From motorcycles to F1 cars traveling 225 mph (362 kph), the world of Motorsports is broad and exciting. These involve some of the best drivers in the world including legends like Dale Earnhardt Senior, who died tragically in the last lap at the Daytona 500 in 2001. Others are legends for their number of wins, such as Lewis Hamilton, who racked up 103 total wins and 7 F1 championships. Newcomers such as Max Verstappen are dominating the sport. However, some people are ridiculed because of their driving ability, such as Nicholas Latifi, who is nicknamed “the GOAT” as a joke. Then there is Lance Stroll, who is called “the monkey” because NASA sent a monkey to space while he struggles to drive a car. Worldwide, people watch races from Nascar, Indycar, F1, F2, F3, F4, Formula E, and Endurance Racing.
One of the most well-known Motorsports associations is NASCAR, which stands for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. NASCAR began in 1948 at one of the most famous areas for NASCAR fans, Daytona Beach. All the cars in the races are the same except for the engine and body shell. The cars usually drive on four circuits: speedways, super speedways, short circuits, and road courses. Speedways and super speedways are the generic oval circuit. Short circuits are tracks with many types of turns, including road courses, which are like circuits except on an actual road. For pit stops, the regulation states that there must be six nuts on a wheel, and only six people in pit road at a time, making pit stops last an average of 16 seconds. The usual jobs at a pitstop are four tire changers, two with a pneumatic wheel gun spinning at very high speeds, a jackman, and a fuel man. Some famous drivers in NASCAR are Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, and Bill Elliott. NASCAR is primarily popular with Americans only and is not an international sport.
Another famous Motorsports association is Indycar. The word “Indy” means a car built to be raced on a track to be very fast. The sport originally started with shorter Indianapolis 50, 100, and 200 races. In 1911, the first-ever Indianapolis 500 was held in Speedway, Indiana. Since then, the Indycar series has been running with open-wheeled cars, with either Honda or Chevrolet. Indycar uses the same tracks as NASCAR. Their pitstops usually take less time, with an average of 8-10 seconds, because there is only one massive nut instead of six. There are six people on the pit road: 4 tire changers, each with a pneumatic wheel gun, a fuel man, and a person that activates the built-in pressurized lifters. Some famous drivers include the likes of Louis Mayer, Will Power, and Al Unser Junior. Indycar also has former Formula 1 drivers after they were not good enough for F1. While Indycar is the most famous in the US, they are attempting to expand worldwide, with drivers from many countries.
The Formula Motorsports series is the most famous of all time. Formula 1 started in 1950 and is sanctioned by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile). Each team chooses one of four engines from Honda, Mercedes, Ferrari, and Renault. Each F1 team also designs its own frame and parts using strict regulations by the FIA. This is the “Formula.” F1 usually races only on circuits and road courses, like the Monaco Grand Prix or the Grand Primo de Mexico. Pit stops are the fastest in F1. This is because they have the most people and have only one nut per tyre. There are four people with the pneumatic wheel gun, four tyre removers, four tyre replacers, one jack man for the front, one for the back, two front wingmen to clean and adjust the front wing, and two stabilizer men working on the car. In the worst-case scenario, there is one fire extinguisher man, one starter man in case the vehicle does not start, and one control man who tells when the car to go. In F1, it is spelled tyre and not tire because that is how it was always spelled in English. Some famous drivers include Micheal Schumacher, who started in Endurance Racing, Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, and Lewis Hamilton. F1 is like the soccer of the motorsport world, being popular in many countries, not just the US. In fact, it has only been popular in the US in the last decade. Along with F1, there are the junior F2, F3, and F4 leagues with different regulations. There are also Formula E which has electric cars instead of hybrid ones.
Endurance racing is a different breed of racing, focusing more on time and distance than what position the driver ends in. For example, how much distance someone can cover in a set amount of time or how fast to cover X amount of laps. Because of the lengthy nature of these races, multiple drivers are used over the race, switching out during pit stops. There are four categories in the WEC (World Endurance Championship): LMP1, LMP2, GTE, and GTE Pro. Only the engines are different in each car in endurance racing. Pit stops also have more routine pit stops, like changing brake pads. There are only five people in a pit crew, two with a pneumatic wheel gun and two changers. The final person helps with the driver’s change and fuel. Some famous drivers include Tom Kristensen, Jacky Ickx, and Derek Bell. The most famous race is the 24-hours Le Man race, which inspired the film Ford vs. Ferrari.
These four sports are some of the most well-known Motorsports. While there are more than these, these are the most famous. Some honorable mentions go to MotoGP (which races with motorcycles), professional karting, and rally car racing. Professional karting is a high-speed version of those karts at amusement parks. Finally, rally cars race on rough roads at high speed. The world of Motorsports is as diverse as it is entertaining.
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