Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:
automobile racing
For more information on automobile racing, visit Britannica.com.
|
Results for automobile racing
|
On this page:
|
US History Encyclopedia:
Automobile Racing
On 28 November 1895, the Chicago Times Herald sponsored the first automobile race held in the United States. Its purposes were to test American cars and promote the nascent automobile industry. The winning speed, in a Duryea car, was 7.5 miles per hour (mph). The first series of races on American soil was organized in 1900 by Gordon Bennett, the owner of the New York Herald, with national automobile clubs of entrant nations choosing teams of three cars to compete on open roads. With a variety of mechanical and design improvements, race speeds had increased significantly and fatal accidents were not uncommon, involving both drivers and spectators.
The years from 1904 to 1910 saw the first Vanderbilt Cup street races on Long Island, organized by William K. Vanderbilt and held despite both legal threats and public misgivings. The first race, held on 8 October 1904 and sanctioned by the new American Automobile Association, had eighteen entrants on a 30.24-mile course mostly through Nassau County in New York. In 1906 the race attracted 250,000 spectators, but because of safety concerns it was canceled in 1907, resuming the following year after the Long Island Motor Parkway was built.
In 1908, the Savannah Automobile Club hosted the first American Grand Prize race. The original seventeen-mile course, built in 1904, was expanded to 25.13 miles. Present were sixteen thousand crowd-control marshals and thirty doctors. There were fourteen European and six American entries. The Gold Cup prize for the race was $5,000, twice that of the Vanderbilt Cup. Production cars were introduced to the American Grand Prize in 1909. Governed by the Automobile Club de France rules, the American Grand Prize was now the main American race entered by European drivers.
Also in 1909, the first closed-circuit dirt track was opened in Indianapolis, Indiana, by a group of automobile manufacturers to test the endurance of American-made automobiles, but this "stock car" testing course was later transformed into a racing speedway. The inaugural race was called the Indianapolis 500 and was run on Memorial Day in 1911. The Indy 500 continues to be run on Memorial Day every year.
In 1914, the Santa Monica speedway was established to host both the Vanderbilt Cup and the American Grand Prize. The 8.4 mile course along the Pacific shoreline included a ninety-degree left turn known as Death Curve. After a year in San Francisco, the races were again held in Santa Monica in 1916, the last time an American Grand Prize was held on a road course until the Vanderbilt Cup was held in New York in 1936.
The first major race after World War I was the Indianapolis 500 on 30 May 1919, in which Arthur Thurman was killed and Louis LeCocq and his mechanic were burned to death when their car overturned and caught fire. The Americans Howdy Wilcox and Eddie Hearne took first and second place, respectively. In 1921, American driver Jimmy Murphy won the French Grand Prix at Le Mans with a time of 4 hours, 7 minutes, and 11.2 seconds. The total distance was 322 miles at a speed of 79.04 mph.
The first world championship race was held in 1925 at the Indianapolis 500, a contest between manufacturers rather than drivers, but escalating costs subsequently forced manufacturers to abandon racing car production for nearly a decade. In 1928, racing rules changed from a strict formula based on engine size and weight to Formula Libre rules, with drivers in partnership with such racing car specialists as Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Bugatti, and in 1930, Scuderia Ferrari.
In 1935, at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, the British racer Sir Malcolm Campbell became the first driver to go faster than three hundred miles per hour. On 12 October 1936, the first three-hundred-mile Vanderbilt Cup race at the new Roosevelt Raceway was held. For the first time, the European Auto Union and Mercedes entered drivers. The race was won by the German racer Bernd Rosemeyer driving for Auto Union. The Roosevelt Raceway was a post-depression attempt to resurrect international motor racing in the United States by Eddie Rickenbacker and a group of Wall Street financiers, who established the Motor Development Corporation to create a racing circuit for the best European and American drivers and automobiles. Designer Mark Linenthal, however, failed to deliver a suitable venue. Afterward, international road racing took place primarily in Europe until 1959.
Broad public interest in stock car racing lead to the formation of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) at Daytona Beach in 1947. Stock car racing enjoys wide popularity and is the fastest growing spectator sport in the world. The 1990s in particular saw major growth in the sport's popularity primarily due to NASCAR's proactive marketing efforts and television's hunger for ratings. With inventions such as in-car and bumper-mounted cameras, fans watching the races on television were able to feel as if they were in the middle of the action. Additionally, in a society enamored of superstars, race drivers, more so than other sports figures, are accessible to their fans, typically having come from small towns in the South and racing in venues that are far removed from Hollywood or New York City. In 2001, NASCAR had a broader television viewership than Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, and the Women's National
Basketball Association. In 2001, Fox, NBC, and TNT (Turner Television) signed a six-year, $2.4 billion deal for NASCAR's television rights. (In comparison, NASCAR received only $3 million for its television rights in 1985.) Fox's television viewership in 2001 averaged 5.2 million fans per broadcast race (a 41 percent increase over the previous year), and NBC and TNT television viewership in the same year averaged 3.9 million viewers per race (a 35 percent increase over the previous year). NASCAR conducts stock car races under the auspices of its Grand National Division. The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), established in Westport, Connecticut, in 1945, oversees sports car racing in the United States. Additionally, the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), founded in Los Angeles in 1951, sponsors drag racing at the Winternationals in Los Angeles, the Springnationals in Bristol, Tennessee, a national meet in Indianapolis, and a World Championship race in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The NHRA, the SCCA, NASCAR, and the United States Auto Club belong to the Automobile Competition Committee of the United States (ACCUS), which is the U.S. representative to the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the controlling body of automobile racing worldwide since World War II.
In 1950, the first World Championship for drivers was held based on the results of the British, Swiss, Monaco, Belgium, French, and Italian Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500. The Indy 500 was included to promote Grand Prix racing in America.
The U.S. Grand Prix, the first American Formula One (F1) race since the American Grand Prize series from 1908 to 1916, was held at the Sebring, Florida, air base in 1959. There were nineteen entrants, including six Americans. The American Bruce McLaren was the youngest driver to win an F1 race. In 1961, the U.S. Grand Prix was relocated to Watkin's Glen, New York, one of the best U.S. tracks, comparable to Monza and Silverstone. Watkin's Glen hosted Grand Prix races through 1980. The first U.S. Grand Prix West was held at Long Beach, California, in 1975. Other Grand Prix circuits included Long Island (1904–1910, birthplace of the Vanderbilt Cup); San Francisco (1915, on a 3.84-mile circuit constructed on landfill in the San Francisco Bay); Riverside, California (1960); Long Beach, California (1976–1983, considered the third best street course in the world after Monaco and Adelaide); Las Vegas (1981–1982, a "parking lot" course, that is, not a street course or circuit course built purposefully for racing, but literally a parking lot used as a race track); Detroit (three races in 1982); Dallas (1984–1985); and Phoenix (1989–1991, the last year a Grand Prix was held in the United States).
Bibliography
Brown, Allan E. The History of the American Speedway: Past and Present. Marne, Mich.: Slideways Publications, 1984.
Macgowan, Robin, and Graham Watson. Kings of the Road: A Portrait of Racers and Racing. Champaign, Ill.: Leisure Press, 1987.
—Christine E. Hoffman
Columbia Encyclopedia:
automobile racing,
sport in which specially designed or modified automobiles race on any of various courses. Automobile racing originated in France in 1894 and appeared in the United States the following year. It is now one of the most popular spectator sports in the world. Of many different types of competition, the most prestigious have traditionally involved Formula One (Grand Prix) or “Indy-type” automobiles, both cars with low-slung bodies capable of speeds greater than 230 mph (370 kph). Their design and maintenance require full-time racing teams and large corporate investment. A number of countries sponsor Grand Prix races, which contribute to the designation of a world champion driver. The Grands Prix of Monaco, France, Great Britain, Canada, and Australia are among the best known.
America's famous Indianapolis 500 (begun 1911) is the best known of a series of races in which drivers compete for a series championship, organized by the United States Auto Club (USAC) and overseen from 1979 to 1996 by Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). In 1996 CART began a competing series, leaving the Indy 500 and several other races in the hands of the Indy Racing League (IRL). The Indianapolis 500 attracts over 500,000 spectators annually, making it the nation's largest paid-admission sporting event. Many top drivers compete in both Formula One and Indy-type races, and some also drive in the two major endurance races for sports cars, the 24 Hours at Daytona (Daytona Beach, Fla.) and the 24 Hours at LeMans (France; officially the LeMans Grand Prix d'Endurance, held since 1923).
Enormously popular in the United States are the races of the National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing (NASCAR) circuit, in which standard, or stock, cars with special equipment race at speeds that can average close to 200 mph (320 kph). The major races of the NASCAR circuit include the Daytona 500 and the Talladega 500. Midget racing originated in the 1940s among enthusiasts unable to afford Indy cars. Originally held on dirt tracks at fairgrounds, midget races have yielded their popularity to sprint cars, larger versions of the midgets that travel half-mile tracks at 100 mph (161 kph) or more. Drag racing, which grew out of the often illegal sprints held among American teenagers during the 1950s, involves acceleration tests among extremely powerful cars over .25-mi (.4025-km) courses at speeds exceeding 300 mph (483 kph). Hill climbing, done by cars of various classes against the clock, is popular in Europe, but has never attained more than regional popularity in the United States.
Bibliography
See R. Cutter and B. Fendell, Encyclopedia of Auto Racing (1973); A. E. Brown, The History of the American Speedway (1984).
Games:
Auto Racing
- Platform: Intellivision
- Release Date: 1979
Game Description
Auto Racing puts you behind the wheel of one of five racecars ranked by top speed, acceleration, and cornering. Race against the clock or a friend on five different courses down straight-aways, clip curves, and hairpin turns. If you run off the road, you might crash into a house or a tree. Driving on grass or in a pond slows you down considerably. When you crash, you're sent back to the last checkpoint. The cars you drive automatically accelerate, so all you need to concern yourself with is braking and turning. In the one-player mode, you must circle the course five times. In two-car races you score points by taking a commanding lead and when your opponent crashes, with action in Auto Racing viewed from above the cars. ~ Jonathan Sutyak, All Game GuideReview: Enjoyment
There are five cars and courses to enjoy. ~ Jonathan Sutyak, All Game GuideProduction Credits
Programmed by: Larry Zwick ~ Jonathan Sutyak, All Game GuideReview: Overall
Auto Racing offers a good selection of cars and racecourses. Most gamers should find at least one car to match his or her favorite style of driving. Moreover, to make things fair in a two-player race, there are cars with the exact same specifications. After selecting your car, you will need to select a course. The nicely detailed instruction manual contains a drawing of each course with all of the checkpoints labeled. Although each course is similar graphically, they vary greatly in number of turns and straight-aways.When playing Auto Racing, the first thing to notice is that the cars accelerate on their own. Unless you use the brake button, the cars will speed up until reaching top speed. The second thing that struck me is the irritating car noises. Buzzing sounds are supposed to be the cars' engines, but they turn out to be just noise.
Auto Racing is challenging, but frustrating. The Intellivision control disc is not responsive enough to handle narrow roads or sharp turns and running off the road because of poor controls becomes extremely annoying, especially when you hit an obstacle. Interestingly, a skilled racer may take advantage of leaving the road in a one-player game. Although it is difficult to avoid objects, and the cars go very slowly in grass, you can find shortcuts. If you manage to avoid the obstacles, you can cut all the way to the other side of the course. Unfortunately, two-player games are a drag if one of the competitors is a lousy driver. A two-player race doesn't end until someone scores fifty points. (One point for leading by the complete length of the screen. Two points when the other one crashes.) When a player does lead by the complete length of the screen, the game stops and places both cars in the same place on the course. If a good player keeps forcing a huge lead, the game will cont
inually pause, blowing both players' rhythms.
Surprisingly, the landscaping in this game is first class. Nicely detailed buildings, trees, and water spread out over the grass. The cars are adequately drawn, but only in a generic kind of way. Overall, Auto Racing is nothing more than an average racing game. Maybe, if the sounds and controls were better, it would receive a much higher score. ~ Jonathan Sutyak, All Game Guide
Review: Graphics
Detailed landscaping. ~ Jonathan Sutyak, All Game GuideReview: Sound
Painful car sound effects. ~ Jonathan Sutyak, All Game GuideReview: Replay Value
Driving in circles can get repetitive. ~ Jonathan Sutyak, All Game GuideReview: Documentation
Good illustrations. ~ Jonathan Sutyak, All Game Guide
Wikipedia:
auto racing
"Motor racing" and "Motorsports" redirect here. For other uses, see Motor racing (disambiguation).
"Racing cars" redirects here. For the Welsh pop band, see Racing
Cars.
Automobile racing (also known as auto racing, motor racing, or car racing) is a sport involving
racing automobiles. Auto racing began in 1895,[1] and is now one of the world's most popular
History
The beginning of race cars
Racing began soon after the construction of the first successful petrol-fueled autos. In 1894, the first contest was organized by Paris magazine Le Perit Journal, a reliability test to determine best performance. But the race was changed to Paris to Rouen 1894. Competitors included factory vehicles from Karl Benz's Benz & Cie. and Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach's DMG.
In 1895, one year later, the first real race was staged in France, from Paris to Bordeaux. First over the line was Émile Levassor but he was disqualified because his car was not a required four-seater.
An international competition began with the Gordon Bennett Cup in auto racing.
The first auto race in the United States took place in Evanston, Illinois on November 28, 1895 over a 87.48-km (54.36 mile) course, with Frank Duryea winning in 10 hours and 23 minutes, beating three petrol-fueled and two electric cars.[1] The first trophy awarded was the Vanderbilt Cup.
City to city racing
With auto construction and racing dominated by France, the French automobile club ACF staged a number of major international races, usually from or to Paris, connecting with another major city in Europe or France.
These very successful races ended in 1903 when Marcel Renault was involved in a fatal accident near Angouleme in the Paris-Madrid race. Nine fatalities caused the French government to stop the race in Bordeaux and ban open-road racing.[citation needed]
1910-1950
The 1930s saw the transformation from high-priced road cars into pure racers, with Delage, Auto Union, Mercedes-Benz, Delahaye, and Bugatti constructing streamlined vehicles with engines producing up to 450 kW (612 hp), aided by multiple-stage supercharging. From 1928-1930 and again in 1934-1936, the maximum weight permitted was 750 kg, a rule diametrically opposed to current racing regulations. Extensive use of aluminium alloys was required to achieve light weight, and in the case of the Mercedes, the paint was removed to satisfy the weight limitation, producing the famous Silver Arrows.
Categories
Single-seater racing
%20in%20practice%20at%20USGP%202005.jpg)
Single-seater (open-wheel) racing is one of the most popular forms of motorsport, with cars designed specifically for high-speed racing. The wheels are not covered, and the cars often have aerofoil wings front and rear to produce downforce and enhance adhesion to the track.
The best-known variety of single-seater racing, Formula One, involves an annual World Championship for drivers and constructors of around 18 races a year featuring major international car and engine manufacturers such as Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz (McLaren), BMW (Sauber), Toyota, Honda, and Renault in an ongoing battle of technology and driver skill and talent. The sport is one of the top five watched sporting events in the world, alongside the FIFA World Cup, the Olympic Games, the Super Bowl and the UEFA European Football Championship. Formula One is, by any measure, the most expensive sport in the world, with some teams spending in excess of $400 million per year. Formula One is widely considered to be the pinnacle of motorsports, with the F1 Drivers' Championship being one of, and the oldest among, only three World Championships awarded each year by the FIA (the others being the World Touring Car Championship and the World Rally Championship).
In North America, the cars used in the National Championship (currently Champcars and the Indy Racing League) have traditionally been similar though to a lower level of sophistication as F1 cars with more restrictions on technology aimed at helping to control costs. Other single-seater racing series are the A1 Grand Prix (unofficially often referred to as the "world cup of motorsport"), GP2 (formerly known as Formula 3000 and Formula Two), Formula Nippon, Formula Renault 3.5 (also known as the World Series by Renault, succession series of World Series by Nissan), Formula Three, Formula Palmer Audi and Formula Atlantic.
There are other categories of single-seater racing, including kart racing, which employs a small, low-cost machine on small tracks. Many of the current top drivers began their careers in karts. Formula Ford represents a popular first open-wheel category for up-and-coming drivers stepping up from karts.
Students at colleges and universities can also take part in single seater racing through the SAE Formula Student competition, which involves designing and building a single seater car in a multidisciplinary team, and racing it at the competition. This also develops other soft skills such as teamwork whilst promoting motorsport and engineering.
In 2006, producer Todd Baker was responsible for creating the world's first all-female Formula racing team. The group was an assemblage of drivers from different racing disciplines, and formed for an MTV reality pilot which was shot at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
In December, 2005 the FIA gave approval to Superleague Formula racing, set to debut in 2008. This will be open-wheel, single-seat stock car racing around Grand Prix racetracks. The teams will be owned and run by promenent sports clubs such as AC Milan and FC Porto. The race weekend will follow the GP2 format of Saturday qualifying and two Sunday races, one featuing a reverse grid.
Touring car racing
Touring car racing is a style of road racing that is run with production derived race cars. It often features exciting, full-contact racing due to the small speed differentials and large grids.
The V8 Supercars originally from Australia, BTCC, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters originally from Germany, and the World Touring Car Championship held with 2 non-European races (previously the European Touring Car Championship) are the major touring car championships conducted worldwide, along with a European Touring Cup, a one day event open to Super 2000 specification touring cars from Europe's many national championships.
The Sports Car Club of America's SPEED World Challenge Touring Car and GT championships are dominant in North America while the venerable British Touring Car Championship continues in the United Kingdom. America's historic Trans-Am Series is undergoing a period of transition, but is still the longest-running road racing series in the U.S. The National Auto Sport Association also provides a venue for amateurs to compete in home-built factory derived vehicles on various local circuits.
Production car racing
Production car racing or known in the US as showroom stock, is an economical and rules restricted version of touring car racing, mainly to restrict costs.
Many series follow the Group N regulation with a few exceptions. There are several different series that is run all over the world, most notably, Japan's Super Taikyu and IMSA's Firehawk Series which ran between the 1980s to 1990s all over the United States.
One-make racing
- See also: One-Design
One-make, or single margue, championships often employ production-based cars from a single manufacturer or even a single model from a manufacturer's range. There are numerous notable one-make formulae from various countries and regions, some of which – such as the Porsche Supercup and, previously, IROC – have fostered many distinct national championships. Single marque series are often found at club level, to which the production-based cars, limited modifications, and close parity in performance are very well suited. There are also single-chassis single seater formulae, such as Formula Ford, Formula Saab, Formula BMW, and defunct Formula Vee, usually as "feeder" series for "senior" race formula (in the fashion of farm teams).
Stock car racing
Stock car racing, the North American equivalent to touring car racing, is the most-popular form of auto racing (in terms of viewership) on that continent. Usually conducted on ovals, the cars may slightly resemble production cars but are in fact purpose-built racing machines which are all almost identical in specifications. Early stock cars were much closer to production vehicles; the car to be raced was often driven from track to track. The modern car however is far removed from the production model which it represents, making the term "stock car" somewhat incorrect.
The main stock car racing series is NASCAR's Nextel Cup, and among the most famous races in the series are the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400. NASCAR also runs the Busch Series (a feeder league), the Craftsman Truck Series (pickup trucks), and the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series (stock car series in Canada).
NASCAR also runs the "modified" cars which are heavily altered from stock, with powerful engines, large tires, tubular chassis and light bodies. NASCAR's oldest series is considered by many to be its most exciting.
There are also other stock car series, such as ARCA and NASCAR Canada.
British Stock car racing is a form of Short Oval Racing. This takes place on shale or tarmac tracks in either clockwise or anti-clockwise direction depending on the class, some of which allow contact. Races are organized by local promoters and all drivers are registered with BRISCA and have their own race number. What classes exist depends on the promoter, so events in Scotland at Cowdenbeath can be very different from an event at Wimbledon Stadium in London.
Rallying
Rallying, or rally racing, involves two classes of car. The modified Group A, but road legal, production based cars and the Group N Production cars compete on (closed) public roads or off-road areas run on a point-to-point format where participants and their co-drivers “rally” to a set of points, leaving in regular intervals from start points. A rally is typically conducted over a number of 'special stages' of any terrain, which entrants are often allowed to scout beforehand at reduced speeds compiling detailed shorthand descriptions of the track or road as they go. These detailed descriptions are known as 'pace notes'. During the actual rally, the co-driver reads the pace notes aloud (using an in-helmet intercom system) to the driver, enabling them to complete each stage as quickly as possible. Competition is based on lowest total elapsed time over the course of an event's special stages, including penalties.
The top series is the World Rally Championship (WRC), but there also regional championships and many countries have their own national championships. Some famous rallies include the Monte Carlo Rally, Rally Argentina, Rally Finland and Rally GB. Another famous event (actually best described as a "rally raid") is the Paris-Dakar Rally. There are also many smaller, club level, categories of rallies which are popular with amateurs, making up the "grass roots" of motor sports.
Targa Racing (Targa Rally)
Targa is a tarmac-based road rally which is run all around the world. This began with the Targa Florio. There are many races including Targa Tasmania held on the island state of Tasmania, Australia, run annually since 1992. The event takes its name from the Targa Florio, a former motoring event held on the island of Sicily. The competition concept is drawn directly from the best features of the Mille Miglia, the Coupe des Alpes and the Tour de Corse. Other events around the world include the Targa Newfoundland based in Canada, Targa West based in Western Australia, Targa New Zealand and other smaller events.
Drag racing
In drag racing, the objective is to complete a certain distance, traditionally ¼ mile (400 m) (though 1/8 mile {200m} has become popular since the 1990s), in the shortest possible time. The vehicles range from the everyday car to the purpose-built dragster. Speeds and elapsed time differ from class to class. Average street cars cover the ¼ mile in from 15 to 20 seconds whereas a top fuel dragster takes 4.5 seconds or less, reaching speeds of up to 530 km/h (330 mph). Drag racing was organized as a sport by Wally Parks in the early 1950s through the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association), the largest motorsports sanctioning body in the world. The NHRA was formed to discourage street racing.
Launching, a top fuel dragster will accelerate at 4.5 g (44m/s²), and when braking parachutes are deployed, the deceleration is 4 g (39 m/s²), more than the Space Shuttle experinces. A top fuel car can be heard over 8 miles (13 km) away and generate a reading of 1.5 to 2 on the Richter scale.[3]
Drag racing is two cars head-to-head, the winner proceeding to the next round. Professional classes are all first to the finish line wins. Sportsman racing is handicapped (slower car getting a head start) using an index (a lowest e.t. allowed), and cars running under (quicker than) their index "break out" and lose. The slowest cars, bracket racers, are also handicapped, but rather than an index, they use a "dial-in".
Sports car racing
In sports car racing, production versions of sports cars and purpose-built prototype cars compete with each other on closed circuits. The races are often conducted over long distances, at least 1000 km, and cars are driven by teams of two or three drivers (and sometimes more in the US), switching every now and then. Due to the performance difference between production based sports cars and sports racing prototypes, one race usually involves many racing classes. In the US the American Le Mans Series was organized in 1999, featuring GT1, GT2, and two prototype classes, LMP1 (Le Mans Prototype 1) and LMP2. Manufacturers such as Audi and Acura/Honda field or support entries in the Prototype class. Another series based on Le Mans began in 2004, the Le Mans Endurance Series, which included four 1000 km races at tracks in Europe. A competing body, Grand-Am, which began in 2000, sanctions its own endurance series the Rolex Sports Car Series.
Famous sports car races include the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring.
Off-road racing
In off-road racing, various classes of specially modified vehicles, including cars, compete in races through off-road environments. In North America these races often take place in the desert, such as the famous Baja 1000. In Europe, "offroad" refers to events such as autocross or rallycross, while desert races and rally-raids such as the Paris-Dakar, Master Rallye or European "bajas" are called "cross-country rallies."
Kart racing
Although often seen as the entry point for serious racers into the sport, kart racing, or karting, can be an economic way for amateurs to try racing and is also a fully fledged international sport in its own right. World-famous F1-drivers like Michael Schumacher or Fernando Alonso and most of the typical starting grid of a modern Grand Prix took up the sport at around the age of eight, with some testing from age three. Several former motorcycle champions have also taken up the sport, notably Wayne Rainey, who was paralysed in a racing accident and now races a hand-controlled kart. As one of the cheapest ways to go racing, karting is seeing its popularity grow worldwide.
Go-karts, or just "karts" - seem very distant from normal road cars, with diminutive frames and wheels, but a small engine combined with very light weight make for a quick machine. The tracks are also on a much smaller scale, making kart racing more accessible to the average enthusiast.
Historical racing
As modern motor racing is centered on modern technology with a lots of corporate sponsors and politics involved, historical racing tends to be the opposite. As it relies on cars of a particular era it is more hobbyist oriented, reducing corporate sponsorship and politics. Events are regulated to only allow cars of a certain era to participate. The only modern equipment used is related to safety and timing. A historical event can be of various different motorsport disciplines. Notably some of the most famous events of them all are the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival in Britain and Monterey Historic in the United States. Championships range from "grass root" Austin Seven racing to the FIA Thoroughbred Grand Prix Championship for classic Formula One chassis.
While there are several professional teams and drivers in historical racing, this branch of auto sport tends to be contested by wealthy car owners and is thus more amateur and laid back in its approach.
Other categories
- See also Category:Auto racing by type
- Autocross
- Autograss
- Board track racing
- Demolition derby
- Dirt speedway racing
- Dirt track racing
- Drifting
- Folkrace
- High Performance Drivers Education
- Hillclimbing
- Ice racing
- Legend car racing
- Midget car racing
- Truck racing
- Rallycross
- Rallying
- Road racing
- Short track motor racing
- Slalom
- Sprint car racing
- Sprinting
- Street racing
- Time Attack
Use of flags
In open-wheel, stock-car and other types of circuit auto races, flags are displayed to indicate the general status of a race and to communicate instructions to competitors in a race. While the flags have changed from the first years (e.g. red used to start a race), these are generally accepted for today.
| Flag | Displayed from start tower | Displayed from observation post |
|---|---|---|
 |
The race has started or resumed after a full caution or stop, or the race is proceeding normally. | End of hazardous section of track. |
 |
Full course caution condition for ovals. On road courses, it means a local area of caution. Depending on the type of racing, either two yellow flags will be used for a full course caution or a sign with 'SC' (Safety car) will be used as the field follows the pace/safety car on track and no cars may pass. | Local caution condition — no cars may pass at the particular corner where being displayed. |
 |
Debris or slippery patches on the track. | |
 |
The car with the indicated number must pit for consultation. | The session is halted; all cars on course must return to pit lane. |
 |
The car with the indicated number has mechanical trouble. | |
 |
The driver of the car with the indicated number has been penalized for misbehaviour. | |
 |
The driver of the car with the indicated number is disqualified or will not be scored until they report to the pits. | |
 |
A car must allow another car to pass if the flag is blue only. With an orange or yellow stripe, it simply serves as a warning that faster traffic is behind. | A car is being advised to give way to faster traffic approaching. |
 |
The race is stopped—all cars must halt on the track or return to pit lane. | |
 |
One lap remains. | A slow vehicle is on the track. |
 |
The race has concluded. |
Accidents
For the worst accident in racing history see 1955 Le Mans disaster. (See also Deaths in motorsports)
Racing car setup
In auto racing, the racing setup or car setup is the set of adjustments made to the vehicle in order to optimize its behaviour (performance, handling, reliability, etc.). Adjustments can occur in suspensions, brakes, transmission, engines, tires, and many others.
See also
- Car handling
- Composite materials
- Engine tuning
- Import scene
- List of auto racing tracks
- Race track
- Racing game
- Sim racing
References
- ^ Rendall, Ivan (1995). The Chequered Flag. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, pp.10. ISBN 0-297-83550-5.
- ^ "F1 World’s most watched TV sports events: 2006 Rank & Trends report", Initiative, 2007-01-19. Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
- ^ NHRA Mile High Nationals 2001, and 2002 testing from the National Seismology Center.
External links
Sanctioning bodies
- The FIA - The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile site
- Grand American Road Racing Association
- National Hot Rod Association
- International Hot Rod Association
- National Auto Sport Association
- Sports Car Club of America
- Indy Racing League (IRL)
- National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR)
- International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)
Other
- Racetrack Database Racetrack information and locations.
- Revvs.net Motorsport Fans Networking.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Join the WikiAnswers Q&A community. Post a question or answer questions about "automobile racing" at WikiAnswers.
Copyrights:
 |
 | Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| US History Encyclopedia. © 2006 through a partnership of Answers Corporation. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more |
 |
| Games. Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Game Guide ® , a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Auto racing". Read more |
Search for answers directly from your browser with the FREE Answers.com Toolbar!
Click here to download now. 
Get Answers your way! Check out all our free tools and products.
ADVERTISEMENT
Tackle These
- Where can you get insurance for automobile racing?
- Is Ben Collins racing driver racing in Nascars Sprint Race 2008 this year?
- Is an automobile repair shop legally responsible for vandalism to an automobile ...
- What is the difference of the racing on evolution in racing in the bible? [unanswered]
- What is the font for the Racing in Ford Racing? [unanswered]
- Can a person with out a drivers license purchase automobile insurance for their ... [unanswered]
Keep Reading
Mentioned In:
- racecar
- speedway
- sports car
- American Automobile Association (American history)
- Daytona Beach (city, Florida)
- Indianapolis (American history)
- Al Unser (American athlete)
- Automobile Racing Club of America Inc. (Private Company)
- Ferrari
- Alfa Romeo
- Sir Malcolm Campbell (English athlete)
- Rodrigo Borja Cevallos
- Formula 1 Dream
- Great Salt Lake (lake, Utah)
Related Topics
ADVERTISEMENT
Do you have the answers?
ADVERTISEMENT
