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David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
2/18/19 9:53 a.m.

It's the day after the Daytona 500 and Formula E race, so you know what that means: Time to armchair quarterback!

But that's too easy. How about this: Let's hear your plans for the ultimate race series. What kind of cars? Who's going to drive them? What tracks and format? How will you entice the manufacturers to play? Will there be a TV package? Five-year plan? And how will you fill the stands?

Go. 

Tom Suddard
Tom Suddard Digital Experience Director
2/18/19 9:58 a.m.

Easy. I'll take Red Bull GRC and put that disgraced jailed ex-Nissan Chairman in charge of it. Done!

bmw88rider
bmw88rider SuperDork
2/18/19 10:29 a.m.

I'd take Imsa, Drop the driver rating BS, set 1 BOP for the year and go from there.

 

Honestly, My most favorite racing to watch was the Conti series which is now I think the Michelin Sports cup series. I wouldn't change much from there other than finding a way to encourage more GT4 cars to join. I hope the TCR replacement for ST doesn't kill the racing quality there. 

 

Either that or bring Aussie Supercar NA into creation. Encourage some of the Nascar guys along with IMSA and the actual Aussies regulars to come up and race. 8-10 rounds with a stop in Montreal and Mexico City. Then US tracks like Mid-Ohio, Barber, Laguna Seca, Lime Rock, Road America, the Glen, and Sonoma. Nascar meets road course. Keep some of the bumping and grinding that the supercar boys have and go to town. 1.5-2 hour races. Put it on TV as a FS1 or ESPN package. For the Glen and Sonoma stops, if possible, have them on the nascar weekends. Aussie Supercar NA on saturday and Cup on Sunday, I'd road trip to the Glen every year for that. 

GTXVette
GTXVette SuperDork
2/18/19 11:26 a.m.

I was all over the Roval, I belive all the MFG. could put a car in that Venue

Mndsm
Mndsm MegaDork
2/18/19 11:46 a.m.

Rental spec. Hertz, enterprise, whoever. Keys in a bowl. Roughly class the cars together. (Malibu, sonata, optima, fusion). Draw keys. 50 lap sprints. Street tires. Go. Think days of thunder with more reality and less Tom cruise. 

Duke
Duke MegaDork
2/18/19 12:26 p.m.

I was pretty fond of the IROC series when they were mildly prepped, single-sourced, (relatively) stock cars drawn by lottery and run on a road course.  They always made for good racing to watch.  That does kind of leave the whole manufacturers' competition out of it, though, which is a bit of a loss.

kazoospec
kazoospec UltraDork
2/18/19 1:05 p.m.

Put a bunch of fat old guys with Miatas in a parking lot.  Lay out a course with cones.  Fastest from beginning to end wins, with penalties for hitting cones.  Award t-shirts, mugs, plastic trophies or other trinkets to the winner. 

 

captdownshift
captdownshift PowerDork
2/18/19 1:43 p.m.

Pre OBD2 B Spec

2.0 maximum displacement, manual transmission, 2WD cars from 94 and back. Competing in a mixed schedule of rallysprint and hillclimb. Above car footage streamed from 360 camera for VR consumption with in car audio and data overlay. 2 classes, Naturally aspirated and forced induction. 

chaparral
chaparral Dork
2/18/19 2:17 p.m.

Unlimited no-recharge electric endurance races. Only requirement is that the safety cell be present and protecting the driver, who's using manual steering.

frenchyd
frenchyd UltraDork
2/18/19 2:30 p.m.

In reply to David S. Wallens :

Pro?  Suv’s  In showroom stock condition except for required safety equipment and delete HVAC.  Yes OEM tires!  

Could have engine size grouping.  8-10-12 cylinders one group 

V6 another group 

4’s third group. 

10 lap qualifying race. 100 lap actual race.  Fuel cell can only carry OEM quantity of fuel. 

No nonsense about American brands. Ferrari wants to make an SUV - bring it on.   

The limitation is every engine transmission  is sealed has to run the whole season to earn points. 

Make the race on Sunday  sell on Monday actually mean something again. 

ddavidv
ddavidv PowerDork
2/18/19 3:43 p.m.

Touring Car Masters

Since Dynacorn is cranking out replacement shells, a series of classic American muscle/Trans Am style cars with modern V8 engines so the manufacturers can justify involvement. People will watch because the cars won't look like bars of soap painted to look like Skittles candies.

kazoospec
kazoospec UltraDork
2/18/19 4:01 p.m.

In reply to ddavidv :

I'll watch.

NordicSaab
NordicSaab Dork
2/18/19 4:06 p.m.

Race series with 100% stock off the showroom cars with a cage, seat, upgraded consumables, and safety equipment added. 

Break up cars into classes by power to weight ratio. 

All classes race at the same time. 

Make it sprint style with most laps turned in 30 minutes. (Not sure a stock car would last much longer) 

frenchyd
frenchyd UltraDork
2/18/19 5:40 p.m.
NordicSaab said:

Race series with 100% stock off the showroom cars with a cage, seat, upgraded consumables, and safety equipment added. 

Break up cars into classes by power to weight ratio. 

All classes race at the same time. 

Make it sprint style with most laps turned in 30 minutes. (Not sure a stock car would last much longer) 

But fewer and fewer people are buying cars and more and more people are buying SUV’s. 

captdownshift
captdownshift PowerDork
2/18/19 6:06 p.m.

I still like my spec transit connect, NV200, express city series and big brother express and transit series.

Dave M
Dave M Reader
2/18/19 7:35 p.m.

Stadium Super Trucks, but running real races on every type of track or surface, including Rally-X, ovals, road courses, etc. And do it in Mericuh because we love our trucks. 

How is this not a thing?

chada75
chada75 Reader
2/18/19 8:38 p.m.

On the Karting side:

 

Have a Six Race Money Oval Series running one class, 150 lap enduros. Pay a Grand or more to win. Driver must designate a class/weight that exist as if 2019. No class kart more powerful than Stock Clone/Animal. Open Tire rule. Impound kart after 10 lap group qualifying. Break down, Tire goes down, run out of fuel and/or cause Three Cautions, said kart racer is done.

 On the Car side:

 

Run a Mix of TA2 and NASCAR LMSCs on Six Road Courses. Be a support race for NASCAR events.

 

 

Captain Nemo
Captain Nemo New Reader
2/18/19 8:44 p.m.

The EJ street series. Do auditions for each city. Choose some interesting cars made and driven by everyday people. And get the cities permission to use a couple streets and have a fast and furious style race. Legally. Audition fee, small cash prize, Profit.

KyAllroad (Jeremy)
KyAllroad (Jeremy) UltimaDork
2/18/19 10:14 p.m.

Return to “stock car” racing.  Keep the NASCAR tracks for the purposes of fans in the stands.  All cars must be based on production models currently for sale.  Safety equipment added but chassis, engine, trans must be factory.  Unlimited power adders allowed and aero should be minimal so the cars can be recognized as what they are.

JG Pasterjak
JG Pasterjak Production/Art Director
2/18/19 10:21 p.m.

Just a whole bunch of Buick Somersets.

m4ff3w
m4ff3w UberDork
2/18/19 10:23 p.m.

Re-introduce Can-Am.

sleepyhead
sleepyhead Mod Squad
2/19/19 4:22 a.m.

ultimate?   this series doesn't fit the normal definition of that, nevertheless...

Formula eV  or, perhaps:  Formula eVee  ?

basically: open cockpit, open wheel, skinny tire, "no aero", kit/build your own formula car... using (at least preliminarily) Zero Motorcycle components.  However, I'd want to open it up some, so that the drive axle can be IFS, the opposite axle has to be beam-based.  1 or 2 motors (maybe 3?), with limits to cells/amperage/inverters so that total vehicle power is limited to 40kW maximum (?)  {it'd be nice if these could run as "BOP'd" with Formula Vee, at least initially}

So, some tradeoffs backed in... to experiment with "what's best" while using the modularity electrical propulsion provides over ICE's.  Plus, a place/way to begin looking forward to a cheap/feeder 'driver series' before beetle components become "unobtainium".  Batteries probably aren't ready yet to go the full race distance at a "competitive weight"... but we can't be that far out?

tires?  200tw?  185's?  4x100 hubs req'd?  there's still a lot to noodle about.

so, it's not "ultimate", but it might ultimately be a big and important thing... considering where racing seems to be headed

ymmv

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ UberDork
2/19/19 6:24 a.m.

Everything you guys have said, but on Euro Rallycross courses and rally stages.

Also, a fully self-supported pickup truck rally/desert racing class.  No spare parts but the ones you bring with you.

TheRX7Project
TheRX7Project Reader
2/19/19 8:43 a.m.

XCAR-

Tracks would be basically the current NASCAR circuit but every other race would be a road course. (Oval, road, oval, road)

Factory body-in-whites of vehicles capable of seating 4 or more people, with size-limited front air dams and rear spoilers as only modifications allowed, must retain factory-available engine block, cylinder heads, aspiration (if the car isn't available turbo you can't turbo it), factory transmission cases, differential cases and layout (FF, FR, AWD) but any layout is acceptable and internals may be modified. Suspension and tire sizes are free but must fit inside wheel wells without modification to chassis, body, or mounting points. Fuel cells must be within 2 gallons of largest available factory fuel tank size and mounted in the factory location. Full NASCAR-style roll cages and racing seats/harnesses.

That's it. That's the rules. No classes based on power or weight or anything. Run what the factory built.

We can bring back "win on Sunday sell on Monday". I can almost guarantee Dodge would be all over this, which would pull in Ford and Chevy, and eventually this could replace what's left of NASCAR. It would also entice the automakers to create some truly bonkers cars.

kevinatfms
kevinatfms New Reader
2/19/19 9:28 a.m.

I want to see an unlimited class road racing series. Think Pikes Peak unlimited class but on a road course. Insane aero, insane engines, any driveline allowed, no weight or hp restrictions. Just balls out, no budget, insane race cars.

No manufacturer would go for it though as the one with the most money would win. It would be great to see though. I love the Group C cars, Group B, Pikes Peak Unlimited class....etc. They are just insane.

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