Once upon a time, entry-level stock car divisions at local tracks were filled with the glorious growl of V8s. Not so much now, blogs Stephen Cox.
Entry level racecars were called “Hobby Stocks,” “Pure Stocks” or “Street Stocks.” A few unimaginative promoters condemned them as “Bombers” or “Thundercars,” as if any fool would want to drive a car so named!
But regardless of the title, entry-level stock car fields at local racetracks were stuffed with midsize, V8-powered American automobiles throughout the 1970s to 1990s. Most were genuinely nice looking cars. They may have been beaten up at the racetrack, but at least they started life with an attractive shape. The car of choice for many was the popular Chevelle, but the Camaro, Mustang, Ford Grand Torino, Oldsmobile Cutlass and many others proliferated.
For three decades the Hobby Stock classes drew more entries than anything else at short tracks nationwide. Why? Because the cars were available and cheap! In the late 1980’s a high mileage, 350-powered ‘72 Camaro was considered a gas-guzzling clunker. You could find them on any street corner for less than $1,000. But those cars are history today.
Recently I was at North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway, hanging out with my pit crew in the infield and watching the support races prior to our event. When the V8 Hobby Stock class rolled onto the track, they had six cars in the entire field. A few minutes later the front-wheel-drive, four-cylinder division put 30 cars on the grid!
The four-cylinder classes are growing wildly. They are called by different names in different areas. On the East Coast they’re “U-Cars.” In some areas they’re called “FFWD” (Four-Cylinder, Front-Wheel-Drive). In the Midwest, they’re called “Hornets.” Don’t blame me; I don’t make this stuff up!
And this isn’t just happening at Hickory. More than 40 U-Car entries showed up at West Virginia’s Ona Speedway last month. Even on road courses, the LeMons series for sub-$500 cars draws 40-60 entries, many of which are four-cylinder machines. Their West coast fields are enormous. The ChumpCar road racing series is drawing scores of four-cylinder, front-wheel drive cars as well.
But just like sexy Camaros and Monte Carlos of the 1970s, these el-cheapo four-cylinder machines are now available on every street corner for next to nothing. Sadly, most of them are ugly as sin. They either bear a frightening likeness to a soap bubble or appear to be the lovechild of an unholy union between an Opel GT and a K-Car!
Grassroots racing has always been built around whatever cars were cheap and plentiful. The cheap, plentiful cars of today are generic front-wheel-drive, four-cylinder grocery-getters.Yes, we are currently enjoying a revival of the muscle car era, but don’t expect today’s Mustangs and Camaros to save the Hobby Stock classes of the future. Nope. There aren’t enough of them and they won’t live long enough. Modern V8-powered sports cars are destined for museums, not racetracks.
The golden era of grassroots, V8-powered American Hobby Stock racing is gone, and as Laura Branigan once sang, I “don’t believe it’s coming back soon.”
The four-cylinder, front-drive cars put on a good show, are somewhat equal in performance, and are forgiving of mistakes by new drivers. And they are the only short track class that consistently shows real growth and a potential new revenue base in a declining economy. Each race team usually brings an average of 5-7 people, from crewmen to family members. These people buy tickets, pit passes and concessions. And fans show up to watch 30 cars race, not six.
For better or worse, the era of the four-cylinder grassroots racecar is here to stay. Better get used to it.
Words & photos by Stephen Cox, Sopwith Motorsports Television Productions.
Entry level racecars were called “Hobby Stocks,” “Pure Stocks” or “Street Stocks.” A few unimaginative promoters condemned them as “Bombers” or “Thundercars,” as if any fool would want to drive a car so named!
But regardless of the title, entry-level stock car fields at local racetracks were stuffed with midsize, V8-powered American automobiles throughout the 1970s to 1990s. Most were genuinely nice looking cars. They may have been beaten up at the racetrack, but at least they started life with an attractive shape. The car of choice for many was the popular Chevelle, but the Camaro, Mustang, Ford Grand Torino, Oldsmobile Cutlass and many others proliferated.
For three decades the Hobby Stock classes drew more entries than anything else at short tracks nationwide. Why? Because the cars were available and cheap! In the late 1980’s a high mileage, 350-powered ‘72 Camaro was considered a gas-guzzling clunker. You could find them on any street corner for less than $1,000. But those cars are history today.
Recently I was at North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway, hanging out with my pit crew in the infield and watching the support races prior to our event. When the V8 Hobby Stock class rolled onto the track, they had six cars in the entire field. A few minutes later the front-wheel-drive, four-cylinder division put 30 cars on the grid!
The four-cylinder classes are growing wildly. They are called by different names in different areas. On the East Coast they’re “U-Cars.” In some areas they’re called “FFWD” (Four-Cylinder, Front-Wheel-Drive). In the Midwest, they’re called “Hornets.” Don’t blame me; I don’t make this stuff up!
And this isn’t just happening at Hickory. More than 40 U-Car entries showed up at West Virginia’s Ona Speedway last month. Even on road courses, the LeMons series for sub-$500 cars draws 40-60 entries, many of which are four-cylinder machines. Their West coast fields are enormous. The ChumpCar road racing series is drawing scores of four-cylinder, front-wheel drive cars as well.
But just like sexy Camaros and Monte Carlos of the 1970s, these el-cheapo four-cylinder machines are now available on every street corner for next to nothing. Sadly, most of them are ugly as sin. They either bear a frightening likeness to a soap bubble or appear to be the lovechild of an unholy union between an Opel GT and a K-Car!
Grassroots racing has always been built around whatever cars were cheap and plentiful. The cheap, plentiful cars of today are generic front-wheel-drive, four-cylinder grocery-getters.Yes, we are currently enjoying a revival of the muscle car era, but don’t expect today’s Mustangs and Camaros to save the Hobby Stock classes of the future. Nope. There aren’t enough of them and they won’t live long enough. Modern V8-powered sports cars are destined for museums, not racetracks.
The golden era of grassroots, V8-powered American Hobby Stock racing is gone, and as Laura Branigan once sang, I “don’t believe it’s coming back soon.”
The four-cylinder, front-drive cars put on a good show, are somewhat equal in performance, and are forgiving of mistakes by new drivers. And they are the only short track class that consistently shows real growth and a potential new revenue base in a declining economy. Each race team usually brings an average of 5-7 people, from crewmen to family members. These people buy tickets, pit passes and concessions. And fans show up to watch 30 cars race, not six.
For better or worse, the era of the four-cylinder grassroots racecar is here to stay. Better get used to it.
Words & photos by Stephen Cox, Sopwith Motorsports Television Productions.
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