Daytona International Speedway, May 6, 2018
Fast Automobiles is part of the title of this blog. Recent posts have focused on classic cars sitting still on the fine grass of the golf course at Amelia Island or inside a building serving as a museum. So, it is time to take a look at fast cars, and back to Daytona International Speedway again. But, this time a different experience with different forms of racing (going fast in cars), forms open to everyone - SCCA amateur racing.
The image above is of the pace lap for one of the road races, utilizing the full 3.56 mile long road course. The race cars are Spec Ford Racers, a car built just for SCCA racing. All cars are identical with engines sealed so that all cars have the same horsepower, leading to close racing based more on driver skill than mechanical modification. More on road racing later.
The event this weekend is billed as the Central Florida Region SCCA May Racing Showcase, with all forms of amateur auto sports featured at one site at one time. A bit like a three-ring circus, but with 5 rings of activities happening.
Rallycross
The newest form of racing under the SCCA umbrella of sanctioning is Rallycross, raced on a small, tight course over a dirt field. This one began as grass-covered, but was quickly being changed into a large dirt grove that driver negotiated. The course is defined by traffic cones and drivers negotiate the course one at a time. Placement in the competition is based on fastest time, with time penalties accessed for knocking over any cones. It is basically autocross racing on dirt.
Some of the cars are prepared for this type racing with suspension modifications and changing tires to ones with a more aggressive tread pattern. Others are just peoples' daily drivers - drive them to the track, drive them home, drive them to work on Monday.
Autocross
Racing sports cars on tight circuits laid out in parking lots or on unused airport runways have been occurring since WWII left unused runways and suburbia spawned shopping malls, which in the 1960s were all closed on Sunday, leaving huge expanses of asphalt empty and inviting. Daytona International Speedway offers a different racing surface for the autocross racers, a sprint kart track.
Karts invade Daytona for a week of racing between Christmas and New Year's, and have been for many decades. One form of kart racing, road racing, uses the large banked track, another, Sprint Racing, uses a smaller, shorter, tight track. Daytona constructed a sprint kart race track in the infield inside NASCAR turns 3 and 4, that proved to be perfect for the tight circuit required for autocrosses. Of note in this image are the people standing out on the course. It takes a lot of personnel to operate an event and, in amateur racing, it is all volunteer workers. So, all of the participants racing in an autocross event are expected to spend a period as a course worker. On the parking lot tracks, where the entire course is defined by traffic cones, they get a lot of exercise replacing cones that have been knocked over.
This is one area where a classic car or two will appear. Here an early Camaro is making a quick lap.
The class structure is large and broad, having a place for any car that might show up to be included in a group of like performance cars - even karts. A tight autocross course rewards handling more than horsepower. The fastest Ford was a Ford Focus (44 seconds), quicker than the fastest Mustang (45 sec), however, the fastest vehicle on the track was a kart (37 sec). This old kart racer enjoys that fact.
Many stories are in this image. A Honda S2000 is at the start line to begin one of his laps on the course. The electronic timing eye is in the green milk box next to the track. In the background, the silver car heading to the right is approaching a pair of orange milk boxes, which contain the electronic eyes at the finish of the lap on the course. That car is interesting in that it is a Kia Rio, an economy car not known for handling, speed, performance in any way, other than gas mileage. Autocrossers are non-judgemental in the type of car one chooses to enter. Their motto is to race whatever car you have - there is a place for everyone. Farther in the background, a group of road racing cars on a pace lap before the start of the race. This event's structure allows a lot of racing to be experienced.
Road Racing
Sportscars have been racing on road courses for over a century. At first, the road courses were actual roads that were closed for use as a race track. The Watkins Glen races began that way in the late 1940's. Crowd control and safety moved road racing to purpose-built courses almost entirely by the mid 1950's. Movable concrete barriers and larger budgets have returned a few races to city streets, in Long Beach, California, and St. Petersburg, Florida, for example, but those race tracks are much shorter and in a more confined space than the road race tracks that once were comprised of city streets.
The Daytona track was built in the late 1950's to showcase stock car racing on a banked track which provided higher speeds and better viewing by the fans. A road course was added by placing a circuitous paved path through the infield. Here the Sports Racing Fords lead a group out of the corner known as the International Horseshoe.
Most sportscar road racing events have multiple classes on the track at the same time - SCCA even more so with eight or more classes running together. So, the Mustang on the inside is not racing the #48 Miata for class win. Of course, on the track every driver's ego has him/her trying to outperform everyone else. The Mustang is in a Grand Touring class and the Miata is in F Production. A Sports Racing Ford and a couple Spec Miatas can also be seen in this photo. SCCA's road racing class structure is much too large to be considered here.
Most of these cars are all in the Spec Miata class. The cars are basically stock Mazda Miatas with a few, specific modifications allowed. This class has a low cost to enter and provides very close racing. This multiple class race had over 60 cars on the track at the same time with close racing throughout the field. There is a saying among amateur racers that no matter the question - Miata is the answer. As can be seen here, Miatas are racing in all types of racing at this SCCA race.
PDX, Track Days, Ride-a-Longs, and Road Rally
In addition to the three largest, most visible racing events at the track, there were numerous other autosport happenings. Performance Driving Experience (now moving to be titled Track Days) gives people a chance to take their cars out on the race track to run high speed, but closely supervised laps. On Friday, people who had never been on a race track could, for an entry fee, run laps around the 3.56 mile Daytona road race circuit, which includes the high banks and the infield corners.
On Saturday, Ride-a-Longs were offered to allow people to ride with a racer. In all race venues - road racing, rallycross, autocross - rides with a driver were made available. Since road race cars typically only have one seat, rides on the big track were made in the street cars entered in the PDX event. Helmets were loaned and people got to feel what it is like to be on a race course first hand.
RoadRally
Road rallies are held on public roads with local laws being observed. Outright speed is not the objective, precision driving and navigating are rewarded. These events were once called TSD Rallies, for time/speed/distance. A route, usually on back roads, is laid out and accurately measured. A list of instructions is prepared to direct each driver/navigator along the route which is unknown to the competitors prior to starting. Sections of the route have a prescribed average speed to be maintained. Each car is required to follow the course, based on the instructions, maintaining the speed. The rally is divided into segments, called stages, with surprise checkpoints timing the cars arrival time. Penalty points are given for each second early or late that the car arrives at the checkpoint. The winner is the car with the fewest points.
The May Showcase has many fast car events all rolled into one weekend. There are numerous ways that those who have an interest in fast cars can actually experience traveling fast. More details are available in the program prepared by the organizers of this event, the Central Florida Region of the Sports Car Club of America.
Showcase Program - Central Florida Region SCCA
