SpecRacer.com

I've got a vague recollection of various Spec Racers (going all the way back to Renault days) racing in oval short tracks events. Can anyone fill in the details?

Back in '93/'94 we had a run at ovals called the "Three Ring Circuit", consisting of the Phoenix one mile oval, the Mesa Marin 1/3 oval in Bakersfield, and the old Las Vegas oval (a mini version of Indy). Great fun. Mesa Marin's gone, the Las Vegas oval got swallowed up by the big Las Vegas track, and the Phoenix oval still exists in heavily modified form. Had great fun racing my Renault against a Ford on the Phoenix oval, swapping places pretty much every lap as the Renault could go flat into T1 and the Ford could power past through the kink into T3 (rinse and repeat as lap times were about 35 seconds.) Packs drafting two wide all the way around the track made it really exciting!

The high banked Mesa Marin 1/3 "bull ring" was pretty crazy (and dizzying, too). The downside was hitting the wall. Saw an FV nearly broken in two after hitting the outside wall (though I recall the driver was OK.)

Great way to develop a feel for the car at the limit.

We ran a couple of pro races on the Pike's Peak oval. The front runners were flat all the way around the track. For qualifying, people were folding their mirrors back, prying the brake pads off the rotors (!), and running up against the wall on the outlap to get as much speed as possible for their hot lap. It was ... different.

I also ran an "outlaw" race down in Houston on a 3/8 mile paved oval. It was insane. I discovered very quickly why NASCAR has bus driver steering wheels. It's called THE MECHANICS OF YOUR BODY. After the first 20 lap practice we were all exhausted and our necks hurt. Everyone was taping towels or anything they had to the right roll bar so we could lean our heads on it in the corners. You'd turn the wheel in to the corner, shuffle your right elbow to lock it on the side pod, then drop your left hand for a moment to rest it, then shuffle back to your left hand for the few seconds of straight away and then do it again.
We were such a hit that the promoter came to us and said we want you guys to run 100 lap main (up from 50 as I recall). I'm pretty sure we collectively said 'thanks but no thanks' .
It was a cool experience, and I was whooped towing home.

Wow, I live very close to I25 speedway outside of Pueblo Colorado... I go there to 'Scuff' in the Hoosiers... The track owner just this past Wed. asked me if I could get a few of us SRF3 guys to come out and play on a Sat. night... Interesting thought... I think he only mentioned doing 25 or 30 laps though.

Doug

1/4 mile track - that would be exciting! Sub-10 second lap time???

SRF3 going sub 10 seconds on an oval? I'd think an SRF3 would do a 1/4 mile around 13-14 seconds in a straight line.

The modifieds do mid 13's there.
SRFs are light, but aren't optimized for ovals and are relatively low hp cars, so add a second or two.

Doug, if the track owner was serious I would be there in a heartbeat. Every time I tow by I-25 I think to myself “Hmm, a high-bank 1/4-mile asphalt oval, that would be cool in a spec racer!”. Count me in!

Cameron, yes Chris Cullen was serious. I can contact him and see what he would require for car count and what he'd be willing to pay out also. Just a FYI, second gear hits the rev limter just past the halfway on the straights... 3 gear rpm is a bit low though... I always use the track for scuffing in tires lol... Doug