calbrooks

"The world's first winged car, known today as a winged sprint car, was created and driven by Jim Cushman at the Columbus Motor Speedway (Ohio) in 1958. In the early 1970s, many sprint car drivers began to put wings with sideboards on both the front and top of their cars. The added wings increased the downforce generated on the car, with the opposite direction of the sideboards helping to turn the car in the corners. This makes the car easier to control. The added downforce also lessens the likelihood of going airborne. When cars do go airborne, the wings frequently break off or absorb some of the impact of the flip, lessening the impact on the driver. In some cases, teams are able to replace the wing during the ensuing stoppage and are able to race once the race resumed.

With the addition of wings, a new sanctioning body and touring series to promote the sport was founded. In 1978, Ted Johnson formed the leading promotional body for winged sprints car called the World of Outlaws. Racing throughout the United States from March to November, the World of Outlaws is the premier dirt sprint car racing series. Famous tracks featured in the series included the Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, the Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa and Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Each August, the Knoxville Raceway holds the paramount sprint car event, the Knoxville Nationals."
(source: http://en.wikipedia....ki/Sprint_cars)





_______________________________
See my Driving ‘round the Corner at Autopartswarehouse.com

"There are a few sanctioning bodies for non-winged sprint cars. The United States Automobile Club (USAC) has become the premier series for non-winged sprint car racing throughout the United States, especially after taking over the Sprint Car Racing Association (SCRA) and turning it into the USAC/California Racing Association (USAC/CRA). This series has become the premier non-winged sprint car series on the west coast of the United States. USAC also has hosted the Silver Crown series based in the Midwestern United States state of Indiana for decades. The Silver Crown series was started in 1971 as an offshoot of the series that competed for the National Championship Trail including the Indianapolis 500, known as "big cars"."
(source: http://en.wikipedia....ki/Sprint_cars)









_______________________________
See my Driving ‘round the Corner at Autopartswarehouse.com

"ARCA may never be as Popular as NASCAR, but over the years it has grown. ARCA now has a video game (ARCA Sim Racing). Most races are broadcast on MavTV and SPEED TV. Some NASCAR teams have begun fielding teams in ARCA to use as a testbed for developmental drivers."
(source: http://en.wikipedia....lub_of_America)














________________________________
See my Driving ‘round the Corner at Autopartswarehouse.com

"The NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series is the NHRA governed series that sanctions all major national events. It is the NHRA's premier series. Winston was the title sponsor of the series from 1970 until 2001, before a new governing rule stated the Master Settlement Agreement restricted R. J. Reynolds to one sponsorship of a sporting event; they chose NASCAR. In 2002, The Coca-Cola Company took over sponsorship of the series, which became known as the NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series and has the slogan "Very Real Power."

The series has four main classes: Top Fuel Dragster, Top Fuel Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle. Top Fuel was the first category, with Funny Cars added in 1966, Pro Stock four years later and Pro Stock Motorcycles in 1987. Both Top Fuel and Funny Cars regularly see top speeds in excess of 330 mph today, and quarter mile times anywhere from 4.42 to 5 seconds. Both these cars are 90% nitromethane and 10% methanol. The Pro Stock record is 211 mph with times often in the 6.5-6.7 second range and the Pro Stock Motorcycles usually run at 190+ mph with times in the low 7- to high 6-second range.

Some of the popular racers to come through the series include "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, Don "The Snake" Prudhomme and Shirley Muldowney. Those three gained much attention from the 1960s through '70s with their speed and personalities, a combination rarely achieved today through the political correctness of sponsorship in today's drivers. Nonetheless there are still colorful characters today, such as 14-time Funny Car world champion John Force.

On April 24, 2008, the NHRA and Coca-Cola announced a change in branding for the series effective 2009, with the professional classes referred NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, with the new slogan "Go Full Throttle or Go Home"."
(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHRA)

__________________________________
See my Driving ‘round the Corner at Autopartswarehouse.com