Automobile racing is a thrilling sport that tests the speed and performance of automobiles and the skill and daring of drivers. Each year, millions of spectators around the world attend a wide variety of automobile races. One of the most famous is the Indianapolis 500, which attracts hundreds of thousands of people yearly.
Much of automobile racing’s popularity lies in the great variety of racing cars and racing events. The vehicles range in size from small, open karts (formerly called go-karts) to large sedans. However, all racing cars can be divided into two major groups: (1) production cars and (2) cars built specifically for racing. Production cars are factory-made passenger cars converted into racing cars. Most cars built only for racing are not designed to carry passengers. Automobile races range from 1,000-foot (0.3-kilometer) drag races that last only seconds to rallies that may cover great distances and last weeks.
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There are two major types of racing tracks, oval tracks and road-racing courses. Oval tracks vary from less than 1/5 mile (0.3 kilometer) to more than 22/3 miles (4.2 kilometers) long. They have straightaways and banked turns. Most oval tracks have an asphalt or concrete surface, but some have a dirt surface. 
Road-racing courses resemble country roads. They have straightaways, hills, and a variety of turns. Many turns are described by their names, such as hairpin, dogleg, and ess. Some courses include sections of public roads or are combined with oval tracks. Races are faster on big oval tracks than on road courses because cars can maintain higher speeds on banked turns than on sharp, irregularly shaped turns. Road courses in the United States range from less than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) to more than 5 miles (8 kilometers) long.
Events called street races have become increasingly popular in automobile racing. Such a race is run on a temporary course on city streets. The most famous street race is the one held annually in Monaco. Street races have also been held in such North American cities as Detroit, Michigan, and Long Beach, California, in the United States, and Toronto, Ontario, in Canada.
Alongside both oval tracks and road-racing courses are special areas called pits, where drivers make servicing stops and refueling stops during a race. In the pits, a skilled crew changes tires, refuels, and may make minor adjustments and repairs. The pit stops often take only seconds to complete. A delay in the pits can lose the race for a driver. Pit crews are part of large professional racing teams. Such teams also include car designers and builders, engineers, computer technicians, mechanics, and a promotional staff.
Safety measures
Automobile racing is a highly dangerous sport, but many steps have been taken over the years to make it as safe as possible for both spectators and drivers. Strong guardrails and heavy fencing protect spectators from cars that have gone out of control. On many oval tracks, SAFER (Steel And Foam Energy Reduction) barriers are attached to concrete walls to absorb the energy of a crash and protect the driver. SAFER barriers consist of special foam pads behind structures of steel tubing.
A driver’s most important piece of safety gear is a racing helmet. Such a helmet has a hard outer shell made of fiberglass or carbon fiber and a foam-cushioned, flame-resistant lining. Drivers also wear flame-resistant clothing from head to toe. Under their helmet, some drivers wear a flame-retardant head covering that resembles a ski mask called a balaclava.
Lap and shoulder belts are standard safety equipment on racing cars. A device known as the HANS (h_ead _a_nd _n_eck _s_upport) reduces the chance of serious injury caused by the violent movement of a driver’s unrestrained head and helmet. Every car also has a built-in structure to help protect a driver’s upper body if the car rolls over. A racing car with an open cockpit—that is, without a roof—has a roll bar, a dome-shaped metal bar that arches over the driver’s head. A car with a roof has a roll cage, a structure of steel tubes that prevents the roof of an overturning car from collapsing.
A racing car carries fuel in a leak-resistant fuel cell within a metal or plastic fuel tank. A fuel cell consists of a strong, rubberlike bladder usually filled with a spongy material or foam that absorbs the fuel and helps keep it from spraying in case of a crash. The fuel cell foam also prevents fuel from sloshing around in the tank during a race, which makes a car harder to control.
Many race sites have medical facilities to provide emergency treatment to injured drivers in the event of a crash. In some cases, helicopters are available to rush injured drivers to nearby hospitals.
Sponsorship
The cost of building or buying a racing car and keeping it in top condition makes automobile racing one of the most expensive sports. For this reason, most professional racing teams have sponsors. A sponsor may be a wealthy person or a manufacturing company, such as a major automobile maker or a household products company.
In return for their financial support, manufacturers advertise their products on the racing cars and on the uniforms of the drivers and crews. Television coverage of races also gives sponsors exposure.
Racing organizations
The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) regulates organized automobile racing in about 145 countries throughout the world. The Automobile Competition Committee for the United States (ACCUS) governs U.S. racing as part of FIA. Six racing organizations are members of ACCUS. They are the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), the United States Auto Club (USAC), IndyCar, and the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). Canada is represented in the FIA by ASN (National Sporting Authority) Canada FIA. Each group establishes classes (divisions) of races for the type of racing it governs and specifies the cars in a class.
Kinds of automobile racing
There are six major kinds of automobile racing: (1) Formula One racing, (2) sports car racing, (3) Indy car racing, (4) stock car racing, (5) drag racing, and (6) sprint and midget racing.
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Formula One racing
features the most technologically advanced cars. Each Formula One car is designed and manufactured individually. The cars have a single seat, an open cockpit, and open wheels (no fenders). They are built according to a formula (set of specifications) drawn up by the FIA. The formula dictates tire configuration (design) and chassis and engine limits, as well as the car’s weight and aerodynamic limits. A car’s chassis is its base frame, wheels, and other parts necessary for operation of the car. Aerodynamics refers to the design of the car’s body so that it can move through the air as quickly and efficiently as possible. Formula One cars are also called Grand Prix << grahn PREE >> cars. The races in which the cars compete include the French term Grand Prix (Great Prize) in their names.
Formula One cars are designed on some of the same principles as airplanes. Like the fuselage (body) of an airplane, a Formula One car uses monocoque construction. In this type of construction, the car’s central structure is a single-piece, tube-shaped shell made of carbon fiber and other durable, lightweight materials. This structure, sometimes called the tub, serves as both the body and chassis and bears the mechanical stresses. A Formula One car has front and rear wings. The flow of air over and under the wings and other devices produces a downward force that presses the car to the ground. This downforce holds the car to the road, which enables it to go faster through turns. The engine of a Formula One car is behind the driver.
Grand Prix races are the most famous international series of racing events held on road courses, with several held on the streets of such cities as Monaco and Singapore. The series consists of about 25 races held in various countries, including Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The races are governed by the FIA representative in each country.
Grand Prix races are held on exceptionally challenging courses. The races range from about 160 to 190 miles (260 to 305 kilometers) in length. Cars reach speeds of more than 238 miles (381 kilometers) per hour on straightaways and may go as slow as 30 miles (48 kilometers) per hour around sharp turns. The first driver to finish the required number of laps around the course wins. The top 10 drivers receive points. The driver who earns the most points in Grand Prix races in a year wins the World Drivers’ Championship. There is also a Constructors’ Championship for manufacturers based on the same point system.
Sports car racing
consists of events for production cars, modified production cars, and specially built sports-racing and formula cars. Most sports car races are held on road courses or on combined road courses and oval tracks. The SCCA oversees many sports car races across the United States, including a National Championship event each year for numerous car classes.
Endurance races are among the most popular sports car events. Such races last from less than 6 hours to 24 hours. The winner is the driver who completes the most laps within the specified time or becomes the first to cover the required distance. During an endurance race, cars make regular pit stops to refuel, change tires, and alternate drivers. Two or more drivers usually take turns driving the car during the race. The most famous sports car endurance race is the 24 Hours of Le Mans, held each year in Le Mans, France. Other famous endurance races include a 24-hour race in Daytona Beach, Florida, and a 12-hour race in Sebring, Florida.
Some endurance cars have turbocharged engines. Turbocharging increases the power of a small engine by using the energy from the engine’s exhaust gases to spin a windmill-like pump. The pump forces a large volume of a fuel-and-air mixture into the engine’s combustion chamber, where the mixture is burned. The greater the volume of the fuel-air mixture in the combustion chamber, the more power is released and the more energy is converted into the car’s speed.
Indy car racing.
In 2008, the Indy Racing League (IRL) and Champ Car merged into one organization, adopting the name and rules of the Indy Racing League. The racing organization is now called IndyCar. The cars are high-powered, open-wheel vehicles that resemble Formula One cars. They have one seat, an open cockpit, and monocoque construction. To provide downforce, the cars have front and rear wings plus a ground-effects underbody. This underbody is created by two structures called the side pods, one on each side of the cockpit. Each side pod has a curved ground-effects panel on its underside. These panels direct the flow of air moving under the car so that a low-pressure area, or partial vacuum, is created beneath the car. The resulting suction helps hold the car to the track. The side pods also create an area to hold radiators and other car parts, and they help protect the driver from side impacts.
Indy cars have turbocharged engines that are fueled by a form of alcohol called ethanol. Ethanol allows engines to remain cooler at higher power settings than gasoline. It also ignites less easily than gasoline, reducing the risk of fire in case of a crash. Races range from 150 to 500 miles (240 to 805 kilometers) long. Indy cars can average more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) per hour on oval tracks with top speeds up to 240 miles (386 kilometers) on straightaways. At first, Indy car races ran only on oval tracks. Today they often race on road and street courses.
Indy cars are named after the Indianapolis 500, the premier annual event for IndyCar. This race takes place on the 21/2 mile (4.02-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. There are 33 starting positions. Drivers with the highest average speeds in four qualifying laps earn the chance to race. The first driver to complete the 200 laps around the track—a distance of 500 miles (805 kilometers)—wins the race. All the drivers share in the largest purse (amount of prize money) in automobile racing, which has exceeded $10 million. First prize has reached more than $2 million.
Stock car racing,
which originated in the South, is the most popular kind of automobile racing in the United States. Stock cars are based on large passenger cars sold by U.S. manufacturers. The biggest stock car races are restricted to late-model sedans. The cars are specially built for racing, but from a distance they retain the look of ordinary passenger cars. They have an engine mounted in the front, fenders, doors, and a windshield. Drivers sit in the usual upright position. Stock cars have steel bodies and are therefore much heavier than other kinds of racing cars. Stock cars that are raced in the NASCAR Cup Series have a minimum weight of 3,400 pounds (1,540 kilograms), compared with about 1,500 pounds (680 kilograms) for an Indy car. However, a stock car’s large, powerful engine enables it to reach speeds of 200 miles (320 kilometers) per hour.
Most major stock car races are held on oval asphalt tracks. The distance around the tracks ranges from about 5/8 mile (0.8 kilometer) to 22/3 miles (4.2 kilometers) for superspeedways, such as the one in Talladega, Alabama. A superspeedway has wide, high-banked turns that enable cars to make the turns at speeds up to 200 miles (320 kilometers) per hour.
Nearly all stock car races are held in the United States. NASCAR governs U.S. competition, including the NASCAR Cup Series Championship. Cup races range from about 215 to 600 miles (345 to 965 kilometers). Highlights of this series of about 40 races include the Daytona 500 in Daytona Beach; the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway; the Sharpie 500 in Bristol, Tennessee; and the UAW-Ford 500 in Talladega. NASCAR also governs a series for racing vehicles that have the body of a pickup truck mounted on the chassis.
Drag racing.
A drag race is a high-speed event held on a straight paved track called a drag strip. Drag races are 1/4 mile (0.4 kilometer) long, with several 1,000-foot (0.3-kilometer) courses for the fastest classes. The distance was changed for safety reasons, because the cars become more difficult to handle in the final feet. Some cars cross the finish line in less than four seconds, with the fastest cars reaching speeds of more than 300 miles (480 kilometers) per hour. Such cars use a parachute at the rear to slow them down.
Drag-racing cars range from mass-produced passenger cars to unusual-looking models built for racing only. The three types of professional drag-racing cars are (1) Pro Stock cars; (2) Top Fuel cars; and (3) Funny Cars.
Pro Stock cars are especially built for racing but are required to resemble commercially made vehicles. They burn high-octane racing gasoline. Until 2018, Pro Stock cars were required to use the car manufacturer’s engine. For example, a Ford body had to contain a Ford engine. Today, the body and engine of a Pro Stock car may be from different manufacturers. Top Fuel cars, also called dragsters, and Funny Cars burn a mixture of nitromethane and alcohol. Top Fuel cars may be built in any way the designer wishes. All Top Fuel cars have a rear engine, one seat, and a long, slender frame. They have large rear tires to apply more than 7,000 horsepower to the road. The front wheels on Top Fuel cars are narrow like bicycle wheels to reduce drag. Funny Cars must have a fiberglass copy of a passenger car body and meet restrictions on the wheelbase (distance between front and rear axles).
Hundreds of cars may race in a drag meet. The cars race two at a time, accelerating from a standing start. The losing car is eliminated from the competition, and the winner advances in the competition to race against another car. The elimination continues until only two cars are left. The winner of the last round is the meet champion.
The NHRA supervises the major drag races in the United States and Canada. Each year, it conducts more than 20 events in which drivers earn points toward the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Championship. Important events in the series include the Winternationals in Pomona, California; the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida; and the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.
Other kinds of racing.
Sprint cars are open cockpit cars that race mainly on dirt oval tracks. The cars have powerful front engines and open wheels. They often have large wings mounted on the roll cage for better downforce.
Midgets are smaller than sprint cars. They have highly modified small engines in the front that produce more than 300 horsepower. Midget tracks are usually 1/5 mile (0.3 kilometer) to 1/2 mile (0.8 kilometer) in length. Most races last 30 laps.
The quarter midget is a popular small racing car. It has an open cockpit and open wheel with the engine in the rear. Many successful drivers raced quarter midgets while still in elementary school.
A kart is the smallest racing vehicle. Many race drivers begin their careers in karting. Children as young as 8 years old, as well as adults, compete in kart races, which are generally held on miniature road racing tracks. See Kart racing.
A Formula Atlantic looks like a small Formula One or Indy car. The car has front and rear wings and a Toyota engine. Formula Atlantics race on oval asphalt tracks and on road-racing courses. They can go as fast as 160 miles (260 kilometers) per hour. Formula Atlantic racing is popular in the United States as a stepping stone for young drivers who hope to move up to Formula One or Indy car racing.
Two rugged forms of racing are off-road races and rallies. Popular vehicles for off-road races include small trucks produced by such manufacturers as Nissan, Toyota, and Mazda. Most off-road races are long-distance events run on rough desert terrain.
Most rally cars are production models, some of which have four-wheel drive. The chief kinds of rallies are amateur rallies and pro-rallies. Road rallies are held on public roads and feature some of the longest automobile events. Pro-rallies are held on rugged back roads. The SCCA governs the major U.S. rallies.
Vintage racing has become extremely popular. Such racing involves competition between historic cars that range in age from the late 1800’s to just a few years old. Events differ in size, with some drawing as many as 600 entrants. The cars include sports cars, open-wheel cars, stock cars, and sedans. A broad variety of competitions are sanctioned by numerous vintage racing clubs in many countries.
The world’s fastest cars are jet-powered vehicles. These cars do not race against other cars but against the clock to break the world land speed record. Most speed trials consist of two runs, each of which includes several miles to build speed, a 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) timed segment, and several miles to slow down.
History
The sport of automobile racing began in the 1890’s. The first races were run on the open public roads between towns. Many of the courses were hilly, sharply winding dirt roads. Drivers often lost control of their cars and crashed, sometimes injuring spectators standing along the road.
Growth of organized automobile racing.
The world’s first automobile-racing organization, the Automobile Club de France, was established in 1895. Later that year, it supervised the first actual automobile race—a 732-mile (1,178-kilometer) round trip between Paris and Bordeaux, France. Twenty-two drivers started in the race, but only nine finished. The winners averaged 15 miles (24 kilometers) per hour. That same year in the United States, J. Frank Duryea, a pioneer automobile maker, beat five other drivers in a race from downtown Chicago to the suburb of Evanston and back.
The most famous open-road races in the United States, the Vanderbilt Cup races, began on Long Island in New York in 1904. But the crowds along the road were difficult to control, and so the races were held in several other places around the country after 1910, such as Savannah, Georgia. In 1916, the races were discontinued. In time, more and more races in Europe and the United States were run on tracks designed specifically for automobile racing.
The first Grand Prix race took place on a large course near Le Mans, France, in 1906. It was supervised by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), which was established in 1904 to govern international automobile racing. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened in 1909, and the first Indianapolis 500 was run in 1911. The Grand Prix series began in 1920. The first 24-hour endurance race for sports cars was held in Le Mans in 1923. Organized stock car racing began in 1936 in Daytona Beach. The first Grand National (now NASCAR Cup) race for stock cars took place in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1949. In 1950, the FIA established the World Drivers’ Championship for Grand Prix drivers.
Development of racing cars.
The earliest racing cars were simply the first automobiles. These heavy, open vehicles had poor brakes and were hard to steer. The main way to increase a car’s power for racing was to make its engine bigger. However, technological advances during World War I (1914-1918) enabled car designers to produce more power from a smaller engine. Racing cars thus became trimmer and faster in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Competition among carmakers also hastened the development of racing cars.
The major automobile races were canceled during World War II (1939-1945). After the war, racing cars became faster than ever. The development of the rear-engined racing car in the mid-1950’s revolutionized the sport. It enabled drivers to lean back and so conform to a car’s streamlined body. Placing the engine behind the driver also improved the car’s weight distribution and provided better traction. By the early 1960’s, rear-engined vehicles had almost completely replaced front-engined cars in racing. In 1962, Colin Chapman, an English racing car designer, introduced monocoque construction to Formula One cars with the Lotus 25. Wings appeared on racing cars in the mid-1960’s. In 1978, Chapman introduced the Lotus 79 ground-effects car.
Automobile racing today.
Racing car designers are constantly seeking ways to make cars run faster. At the same time, some racing organizations are changing their rules for safety reasons. In the early 1980’s, for example, Grand Prix teams began trying to control corner speeds with more restrictive rules that governed aerodynamic technology.
Earlier racing cars used electronics only in the ignition system. Today, electronic technology is used in the engine, suspension, transmission, brakes, and other major components of many racing cars. Media technology can provide viewers of televised races with much technical information about the performance of the cars and drivers.
Top drivers of the 1990’s and early 2000’s included Helio Castroneves and Ayrton Senna da Silva of Brazil; Paul Tracy and Jacques Villeneuve of Canada; Juan Pablo Montoya of Colombia; Mika Hakkinen of Finland; Sébastien Bourdais of France; Michael Schumacher of Germany; Arie Luyendyk of the Netherlands; Fernando Alonso of Spain; Dario Franchitti and Lewis Hamilton of the United Kingdom; and several drivers from the United States, including Michael Andretti, Dale Earnhardt, Sr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, and Al Unser, Jr. Star drivers who emerged later in the 2000’s include Will Power of Australia; Sebastian Vettel of Germany; Max Verstappen of the Netherlands; Scott Dixon of New Zealand; and Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Alexander Rossi, and Martin Truex, Jr., of the United States. 
Several women have also achieved success in automobile racing. In 1977, Janet Guthrie of the United States became the first woman to race in the Indianapolis 500. In 2009, Danica Patrick finished third, the highest finish by any woman in the history of the race. In 2008, Patrick had become the first woman driver to win an Indy car race when she won the Indy Japan 300. Shirley Muldowney, an American drag racer, won the Top Fuel Winston World Championship three times—in 1977, 1980, and 1982. 
