JamesHigdon

NASCAR going Hybrid in 2024 So, hear me out here, I think this is great. I don’t think there’s a single person here who would argue that NASCAR was at its best when they where racing actual stock cars with motors we could recognize from our street cars. I think this is a way NASCAR could let the manufacturers actually have some influence on the outcome of the race again and draw much more robust influence from them. An “additive” hybrid system like already used in some forms of racing that didn’t replace the traditional gas engines but instead added an extra 50-100hp on demand would be as “stock” as anything NASCAR vehicles have seen in years. Batteries, motors and systems developed by the manufacturer would mean a Chevy was a Chevy, a Ford was a Ford, etc. I personally think NASCAR should be running nearly stock truck V8s (GM’s 5.3L, Ford 5.0L and Toyota’s 5.7L) and parallel hybrid would be amazing with that addition. Maybe we could even go back to V6’s for the Xfinity cars…back to the “win on Sunday sell on Monday mentality”. I know a lot of people got angry at the idea of NASCAR’s electrification but IF implemented well I see zero dow side here?

I know it’s a way-long shot but I’m looking for more pictures (or event-program info) of this car that ran SAS in the mid eighties. The car was run by my father (Tracy Higdon) and uncle (Corry Higdon) as what I believe was called a Super Street Stock in approximately ‘86-87 (I was roughly 2 in that picture which would have made it ‘87). My father (in the picture holding me) passed just over a month ago and I’m trying to gather up as many pictures of their race cars as exist. Thanks for anyone that can dig anything up!

Been busy with family commitments but I’m going to take the info here, expand on it and make a comprehensive list. I want to try and include everything; Mud Drags, Kart Ovals (L87, Richmond, etc), airport dragstrip, mile-1/2mile events, etc. Thank you.

Great; I’ll take a look, thanks!

I think I'm going to start working on a list; could be a fun project and I think it'll help show people what's really still here. You up to help reb?

As I’ve wandered deeper down the rabbit-hole that preparing my sons circle-track kart is I’ve realized there seems to be dirt track karts popping up all over. L87, Shiner, Riverside, I37, I’ve heard on about one near Rockport, etc. Is there a comprehensive list of tracks in Texas anywhere? I mean everything from Quarter Midget tracks to Mud-Drag tracks to NASCAR Cup tracks. It’s easy to name every asphalt circle track running in TX but can anyone name all the dirt tracks, theres got to be more than a dozen?

I was pretty down on the SRX deal to start off with; not enough cars and they looked goofy as humanly possible but damn the racing was great! Anyone else really enjoy the event at Stafford? I’m looking forward to the Slinger race more than anything that’s come up in years.

Oh come on; a weekly racer won a race at a weekly track on CBS just last Saturday…sort of!

Yessir; it popped up about a half dozen places yesterday afternoon but I hadn’t seen it at alL before that.

I agree; the fence just wasn’t enough.

CNN Article, Mud Drags Death. Hadn’t seen or heard anything about this until today, bad deal.

For such horrible weather and planning the racing has been great and the crowd has blown me away. All the general admission parking is straight mud pits; it’s going to be like San Antonio Speedway at 2am after a rainout here at about 7pm...this is about the 5th time that’s happened out here you figure they’d learn? Most of the sitting areas are pretty full though; it’s good to see.

Probably not a great dirt-circle track kart but it would be...entertaining to see the attempt.

Wow; glad to hear the event is doing well. The track ended up allowing wagons (but not strollers...who knows) so we will be up there with our kids at least Saturday. Should be a lot of fun...for a state where “racing is dead” it’s great to see multiple NASCAR races, multiple IRL races and F1.

If you scroll down farther in the same thread they say they're planning on a dirt oval after this project is complete. Looking forward to getting my son's kart out on the new karting track soon!

Yup; the view is better the closer you are to turn 1 but we typically get there about race time, end up closer to 2 and you can still see everything pretty well. It’s better if you’re in the back of a truck or in our case sitting on top of my beater suburban. I’ve got a 19 month old and 6 year old, my sisters family (who usually comes with us) has 3 ranging from 1 to 8; sitting with our cars is SO much easier. We can let the kids run around and raise hell without bothering people which makes it a lot easier to enjoy the races. COTA who is bound to have access to some pretty bright people should be able to figure out not many families are going to put up with their nonsense especially at a time when a lot of people with kids aren’t going to want to be crammed into shuttle buses. It’s almost like they just don’t give a damn if people go or not?

At I37 we can bring our own beer and back right up to the turn 1 fence to watch. It’s better than watching races at home but CoTA seems to be going out of their way to make things difficult...we spend a lot of money out there (went to their Christmas show WITH NO BATHROOMS 3 times!) but they’re making it harder and harder to justify.

So; we bought tickets for Saturday which they billed as "family day" but their rules are completely asinine. We've probably been to a dozen races at CoTA, never had an issue. Now there's no bags (except for a hand-sized clear bag with only clear things in it) and no strollers. We where taking a group of 9 with 5 kids of which the oldest is 8 and the youngest are both 1. If I get clarification those are really the rules they're going with we are canceling our tickets and going to I37 instead.

Hadn’t seen it mentioned it so I’ll do it; the Bristol Dirt Nationals are running live all week on the racexr.com streaming service. I downloaded their app (onto my TV, can watch it on pretty much anything) and am watching the 10th 13 car IMCA Stock Car heat race of the night live. It’s $39.00 for a month (re-occurring if you don’t cancel) and their tech support is excellent. The racing is pretty amazing; I expected it to be a mess but these racers and track staff have it dialed in. They’re running 3&4 wide and the late models are getting ready to go; well worth the price.

Support your local dirt track; travel to the only asphalt track currently running.

"Sorry guys but the biggest reason why it won't work is because all of these cars are sheetmetal. None of them have frames on any strength anymore. Yes, you can roadrace them because they don't condone contact and contact is inherent to circle track." Most modern cars aren't much different than a Camaro; a unibody with a front stub. I know a few people that have circle track raced full unibody cars without issue. It's certainly a different deal but not a deal breaker. "IMHO, you want to fix Sat night racing, body the cars to appear modern. I can't think of anyone young or old, that doesn't prefer the sound of a V8 over anything else. Second, each class needs its own look. Hate to say it but when Super Stocks look like late models, it's confusing to the uneducated." The cars I'm talking about are all V8 powered and this would be a great way to maintain a true differentiation between classes. "Cost containment is the issue, tires are too high, shocks are insane and crate motors are always under question, pit passes are tough while payouts haven't kept up with rising costs of racing. " I agree completely and that's the point of this to a large degree. People are buying professionally built Hobby Stocks, thats insane. Stock cars in local classes need to be coming from wrecking yards not chassis shops.

Second gen Camaro's are unibody with a subframe, most modern cars are exactly the same. I knew a guy that raced a Lincoln Mark VIII (Unibody with no subframe) with no issues, we can get around that I think.

This is what I'm talking about...in the 90's guys where running G-bodies but for the most part stock car racing never advanced past that. As soon as carbs went away most guys just threw their hands up and said "thats it I'll keep my 80 MonteCarlo" but guys my age have zero issues tuning and working on these modern cars so why not try them? When CTS was running strong a buddy of mine decided he wanted something different and built a Lincoln Mark VIII. The car ran as a Grand Stock and with a 264 CID DOHC V8 kept up with the other cars and won a feature or two. There is no reason the modern cars couldn't have advanced alongside the older cars they just didn't

I'm talking more about stock car specifically; RWD Sedans ranging from CUP to local Hobby Stock level cars and what they represent in relation to modern street cars. I grant that younger people are more into other things but THAT is what I'm speaking to. If local short tracks where running cars kids had grown up with maybe kids would be more interested in Stock Car racing than instagram?

Halo classes tend to have less to do with street cars than maximum performance; Outlaws, Top Fuel, F1, etc. I'm talking more specifically about stock cars and what they represent. I guess the question is would stock car racing specifically be better of if divisions from NASCAR down to bombers had kept advancing with RWD Sedans vs what we have now? As far as tuning the cars and keeping them running my shop works on everything from '29 Chevrolets to 2021 Porsches, I'm as comfortable with a Quadrajet drilling idle bypass holes as I am dialing in idle air flow with a laptop and HPTuners so I can speak to that more than most. I don't think there's as much difference there as one would think. Most guys work with specialists to setup their cars; suspension guys, carb guys, etc; a modern car would be no different and I don't think it would be inherently more complicated.