Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Spec Racing?

A criticism that is leveled at major racing series today, from NASCAR to IndyCar, is that the cars are "spec" cars – all the same except for paint.

The photo below, taken at the Vintage Club’s appearance at Mountain Speedway earlier this year, demonstrates how the ATQMRA midgets have been anything but cookie-cutter.


(Click the photo for an enlarged view)

The yellow #26 is a Crosley-powered "upright," a car with the driveline centered in the chassis.

The red #16 is a Triumph-powered rear-engined machine.

The blue #1-X is a Rotax-powered offset roadster.

Each of three of these cars was built to a common set of specifications, but clearly those specifications left plenty of room for innovation!