Historic Stock Car Racing Series
The Historic Stock Car Racing Series is an auto racing organization based on the West Coast of the United States that was founded by San Jose, California, businessman John Davis in 1994 with a mandate to register, preserve, restore, and continue showcasing authentic NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock cars in friendly competition.
History
Prior to the formation of the HSCRS, the few existing participants were limited to participating in vintage racing events and were often relegated to sub-groups that paired the 3400-lb. machines with much smaller vintage race cars that ranged from diminutive European compacts to Shelby Mustangs, Corvettes, and Cobras.While this was initially done because there were not enough of the former NASCAR race cars to be treated as their own group, it revealed vast differences in speed and performance between the various types of cars. Although car-to-car contact is considered a grave offense in vintage racing, racing accidents are inevitable. There began a growing concern that even minor contact between a massive purpose-built NASCAR racer and its smaller and lighter street-based counterpart could be devastating to the smaller car and especially to the driver.
While the cars were originally raced in NASCAR-sanctioned events, the group is not associated with NASCAR. The businesses and corporations that once sponsored these cars do not provide any compensation to the current owners, nor do they assume any liability for the continued competition of these race cars. Still, the cars are maintained in their original livery for accurate historical representation. As such, the group has raced at a number of venues, including the San Jose Grand Prix, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Portland International, and Infineon Raceway, where they have run as a support race group for the Champ Car, the Daytona Prototypes, the Camping World West Series, and the SCCA Trans Am Series.
Rules & regulations
Vehicles
The cars that are raced by HSCRS members are retired and privately owned Winston Cup stock cars, with a few Busch Grand National stock cars grandfathered into the group. The newest HSCRS car is a 1995. Owners and drivers who wish to join the HSCRS are required to demonstrate that their car is a verifiable NASCAR stock car that, with a few exceptions allowed on behalf of driver safety, has been restored to its original racing condition.One of the foremost reasons for maintaining 1995 and older vehicles for the Historic Stock Car Racing Series is the continuing evolution in modern stock car technology since then. These improvements make contemporary cars able to go faster, stop quicker, and turn better than traditional, historic stock cars, leaving older cars far less competitive than their newer counterparts. Another concern is that allowing the last year of eligibility to also grow with each passing year of NASCAR competition would further water down the "historic" nature of the HSCRS, the very principle of its origin. The feeling at the HSCRS is that it takes time to acquire historic or vintage significance and that if one wants to own and race a contemporary car, the venue for one is not the vintage circles or the Historic Stock Car Racing Series but in the pro ranks.