The auto racing scene has been around in one form or another since cars became widely available to the public. At the moment, much of the world’s attention is focused on the American and European circuits as it was these two continents which achieved records, built the cars, and most importantly the tracks during the early 20^th century. However, the history of racing is mostly just breaking records in now extinct racing events. In this article were going to take a look at the Racing scene as it stands throughout the world today.

So first things first, the US. And one of the most famous of all car racing organizations on the globe is NASCAR, which stands for National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. The main rule is really in the title. If you wanna race, you must have a production car which began on any old production line. However, once a team gets their car the strip it, throw in one mother of an engine, handling system, CPU, and modify the aero-dynamic structure such as the addition of air-brakes.

NASCAR’s most notable event is the Daytona 500. This race is unique when it comes to other sports which tend to leave the major event until the end, where as the Daytona 500 is the first racing meet on the NASCAR colander. To get a feel for the scale of this event, in 2006 it attracted 20 million viewers which was the sixth largest TV rating for any sporting event in the earth’s history.

The event has been running for half a century now; with Ryan Newman in his Dodge winning the 2008 race in February, pocketing a prize worth over 1.5 million USD. Recently the sport has been plagued by concerns for safety on the track because of frequent pile ups, however these claims have been subsided with ultra-safe roll bars, auto fire extinguishers etc…

NASCAR’s appeal has extended beyond the track in recent years with custom car makers taking the boxy, low and ridged look of a typical NASCAR and making street legal versions. This style can now be seen across the world with body kits now available that mimic a NASCAR car.

Another phenomenon that mainly has its humble home in the US is that of drag racing. The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) oversees most of the racing in North America and operates numerous tracks.  The cars used in drag racing differ enormously with the most commonly recognizable being the long nosed, rear engine mounded and skinny shape. These monsters have improved enormously in recent years and some are propelled by jet engines using special fuel. These often have huge rear wings to improve traction to get the best from the power out-put. These are referred to as Top Fuel Dragster using 90% Nitro-methane fuel.

Another division is the Pro modified section. These cars have some engine restrictions and have super chargers fitted. Cars running blowers (super-charger) are limited to 8.6 L (527 cubic inches) while cars with nitrous oxide can run up to 12.1 L (740 cubic inches).

Pro Stockcars must maintain stock appearance. NHRA cars can run no more than 8.2 L (500 cubic inches) while IHRA cars can run a maximum of 13.4 L (820 cubic inches) ("Mountain Motors"). Some of these cars are built by garages and raced for good publicity and to gain sponsorship, after all, who wouldn’t want to get their car tricked out at a Drag Racing garage?!

Touring car racing is another auto sport that has been going on for ages now.  The sport mainly came from technical courses which developed into a V8 supercharged racing event. It was only when someone gave the racing form a name that everyone who was competing had a true name to call the sport.

At the moment there are tracks which house touring car racing in pretty much every country that has a reputable car industry and history such as England, Germany, USA and Australia. The British Touring Car Championship, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters and The World Touring Car Championship are the main events held throughout the racing calendar and attract millions of fans both to the track and to watch on T.V.

Because not everyone can afford to build a $300,000 touring Car, many different leagues, divisions and series have opened up for amateurs to race their own slightly modified stock cars. Some of the modifications may include sport suspension, roll-bar, racing tires and engine performance modifications. This cut-away from Touring Car racing has developed a large popularity in recent years. Even some companies are now making kits to easily modify a stock-car to racing specs so you can compete at minimal cost, either for fun or for the heavy sponsorship which is now creeping into this new area of racing.

Rallying is definitely a section of Auto racing that cannot be ignored by any means because of its historical impact on the entire auto-industry, never mind the racing scene. Since the early 20^th century when cars started popping up every where, people just had to race them off-road, simply because that exactly where they weren’t meant to go. In most countries around the world there are rally tournaments and series’. Most are amateur based with local family teams and courses. These local events were the roots of rally and were how people began to take notice. It wasn’t long before the WRC (world rally championship) came about and introduced the sport to the world stage. Now it is the main event in the rally year, attracting millions of spectators and armchair supporters. Some of the rally events included in the WRC includes Finland, UK, Spain and the notable new comer, Ireland.

However, despite rally’s growing fame, the amateur competitions continue to grow, with most country having T.V. coverage of them and every country which has a WRC event, can trace its rallying routes back to a humble beginning of Amateur Rally.

Now then, while were talking about how historical Rally is, and why auto-racing has its foundation way back in the history books, I think that Historical Racing is worth a look.

Modern racing now relies more on Computers, handling assistants and every other technical piece of kit you can think of to keep the car on the track and set new records. However Historical Racing is a step in the other direction because the rules state that you must race a car from a certain era, for example the 60s, and have no modern performance equipment anywhere nears the car.

The sport is a lot more ‘hobby’ orientated than most other forms of racing and has been said to have a more ‘fun’ appeal for the racers and spectators. Most of the cars which are raced there include old car marques which have been raced in the WRC such as the Lancia Delta. Some racers even paint their cars in their original racing colors to keep with the historical theme of the races.

The final section of the racing scene were going to take a look in this article is F1. Although the main events are held in Europe, there is a US circuit and a growing fan base for the sport. Formula 1 has had a turbulent history, from tragic crashes, financial issues, performance criticism in the 90s and teams coming and going through out its history. Now, an F1 car consists of a long fiberglass body, rear mounted engine and a single seat for the driver. Aerodynamics play a very important role in keeping the car down on the track and for cornering at speeds in excess of 100mph. Some of the teams include BMW, Ferrari who have been there since the start, Toyota, Honda and Renault. The sport is now one of the top 5 most watched sports in the world.

During the 90s when computer technology was sky-rocketing, F1 cars were becoming more sophisticated and began to take the driving away from the driver. However this raised controversy and soon restrictions were put in place such as limited computing power to assist in start-off and handling.

Now, many of the drivers must work their way up through the ranks in Formula 3 and 2 before they are given he chance to drive for an F1 Team. This provided teams with a chance to watch out for up-and-coming drivers.

F1 is now bigger than ever along with the other auto sports we have looked at in this article. Because of satellite T.V. and the opportunity to get involved, it seems as though this fan-base will continue to grow for decades to come. 

By Dean Sherwin

Dean is based in Ireland and has extensive writing experience, especially in the area of the auto industry writing car features, reviews and blogs, as well as other cultural and sporting events, and the gaming industry.

http://www.artofstinginess.com- Owner and Editor

www.deansherwin.com Freelance Technology, Culture and Opinion Writer