Dirt racing is a form of motorsports that takes place on a dirt or clay-surfaced oval racetracks that are often used for thoroughbred horse racing.
Dirt track racing began in the United States before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and 1930s using both automobiles and motorcycles.
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While open-wheel purpose-built racing vehicles, stock cars (also known as fender cars) can be modified to varying degrees. There are hundreds of local and regional racetracks across the nation, especially in Tennessee.
Track
A dirt track should be rolled and watered as needed the morning of the race with a final light watering, just before the wheels are packed. Outdoor dirt tracks are typically aerated to 12″ deep. the freshly polished track surface is aerated with a tiller or power tiller to loosen the now compacted top layer and help with further water penetration for a wetter track on race day. Irrigation is repeated as needed based on weather, location, and soil composition. The use of offset arm nozzles on tank trucks will prevent the grinding of aerated soil.
Built In Tennessee
Nearly all tracks are oval and less than 1 mile (1.6 km) in length, with most being ½ mile (804 m) or less. The most common increments in the US are ½ mile, ⅜ mile (603 m), ⅓ mile (536 m), ¼ mile (402 m), and ⅛ mile (201 m). With the longer tracks, the race cars reach higher speeds of up to 160mph (257km), and the intervals between cars increase. This decreases the chance of crashes but increases the damage and chance of injury when cars collide.
Full body cars
Full-body cars, sometimes referred to as stock cars, are vehicles that, unlike open-wheel cars, have fenders that cover all of the wheels.
Full-bodied cars can range from full-tube chassis and the latest aluminum-bodied models to cars made by major automakers with certain modifications allowed for each class.
Modified production cars
These cars are modified manufactured automobiles. There is a high degree of variability between classes of modified cars. Lower divisions of modified production cars may be entirely stock, except that the interior or windshields are removed.
Dirt tracks tend to be somewhat more improvised and more versatile than asphalt pavements and can be converted for use in other motorsports. For example, Little Valley Speedway in Little Valley, New York is a half-mile dirt track that can be converted to a figure 8, demolition derby, or pulled tractor immediately.
On NASCAR-sanctioned dirt tracks, drivers can compete against drivers from other NASCAR-sanctioned tracks, both paved and dirt, for the state and provincial where the top player will win the national championship.
All of Dirt’s late-model drivers won NASCAR’s first championship of its kind in 1982, and these drivers have frequently won regional and national championships in the 30-year history of the NASCAR short-track championship, which only applies to the local (non-touring) racing divisions.