History UsefulNotes / Motorsports

* UsefulNotes/TwentyFourHoursOfLeMans

[[Film/DaysOfThunder DO NOT HIT IT.]] In fact, don't even pass it without authorization; the whole point is that you're supposed to go as slow as it is. (If somehow the safety car is damaged or has a problem of its own, this rule may be waived. This HAS happened!)

Thankfully, safety improvements in the major series have made injuries and deaths far less common than they used to be. Not so thankfully, major ones only came after deaths of well-known and well-loved (or hated) competitors - namely, Ayrton Senna in Formula 1 (1994 San Marino Grand Prix) and Dale Earnhardt, Sr. in the NASCAR Cup Series(2001 Daytona 500).

Reflecting its humble, blue-collar origins, stock car racing has always had a reputation for being more aggressive and down-and-dirty its open-wheel counterparts. Using one's car to push and/or shove competitors, a criminal offense in open-wheel racing, is perfectly acceptable (and even encouraged) in stock car racing, and many, many races over the years have been determined by this. (Deliberately wrecking competitors is still frowned upon.[[note]]Such behavior invariably draws fines and/or suspensions; however, in the 2015 fall race at Martinsville, a short track in Virginia, Matt Kenseth spun out Joey Logano and was ''cheered by the crowd''. The move was seen as payback for an incident two weeks earlier at Kansas where Logano spun out Kenseth while battling for the lead, with said spinout costing Kenseth any chance at the season championship.[[/note]])

Stock car racing has its origins in Prohibition, where moonshine runners in the American South would use ubiquitous but illegally modified road vehicles to evade the police. When Prohibition ended, the moonshiners had nothing to do, until someone got the idea to organize races. These became popular entertainment in the South, and soon dirt ovals sprung up all across the region. NASCAR was founded after World War II in 1948 by businessman Bill France Sr. as a way to consolidate and organize these widely disparate races. By the 1970s, the races had mostly moved from dirt to paved tracks. An explosion in popularity in the 1980s and 1990s, coupled with some [[{{Understatement}} slight disputes]] within IndyCar sanctioning organization(s), cemented NASCAR's place atop the American racing hierarchy.

Reflecting its humble, blue-collar origins, stock car racing has always had a reputation for being more aggressive and down-and-dirty its open-wheel counterparts. Using one's car to push and/or shove competitors, a criminal offense in open-wheel racing, is perfectly acceptable (and even encouraged) in stock car racing, and many, many races over the years have been determined by this. (Deliberately wrecking competitors is still frowned upon.)

Stock car racing is arguably a branch of Touring Car racing, as stock cars have many elements of touring cars(modified usually 4-door production cars), including body similarity and strength, specialization, and frequency of car contact during races.

The most famous endurance race is the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin racing for 24 hours straight around the circuit at Le Mans]]. Since few, if any, people have the sheer willpower, strength, or stamina to drive race cars for 24 hours straight,[[note]]for that matter, it's outright banned, and there's also a rule that says individual drivers can't race more than four hours in any given six hour period[[/note]] each car will usually be driven by a team of 3 or 4 drivers who take shifts.

* BLUE: A faster car behind you (often almost a full lap ahead of you) is about to pass. This is often called a 'courtesy' flag, and you have no formal obligation to let him by(Except for most open-wheel series, especially Formula One and support)
* BLACK: Go directly to the pits. Either your car has a mechanical problem that makes you a moving hazard(e.g. oil leaking onto the track), for which you get no penalty, or you do get a penalty-for reckless driving, leaving the track/cutting corners, speeding in the pit lane, and a multitude of other infractions-and must return to the pits to serve it-if the incident severe enough you will likely be disqualified.

Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Floridas one of the better known ''tri-ovals''; one side of the oval has a small curvein it, making it resemble a triangle. This came about because Bill France Sr., NASCAR's founder and the designer of Daytona (and its sister track Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama, the next best known tri-oval) wanted a frontstretch design that would improve line of sight for fans so those at the edges of the grandstands wouldn't have to crane their necks so much as the cars ran around the track. As of 1988, NASCAR and other sactioning bodies with Daytona and Talladega require any cars racing around their ovals to have restrictor plates on the cars, which reduces their horsepower and acceleration, which in turn lowers speeds and makes racing safer. For this reason, they are referred to as "plate superspeedways" or just "plate tracks".

1.15 miles or less in length, these tracks are cheap to build, feature various banking levels, and often produce the closest and most exciting racing. While several paved ovals, such as Bristol Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Richmond Raceway, Iowa Speedway, and ISM Raceway(Phoenix) exist, there are hundreds of short dirt ovals around that are very cheap to race on.

Most racers don't like being passed. Basically, this means putting your car so it ... blocks another. This can be dangerous; Carl Edwards tried this twice in the final lap of a race in 2009. He got away with one move. The second, Brad Keselowski was already at his fender. Edwards's car ended up in the catch fence. (The fence ABOVE the retaining wall.) NASCAR lets nature enforce blocking restrictions (as mentioned); other leagues may prohibit it (to avoid things like that).

Ever since the earliest days of the automobile, there have been folks who have attempted to organize races. While there were earlier attempts (included a few farces where only one competitor showed up), the first race is universally agreed to have been the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris%E2%80%93Rouen_(motor_race) Paris-Rouen]] in 1894. Within two decades, the first purpose-built racetracks had sprung up around the world.

Ever since the earliest days of the automobile, there have been folks who have attempted to organize races. While there were earlier attempts (included a few farces where only one competitor showed up), the first race is universally agreed to have been the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris–Rouen_(motor_race) Paris-Rouen]] in 1894. Within two decades, the first purpose-built racetracks had sprung up around the world.

Thankfully, safety improvements in the major series have made injuries and far less common than they used to be, and deaths on the racetrack a near impossibility. Not so thankfully, major ones only came after deaths of well-known and well-loved (or hated) competitors - namely, Ayrton Senna in Formula 1 (1994 San Marino Grand Prix) and Dale Earnhardt, Sr. in the NASCAR Cup Series(2001 Daytona 500).

UsefulNotes/FormulaOne

UsefulNotes/IndyCar

UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}}

UsefulNotes/TwentyFourHoursOfLeMans

UsefulNotes/{{Rallying}}

UsefulNotes/WorldRallyChampionship

UsefulNotes/UnitedSportsCarChampionship

Motorsport is an incredibly broad category of sports that is incredibly simple to define: it's any competition involving something with a mechanical engine. Obviously, motorsport includes auto racing, which is by far the most famous type. What most people don't realize however, is that motorsport includes competitions - racing and non-racing - of anything (and we mean ''anything'') with a motor, from aircraft to watercraft to snowmobiles to [[MundaneMadeAwesome lawnmowers.]]

Ever since the earliest days of the automobile, there have been folks who have attempted to organize races. While there were earlier attempts (included a few farces where only one competitor showed up), the first race is universally agreed to have been the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris–Rouen_(motor_race) Paris-Rouen]] in 1894. Within two decades, the first purpose-built racetracks had sprung up

Naturally, with even the smallest race cars being larger than the average person, and going at speeds well above accepted road speed limits, safety has always been a major concern - both for the drivers and for the spectators. Especially in auto racing's early days, fatal accidents were ''incredibly'' common. The deadliest accident in motorsport history was the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1955_Le_Mans_disaster 1955 Le Mans disaster,]] where a car flew into the crowd and killed 84 people. That incident led to auto racing being banned in several countries, including Switzerland (where it remains banned to this day).

Thankfully, safety improvements in the major series have made even injuries far less common than they used to be, and deaths on the racetrack a near impossibility. Not so thankfully, those safety improvements only came after deaths of well-known and well-loved (or hated) competitors - namely, Ayrton Senna in Formula 1 (1994) and Dale Earnhardt, Sr. in NASCAR (2001).

Safety improvements can take many forms, of course. Car construction is the most obvious means, but driver items (like the HANS device) were brought to the fore after Earnhardt's death, along with the 'SAFER' barrier meant to reduce the forces of a crash into a wall. Even procedures can be changed, whether how to reply to a caution period or what a driver should do after a wreck.

Open-wheel racing is the most well-known form of auto racing worldwide, and sanctioning bodies include UsefulNotes/FormulaOne and UsefulNotes/IndyCar. It is so named since the cars have no fenders, and the wheels are "open."

Stock car racing is the most well-known form of auto racing [[OnlyInAmerica in America]], where the highest-level sanctioning body is UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}}. Stock car racing is named because, initially, the cars were the same cars that were sold to everyone on the market ("stock"). As any fan can tell you though, as time went on, the cars became less and less "stock," and by the 2000s, the manufacturer decals (and likely not even those) [[ArtifactTitle were possibly the only thing "stock" left.]]

Stock car racing has its origins in Prohibition, where moonshine runners in the American South would use ubiquitous but illegally modified road vehicles to evade the police. When Prohibition ended, the moonshiners had nothing to do, until someone got the idea to organize races. These became popular entertainment in the South, and soon dirt ovals sprung up all across the region. NASCAR was founded after World War II as a way to consolidate and organize these widely disparate races. By the 1970s, the races had moved from dirt to paved tracks. An explosion in popularity in the 1980s and 1990s, coupled with some [[{{Understatement}} slight disputes]] within the Indy Car sanctioning organization(s), cemented NASCAR's place atop the American racing hierarchy.

!!Endurance racing

The most famous endurance race is the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin racing for 24 hours straight around the circuit at Le Mans]]. Since few, if any, people have the sheer willpower to drive race cars for 24 hours straight,[[note]]for that matter, it's outright banned, and there's also a rule that says individual drivers can't race more than four hours in any given six hour period[[/note]] each car will usually be driven by a team of 3 or 4 drivers who take shifts.

Notable North American endurance races include the Rolex 24 at Daytona[[note]]yes, [[UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} that Daytona]], although they utilize a special infield road course that primarily diverges from the oval just past pit road before rejoining at the entrance to turn one[[/note]] and the 12 Hours of Sebring, which both race under the Tudor UsefulNotes/UnitedSportsCarChampionship banner in 2014, after several years of being administrated by rival sports car racing bodies - the Rolex Sports Car Series for Daytona and the American Le Mans Series for Sebring.

Despite advances in communications, radios, lighting, and so forth, one constant in just about any motorsports event is some guy waving a flag. There may be just one at the start/finish line at a local quarter-mile dirt track, or perhaps one with some assistants at Daytona ... or a bunch of them scattered around a long road course at various stations. However many there are, their main purpose is to control and direct the competitors. These can vary amongst sanctioning bodies, but a few stand out.

* YELLOW: Caution. Something's wrong. Don't race; just proceed calmly, and no passing for position (unless the other guy just can't keep up at the reduced pace). Some racing bodies (UsefulNotes/FormulaOne being the most notable) will have these in sections for minor incidents, a 'local caution' or 'local yellow', with a green flag waving past the point to signal all's well. More severe incidents can cause a 'full course caution', or more often 'safety car' period: the entire track is put under caution conditions and a safety car is sent out to set the pace. Most oval tracks don't bother with 'local' cautions; NASCAR doesn't bother with them even on their road courses. In these cases, all cautions are run behind a pace car.
* RED: Stop. Whatever happened, all drivers will be directed to a certain area and told to just park it. Mild reasons include not wanting the last laps of a race to be run under a full-course caution, or rain on an oval course. Major reasons include things like 'track blocked by wrecks and/or debris', 'cars upside down', 'walls broken', or 'driver laid out on ground in pain after bad wreck'.
* BLUE: A faster car behind you (often almost a full lap ahead of you) is about to pass. This is often called a 'courtesy' flag, and you have no formal obligation to let him by. (Formula One is a little more strict with this one.)
* BLACK: Uh oh. Go to the pits. Go directly to the pits. Do not pass 'Go', et cetera. Some bodies will have variants for different reasons, but in general you do not want to see this.
* CHEQUERED: Well, except this one. End of the race.

Best known for NASCAR and sprint car races, these tracks are generally oval shaped. Go fast and turn left. Asphalt or dirt, this is generally where an aspiring stock car driver will start his or her career, often at a local speedway. These can range from 0.25 mile local tracks to 2.5 mile super speedways.

Naturally, some folks just can't make do with an oval. Daytona International Speedway is one of the better known ''tri-ovals''; one side of the oval has a little kink in it, making it resemble a triangle. This came about because Big Bill France, NASCAR's founder and the designer of Daytona (and its sister track Talladega, the next best known tri-oval) wanted a frontstretch design that would improve line of sight for fans so those at the edges of the grandstands wouldn't have to crane their necks so much as the cars ran around the track.

Inspired from when races were held on actual roads, these courses feature multiple turns in either direction (although generally moving either clockwise or counterclockwise). They're still purpose-built, and may feature different configurations for different racing leagues or sanctioning bodies.

!!Streets

Some venues aren't purpose-built tracks. Instead, with the support of the local government, streets will be closed off for racing, whether a few blocks for go-karts in Illinois, or the famed Circuit de Monaco for Formula One. In any case, temporary walls/fences/barricades will be set up to help contain things.

!!Off-road

No tyre will last 300 miles of heavy racing, and race cars are not known for fuel efficiency. Pit stops (done on 'pit road') allow a crew to replace tyres and fuel during a race on a circuit (road or oval), and make various adjustments. This can range from adjusting handling setups to mending minor damage to replacing the driver. Pit road can get congested, of course, especially if for some reason (say, a full course caution) everyone decides to get service done. Note that there are no formal time outs--if you spend 20 seconds changing tyres, and everyone else spends 13, you've lost 7 seconds. And possibly your job as a tyre changer.

Of course, track conditions and tire composition can affect whether one line or another is even viable for racing. For instance, NASCAR's oldest track, Martinsville Speedway, has turns that are banked at 12 degress, which is relatively flat by their standards, and are extremely tight, in much the same way as "hairpin" turns at road courses. Naturally, many drivers approach these turns in the same manner as a hairpin, trying to outbrake their competition going into the turns, something that's more effective on the bottom. Additionally, tire wear at Martinsville tends to take the form of "marbles", large pieces of rubber that sit loosely on the track instead of being matted in like the smaller pieces that allow for increased grip during the course of the race. These pieces collect on the outer grooves, and when they adhere to the tires, they cause the cars to lose grip, which forces a driver to slow down even more or risk spinning out. Because of these two factors, the bottom lane is the only viable lane at Martinsville, and to some degree or another most other flat tracks that NASCAR runs at.

This refers to following another car in its aerodynamic wake. Two cars doing this can drive faster than one, or it can allow a rear car to slingshot around a front one. Note that [[RammingAlwaysWorks 'bump drafting']] is not really aerodynamic about how it speeds up the car in front ...

[[Film/DaysOfThunder DO NOT HIT IT.]] In fact, don't even pass it without authorisation; the whole point is that you're supposed to go as slow as it is. (If somehow the safety car is wrecked, this rule may be waived. This HAS happened!)

Naturally, with even the smallest race cars being larger than the average person, and going at speeds well above accepted road speed limits, safety has always been a major concern - both for the drivers and for the spectators. Especially in auto racing's early days, fatal accidents were ''incredibly'' common. The deadliest accident in motorsport history was the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1955_Le_Mans_disaster 1955 Le Mans disaster]], where a car flew into the crowd and killed 84 people. That incident led to auto racing being banned in several countries, including Switzerland (where it remains banned to this day).