Will fuel crisis change the look of race cars?

[SeminoleWind]

Are all of our V-8 race cars bound for extinction because of fuel prices? It appears that 4 and 6 cylinder cars are back in vogue on the streets, will this eventually happen on America's short tracks?
The fuel crisis of the 70's spun the NASCAR Dash Series, ASA and Busch V-6 engines and the ministock divisions across the country. Remember real ministocks before they became 4 cylinder late models? Check out Boneman's Florida City Speedway website to see what they looked like even before the Pinto.
I personally think part of the falling interest in Saturday night racing is nothing that is raced today looks like anything people drive on the streets.So the fan in the stands cannot identify and root for a car that is the same model that he has in the parking lot.
Will 2010 mark the year that Rusty Marcus introduces the Hybrid division?

[TINYTIMDSS]

there is no fuel crisis the real reason that oil and gas is so is because oil is so gready. Oil stock piles are the highest in years and the saudis even said there is no reason oil shoul be this so beleive what you want to believe, but the real reason is gread.

[Boneman]

An excellent topic, Seminole!

I am very optimistic about the future of racing. It WILL go on, even if there are changes in the vehicles. No matter what is under the hood, racecars will still need someone to pound out the dents and drive them in the corner like crazy.

Lets leave oil out of the equation for a moment. I have driven electric racing karts and can verify they feel as responsive and challenging as any race kart, except they don't vibrate as much! The one I drove recharged fully in about 15 minutes. Remember, this was a racer that set you back in the seat, and not just some concession ride.

I am also involved in electric car racing, but I don't feel that is our future. It is an interesting project and the races are fun, but I think one day we'll be racing stuff powered by compressed air or hydrogen.


Next year, a French firm is putting small cars and taxis on the market that are driven by compressed air. The engine small and only weighs a fraction of the I.C. engines that we are used to. It is made of aluminum because there is no combustion temperatures to worry about. In their current form, the cars go around 150 miles on full air tanks. When empty, the tanks recharge in 2 minutes, or you can use the on-board compressor to fill them up at home in a few hours. At the current rate, it costs about $2 to fill the air tanks. BTW, the tanks are made of carbon fiber, so they will crack in an accident, and not explode like a steel tank would.

I have also read about a similar design using hydraulic motors at the wheels, and feeding them from a centralized high pressure tank.

A final note on oil. If we left off the politics and drilled, we would have enough oil for generations. Gas can also be made from coal, if we have the will to mine it, and it is much cheaper than the idiotic, inflationary ethanol scheme that is underway at present.

[TINYTIMDSS]

hey what is all this talk about water mixed in the fuel that will get you a 100miles to the gallon. My uncle just bought this system for his truck and with life I have not had time to talk to him about. Do you guys Know anything about this system?

[Boneman]

That sounds like a rip-off to me.
I've been driving a little motorcycle for the past month. It does everything I need (except carry a bunch of kids), and still gets 80 mpg.

[JackTripper]

I've been saying for years (and no one really listens, nothing new I suppose) that there is a big generation gap in fans/drivers when it comes to racecars on the local shortracks.

I'm 36 and I've never owned a car with a carburetor. Most everything I've owned has been a four cylinder, normally aspirated or otherwise. I think if you made more four cylinder classes (I'm talking pavement mostly) with more open rules for fuel injection, DOHC, 16 valve motors, you'd get a lot more cars and interest. Hell, even I'd probably jump into it and the only race driving I've ever done was rally racing, in a four cylinder.

Today's kids and older kids (like me ) pretty much grew up working on four cylinder cars with fuel injection. So make a class for them that opens up the rules. Maybe there's a place for fwd modifieds with blown four cylinder engines? I don't know, but why not. Make them run a stock frame, open bodywork on the front wheels like current modifieds and open up the body work from the doors on back. If you can buy a wing for a four cylinder from a parts store or online, slap it on. Maybe this should be the new style of Extreme Modifieds? I don't know.

I wholeheartedly believe there needs to be a four cylinder revolution on the short tracks to bring a new age of drivers and fans in.

Just my humble opinion, boo me if you like.

[flvideo]

Hey boneman

You know anybody that wants a 400 cc 4 wheel drive 4 wheeler? I gotta get a little dirt bike or something. I just paid $4.85 for a gallon of diesel. Maybe I can get a trailer for the bike. Man we've gotta do somthin, its gettin bad in slip-rock. Bob....

[Benny The Mule]

Oil is so high because we are paying futures prices for it. It is well known and public that opec (the royals) in saudi arabia will be out of oil in 2016.........they're gonna gobble up all the money they can in the next 8 yrs to finish building their tourist attractions. which will be their revenue after the oil is gone.............fill er up!

[TINYTIMDSS]

like I said gread.