Late model

Last updated
Late model racing
Nascar Mexico (17018086567).jpg
NASCAR Mexico Late Model
Category Stock car racing
CountryUnited States, Canada, Mexico, Australia
Sanctioning Groups International Motor Contest Association (IMCA)
World Racing Group (World of Outlaws, DIRTcar)
NASCAR
Championship Racing Association (ASA)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
American Canadian Tour (ACT)
APC United Late Model Series

Late Model stock car racing, also known as late model racing and late models, refers to a type of auto racing that involves purpose-built cars simultaneously racing against each other primarily on oval tracks. This type of racing was early-on characterized by its participants' modification to the engines of post-World War II passenger cars, but the modern day understanding references a class that allows considerable modifications to both the engine and body, yet requires some form of front fender package.

Contents

Overview

As the post WWII auto industry began meeting demand for new cars, auto lots were filling up with the pre-war coupes and sedans. These 1939-1941 cars, "modified" with souped up engines, were finding their way to competitions at racing ovals converted from horse racing or newly carved out in fields. In 1948 NASCAR became one of the first organizations to standardize the rules to ensure equal competition. [1]

The rulebook mandated that all cars had to be American made, and 1937 or newer, with full stock fenders, running boards and bodies if equipped by the factory, but their bumpers and mufflers had to be removed. Also, a car's wheelbase, length and width had to remain stock, as did the hood. [2] Two years later NASCAR added a division for "lesser modified" cars, which they distinguished as the Sportsman. Specifications for the Sportsman cars mirrored the Modified rules as to bodies and safety, but restricted the degree of engine modifications. [3] [4] [5]

As NASCAR’s Grand National cars aged out (current model year and two most recent years only) they became eligible to compete in the Modified and Sportsman division. [3] [5] By 1956 NASCAR had developed a plan to phase out the pre-war coupes and sedans in favor "Late Models", identified as American cars produced between 1949 and 1955. [6]

Looking to differentiate the Sportsman as a truly separate class, in 1968 NASCAR updated their rules to require 1955 and newer bodies, rebranding the class the Late Model Sportsman Series. NASCAR later reorganized the championship points and events into the touring series that became the Xfinity Series. [5] [7] Earlier car models remained eligible for the Modified division, which evolved to eliminate front fenders. [8]

Since that time, the various sanctioning organizations have developed countless rule packages, but for the last half of century, the "Late Model" class distinction has had little to do with the model year of the car. [9]

Designs

Jonathan Davenport in a dirt super late model in 2018 Lucas 49 Jonathan Davenport.jpg
Jonathan Davenport in a dirt super late model in 2018
Kyle Busch after winning the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown at Richmond Raceway in 2013 in a late model stock car, a perimeter chassis car Kyle Busch 2013 Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown Winner (8721146157).jpg
Kyle Busch after winning the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown at Richmond Raceway in 2013 in a late model stock car, a perimeter chassis car
Bubba Pollard in 2019 in an asphalt super late model, a straight rail chassis car 26BubbaPollard2019SlingerNationals.jpg
Bubba Pollard in 2019 in an asphalt super late model, a straight rail chassis car

In the late 1970s the costs for the Late Model Sportsman cars became excessive, so the "Late Model Stock Car" was born. Within a few years changes began with the carburetor, and by the mid-1980s the stock front chassis was replaced with a racing clip, for safety and availability. The Late Model that exists today is a full-blown race car with race parts. [10]

Late model race cars now include super late models which have looser rules; late model stock cars and pro late models where cars are more aerodynamically aggressive with lighter bodies and enhanced horsepower; and limited late models which have less horsepower. [9] [11] Vehicles built to race on dirt tracks are significantly different from vehicles raced on asphalt. [12]

Body style

The bodies on late models were constructed from fiberglass molded to resemble original equipment body panels and able to withstand the rigors of short track racing without the weight. The affordability and availability of sheet aluminum emboldened racers to switch to making their own bodies, as it was cheaper and faster. These individually customized bodies became extreme, and by the mid-1980s a number of dirt track promoters organized as United Midwestern Promoters, standardizing the dimensions for the body panels and requiring a prefabricated hi-impact plastic nose. [13]

Similarly, the asphalt racers began experimenting with downforce bodies, and in 2002 a group of asphalt track promoters met with body manufacturers Aluminum Racing Products (ARP) and Five Star to develop a uniform "Approved Body Configuration". This resulted in the now widely accepted ABC Rulebook. [14]

Chassis and suspension

There are two types of chassis for asphalt late models. The super late model chassis is offset to favor the left side of the car. [11] Significant items such as the rear end and the engine are positioned on the left, while suspensions are constructed with maximum adjustability in mind. Other asphalt late models use a perimeter rail (symmetrical) chassis, similar to a production car, where there is equal chassis on both sides of the car. [15]

Dirt late model chassis are custom built by manufacturers within standardized dimensions that apply across most classes. [16] There are numerous adjustments on a dirt car compared to those on an asphalt car. Adjustments for dirt include weight changes, rear steer changes, spring changes (four corners and lift arm/pull bar), spring mounting position, J-bar height and angle, stagger, tire compound, and tread design. [12]

Engines

Across the United States, the class of late model race cars may be referred to as super late models, late model stock cars, pro late models, or limited late models, yet the engine specifications may vary between sanctioning bodies. Open engines are typically American naturally aspirated V8s with upwards of 600 horsepower (450 kW). Otherwise, sanctioning bodies may require crate motors to be utilized which may limit production to 400 horsepower (300 kW) to 500 horsepower (370 kW). [11] The sanctioning bodies often adopt GM 602, 603, and 604 engines or Harrington Enforcers. [15] [16] [17]

Other racing series

Late model racing is a common steppingstone for drivers who race in regional and national touring series. [9] Almost every NASCAR Cup Series driver raced in the class while progressing their career, and many crew chiefs have also developed through this level. [18]

Late model-type cars are also prevalent as a form of cost-cutting in road racing. As many of these oval-track cars can be adjusted to become road race cars with weight balance changes, the SCCA has listed them in the GT America category, and with the affordability of a late model stock car in the category ($30,000 cars with specification engines, and frequently purchased used NASCAR wheels), these cars are prevalent in club racing. Similar rules are used in SCCA Trans-Am TA2 class racing, where the same chassis builders for super late models provide chassis for TA2. [19]

Dirt track late model racing also takes place in Australia. The Australian Late Model Championship has been a feature on the Australian speedway calendar since 2002. [20]

Late model cars can also be seen in simulators such as iRacing . [21]

United States national touring series

Asphalt

Dirt

Canadian touring series

Asphalt

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auto racing</span> Motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition

Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non-racing disciplines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Production car racing</span> Vehicle designed for auto racing

Production car racing, showroom stock racing, street stock, pure stock, touring and U-car racing are all categories of auto racing where unmodified production cars race each other, outright and also in classes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stock car racing</span> Form of automobile racing

Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses. It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It originated in the southern United States and later spread to Japan; its largest governing body is NASCAR. Its NASCAR Cup Series is the premier top-level series of professional stock car racing. Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Chile also have forms of stock car racing in the Americas. Other countries, such as Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, have forms of stock car racing worldwide as well. Top-level races typically range between 200 and 600 miles in length.

AUSCAR was an auto racing sanctioning body owned by Bob Jane, which ran American-style Superspeedway racing in Australia. The initial AUSCAR venue was the 1.801 km, high-banked (24°) Calder Park Thunderdome Superspeedway in Melbourne, but over time the series expanded to include the Jane owned 1/2 mile Speedway Super Bowl at the eastern end of Adelaide International Raceway which first saw AUSCAR racing in 1990, the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit, and eventually several Australian road racing circuits including Calder Park's road course and the Oran Park Raceway in Sydney where racing was held under lights on the short version of the circuit. In the early 1990s, Jane and television station Channel 7 announced plans to turn the old Granville Showground trotting track which circled the Parramatta Speedway in Sydney into a paved, banked 1/2 mile track, but this did not happen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sprint car racing</span> Auto racing with small, open-wheel, high-power vehicles

Sprint cars are open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Historically known simply as "big cars," distinguishing them from "midget cars," sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

Dirt track racing is a form of motorsport held on clay or dirt surfaced banked oval racetracks. Dirt track racing started in the United States before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and 1930s using both automobiles and motorcycles, spreading throughout Japan and often running on horse racing tracks. There are a myriad of types of race cars used, from open wheel Sprint cars and Modifieds to stock cars. While open wheel race cars are purpose-built racing vehicles, stock cars can be either purpose-built race cars or street vehicles that have been modified to varying degrees. There are hundreds of local and regional racetracks throughout the United States and also throughout Japan. The sport is also popular in Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Grand-Am Road Racing or Grand-Am was an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America. Its primary focus was the Rolex Sports Car Series, an endurance racing championship series. It sanctioned five auto racing series. The series announced in September 2012 that it would be merging with the American Le Mans Series, which had been Grand-Am's main US competitor since its inception. The two series fully merged in 2014 under the banner of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, with the International Motor Sports Association.

Concord Speedway was a motorsports facility located in the town of Midland, North Carolina, southeast of Concord, North Carolina. The complex featured a 1⁄2-mile asphalt tri-oval and a 1⁄4-mile asphalt oval.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madison International Speedway</span> Stock car racing track

The Madison International Speedway (MIS) is a half-mile paved oval racetrack in the Town of Rutland near Oregon, Wisconsin, United States. With 18-degree banked turns, the track is billed as "The Track of Champions" and "Wisconsin's Fastest Half Mile." The weekly program at the track runs on Friday nights under NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series sanction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seekonk Speedway</span> Racetrack

Seekonk Speedway is a family entertainment venue that features racing of all kinds on a semi-banked 1/3 mile asphalt-paved oval, located on U.S. Route 6 in Seekonk, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oswego Speedway</span> Asphalt race track in Oswego, New York

The Oswego Speedway is a 0.625 mi (1.006 km) race track in Oswego, New York. It was built in 1951 and was paved with asphalt since the 1952. The track has held dates on several national tours - the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, ASA National Tour, and USAC Silver Crown Series. It was temporarily covered with dirt in 2016 when it held a one-off Super DIRTcar Series race. The track is the Labor Day Weekend home of the 200-lap, non-wing, big-block supermodified Budweiser Classic and Race of Champions. Oswego is known as the "Steel Palace" due to its use of boilerplate steel for its retaining walls.

New Smyrna Speedway is a 0.480 mi (0.772 km) asphalt oval racetrack located near New Smyrna Beach, Florida, that races the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series every Saturday night. It also has a smaller track, known as "Little New Smyrna Speedway" in the infield. This track races quarter midgets on Friday nights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mid-Am Racing Series</span> Stock car racing series

The Mid-Am Racing Series, formerly Mid American Stock Car Series, is an elite sportsman traveling stock car racing series in the Midwestern United States. The cars are based on a 108" metric stock frame, less costly suspension parts and a maximum of 358 cubic inch engine. The car's roll cage and chassis were made of a design very similar to the same chassis a previous design of NASCAR cup chassis, but have also included more modern safety features such as plated door bars and the "Earnhardt bar" which runs from the roof to the dash. The series runs primarily on paved racetracks but also appears on dirt and road courses. The series is the highest form of racing available to sportsman-style, GM metric chassis stock cars.

The StockCar Racing League is a late model stock car racing league operating since 2001. The series is a continuation of the Tri-Track Challenge run in California between 1997 and 2000. The series is also connected to the former Supermodified Racing League, previously headed by Davey Hamilton. Through the years the series expanded its racing calendar as well as racing series adding spec late model series and Legends car racing.

NASCAR's Sportsman Division was formed in 1950, one year after the Strictly Stock was launched and two years after NASCAR’s formation. It gave NASCAR three major series, along with the original Modifieds. It was replaced with the Late Model Sportsman Series in 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modified racing</span> Racing events with modified factory autos

Modified stock car racing, also known as modified racing and modified, is a type of auto racing that involves purpose-built cars simultaneously racing against each other on oval tracks. First established in the United States after World War II, this type of racing was early-on characterized by its participants' modification of passenger cars in pursuit of higher speeds, hence the name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series</span> American auto racing series

The NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series is a points championship for NASCAR sanctioned local short track motor racing around the United States and Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Prietzel</span> American racing driver

William Prietzel is an American racing driver from Richfield, Wisconsin. He has raced in dirt late models, the Mid-American Stock Car Series, SCCA, and had one NASCAR Nationwide Series start in 2012. He is nicknamed the "Franklin Flyer" as he lived in Franklin, Wisconsin during his dirt track racing days.

Utica-Rome Speedway is a half-mile dirt oval raceway in Vernon, New York. It is known as the “Home of Heroes” and has been the home track of several NASCAR national champions.

References

  1. ↑ "NASCAR in 1948 – The 75 year edition". Speed Sport. February 3, 2023. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  2. ↑ "The first NASCAR rulebook". NASCAR Hall of Fame . Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  3. 1 2 "1956 NASCAR Sportsman Division Specifications". Official Souvenir Program. Langhorne Speedway. October 14, 1956. p. 18.
  4. ↑ Wade, Bob (January 16, 1958). "Sports Beat". Daily Messenger . Canandaigua NY. p. 6. Retrieved September 22, 2024– via NewspaperArchive.
  5. 1 2 3 "The Busch Series dilemma". Archived from the original on December 1, 2006. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  6. ↑ "Late model hot-rodders will replace short tracks". NC: Winston-Salem Journal. December 20, 1956. p. 32. Retrieved September 22, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Tracks, Series & Organizations - Catamount Speedway". Auto Racing Research Associates. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  8. ↑ Neveu, Cameron (July 21, 2022). "How the Pinto became NASCAR's regional weapon of choice". Hagerty Media . Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 Irimia, Silvian (December 17, 2022). "The Story of Late Models Racing: What Exactly Are These Crazy Cars?". autoevolution . Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  10. ↑ Murto, Craig (March 19, 2019). "Origins: The Creation of Late Model Stock Origins: The Creation of Late Model Stock Cars". RACE22.com. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  11. 1 2 3 Blount, Robert (August 20, 2023). "What Types Of Cars Are Used In NASCAR Racing?". FloRacing . Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  12. 1 2 Bolles, Bob (February 2009). "Dirt Track Racing - Turning Asphalt To Dirt". Circle Track magazine. Retrieved September 25, 2024– via Motor Trend.
  13. ↑ Beaver, Dan (July 28, 2017). "Why Dirt Late Models Look That Way". FloRacing . Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  14. ↑ Jewett, Larry (2004). "Stock Car Body Rules-Simple As ABC". Circle Track magazine. Retrieved September 26, 2024– via Motor Trend.
  15. 1 2 Fenwick, Adam (February 11, 2022). "Late Models: Super Vs. Stock". Speed Sport . Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  16. 1 2 "What is a Dirt Late Model?". Master Gasser. November 20, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  17. ↑ Huneycutt, Jeff. "Crate Late Model Setup - Crates On Dirt" . Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  18. ↑ Schaefer, Paul. Where Stars Are Born: Celebrating 25 Years of NASCAR Weekly Racing. Coastal 181, Newburyport, Massachusetts, USA, 2006.
  19. ↑ "SCCA GT America rules". nwr-scca.org.
  20. ↑ "DIRT LATE MODEL". speedwayandroadracehistory.
  21. ↑ "NASCAR Late Model Stock". iRacing.com.
  22. ↑ "HOME". SLMS. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.