Endurance racing & stock cars: Do they have anything in common? | Articles

What does endurance and oval-track racing have in common? More than you realize. And both can learn something from each other.

Prior to joining Grassroots Motorsports earlier this year, I had been intimately involved in oval-track racing for more than two decades. A little more than a week ago, I covered my first full endurance racing event–the Lucky Dog Racing League event at Carolina Motorsports Park.

As the races went on, I experienced several instances of déjà vu. The world of long-distance road racing certainly has a lot in common with the short tracks I cut my teeth at.

Both Follow an Old Adage

To finish first, you must first finish.

Cliché? Very much so.

Accurate? Absolutely.

Road racers often say oval-trackers overbuild their cars. Well, try racing door handle to door handle, lap after lap, on a tight quarter-mile.

Contact is inevitable. Oval-track car builders construct their cars to last. But, how is that any different for endurance racers?

While road racing discourages contact, two 7-hour races test the durability of a machine. Instead of a fellow competitor rattling a car, the constant braking, accelerating, cornering, and maybe the riding a curb or two do it instead.

Unlike stock cars, which often hardly have anything stock, many of the cars at the Lucky Dog event were relatively true to their showroom roots. It impresses me that they go the distance. The parts on these cars weren’t designed for racing–they were designed for fetching groceries. However, several teams had their weekends come to a close early when parts failed.

Things need to stay cool, lubed and, most importantly, together. That applies whether you’re going seven hours on a 2-plus-mile road course or 100 laps on an oval less than a half-mile.

In the Pits

The Lucky Dog Racing League required teams at CMP to stay in their pit for seven…