 | This article needs to be updated.(April 2015) |
 | |
| Category | Pickup truck racing |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Inaugural season | 1997 |
| Constructors | SHP Engineering |
| Engine suppliers | Vauxhall, Ford |
| Drivers' champion | Steve Dance |
| Official website | www |
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.
Launched in 1997 by Sonny Howard, the Pickup Truck Racing series, intended to bring the American pickup truck culture to Europe, [1] is for purpose-built 230 bhp (170 kW) racing specials. They have a tubular space frame chassis, are powered by a 2-litre multi-valve twin-cam engine and weigh 900 kg (2,000 lb). The race trucks are designed to place an emphasis on driver ability.
In 2001, the Pickup series became the main support for the Rockingham-based oval SCSA (then called ASCAR) racing series. At this time the pickups were right hand drive in configuration and as such not permitted to race on the anti-clockwise 1.5-mile speedway. An oval course was created to allow the drivers to compete.
For the 2003 season, the pickups were converted to left hand drive and finally allowed onto the oval track, as can be seen.
Pickup Truck Racing is unique in 'big' oval racing, in that unlike e.g. NASCAR, the trucks have rain tyres, wipers and rear safety lights, and will race on the ovals in the wet. Speeds are about 18 mph (29 km/h) slower than when racing in fully dry conditions.
Pickup Truck Racing is also the only racing series in the UK for which no race-by-race entry fees are charged. [2] Mallory Park continues to host oval events in the series following the closure of Rockingham Motor Speedway. [3]
| Pickup Truck | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | SHP Engineering |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Pickup truck, Race car |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | Vauxhall 2 litre, Ford Duratec 2.3 litre 2 litre (229 bhp) |
| Transmission | Four speed manual transmission |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 720 mm (28 in) |
| Curb weight | 870 kg (1,920 lb) |
Pickup Truck Racing is a single make series, and the trucks are governed by the Pickup Truck Racing regulations. [4] The chassis is made by SHP Engineering, who are also responsible for the vehicle used in T Cars, a series for young drivers.
The main flexibility in the regulations comes in the choice of engine. From 2011 the trucks could be fitted with either a Vauxhall petrol injected 2-litre red top engine or a Ford Duratec engine, both of which are four-cylinder engines with a 2-litre capacity and 16 valves.[ citation needed ]
In 2010, the front end of the pickup trucks was changed with the choice of either an Isuzu Denver Max LE or a Ford Ranger front. Later in the year a Vauxhall front was then also introduced to the championship.[ citation needed ]
| Date | Track |
|---|---|
| 25 & 26 March | Brands Hatch |
| 8 & 9 April | Rockingham |
| 22 & 23 April | Pembrey |
| 13 & 14 May | Rockingham |
| 10 & 11 June | Brands Hatch |
| 1 & 2 July | Rockingham |
| 22 & 23 July | Donington Park |
| 9 & 10 September | Snetterton |
| 30 Sep & 1 Oct | Rockingham |
| 4 & 5 November | Brands Hatch |
 |
Under normal circumstances race weekends follow the traditional format of practice and qualifying on the Saturday, and two races on Sunday. Qualifying is used to shake the car down and work on the setup, and to meet the MSA requirements for race entry of three qualifying laps, and not to set the starting grid.
The grid is set by reversing the top ten qualifiers (whoever qualifies 10th will be on pole, and whoever qualifies 1st will start from 10th). The top ten qualifiers also receive points, starting from 20 and decreasing by two for every place until 10th place, after which drivers receive zero points. Rookies always start from the rear of the grid as do competitors who have broken seals on controlled components such as differentials. Drivers can also elect to start from the back should they wish to do so.
At some circuits, qualifying takes place on Saturday morning, with the first race on Saturday afternoon and the second on Sunday.
For the 2009 season, races took place on weekends between March and November. There were racing weekends at six different circuits; the majority of the races were held at Rockingham Motor Speedway but others were held at Brands Hatch, Thruxton, Silverstone, Pembrey, Donington Park and Oulton Park. Each round comprised two races, making a twenty-two round competition in total.
2009 saw a number of rule changes:
Qualifying
One qualifying session was held, split into two sections. The fastest ten drivers in the first session made up the first ten places on the grid, but in reverse qualification order. The second session was the same, but for race two.
Success ballast
The podium finishers in each race were subject to the application of success ballast as follows:
1st: 30 kg 2nd: 20 kg 3rd: 10 kg
Ballast was applied up to a maximum of 70 kg. 10 kg was removed each time a truck finished outside of the top three.
Sprint/feature races
Two events hosted a Sprint/Feature race format, one at Rockingham and one at a road course.
The series continued to operate two championships: the Oval Championship and the Overall Championship.
Note: 1997 was the inaugural year and as such, races were not part of a championship.
| Year | Overall Champion | Oval Champion | Top Rookie |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Reece Jones | George Turuccki | |
| 2020 | n/a covid | ||
| 2019 | George Turricki | George Turricki | Simon Ward |
| 2018 | Scott Bourne | Paul Tompkins | Dale Gent |
| 2017 | Scott Bourne | ||
| 2016 | Freddie Lee | ||
| 2015 | Michael Smith | michael smith | |
| 2014 | Michael Smith | michael smith | |
| 2013 | Antony Hawkins | Nic Grindrod | |
| 2012 | Steve Dance | Phil White | Paul Jones |
| 2011 | Steve Dance | Steve Dance | Paul Tompkins |
| 2010 | Steve Dance | Nic Grindrod | Charlie Weaver |
| 2009 | Pete Stevens | Pete Stevens | Greg Wood |
| 2008 | Gavin Seager | Gavin Seager | n/a |
| 2007 | Steve Dance | Paul Poulter | Neil Tressler |
| 2006 | Nic Grindrod | Nic Grindrod | John Stant |
| 2005 | Nic Grindrod | Paul Poulter | Paul Poulter |
| 2004 | Gavin Seager | Mark Willis | Martin Heath |
| 2003 | Steve Dance | Steve Dance | Mark Willis |
| 2002 | Gavin Seager | n/a | Nic Grindrod |
| 2001 | Lee Caroline | n/a | Davy Philp |
| 2000 | Lee Caroline | n/a | Phil White |
| 1999 | Kevin Clarke | n/a | Pete Wilkinson |
| 1998 | Jeff Simpson | n/a | n/a |
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200 | 195 | 190 | 185 | 180 | 175 | 170 | 165 | 160 | 155 | 150 | 145 | 140 | 135 | 130 | 125 | 120 | 115 | 110 | 105 |
| 21st | 22nd | 23rd | 24th | 25th | 26th | 27th | 28th | 29th | 30th | 31st | 32nd | 33rd | |||||||
| 100 | 95 | 90 | 85 | 80 | 75 | 70 | 65 | 60 | 55 | 50 | 45 | 40 | |||||||
Any other classified finishers receive 20 points and any non-finishers receive 10 points except in the case of disqualification.
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.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock cars. The series is one of three national divisions of NASCAR, ranking as the third tier behind the second-tier NASCAR Xfinity Series and the top level NASCAR Cup Series.
Rockingham Motor Speedway is a former racing motorsport venue in Rockingham, Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom, near the town of Corby. It hosted professional and club races, as well as testing, track days, driver training, exhibitions and conferences. It claimed to be Europe's fastest racing circuit, and was the first banked oval constructed in Britain since the closure of Brooklands in 1939.
The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA. It was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and was renamed as the British Touring Car Championship for the 1987 season. The championship, currently running Next Generation Touring Car regulations, has been run to various national and international regulations over the years including FIA Group 2, FIA Group 5, FIA Group 1, FIA Group A, FIA Super Touring and FIA Super 2000. A lower-key Group N class for production cars ran from 2000 until 2003.
Jonathan Thomas Benson Jr. is an American retired stock car racing driver and the son of former Michigan modified driver John Benson Sr. Benson has raced across NASCAR's three national series, and his career highlights include the 1993 American Speed Association AC-Delco Challenge series championship, the 1995 NASCAR Busch Series championship, the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year Award, and the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship.
Rockingham Speedway, formerly North Carolina Motor Speedway and later North Carolina Speedway is a racetrack located near Rockingham, North Carolina. It is also known as The Rock and previously hosted NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series, CARS Tour, and UARA-Stars races.
BriSCA Formula 1 Stock Cars is a class of single-seater stock-car-racing in the UK with custom-built cars, with races conducted on walled oval tracks of either shale or tarmac of approximately a quarter-mile in length. The cars are of an open wheel design. The cars may be of any horsepower and drivers can use any engine they choose, with Chevrolet based small or big block V8 engines being the most popular. The season runs from March through to November, with occasional meetings during Christmas time.
Truck racing is a form of motorsport road racing which involves modified versions of heavy tractor units on road racing or oval track circuits.
Formula Palmer Audi, officially abbreviated to FPA, and sometimes informally abbreviated to Palmer Audi, was a one-make class of open wheel Formula racing founded in 1998 by former Formula One driver, Jonathan Palmer. It was based in the United Kingdom (UK), and was organised and operated by MotorSport Vision. It had a high proportion of British drivers and venues, but it also featured international drivers and races in mainland Europe.
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies since 1920 after two initial attempts in 1905 and 1916. The series is self-sanctioned by its parent company, INDYCAR, LLC., which began in 1996 as the Indy Racing League (IRL) and was created by then Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George as a competitor to Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). In 2008, the IndyCar Series merged with CART's successor, the Champ Car World Series and the history and statistics of both series, as well as those from its predecessors, were unified.
Steve Dance is a racing driver; he has raced the #16 pickup since 2002 in the UK Pickup Truck Racing series. He won the Pickup Truck Racing championship a record five times, in the 2003, 2007, 2010, 2011, and 2012 seasons.
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.
Andrew Phillip Jordan is a British racing driver, who has driven in the British Touring Car Championship. He was the 2013 British Touring Car Champion.
Lea Wood is a British racing driver and mechanic, employed at his father's garage based in Hereford. He has competed previously in the British Touring Car Championship.
JK Racing Asia Series, formerly known as both Formula BMW Asia and Formula BMW Pacific, was a single-seater racing series based in Asia. Formula BMW Asia was created in 2003 as a replacement for Asian Formula 2000 and was under the management of Motorsport Asia Limited. It was renamed Formula BMW Pacific for the 2008 season. In 2011 the series lost BMW support but received JK Tyre sponsorship and was rebranded as JK Racing Asia Series.
The 2012 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship was a multi-event motor racing championship for production-based touring cars held across England and Scotland. The championship features a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded amateur drivers competing in highly modified versions of family cars which are sold to the general public and conform to the technical regulations for the championship. It is one of the most popular domestic motor racing series in the United Kingdom, with an extensive program of support categories built up around the BTCC centrepiece. It was the 55th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.
The 1972 Winston 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race on May 7, 1972, at Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega, Alabama. This was the first start for three-time Cup Series Champion Darrell Waltrip.
Raceway Venray, formerly known as Circuit de Peel, is a motorsport racing circuit in Venray, Netherlands. The track consists of a banked half mile oval with a flat quarter mile oval inside and features a karting track using portions of both along with dedicated sections. The track host its own local championships, national championships in cooperation with the Midland Circuit in Lelystad and Circuit de Polderputten in Ter Apel.
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.
The 2021 NTT IndyCar Series was the 26th season of the IndyCar Series and the 110th official championship season of American open wheel racing. The premier event was the 2021 Indianapolis 500, won by Hélio Castroneves. It was the second year under Penske management after they took over in late 2019. Scott Dixon entered his 21st season competing for a National Championship as the defending champion, but ultimately finished the campaign in fourth place.