Formula Um!

I saw that Helio Castroneves, almost immediately after winning his tax case (acquitted of tax evasion) managed to win yet another Indy 500 race.  He had previously won in 2001 and 2002.  The Brazilian, from São Paulo, had been extremely competitive in IndyCar racing – and we know he can dance. 

 He’s not the only Brazilian associated with race car driving.

 Ayrton Senna.  Another one from São Paulo, probably Brazil’s most famous driver.  He died on the track in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.  He won three championships: 1988, 1990, and 1991.  He was popular not only for being a great driver, but also a nice guy.  It turns out his will left his huge fortune to children’s charities.  Whereas in the US we had “Elvis” sightings, in Rio de Janeiro, during his lifetime, there were plenty of “Ayrton” sightings.

 Nelson Piquet.  A carioca (from Rio de Janeiro).  Often considered a rival of Senna and Fittipaldi – or Nigel Mansell.  He never won the Indy 500.

 Emerson Fittipaldi.  Guess what – he’s from São Paolo.  He won the Indy 500 twice (1989 and 1993).

 Tony Kanaan.  From Salvador, Brazil, of Lebanese origin – but has never won the Indy 500.  Associated with Indy Racing League.

 Rubens Barrichello.  Also from São Paulo, and a protégé of Ayrton Senna.

 Gil de Ferran.  Won the Indy 500 in 2003, and then retired.  Born in Paris, France of Brazilian parents.

 At this point, it may be worth sorting through the different racing leagues to distinguish and explain them.

 Formula 1.  This is the top tier of open-wheel racing, using purpose-built race cars on tracks which turn left and right (not just in circles), which are called road courses.  It’s worldwide: the 2009 season will be 17 races around the world (sounds like “Speed Racer”) including Australia, Shanghai, Monaco, Istanbul, and São Paulo.  It began in 1950.  The top 4 teams have been from McLaren (part owned by Mercedes), Williams, Renault and Ferrari, with engines made by Mercedes, Honda, Renault and Ford.  Ferrari has been involved in every season and has the most titles; Michael Schumacher has been the most dominant driver in recent years.  The “minor leagues” are Formula 3, Formula Ford, Formula Renault, and GP2.  Although most of the races are held on purpose-built tracks, several take place in cities: Monaco (aka Monte Carlo), Melbourne, Valencia, and Singapore.  India will have a Grand Prix in Delhi in 2010.  From 1950-60 the Indianapolis 500 was part of this series.  The cars run 2.4 liter V8s revving extremely high: 18-20,000 RPM, producing almost 800 horsepower, going up to 220 mph and cornering at 5 g’s.  Back before electronic fuel injection (EFI), these cars were running mechanical fuel injection.

 Indianapolis 500.  This is the Holy Grail (!) of Formula racing.  The track and race date from 1911, well before NASCAR or Formula 1 came around.  It’s so prestigious that both Americans and Europeans vie for the chance to race, and win there, and various lawsuits have flown back and forth about using the name. 

            Although the cars which race the Indy 500 are the same race cars of Formula 1 or CART/IRL, the pace car is a production car, which has been a Camaro (1967 and 1969) and a Trans Am, and often a Corvette.  In fact, the 1989 Trans Am pace car was the only Trans Am with a V6 – a turbo Buick V6 borrowed and modified from the Grand National.  This model was so fast, it outran the V8 models and did not need to be modified from street to track to do its job. 

 CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams).  This was formed in 1979 as an American equivalent of Formula 1, both to race in the United States – including the Indianapolis 500 – and to include American drivers.  Starting in 1905, the first sanctioning body for auto racing in the US was AAA -  yes, the same American Automobile Association that gives you clever maps and tows your car when you break down.  After 1955, AAA got out of the racing sanctioning business and turned to more mundane pursuits which concern the rest of us, leaving the sanctioning to the US Automobile Club (USAC).  But many people were less than impressed with the job USAC was doing, so they formed CART instead. Like Formula 1, this series uses purpose-built race chassis with low displacement, high-revving V8s putting out something in the neighborhood of 700-800 HP.

 IRL (Indy Racing League).  This was started in 1994, as a spinoff and rival to CART.  The Indianapolis 500 is the focus race, and this acts as an American equivalent of Formula 1, although foreign teams do enjoy competing at the Indy 500 race.  Ironically, although it acted as a competitor to CART (see above), by now CART has gone bankrupt and eaten up by IRL.  This was originally ovals-only courses, then added road course races – Watkins Glen, Infineon and St. Petersburg. 

 NASCAR.  This was began in the late 40s by Bill France, and originated from the races on Daytona Beach, which were the earliest land speed races before the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah became popular from 1936 onward.  Much of NASCAR’s origin and heritage came from Prohibition era bootleggers who modified their cars both to handle heavy loads of illicit alcohol and to evade the slower cars of the local police, particularly in Wilkes County, North Carolina.  Eventually the bootleggers started racing each other in local races, and it simply became a matter of institutionalizing these, starting with Daytona.

            Oddly, NASCAR’s premier race, the Daytona 500, takes place early in the season.  The top tier is Sprint Cup, followed by Nationwide (2^nd Tier) and the Craftsman Truck series.  With a few exceptions, all the NASCAR Sprint Cup races are ovals, and most of the drivers are white males from south of the Mason-Dixon line, mostly from North Carolina.  There is no Shirley Muldowney (NHRA) or Danica Patrick (IRL – though there is speculation she will move to NASCAR or Formula 1 next season) to liven things up.  Unlike Formula 1 and IRL/CART, the cars are based on US production cars, Chevy, Ford and Mopar (except the Toyota Camry, a recent update) even if the cars themselves bear little resemblance, aside from name and shape, to actual street cars. The engines are 355 cubic inch V8s with carburetors.  On certain races on the circuit, restrictor plates are mandated between the carburetor and intake manifold to artificially reduce horsepower and slow the cars down.  With the exception of Infineon (Sonoma, CA) and Watkins Glen (NY), which are road courses, the 36 races are on oval tracks.

            The cars in NASCAR started out as production cars, but eventually developed into purpose built race cars with really only the shell of the car in common with the street versions.  Three Mopar production vehicles have NASCAR origins, however.  The Dodge Charger 500 replaced the recessed grill and rear window with versions flush with the body for improved aerodynamics, but this was not enough, leading to the Charger Daytona, with its beak and high spoiler (to clear the trunk decklid).  With these changes, the car could finally break the 200 mph mark; observers said the car sounded like a jet going around the track.  And Plymouth copied the Daytona with the Superbird, based on the Road Runner – complete with a decal on the side of the spoiler showing the Road Runner with a racing helmet.

            Years ago, the body shop near the law office I used to work at, in Falls Church, had an orange Dodge Daytona (or maybe it was a Superbird).  The hood was open, so I stood there admiring the 440 cubic inch V8, though recognizing immediately that it wasn’t the famous 426 Hemi engine.  A body shop guy walked up to me, and as if reading my mind, remarked, “shame it ain’t a Hemi, huh?”    

 NHRA (National Hot Rod Association).  This is drag racing – straight line acceleration on a quarter mile strip.  It was started in 1953 by Wally Parks as a way to get racing off the streets and onto sanctioned drag strips, often times former airstrips.  The top tiers are Top Fuel (dragsters), Funny Car, and Pro Stock.  Top Fuel dragsters run nitromethane, superchargers, open headers (zoomies), and typically finish the quarter mile in less than 4 seconds at over 300 miles per hour (the record is 330 mph).  The times for Funny Car are a little over 4 seconds and a little less than 300 mph, and Pro Stock at 6.5 seconds at over 200 mph.

            At the grass roots level is bracket racing, in which the cars do not compete “heads up” (both leaving at the same time) but have staggered starting times depending on the dial-in (estimated ET) of the two cars, so theoretically a 18 second Neon could beat a 12 second Camaro.  What I love about it is that you can race street cars, possibly your minivan or station wagon (!) although only race cars and dragsters are competitive in the top classes, and faster cars are more fun than slower cars.  I’ve brought my Formula to 75/80 various times from 1996-98, mostly low 14 second times from 95-98 mph.  Since the strips are quarter mile, the times correspond and compare, apples to apples, to the professional times, which is a nice touch. 

            While the NASCAR crowd loves to boo and hiss about the various racers, especially Jeff Gordon, I think the NHRA scene is more colorful.  Not only Shirley Muldowney, but also Don Garlits, John Force (whose daughter Ashley races), Connie Kalitta, Don “The Snake” Prudhomme, Jungle Jim Lieberman (and Jungle Pam…schwing!), among others.  “Heart Like A Wheel”, the Shirley Muldowney story (with the babacious Bonnie Bedelia as Muldowney) was an excellent view of this scene in the 70s and 80s.      

 IROC (International Race of Champions).  The idea here was, give every driver exactly the same car, so the better driver wins, so no whining about who had a better car, engine, stereo, etc.  Most of the winners were NASCAR drivers, but some open wheel drivers such as Mario Andretti and Helio Castroneves have competed as well.  The cars were Porsche Carreras (1974), Chevrolet Camaro (1975-80, 1984-89) (resulting in the Z/28 IROC), Dodge Daytona (1990-93), Dodge Avenger (1994-95) and Pontiac Trans Am (1996).  The races were from 1974 to 2006, with no races in 1981-83.  IROC is currently out of business. 

 SCCA/Trans Am.  These were races in road courses using cars which were very close to production models you could actually buy from the dealer. This was considerably more popular in the late 60s and early 70s than it is now. 

            It was so popular that several US production vehicles bear the name or some connection:

            1)         The most obvious is the Pontiac Trans Am, available from 1969 to 2002.  This was in continuous production for that time, and pretty much saved Pontiac’s ass in the late 70s.  More so than the GTO, the Trans Am essentially became the flagship for Pontiac.  Ironically, the 1969 Trans Am did not qualify for the race, as it had the 400 cubic inch V8s Pontiac was equipping its performance models with.  Plans for a qualifying 303 cubic inch V8 didn’t pan out.

            2)         Less obvious, but still having a connection, was the Camaro Z/28, which in its original years, from 1967-69, had a 302 cubic inch V8 with two Holley 4 barrels, 290 HP, revving so high that 7500 RPM was considered the optimal shift point – and only available with a 4 speed manual and no A/C.  The 302 was in order to meet Trans Am specs when its “brother”, the Camaro SS, was available with the much larger and street-friendly 350 and 396 V8s. 

            3)         Ford’s Mustang Boss 302 was Ford’s answer – not to be confused with the Boss 429 (a hemi big block), or the top street engine, the 428 Cobra Jet.

            4)         Mopar had the Dodge Challenger T/A and Plymouth AAR ‘Cuda, set up for handling as opposed to simply straight line acceleration.  

            5)         Even AMC had a Mark Donohoe Javelin. 

            Oddly, due to the different classes, there are classes where Mazda Miatas and Dodge/Plymouth Neons are competitive.  By now, though, as with most other motorsports, the cars which actually race in SCCA are specifically built to race and are not street legal.