New Smryna 2/11/17 fill-in-the-blank Recap

[OldSchool+]

Ironically, FWD boneman may be on to something with nostalgia bodies.

Let's say we had, say, 55-57 Chevys, 55-57 Fords, 64 Chevelles & 64 Fairlane bodies produced just like the template cars.

Accurate representations, not "Classic" or similar renditions, but cars that look like real race cars from the 60s.

Spoilers and mods could be carefully watched to keep them from getting out of control.

On any chassis, from SLM on down.

Now, all we need are sanctioning bodies with a bunch of clout to guarantee a profitable sale of enough bodies to make it worthwhile for 5 Star or others.

Good idea, but there are so many good ideas not in use in the world-o-racing...

[Boneman]

A class full of vintage looking cars is not what I had in mind (we already have that in Super Stock! ) Instead, I was day-dreaming about a single car with a vintage body that competes with the modern ones. It would be a novelty if there was only one or two.

[OldSchool+]

Clearly, your awareness is exceeded only by your brilliance!

You can google-image them up, they exist. But for the typical bux down lower class guy, early sheet metal is both heavy and expensive.

BUT, some of that stuff exists at American Auto Salvage in Debary.

Hudson, anyone...?

[fred23]

They already make some of them. Mostly for drag racing but I have looked at a few and it could be done. My dad wanted to do one for his sportsman a few years ago when they went to the no body rule. The problem is they are 4-5 grand for a body. Maybe Lightning Light could find a niche market by doing this. The sportsman could use them for sure.

[Renegade Racing Fuels]

A class full of vintage looking cars is not what I had in mind (we already have that in Super Stock! ) Instead, I was day-dreaming about a single car with a vintage body that competes with the modern ones. It would be a novelty if there was only one or two.

I've always been surprised that no one has came out with a 56 Ford, or 57 Chevy, or a 65 Chevelle Super Late in Florida. It's certainly possible to do, and would easily be the most popular car on the track.
A DARA 57 Chevy from North Carolina did run with either the Super Lates or Pro Lates at NSS years ago, i believe during Speedweeks. He had a lot of people cheering for him.

[zerofor]

Ona Speedway ( or as they like to promote themselves-- the fastest blacktop track in west Virginia lol) has a vintage class powered by 6 cylinders I believe.They are coupe looking bodies like the legends only bigger.Don't ask me where the bodies come from but they look like reproduction like the legends but bigger.I believe they are running modern day v6 power but not sure of that.I haven't understood why their hasn't been an upgrade bomber class using early 2000 taurus ,impala,intrepid mid 90s cutlass and regal gran Prix etc. V6 powered.Craigslist,junkyards,car lots and half the backyards around have these bodies sitting around and v6s are everywhere.

[Renegade Racing Fuels]

I was at BJ McClouds shop about 10 years ago and saw a 57 Chevy body out back. His father said it was a 3/4 scale fiberglass body for a mini cup series of some kind. I think he said it came from North Carolina.

[kendo]

Just about everything for a G body is reproduced and can be shipped to your door step without setting foot in a scrap yard or even leaving your house,more importantly relatively affordable too.Thats why they are raced at just about every track in the country and aren't going away any time soon.

As far as mixing 4 cylinders with rear wheel V8,a 16 car field is a big increase in that class compared to 4 cars 2 years ago.It was also interesting to see that half the crowd stayed to watch compared to the stands completely clearing out in the past.

The bigger issue is why there were only 12 sportsman cars and 9 super late models?

[OldSchool+]

My hunch is that many are still thrashing to get ready for 2017.

[shorttrackcar1]

What happened to the series that used to run at Orlando speed world maybe 5/7 years ago was it called the Florida cracker series they had the old-style bodies like the legends but we're full size cars . ran 305 engines I believe . Boneman I know you remember them.

[Renegade Racing Fuels]

Just about everything for a G body is reproduced and can be shipped to your door step without setting foot in a scrap yard or even leaving your house,more importantly relatively affordable too.Thats why they are raced at just about every track in the country and aren't going away any time soon.

As far as mixing 4 cylinders with rear wheel V8,a 16 car field is a big increase in that class compared to 4 cars 2 years ago.It was also interesting to see that half the crowd stayed to watch compared to the stands completely clearing out in the past.

The bigger issue is why there were only 12 sportsman cars and 9 super late models?

Actually, the complete 57 Chevy body is being reproduced using the original factory drawings and dimensions, as well as 69 Camaros. Only affordable for the average millionaire, but it shows the incredible interest that's still out there.

[Boneman]

That series had a lot going for it. The car design was cool at from a frame and driveline standpoint, but they could never over-come the fact that the cars were butt-ugly and out of proportion. I believe the club succumbed to internal politics.

[ancrdave]

No... The Classic Auto Racing Series basically went away because the tracks weren't willing to pay what we needed to have to stay afloat... All we asked for was $75 per car and we paid our purse and expenses out of that... If anybody remembers, we put on a pretty good show. Certain promoters that were friendly to the Series got out of racing and that left us very few tracks to run at as the "new blood" wanted us to either run for free or at a reduced rate which we would not do as we had a great core group of drivers that deserved better... One of our guys decided to try and keep the Series going and was not successful although Rusty at OSW brought them in as part of the Saturday shows in the early-2000's with the Legends and other "spec" classes but the Classic guys were basically running for fun...
The cars were built on GM metric frames with a "spec" 305 Chevy engine... The bodies were fiberglass and built to fit directly on a metric GM frame, hence the "wide" look... We did our best to keep costs down, got some old-timers back involved in racing along with a bit of new blood too... The class thrived for several years running not only in Florida but there were clubs in NC, PA, WV, MD and Ohio... Our "Winternationals" each year drew well over 40 cars and we were the lead-in to the November Crash-A-Rama shows at OSW for 3-4 years... The cars still run up in the WV-PA-MD area...

[Ryan29]

Here are the highlights for those who want a quick recap. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RDp...ature=youtu.be

[OldSchool+]

"...[The pseudo old school sportsman class] could never over-come the fact that the cars were butt-ugly and out of proportion."--Boneman

And slow, and they sounded flat.

A good concept, but...old racing saying "If it looks fast, it probably is".

And the reverse is unfortunately also typically true.