Hot Rods refers to a number of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

oval racing Oval track racing is a form of closed-circuit motorsport that is contested on an oval-shaped race track. An oval track differs from a road course in that the layout resembles an oval with turns in only one direction, and the direction of traffi ...

formula (not to be confused with hot rods, which are generally road-going modified vintage cars). Hot Rod racing was introduced at

Hednesford Hills Raceway Hednesford Hills Raceway (often referred to as Hednesford Raceway) is an oval, short-circuit motor racing venue, situated on Cannock Chase, approximately from the town of Hednesford, Staffordshire, England and is operated by Incarace Ltd. Abo ...

in the early 1960s as a British counterpart to

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

-style production car racing. The term '

stock car Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

' was not adopted because it was already in use for a form of oval racing in Britain that had evolved in a very different way than American ''stock cars''. In south west England, hot rod racing evolved from a class known as sports and production car racing, which began at to be held at tracks in Plymouth and St Austell in the 1950s. The rules of Hot Rod racing vary depending on promoters, of which there are many, most vehicles are based on

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an or Japanese

hot hatch A hot hatch (shortened from hot hatchback) is a high-performance hatchback car. The term originated in the mid-1980s; however, factory high-performance versions of hatchbacks have been produced since the 1970s. Front-mounted petrol engines, ...

es such as the

Vauxhall Tigra Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...

and races are conducted on

tarmac Tarmac may refer to: Engineered surfaces * Tarmacadam, a mainly historical tar-based material for macadamising road surfaces, patented in 1902 * Asphalt concrete, a macadamising material using asphalt instead of tar which has largely superseded ta ...

ovals 1/4 mile in length. Despite deliberate contact between cars being banned accidents are common due to the large number of cars (30+) within a tight environment. The fastest and most expensive Rod formula are the National Hot Rods (not to be confused with the American-based

National Hot Rod Association The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorspo ...

) which use tube chassis,

kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s a ...

bodies and highly tuned 2 litre straight-4 engines. This formula also races in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, continental

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. They have similarities with some of the more sophisticated mini-stock divisions in the USA. The World Championship race for the National Hot Rods is staged at the annual spedeweekend at

Foxhall Stadium Foxhall Stadium is a Stock car and speedway stadium located in Foxhall near Ipswich. The Stadium is run by Spedeworth Motorsports stock car promoters. The stadium opened in 1951 and has been in continuous operation since. Stock cars Known ...

in Ipswich, which is traditionally held during the first weekend of July each year. A smaller class known as 2 Litre Hot Rods are the next class down and are usually considered a stepping stone to the National class. Using smaller Hatchback style cars such as the

Citroën Saxo The Citroën Saxo was a supermini produced by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1996 to 2004. It was sold in Japan as the Citroën Chanson, because Honda had registered the "Saxo" name. As a badge engineered variant of the Peugeot 106 (whic ...

. Their annual World Championship race is held at various tracks in England and Scotland, With every third running being staged at either of the two Spedeworth-sanctioned tracks (

Tullyroan Oval Tullyroan (; ) is a townland lying within the civil parish of Kilcronaghan, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies in the centre of the parish and is bounded by the townlands of: Brackaghlislea, Calmore, Cloughfin, Coolsaragh, Gortahurk ...

Aghadowey Oval Aghadowey ()Placenames NI
Stock Car Speed Association ASCAR (Anglo-American Stock Car Racing), was a stock car racing series that raced at circuits around the United Kingdom and Europe from 2001 until 2008. The series went through many guises during its seven year period and was known as the ASCAR ...

, American-style stock cars in Britain.

External links

National Hot Rod website
Waterford Raceway, Short Circuit oval racing in Waterford Ireland

Photos from Hot Rod World Finale Ipswich 2011
whistlinjacksmith.co.uk - Hot Rod website
National Hot Rod Photo Gallery {{Motorsport in the UK Auto racing by type Stock car racing in the United Kingdom Racing car classes