that will compete in the its 300 HP 331 cu in OHV engine, which 2007 season are all front-wheel-drive easily won in 1955 and '56. sedans, but the NASCAR versions continue In 1957 several notable events happened. to use rear-wheel-drive. The AMA banned manufacturers from using Engines, while still containing varying race wins in their advertising and components from the various giving direct support to race teams, as manufacturers who compete in the series, they felt it led to reckless street are of fixed displacement, and are racing. This forced manufacturers to generally designed to ensure all become creative in producing race parts entrants have near-equal vehicles. There to help racers win. Race teams were are several categories of stock car often caught trying to use factory racing, each with slightly different produced racing parts that were not rules, but the key intention of cars really available to the public, though that look like production cars, but with many parts passed muster by being near-identical specifications labeled as heavy-duty "Police" parts. underneath, remains true. The Car manufacturers wanted to appear super-speedways continue to require the compliant with the ban, but they also use of a restrictor plate under each wanted to win. NASCAR tracks at the time carburetor to limit top speeds, while were mainly dirt tracks with modest the shorter tracks do not require them. barriers, and during the 1957 season a The closest European equivalent to stock Mercury Monterey crashed into the crowd. car racing is probably touring car This killed many spectators, and racing, though these are raced resulted in a serious overhaul of the exclusively on road courses rather than safety rules which in turn prompted the ovals. building of larger more modern tracks. 'True' stock car racing, which consists Also in 1957, Chevrolet sold enough of of only street vehicles that can be their new fuel injected engines to the bought by general public, is sometimes public in order to make them available now called showroom stock racing. In for racing (and Ford began selling 1972 (same year as the beginning of superchargers as an option), but Bill modern NASCAR era), SCCA started its France immediately banned fuel injection first showroom stock racing series, with and superchargers from NASCAR before a price ceiling on the cars of $3,000. they could race. However, even without Some modern showroom stock racing allow official factory support or the use of safety modifications done on showroom fuel injection, Buck Baker won in 1957 stock cars. driving a small-block V-8 Chevy Bel-Air. Stock car series In 1959 Daytona opened the first The most prominent championship in stock super-speedway with long straights and car racing is the NASCAR championship, highly banked turns, which allowed much currently called the Nextel Cup after higher top speeds, and it was soon its sponsor (formerly known as Winston followed by the Talladega Cup after a previous sponsor). It is the super-speedway. most popular racing series in the United In 1961 Ford introduced the FE 390 in a States, drawing over 6 million low drag Galaxie "Starliner", but 1960 spectators in 1997, an average live and '61 championships were won by audience of over 190,000 people for each drivers in 409-powered Chevy Impalas. race. The most famous event in the Pontiac introduced their "Super Duty" series is undoubtedly the Daytona 500, 421 in Catalinas that made use of many an annual 500-mile race at Daytona aluminum body parts to save weight, and Beach, Florida. The series' the Pontiacs easily won in 1962. second-biggest event is probably The The Golden Age Brickyard 400, an annual 400-mile race The desire from fans and manufacturers held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, alike for higher performance cars within the legendary home of the Indianapolis the restrictions of homologation meant 500 of the Indy Racing League, an that car makers began producing limited open-wheeled racing series. NASCAR also production "special edition" cars based runs the Busch Series, a stock car on high production base models. It also junior league, and the Craftsman Truck became apparent that manufacturers were Series, a junior league where pickup willing to produce increasingly larger trucks are raced. Together the two engines to remain competitive (Ford had car-based series (Nextel Cup and Busch developed a 483 they hoped to race). For Series) drew 8 million spectators in the 1963 season NASCAR engines were 1997, compared to 4 million for both restricted to using a maximium American open-wheel series (CART and displacement of 7.0 Liters (427 cu.in.) IRL). In 2002, 17 of the 20 US top and using only two valves per cylinder. sporting events in terms of attendance Also, even with heavy duty special were NASCAR races. Only football drew editions sold to the public for more television viewers that year. homologation purposes, the race car Besides NASCAR, there are a number of rules were further modified, primarily other national or regional stock-car in the interest of safety. This is sanctioning bodies in the United States. because race drivers and their cars The Automobile Racing Club of America during this era were subjected to forces (ARCA), American Speed Association unheard of in street use, and require a (ASA), International Motor Contest far higher level of protection than is Association (IMCA), and United Speed normally afforded by truly "stock" Alliance Racing (USAR) all sanction automobile bodies. their own forms of stock-car racing, on In 1963 Ford sold enough of their varying types of track, and with various aerodynamic "sport-roof" edition levels of national and media coverage. Galaxies to the public so it would Young drivers from these series qualify as stock, and with the heavy generally aspire to move to the Busch duty FE block bored and stroked to the Series or Craftman Truck Series in new limit of 427, the top 5 finishers NASCAR. The International Race of were all Ford. Chrysler had bored their Champions (IROC) series uses stock cars, 413 to create the "Max Wedge" 426, but but is usually perceived as being it still couldn't compete with the outside of the usual stock car racing Fords. GM's headquarters had genuinely scene because of its 'All-Star' design. tried to adhere to the 1957 ban, but Internationally, stock car racing has their Chevrolet division had also not enjoyed the same success as within constantly tried to work around it, the United States. In Canada CASCAR because the other manufacturers had organizes three racing series (two openly circumvented the ban. In 1963 GM regional and one national) that enjoy gave in and openly abandoned compliance, generally strong car-counts; the base of and Chevy was allowed to produce the ZO6 the sport in Canada is the short-oval 427, but it did not immediately enjoy region of Southern Ontario. In Europe success. there has been a persistent effort to Then, in 1964 the new Chrysler 426 Hemi introduce stock car racing. The Stock engine so dominated the series in a Car Speed Association ASCAR or Days of Plymouth Belvedere "Sport Fury", the Thunder is based in Rockingham, United homologation rules were changed so that Kingdom, though the series has raced at 1,000 of any engine and car had to be the Lausitzring in Germany as well. sold to the public to qualify as a stock Brazil also has a successful stock car part, instead of just 500. This made the racing series, with starting grids of 40 426 Hemi unavailable for the 1965 or more cars, and three brands season. competing: Chevrolet, Mitsubishi and In 1965 Ford adapted two Volkswagen. Brazilian Stock Car also has single-overhead-cams to their FE 427 V8 two developing series. Argentina also to allow it to run at a higher RPM have a popular stock series, called (called the Ford 427 Cammer). Ford Turismo Carretera. Unsuccessful efforts started to sell "cammers" to the public have been made in Australia, South to homologate it (mostly to Africa, and Japan as well. dealer-sponsored privateer drag racers), Stock car racing is also a popular local but NASCAR changed the rules to specify event. Many tracks exist in the United that all NASCAR engines must use a States (and a few in Canada) catering to single cam-in-block. But even without a wide variety of car types and fans. the Cammer, the Ford FE 427 won in 1965. There are a few organizations that cater In 1966 Chrysler sold enough of the 426 to these local short tracks, such as Hemi's to make it available again, and ARCA, ASA and IMCA. NASCAR also supports they put it in their new Dodge Charger local short track racing with their which had a low-drag rear window that Elite Division and NASCAR Dodge Weekly was radically sloped. 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