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Sprint Car
Sprint cars are open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval, circular dirt or paved tracks. Historically known simply as "big cars," distinguishing them from "midget cars," sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Sprint cars have very high power-to-weight ratios, with weights of approximately (including the driver) and power outputs of over , which give them a power-to-weight ratio besting that of contemporary F1 cars. Typically, they are powered by a naturally aspirated, methanol-injected overhead valve American V8 engine with a displacement of 410 cubic inches (6.7L) and capable of engine speeds of 9000 rpm. Depending on the mechanical setup (engine, gearing, shocks, etc.) and the track layout, these cars can achieve speeds in excess of . A lower-budget and very popular class of sprint cars uses 360-cubic-inch (5.9L) engines that produce up to 775 hors ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Open-wheel Car
An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, Sports car racing, sports cars, Stock car racing, stock cars, and Touring car racing, touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or inside Fender (vehicle), fenders. Open-wheel cars are built both for road racing and oval track racing. Open-wheel cars licensed for use on public roads (Street-legal vehicle, street legal), such as the Ariel Atom, are uncommon, as they are often impractical for everyday use. History American racecar driver and constructor Ray Harroun was an early pioneer of the concept of a lightweight single-seater, open-wheel "monoposto" racecar. After working as a mechanic in the automotive industry, Harroun began competitive professional racing in 1906, winning the AAA National Championship in 1910. He was then hired by the Marmon Motor Car Company as chief engineer, charged with building a racecar intended ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transmission (mechanics)
A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (industrialist), Louis Renault (who founded Renault, Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/reduction in a machine. Transmissions can have a single fixed-gear ratio, multiple distinct gear ratios, or continuously variable ratios. Variable-ratio transmissions are used in all sorts of machinery, especially vehicles. Applications Early uses Early transmissions included the right-angle drives and other gearing in windmills, horse-powered devices, and steam engine, steam-powered devices. Applications of these devices included pumps, mill (grinding), mills and Hoist (device), hoists. Bicycles Bicycles traditionally have used hub gear or Derailleur gear transmissions, but there are other more recent design innovations. Automobiles Since the torque and Horsepower, power output of an interna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American stock car racing executive and former professional stock car racing driver who currently serves as the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series and Sprint Cup Series (now called NASCAR Cup Series), and also served as a substitute driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in select races during the 2016 season. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential drivers in NASCAR history, helping the sport reach mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s. Gordon started his professional racing career in the Busch Series with Hugh Connerty Racing, followed by Bill Davis Racing, winning three races, and began racing full-time in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series for Hendrick Motorsports in 1993. He is a four-time Cup Series champion, having ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASCAR Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, when the series began leasing its naming rights to the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, it was referred to as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series (1971–2003). A similar deal was made with Nextel Communications, Nextel in 2003, and it became the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series (2004–2007). Sprint Corporation, Sprint acquired Nextel in 2005, and in 2008 the series was renamed the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (2008–2016). In December 2016, it was announced that Monster Energy would become the new title sponsor, and the series was renamed the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (2017–2019). In 2019, NASCAR rejected Monster's offer to extend the naming rights deal beyond the end of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Unser Jr
Alfred Unser Jr. (born April 19, 1962) – nicknamed "Little Al" to distinguish him from his father, Al Unser – is an American former racing driver. Known primarily for his Championship car career, Unser won two CART championships, and is a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. Early in his career, Unser found success in the Can-Am series, winning the championship in 1982. He joined his great uncle, uncle, and father, as a winner of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, doing so in 1983. He is a two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona. He has the most Long Beach Grand Prix victories in history, winning six times. History Unser was born into a racing family in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is the son of Al Unser and the nephew of Bobby Unser, both Indianapolis 500 winners themselves. The Unser family has won the Indy 500 a record nine times. Early career By the age of 11, Al Junior was racing sprint cars. After high school, he was already in the World of Outlaws series of s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Unser
Alfred Unser (May 29, 1939 – December 9, 2021) was an American automobile racing driver, the younger brother of fellow racing drivers Jerry and Bobby Unser, and father of Al Unser Jr. He was the second of four men ( A. J. Foyt, himself, Rick Mears and Hélio Castroneves) to have won the Indianapolis 500 four times (1970, 1971, 1978, 1987), the fourth of six to have won the race in consecutive years, and the winner of the National Championship in 1970, 1983, and 1985. The Unser family has won the Indy 500 a record nine times. He was the only person to have both a sibling (Bobby) and child (Al Jr.) as fellow Indy 500 winners. Al's nephews Johnny and Robby Unser have also competed in that race. In 1971, he became the only driver to date to win the race on his birthday (his 32nd). After his son Al Unser Jr. joined the national championship circuit in 1983, Unser was generally known professionally by the retronym "Al Unser Sr." He was also nicknamed "Big Al", and Al Unser J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnnie Parsons
John Woodrow Parsons (July 4, 1918 – September 8, 1984) was an American racing driver in the AAA Contest Board, AAA and United States Automobile Club, USAC Championship Car series. He was the 1949 AAA Championship Car season, 1949 AAA List of American open-wheel racing national champions, national champion, and won the 1950 Indianapolis 500. Parsons was known as a "charger" - needing others to compete against in order to bring out the best in him as a driver - frequently moving from near the back of the grid to the front in spectacular displays of driving ability. He drove for several seasons on a team owned by Frank Kurtis, owner of Kurtis Kraft, the leading constructor of AAA Championship cars during the early 1950s. Early life Parsons was born in Los Angeles, California, to Harmon and Belle Parsons, who both made their living in show business. By the age of three, Parsons was a participant in his family's song-and-dance act, working vaudeville theaters of the Orpheum Cir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parnelli Jones
Rufus Parnell "Parnelli" Jones (August 12, 1933 – June 4, 2024) was an American professional racing driver and racing team owner. He is notable for his accomplishments while competing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Baja 1000 desert race, and the Trans-Am Series, Trans-Am Championship series. In 1962 Indianapolis 500, 1962, he became the first driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 at over 150 mph (240 km/h). He won the race in 1963 Indianapolis 500, 1963, then famously broke down while leading the 1967 Indianapolis 500, 1967 race with three laps to go in a STP-Paxton Turbocar, turbine car.Biography at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame During his career as an owner, he won the Indy 500 in 1970 Indianapolis 500, 1970–1971 Indianapolis 500, 1971 with driver Al Unser. Jones won races in many types of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Rutherford
John Sherman Rutherford III (born March 12, 1938), also known as "Lone Star JR", is an American former automobile racing driver. During an Indy Car career that spanned more than three decades, he scored 27 wins and 23 pole positions in 314 starts. He became one of six drivers to win the Indianapolis 500 at least three times, winning in 1974, 1976, and 1980. He also won the CART championship in 1980. Rutherford began racing modified stock cars in 1959 and he also dabbled in stock car racing, making 35 NASCAR Cup Series starts from 1963 to 1988. Rutherford won in his first start, at Daytona International Speedway driving for Smokey Yunick. This made him one of the youngest drivers ever to win a NASCAR points-paying race, as well as only the sixth racer in history to win in their NASCAR debut race, a distinction not again achieved until SuperCars racer Shane van Gisbergen won in his NASCAR debut in 2023. Racing career In 1959, Rutherford started driving modified stock car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mario Andretti
Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an American former racing driver and businessman, who competed in Formula One from to , and American open-wheel racing, IndyCar from 1964 USAC Championship Car season, 1964 to 1994 IndyCar season, 1994. Andretti won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Team Lotus, Lotus, and won 12 Formula One Grands Prix, Grands Prix across 14 seasons. In American open-wheel racing, Andretti won four List of American open-wheel racing national champions, IndyCar National Championship titles and the Indianapolis 500 in 1969 Indianapolis 500, 1969; in stock car racing, he won the Daytona 500 in 1967 Daytona 500, 1967. In Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, Andretti is a three-time winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring. Born in the Kingdom of Italy, Andretti and his family were displaced from Istria during the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus and eventually emigrated to Nazareth, Pennsylvania in 1955. He began dirt track racin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indianapolis 500 Winners
The Indianapolis 500 (also called the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race) is an annual American open-wheel car race held on American Memorial Day weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), in Speedway, Indiana. It was first held in 1911 after the track's owners had experimented with several other long-distance auto races over the previous two years. The race was not held in 1917 or 1918 and again from 1942 to 1945 because of war. It was administered by the American Automobile Association between 1911 and 1955, then by the United States Auto Club from 1956 to 1997, and finally by the Indy Racing League/IndyCar beginning in 1998. The event usually covers 200 laps over a total distance of . Each winning racer and team is presented with a small replica of the Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in the world and is one of the largest spectator sports leagues in America. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and his son, Jim France, has been the CEO since August 2018. The company is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida. Each year, NASCAR sanctions over 1,500 races at over 100 tracks in 48 US states, as well as in Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Europe. NASCAR, and stock car racing as a whole, traces its roots back to moonshine runners during Prohibition in the United States, Prohibition, who grew to compete against each other in a show of pride. This happened notably in North Carolina. In 1935, Bill France Sr. established races in Daytona Beach, with the hope that people would come to watch races and that r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
