Legends car racing

Last updated
Legends car based on Ford coupe 1934 Legend Car based on 1934 Ford Model 40 Coupe Front.jpg
Legends car based on Ford coupé 1934
U.S. Legends 2016 Dirt Nationals at 141 Speedway 2016USDirtLegendsProField141Speedway.jpg
U.S. Legends 2016 Dirt Nationals at 141 Speedway
Racing on Beaver Dam Raceway dirt track LegendsCars4wide2010BeaverDamRaceway.jpg
Racing on Beaver Dam Raceway dirt track

Legends car racing is a style of auto racing designed primarily to promote exciting racing and to keep costs down. The race car bodyshells are 5/8-scale replicas of American automobiles from the 1930s and 1940s, powered by Yamaha XJ1250, FJ1200 (both air-cooled) or, starting in 2018, FZ09 (water-cooled) engines. The worldwide sanctioning body for legends car racing is INEX.

Contents

Legends cars are a "spec" series, meaning all cars are mechanically identical, with the exception of three styles of car (standard coupe, '34 coupe, and sedan) available with 10 types of body styles. New cars are currently offered with seven body styles, however many used cars exist with the "older" styles.

History

In 1992, Charlotte Motor Speedway officials noticed a need for lower cost racing cars with little maintenance time and cost. They found such a car existed, in the guise of the motorcycle-engined dwarf car, a 5/8-scale, steel-bodied and fenderless 1935 Ford coupé, which was being manufactured by the Dwarf Car Company in Phoenix, Arizona. As the coupé concept was not exactly in line in what they were looking for, and deeming steel replacement bodywork too costly, they adapted the dwarf car concept to fit their needs, creating cars resembling those of the 1930s and 1940s which competed in the early NASCAR modified tour races. To this day, the primary difference between the two cars is the legends have fenders over the tires, whereas the dwarfs have no fenders. The first legends car was unveiled in April 1992 by track president and general manager Humpy Wheeler and road racer Elliott Forbes-Robinson. Legends cars are produced by US Legend Cars International (formerly 600 Racing, Inc.) in Harrisburg, North Carolina. They are the largest mass-producer of race cars in the world.[ citation needed ]

Legends car racing around the world

Although the cars originated from the US, other countries including Canada and many European countries also host championships. Each November, the world finals are held in the US, with the exception of 2017, when the finals were held in Finland, at the Botniaring Racing Circuit. [1]

United States

2013 US Dirt Nationals Young Lions champion Troy Hoff Legends 86 Troy Hoff of Flasher ND.jpg
2013 US Dirt Nationals Young Lions champion Troy Hoff

Drivers can be classified into four different divisions. The Pro Division is for the experienced drivers. The Masters Division features drivers 40 years and older. The Semi-Pro Division is for drivers with less than two years of experience in a legends, featuring the drivers that are new to the INEX legends car or have been inactive in other forms of racing for a while. There is also the Young Lions Division, which is designated for drivers between the ages of 12 and 16. There are separate nationals for dirt and asphalt cars.

Legends car drivers who have raced in NASCAR include Brennan Poole, Chris Buescher, Ryan Blaney, Reed Sorenson, David Ragan, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, [2] and Kurt Busch. [2]

United Kingdom

Legends Racing UK at Croft Circuit Croft Circuit 1.JPG
Legends Racing UK at Croft Circuit

Running since the late 1990s, Legends Racing UK visits tracks all over the country, and ran a 15-round championship, all brought to the UK by music promoter Phil Cooper.

Three races are held – two heats and a final – at a round of the championship, with the heats lasting between 7 and 12 laps depending on the circuit, with the final a few laps longer. The grid for race one is drawn by lots, with the reverse for heat two, and in the final the grid is formed by the reverse of the drivers points in the previous two races – meaning the most successful driver starts near the back. [3] In each race however, all rookies start at the back of the grid.

In 2018, Team 247, a race team set up by engineering firm 24hr Solutions, with rookie driver Phil Turner (Hertfordshire), entered the competition in support of Help for Heroes. With racing and event dates across the country, the Team 247 brand was built on the legends racing platform.

Historically, legends racers from the UK have performed well at the world finals, winning Semi-pro (Glenn Burtenshaw), Pro (John Jon Higgins) and Masters divisions (Peter Morton).

Scotland

Scottish legends championship race start at Knockhill Scottish legends start 07 round 5 rain.jpg
Scottish legends championship race start at Knockhill

Brought to Scotland by Aly Hunter, and with only six cars taking to the grid in April 2000 at Knockhill, it is now the norm to find around 20 cars taking part, with 25 competing in the support races at the 2007 BTCC meeting. All the races in 2007 took place at Knockhill, but the series has organised "away" rounds at Croft, Oulton Park, Donington Park, Cadwell Park and Anglesey in recent years. The series observes the same race format rules as the UK legends, however the races are 8 and 10 laps long for the heats and finals respectively.

Legends are available for race or track hire at Knockhill. [4] [5]

Northern Europe

Legends have been racing in Finland since 1999 and the Legends Trophy series have existed since 2000. The first cars came to Finland from defunct Swedish series. Since then, over 60 cars have been imported to Finland. Legends is currently the most popular racing class in Finland with over 40 cars in the grid regularly. In 2010 Seinäjoen Vauhtiajot street racing event saw the record breaking 54 legends cars in the entry list.

The most successful racer in Finland is Pasi Matintupa, who won the trophy three times, in 2005–2007. In 2007 Rory Penttinen won the legends car world finals at Infineon Raceway in the pro class.

There is also an ice racing series for legends cars in Finland. Earlier legends have been raced in rallycross and rally sprinting.

Legends Cars Baltic racing run a FIA Northern European Zone championship consisting of racers from Finland, Sweden, Russia and Baltics. In 2016, the series was won by Marko Kilpiä. More than 50 racers participated in three events. Series will continue in 2017 with round in Riga, Parnu and Ahvenisto.

Western Europe

Legends have been raced in France since 2004. [6] and have supported the French Grand Prix at Magny Cours; also in Belgium and Spain. [7]

In Italy more than 80 legends cars have been sold, and the official Italian championship counts up to 30 drivers per event. [8] The Italian team regularly takes part in the world finals, winning the Semi-pro Legends Road Course World Final in 2019 with the driver Kevin Liguori. [9]

The Italian former World Cup Alpine ski racer Kristian Ghedina took part in the 2021 Legend Cars Italian Championship. [10]

Since 2020, there has been a Legends Car Ice Challenge which is held in various Italian famous ski resorts during the winter season [11]

Mexico

A legends racing series has been announced in Mexico for 2009, consolidating a true ladder system for the NASCAR Corona Series. The series is open for drivers 12 years and older, and is marketed as being the step before the NASCAR Mexico T4 Series.

Georgia

In 2012, a legends national championship started in the Republic of Georgia at the rebuilt Rustavi International Motorpark, 10 km from the country's capital of Tbilisi. The 2012 season consisted of eight races for the championship of Georgia and one international race where 18 drivers from Georgia, Russia, Belarus and Germany took part. [12] For the 2015 season, seven races are scheduled from April until November.

Australia

For a number of years legends raced on Australian oval tracks, surviving as a minor category, as the popularity of oval track racing "down under" is not what it is in the United States. Mainly legends is a speedway category racing on dirt and clay ovals running on midget and sprint car meets, but also briefly became a tarmac category, racing as a support category with the Australian NASCAR series, mainly racing on the Calder Park Thunderdome superspeedway (something that the Legends Cars do not race, as they typically are on smaller ovals and road courses). Phil Ward, a former touring car racer, recognized the potential for this type of economical racer, and developed the Aussie racing car, with a focus on road racing. The Aussie racing cars retain the same Yamaha motorcycle engines. The classic legends style bodyshape of old Fords and early Holdens have been gradually supplanted by imitations of modern road cars for commercial purposes. The category has visited many of the major Supercars Championship races across Australia. While high grid numbers have long been a feature of the class, calendars have fluctuated wildly as category management has clashed with event promoters. Another very similar category Future Racers also emerged during the 2000s technically very similar although the bodywork was more sportscar in nature.

Legends Big Money 100 at Charlotte

On January 22, 2010, it was announced that US Legend Cars International would host a million dollar purse race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, from July 15–17, 2010. Three hundred one legends cars were on hand for the inaugural "Legends Million" event. The event was televised live on Speed Channel with Daniel Hemric of Kannapolis, North Carolina, taking the top prize of $250,000.

The event was hosted again at Charlotte Motor Speedway under the name of the "Legends Big Money 100" from 1st-2nd August 2011. The winner was Kyle Plott of Marietta, Georgia. He held off NASCAR driver David Ragan, a past legends car and bandolero champion, to win the 100-lap race at Charlotte.

The third annual Big Money 100 was once again hosted at Charlotte Motor Speedway on 4th July 2012. Tyler Green won the 100-lap feature.

Car specifications

The cars have very tight specifications to ensure cars are quite similar with each other. All cars utilise the same parts, engine and tyres. The only adjustable areas on the cars are: camber angle, caster angle, ride height, tyre pressure, spring rates, wheelbase, and gearing. All of these adjustments are also strictly regulated in the INEX rule book. The overall similarity in the cars ensures good racing, at a low cost. It also puts the race in the hands of the driver and the setup of the race car, instead of being about who can spend the most money.

Available body styles

Related Research Articles

<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 measuring approximately 0.25 to 2.66 miles. 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; its largest governing body is NASCAR. Its NASCAR Cup Series is the premier top-level series of professional stock car racing. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, Brazil and the United Kingdom also have forms of stock car racing. Top-level races typically range between 200 and 600 miles in length.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Gurney</span> American racing driver (1931–2018)

Daniel Sexton Gurney was an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner who reached racing's highest levels starting in 1958. Gurney won races in the Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, and Trans-Am Series. Gurney is the first of three drivers to have won races in sports cars (1958), Formula One (1962), NASCAR (1963), and Indy cars (1967), the other two being Mario Andretti and Juan Pablo Montoya.

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">Atlanta Motor Speedway</span> Motorsport track in the United States

Atlanta Motor Speedway is a 1.540 mi (2.478 km) race track and entertainment facility in Hampton, Georgia, 20 mi (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series stock car races since its inauguration in 1960.

The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive director of SCCA, and his wife Peggy in 1969 with help from Bill France Sr. of NASCAR. Beginning in 2014, IMSA is the sanctioning body of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the premier series resulting from the merger of Grand-Am Road Racing and the American Le Mans Series. IMSA is owned by NASCAR, as a division of the company.

Dirt track racing is a form of motorsport held on clay or dirt surfaced oval race tracks often used for thoroughbred horse racing. 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. Two different types of race cars dominate — open wheel racers in the Northeast and West and stock cars in the Midwest and South. 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 nation. The sport is also popular in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turismo Carretera</span>

Turismo Carretera is a popular stock car racing series in Argentina, and the oldest auto racing series still active in the world. The series is organized by Asociación Corredores de Turismo Carretera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway</span> Motorsport track in the United States

Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is a motorsport racetrack located at the Nashville Fairgrounds near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The track is the second-oldest continually operating track in the United States. The track held NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup races from 1958 to 1984.

<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.

Robert Frederick Jane was an Australian race car driver and prominent entrepreneur and business tycoon. A four-time winner of the Armstrong 500, the race that became the prestigious Bathurst 1000 and a four-time Australian Touring Car Champion, Jane was well known for his chain of tyre retailers, Bob Jane T-Marts. Jane was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NASCAR Canada Series</span> Canadian stock car racing series

The NASCAR Canada Series, commonly abbreviated as NCS, is a national NASCAR racing series in Canada, and is a continuation of the old CASCAR Super Series which was founded in 1981. It is the top NASCAR touring series in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pickup Truck Racing</span> Motor vehicle

Pickup Truck Racing is an auto racing series, running in the United Kingdom, including races on road courses and (historically) ovals. It was the only racing series that raced on the Oval Circuit at Rockingham Motor Speedway until it closed in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calder Park Raceway</span> Motorsport track in Australia

Calder Park Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The complex includes a dragstrip, a road circuit with several possible configurations, and the "Thunderdome", a high-speed banked oval equipped to race either clockwise or anti-clockwise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allan Grice</span> Australian racing driver and politician (born 1942)

Allan Maxwell Grice, known to motor-racing fans as "Gricey", is an Australian former racing driver and politician, most famous for twice winning the prestigious Bathurst 1000, and as a privateer driver of a Holden in the Australian Touring Car Championship.

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

ASCAR (Anglo-American Stock Car Racing), was a stock car racing series that raced at circuits around the United Kingdom and Europe from 2001 until 2008. The series went through many guises during its seven year period and was known as the ASCAR Mintex Cup from 2001 to 2003, later known as the Days of Thunder Racing Series (2004) and the SCSA (Stock Car Speed Association) (2005 to 2007) before its final season as the SCSA MAC Tools VSR V8 Trophy. Although going through these varying identities the series was commonly referred to and known by its original name of ASCAR. The series predominantly raced the oval tracks at the Rockingham Motor Speedway and the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in the early years but in its final season in 2008 was solely road racing series that would visit various tracks in the UK most notably Brands Hatch and in France at Croix en Ternois. The series folded in 2008 and merged into part of the European Late Model Series in 2009, racing in Belgium and the UK.

Since its introduction to motorsport in the early 1970s, Toyota has been involved in a number of motorsport activities, most notably in Formula One, NASCAR, IndyCar, sports car racing, various off road rallies and the WRC. Currently, Toyota participates in the Toyota Racing Series, Super Formula, Formula Three, Formula Drift, NHRA, USAC, Super GT, NASCAR, the WRC and the WEC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adelaide International Raceway</span> Race track in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

The Adelaide International Raceway is a permanent circuit owned by Australian Motorsport Club Limited under the auspices of the Bob Jane Corporation. The circuit is located 26 km (16 mi) north of Adelaide in South Australia on Port Wakefield Road at Virginia, and is adjacent to Adelaide's premier car racing Dirt track racing venue, Speedway City. AIR is owned by the Bob Jane Corporation and run by the Australian Motorsport Club Ltd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caffeine and Octane's Lanier Raceway</span> Racetrack in the United States

Caffeine and Octane's Lanier Raceway is a 0.375-mile paved oval racetrack located just outside Braselton, Georgia. The track opened in 1982 as a dirt track, and was paved in the mid-1980s. It is currently owned and operated by High Octane, LLC, an auto events & multimedia business conglomerate. The track was under the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series banner with super late models, SuperTrucks, Junkyard Dogs, outlaw late models, mini stocks, INEX RaceCeiver/zMax legends cars and INEX bandolero cars. The track ended weekly racing at the end of the 2011 season, but remained open for larger events. In 2022, High Octane resumed weekly car events at the raceway for the first time since 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NASCAR in Australia</span>

The American stock car racing category NASCAR raced in Australia from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. After strong initial interest, particularly in Melbourne at Australia's only purpose-built NASCAR style paved oval speedway, the Calder Park Thunderdome, the category collapsed in the early 2000s and has defied several attempts to revive it since then.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NASCAR Cup Series</span> Top tier auto racing division within NASCAR

The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the 'Strictly Stock Division', and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the 'Grand National Division.' In 1971, when the series began leasing its naming rights to the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, it was referred to as the 'NASCAR Winston Cup Series' (1971–2003). A similar deal was made with Nextel in 2003, and it became the 'NASCAR Nextel Cup Series' (2004–2007). Sprint acquired Nextel in 2005, and in 2008 the series was renamed the 'NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' (2008–2016). In December 2016, it was announced that Monster Energy would become the new title sponsor, and the series was renamed the 'Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series' (2017–2019). In 2019, NASCAR rejected Monster's offer to extend the current naming rights deal beyond the end of the season. NASCAR subsequently announced its move to a new tiered sponsorship model beginning with the 2020 season similar to other US based professional sports leagues, where it was simply known as the 'NASCAR Cup Series', with the sponsors of the series being called Premier Partners. The four Premier Partners are Busch Beer, Coca-Cola, GEICO, and Xfinity.

References

  1. Oy, APR Competition (2017-09-04). "The best Legend cars drivers of the world are arriving at Botniaring to fight for the World Finals championship". Legends kilpa-autot - APR Competition Oy. Retrieved 2021-08-09.
  2. 1 2 Caraviello, David. "Busch boys know Vegas is more than just the Strip". NASCAR. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  3. "Championship Standings - Legends Racing UK - race reports, results, competitions, championship calendars and driver profiles". Archived from the original on 2011-10-13. Retrieved 2011-10-21., Legends Racing UK race format
  4. "Legends driving experience activity day – Legends racing at Knockhill, Fife". Archived from the original on 2008-07-24. Retrieved 2007-11-26., Knockhill Legends driving experience
  5. "Race Hire - Legends Cars at Legends Race Hire". Archived from the original on 2007-11-12. Retrieved 2007-11-26., Scottish Legends race hire
  6. , French website introduction/report
  7. , Spanish Legends Cars 2007 calendar
  8. Andrea Di Marcantonio. "IL FENOMENO LEGEND CARS | PERFORMANCEMAG.IT" (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-08-07.
  9. Campionato del Mondo Legend Cars Vittoria Kevin Liguori Atlanta, 3 novembre 2019, archived from the original on 2021-12-12, retrieved 2021-08-07
  10. "Ghedina diventa "Legend" "Un vecchio amore che ritorna"". Corriere delle Alpi (in Italian). 2021-03-26. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
  11. "Lo spettacolo delle Legend Cars sul ghiaccio di Pragelato". Primocanale.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-08-07.
  12. "Newspaper Georgia Today. Georgians, start your engines!". 2012-11-09. Archived from the original on 2013-01-26.