Worcester Area Sports Car Club

Last updated
Worcester Area Sports Car Club at start of a rally near Webster Square in Worcester, MA 1955 WASCC1955.jpg
Worcester Area Sports Car Club at start of a rally near Webster Square in Worcester, MA 1955

Worcester Area Sports Car Club, Inc. (WASCC) was an automobile club formed after World War II by owners of foreign-built sports cars supporting rallying and autocross held in and around Worcester, Massachusetts.

Contents

Worcester Area Sports Car Club first rallied together in 1954 with 15 members and incorporated as a nonprofit in the late 1950s. [1] Early members included Cameron Dewar (motorsports writer for the Boston Herald) and Sante Graziani (dean of the School of the Worcester Art Museum). The WASCC was active through the 1980s.

Further reading

Related Research Articles

Sports Car Club of America

The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional racers.

Worcester, Massachusetts City in Massachusetts, United States

Worcester is a city in, and county seat of, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, Worcestershire, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population was 181,045, making it the second-most populous city in New England after Boston. Worcester is approximately 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston, 50 miles (80 km) east of Springfield and 40 miles (64 km) north of Providence. Due to its location near the geographic center of Massachusetts, Worcester is known as the "Heart of the Commonwealth;" a heart is the official symbol of the city.

Lucas Oil Raceway Motorsport track in the United States

Lucas Oil Raceway is an auto racing facility in Brownsburg, Indiana, United States, about 10 miles (16 km) west of Downtown Indianapolis. It includes a 0.686-mile (1.104 km) oval track, a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) road course, and a 4,400-foot (1,300 m) drag strip which is among the premier drag racing venues in the world. The complex receives about 500,000 visitors annually.

Circuit Mont-Tremblant

Circuit Mont-Tremblant is a 4.26 km (2.65 mi) race circuit about 13 km (8.1 mi) south of the village of Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada. The name of the village of Saint-Jovite was often included in the name of the circuit, but since the village was amalgamated into Mont-Tremblant in the year 2000, it is no longer considered or functions as an independent entity.

<i>Telegram & Gazette</i> Newspaper in Worcester, Massachusetts

The Telegram & Gazette is the only daily newspaper of Worcester, Massachusetts. The paper, headquartered at 100 Front Street and known locally as the Telegram or the T & G, offers coverage of all of Worcester County, as well as surrounding areas of the western suburbs of Boston, Western Massachusetts, and several towns in Windham County in northeastern Connecticut.

Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park NASCAR race track

Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (TSMP), formerly Thompson Speedway and Thompson International Speedway, is a motorsports park in Thompson, Connecticut, featuring a 58-mile (1.0 km) asphalt oval racetrack and a 1.7-mile (2.7 km) road racing course. Once known as the "Indianapolis of the East", it was the first asphalt-paved racing oval track in the United States and is now under the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series banner. Each year Thompson hosts one of the great fall variety events "The World Series of Auto Racing" highlighted by the International Supermodified Association and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. This event frequently draws over 350 race cars in 16 separate divisions over three days. Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park is the track that had hosted the most ever races in the modern era of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour with 146 races from 1985 to 2019.

Grand Prix of Toronto Annual car race in Canada

The Honda Indy Toronto is an annual Indy Car race, held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally known as the Molson Indy Toronto, it was part of the Champ Car World Series from 1986 to 2007. After a one-year hiatus, it has been part of the NTT IndyCar Series schedule since 2009. The race takes place on a 2.874-kilometre (1.786 mi), 11 turn, temporary street circuit through Exhibition Place and on Lake Shore Boulevard. Toronto is classified as an FIA Grade Two circuit.

Lake Underwood

Lake Underwood was an American entrepreneur who competed as a champion in the racing of prototype automobiles and motorcycles. He was a master mechanic who, although high performance fuel delivery and carburetor design and mechanics were his specialties, also invented automobile improvements, especially in electronics for German automobiles.

Motorsport marshal

Motorsport marshals are mainly volunteer workers responsible for the safety of motor racing competitors. They are stationed at various points of danger around race tracks to assist them in case of any collisions, accidents or track problems. Marshals are also known as course workers, corner workers, corner crews, turn marshals, corner marshals, track safety workers, or rally marshals.

Spec Racer Ford

Spec Racer Ford is a class of racing car used in Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and other series road racing events. The Spec Racer Ford, manufactured and marketed by SCCA Enterprises, is a high performance, closed wheel, open cockpit, purpose-built race car intended for paved road courses, such as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Road America, Watkins Glen, and many other tracks throughout North America. With more than 1,000 cars manufactured, it is the most successful purpose built road racing car in the United States.

John Morton is an American racing driver from Waukegan, Illinois. After his father took him to a race at Road America in 1957, Morton became an avid racing fan. He went on to race jalopies in South Carolina before he dropped out of Clemson University to attend Carroll Shelby's racing school at Riverside Raceway in California. Taking a menial job working in Carroll Shelby's race shop, Morton saved his money to purchase his first race car, a Lotus Super 7 which he raced in SCCA amateur races in 1963.

Worcester Center Galleria Shopping mall in Massachusetts, United States

The Worcester Center Galleria, located in Downtown Worcester, Massachusetts, was a two level shopping mall which originally opened on July 29, 1971 as a part of the Worcester Center urban renewal project. The mall, which connected the 100 Front Street and 120 Front Street office towers, was successful for 20 years until it closed following a series of store vacancies. The mall re-opened in 1994 as a short-lived outlet center called Worcester Common Fashion Outlets, finally closing in 2006. The mall is currently undergoing demolition and re-development into a project called CitySquare.

The New England Forest Rally is a performance rally event in New Hampshire and Maine, United States. Originally known as the Maine Forest Rally, it first appeared in 1991 as a winter rally. In the past, the event was part of the SCCA ProRally and Rally America schedule, now it is sanctioned by the American Rally Association.

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship is an American racing series using the American variation of the Formula Ford formula, "F2000", that resumed operation for the 2010 season. It is sanctioned by IndyCar, and is the first rung of the Road to Indy.

Arthur E. Chase American businessman and politician

Arthur E. Chase was an American businessman and politician who represented the Worcester District in the Massachusetts Senate from 1991 to 1995. He co-founded the Central Massachusetts Legislative Caucus. In 1991 he designed the Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science at WPI and in 1992 sponsored legislation to create it. He was the Republican nominee for Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1994, but lost in the general election to William F. Galvin.

Bridgehampton Race Circuit

Bridgehampton Race Circuit was a race track located near Sag Harbor, New York, United States. The circuit opened in 1957, following a series of road races held from 1949 until 1953. It was one of the first permanent road racing venues in the United States, opening after Thompson Speedway, two years after Road America, the year after Watkins Glen International, and the same year as Lime Rock Park and Laguna Seca Raceway. In its early years, Bridgehampton was host to major international series, including the World Sportscar Championship, Can-Am, and NASCAR Grand National. By the early 1970s, the track was used mostly for amateur events. The track closed permanently in 1999.

American autocross

American autocross is a form of autocross, an individual motorsport in which drivers compete to set the fastest time on a temporary course. Events are usually held on large paved areas, such as parking lots or airfields. Courses consist of turns, offsets, and slaloms marked by traffic cones; new courses are typically created for each event.

SCCA Pro Racing is the pro racing division of the Sports Car Club of America. SCCA Pro Racing was formed in 1963, the company is a fully owned subsidiary of SCCA.

The Worcester Bravehearts are a summer collegiate baseball team based in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA, that plays in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) of New England starting in 2014. The team's home games are played at Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field in Worcester.

Mayoral elections in Worcester, Massachusetts

Elections are held every two years to elect the mayor of Worcester, Massachusetts.

References

  1. Wilson, Robert E. "When the Ralliers First Cranked Up." Worcester Sunday Telegram, May 4, 1975. Section J, pp. 6-8.