ASCAR Racing Series

ASCAR Racing Series

VSR V8 Trophy (Series final logo)
Category	Stock cars
Country	United Kingdom (2001–2008) Germany (2001–2003) France (2008)
Inaugural season	2001
Folded	2008
Constructors	Chevrolet, Ford, Pontiac
Last Drivers' champion	Duncan Jones

The ASCAR Racing Series, was a stock car racing series that raced at circuits around the United Kingdom and Europe from 2001 until 2008. The series went through many guises during its seven year period and was known as the Mintex ASCAR Series (ASCAR Mintex Cup) from 2001 to 2004, later known as the Days of Thunder Racing Series (2004) and the Stock Car Speed Association (2005 to 2007) before its final season as the MAC Tools VSR V8 Trophy. Although going through these varying identities the series was commonly referred to and known by its original name of ASCAR. The series predominantly raced the oval tracks at the Rockingham Motor Speedway and the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in the early years but in its final season in 2008 was solely road racing series that would visit various tracks in the UK most notably Brands Hatch and in France at Croix en Ternois. The series folded in 2008 and merged into part of the European Late Model Series in 2009, racing in Belgium and the UK. Constructor cars consisted of NASCAR style Chevrolet, Ford and Pontiac racers with a field that peaked at 37 cars during the 2002 season.

History[]

The Mintex ASCAR Series made its debut in 2001 racing the entire series at the Rockingham Motor Speedway, with other race events in Germany and the Republic of Ireland cancelled, over the next three seasons the Series ran entirely from Rockingham and Germany's Oval circuit the EuroSpeedway Lausitz. The 2002 season saw the peak number of drivers racing in the series with 37 taking part during the year, representing a total of 13 teams. Each race event would partner the BRSCC Pickup Truck Racing series accompany it.

From 2001 to 2003 the series was known as ASCAR. In 2003 the series took on the additional name of "Days of Thunder" after the film of the same name. This was done as a marketing tool as starting in this year they promoted the series as a day out for all the family and had appearances from bands such as Busted and The Darkness. In 2004 the ASCAR label was dropped completely and the series was labelled as the "Days of Thunder Racing Series". 2005 saw the series renamed "Stock Car Speed Association" (SCSA) after a link-up with the American Speed Association and incorporated the Pickup Truck Racing Series under the same banner, which had accompanied the races since 2003.

In 2006 the SCSA and Pickup Truck Racing ran at Rockingham as part of the Thunder Sundays package organised by the BRSCC. The SCSA name remained for 2007; as part of a new sponsorship deal competitors competed for the 'SCSA MAC Tools V8 Trophy'. On Wednesday 5 September, British motorsport publication Motorsport News reported that the SCSA would come to an end after the final race of this season. However, the teams, and the organisers of the Mac Tools V8 Trophy vowed to continue in 2008, whether as a MSA Sanctioned championship, or just as a "series".

2008 heralded a new direction for the series with a focus on road courses due to a lack of dates offered by the oval tracks. The cars ran as part of the , with the stock cars known as the VSR V8 Trophy. In 2009 the series joined with CAMSO V8 to form the new European Late Model Series.

Tracks[]

Aerial of Rockingham Motor Speedway

Between 2004 and 2007 all of the ASCAR races were held at the Rockingham Motor Speedway in England. The circuit was overlooked by the 6280 seat Rockingham Building, a steel-framed, glass-fronted grandstand building containing suites, offices, bars and kitchens, and by four grandstands. Together the building and grandstands offered a total seating capacity of 52,000. The inner pit and paddock complex was accessed from the Rockingham Building via two pedestrian tunnels and there was a further spectator viewing area on top of the pit garages. The 1.48 mile American-style banked oval circuit was 18.3 metres (60.0 ft) wide and had a maximum bank angle of seven degrees and comprised four very distinct corners. Rockingham's oval was unique in the UK and one of only two speedways in Europe (the other is Lausitzring). The oval circuit could also be converted to a road course layout for events by positioning temporary chicanes and curves both on the main area and apron of the circuit.

In 2002 and 2003 the series also raced in Germany at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz but the venue was eventually dropped due to the costs involved and the projected grid numbers of cars willing to make the journey. The entire 2008 season was a road racing based series as opposed to the Oval circuits. This incorporated trips to Snetterton, Cadwell Park, Lydden Race Circuit, Brands Hatch, Pembrey Circuit, Mallory Park and the French race track at Croix en Ternois.

Past champions[]

Ben Collins on his way to winning the 2003 ASCAR championship

Year	#	Driver	Points	Team
2008	–	Duncan Jones	–	–
2007	78	Colin White	1940	CWS Racing
2006	88		1985	Team West-Tec
2005	28		2245	Team West-Tec
2004	24		2010
2003	84	Ben Collins	2299	RML
2002	8	Nicolas Minassian	2535	RML
2001	24	John Mickel	860

List of race winners[]

Wins	Driver	Seasons competed
13	Colin White	2001–2007
10	Oli Playle	2003–2006
9	Ian McKellar Jr.	2002–2005
	Michael Vergers	2001, 2003–2005
7	Ben Collins	2002–2004
6	Darren Turner	2002
5	John Mickel	2001–2005
3	Kelvin Burt	2002
	Stevie Hodgson	2002–2005
2	Kevin McGarrity	2002
	Roland Rehfeld	2002–2003
	Hunter Abbott	2005–2007
1	John Steward	2001–2007
	Rob Speak	2001–2004
	Nicolas Minassian	2002
	Darren Manning	2002
	Lee O'Keefe	2002, 2006–2007
		2004, 2006–2007

Notable Drivers[]

Season	Driver	Team(s)
2001	Amanda Stretton	Team West-Tec
2001–2004	Rob Speak	Team West-Tec, Colin Blower Motorsport, Team Turn Four
2001	John Cleland	Cleland SpeedSport
2001–2005	Mark Proctor	Oughtred & Harrison, Fast Tec Motorsport
2001–2005	John Mickel	TorqueSpeed
2001–2007	Colin White	CWS Racing
2001	Aaron Slight	TJ Motorsport
2002	Kevin McGarrity	Hodgson Motorsport
2002	Kelvin Burt	RML Group
2002	Nicolas Minassian	RML Group
2002–2004	Ben Collins	Fast Tec Motorsport, RML Group, Team Turn Four
2002	Paula Cook	Fast Tec Motorsport
2002	Randy Tolsma	Deuce Racing
2002	Brandon Whitt	Deuce Racing
2002	Toby Scheckter	Deuce Racing
2002–2003	Derek Hayes	Deuce Racing, Team West-Tec, Team HTML
2002	Colin McRae	Xcel Motorsport
2002	Darren Manning	Xcel Motorsport
2002	Matt Neal	Xcel Motorsport
2002	Jason Plato	Xcel Motorsport
2002	Darren Turner	Team HTML
2003	Steve Grissom	RML Group
2003–	Andrew Kirkaldy	Xcel Motorsport
2003	Kieran Dynes	Scott Racing Services
2003	Max Papis	Team HTML
2004, 2006	Steve Dance	TorqueSpeed, Team Catchpole Racing
2004	Chris Harris	TorqueSpeed
2005	Gavin Seager	Kidd Richardson Racing
2005–2006	Hunter Abbott	TorqueSpeed, Steward Racing
2006–2007	Pete Wilkinson	Team Ranger Racing
2006	Paul Poulter	Steward Racing
2007–2008	Carl Boardley	CB Racing

See also[]

A panorama of Rockingham Motor Speedway

• Hot Rods (oval racing)
• Pickup Truck Racing
• NASCAR Whelen Euro Series
• NASCAR

External links[]

• Official website