By Alan Cesar
May 31, 2013
This "GT30" race car is actually a Ford Probe.
Beetle engines aren't the most reliable on track, but this one's been built to be strong and fast.
BMWs, Hondas and Mazdas make up most of the field. Few are good-looking cars, but they are fast.
This Mazda RX-7 with excellent patina had a Ford V8 swapped in, but it had trouble firing on all 8 cylinders.
This Jaguar also had a V8 swap, but from a Chevy. It had an unfortunate clutch failure in the first five laps, but they got a replacement from a local parts store and got back out on the banking.
The race ran on the "roval" circuit, the same track used in the 24 Hours of Daytona. ChumpCar isn't the only series for $500 race cars—24 Hours of LeMons pioneered the idea—but they are the only ones running Daytona.
We stopped in at Daytona International Speedway to see the ChumpCar World Series competition. It’s a racing series with a twist: Instead of rules on the kind of equipment you can have on your car, they have a simple one: The car, any repairs, or upgrades you put into it can only be worth a maximum of $500. That makes for some creative solutions to making a car go fast.
To keep things safe, equipment like a roll cage, seat, harness, and brakes are exempt from the $500 limit.
Flip through the photo gallery above and have a look at some of the cool sights from the track.
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