Australian Stock Car Auto Racing
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AUSCAR (Australian Stock Car Auto Racing) was an auto racing sanctioning body owned by
Four categories of racing car were developed to run on the Australian circuits:
- NASCAR: imported and locally developed versions of the American race cars. Engines were 6.0L V8s
- AUSCAR: down spec-ed cars, closer to production specification with a control road tyre, The category comprised the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon. After 1990/91, engines were restricted to 5.0L V8s.
- Formula Falcon: Lasted the one season and was absorbed into Sportsman, ran the Ford Falcon.
- Sportsman: lower specification again, cheaper to buy or build and older cars, and some former AUSCARs. Like AUSCAR, the category comprised the Commodore and Falcon. Engine restrictions saw Holdens use the 4.2L 302V8s.
Other categories, such as the HQs, a relatively cheap category based on the Holden HQ Kingswood powered by the 3.3L Holden red motor, were also popular at the Calder Park Thunderdome (as the HQs were Australian-made cars, like the AUSCARs they raced clockwise on the ovals). Another category was based on the American dirt track category known as Legends (similar in appearance, but unrelated to Aussie Racing Cars), since disappeared from circuit racing. Open-wheel cars such as Formula Vee also raced on occasion at the Thunderdome as a support to the NASCAR / AUSCAR races, as did the Dirt track racing Grand Nationals for a few meetings in 1990.
AUSCAR category
AUSCAR was also the name used for the second tier racing category that raced alongside the Australian NASCAR
The 5.0L AUSCAR engines were strictly controlled and developed around 390 bhp (291 kW; 395 PS) compared to the 700 bhp (522 kW; 710 PS) of the larger and more highly developed, 366 cubic inch (6.0L) engines used in NASCAR, and as a result AUSCARs were slower than their American counterparts (at the Thunderdome, NASCAR stock cars were capable of around 300 km/h (186 mph) while AUSCARs had a top speed of approximately 265 km/h (165 mph)). Like the NASCAR engines, the engines used in AUSCAR were
Tony Kavich won the first ever AUSCAR championship in 1988. However, in a shock to the male dominated motor racing establishment, the first ever AUSCAR race at the Thunderdome (which was also the first race to exclusively use the track), the aptly named AUSCAR 200, was won by 18-year-old Melbourne based female driver Terri Sawyer driving a
While Sawyer would remain very competitive in the early years of the category, the early days were dominated by Jim Richards. Though it was
Due to the returning popularity of the
Several cars were converted to Future Tourers to race in that series from 1999 onwards, some AUSCARs that did not compete in Future Tourers were restored and now compete in Stock Cars Australia competition, such examples being the #6 Ford Falcon and the #22 Holden Commodore.
Champions
Season | Driver | Car | Team |
---|---|---|---|
1988 | Tony Kavich | Holden VL Commodore
|
Tony Kavich Racing |
1989–90 | Brad Jones | Holden VL Commodore | CooperTools Racing |
1990–91 | Brad Jones | Holden VN Commodore
|
CooperTools Racing |
1991–92 | Brad Jones | Holden VP Commodore | Castrol Racing |
1992–93 | Brad Jones | Holden VP Commodore | CooperTools Racing |
1993–94 | Brad Jones | Holden VP Commodore
|
Castrol Racing |
1994–95 | Marshall J Brewer | Holden VR Commodore
|
Fastrack Racing |
1995–96 | Terry Wyhoon | Holden VR Commodore | BP Car Care |
1996–97 | Matthew White | Holden VR Commodore | |
1997–98 | Darren McDonald | Holden VS Commodore
|
|
1998–99 | Leigh Watkins | Ford EF Falcon
|
Leigh Watkins Racing |
See also
References
External links
- Calder Park Motor Sport Archived 2021-05-15 at the Wayback Machine