ASCAR Racing Series

The ASCAR Mintex Cup made its debut in 2001 with the first ever race being held at the Rockingham Motor Speedway on 26 May, the race was won by former two-time BTCC champion John Cleland for his Chevrolet-powered Cleland Speedsport team. The event that took part in front of 12,000 fans saw Cleland qualify on pole, however he had to fight back to win the race which had seen six-different race leaders ^[1] Further rounds at Rockingham, Knockhill Racing Circuit in Scotland, EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Germany and Mondello Park in Ireland were cancelled due to a fuel pickup issue, so Round 2 didn't hit the calendar until 26 August back at Rockingham. The initial season saw 14 teams fielding 21 cars with the season eventually being won by John Mickel of Torquespeed, by beating Dutchman Michael Vergers in the final race by 0.2 seconds, winning the title despite only two wins to Vergers three. Following his championship win, Mickel stated "I owe it all to my crew. We've grown up around the short ovals together and most of them have been with me since I was 10, they didn't let me down. They won it for me."^[2]

The 2002 season saw the peak number of drivers racing in the series with 37 taking part during the year, representing a total of 13 teams. Each race event would partner the BRSCC Pickup Truck Racing, with the series being split between six-events at Rockingham, and two in Lausitz consisting of a total of 20 rounds. The season saw its first American competitors compete as NASCAR drivers Randy Tolsma and Brandon Whitt both drove the no.48 Deuce Racing car, whereas Colin McRae, Darren Manning, Matt Neal and Jason Plato all joined XCEL Motorsport. Darren Turner registered six-wins during the season but having missed the opening five-rounds he would only place 7th in the Championship with the title going to French driver Nicolas Minassian of RML Group who only won the one race back in Round 2.^[3]

In 2003 the series took on the additional name of "Days of Thunder" after the film of the same name, the season was reduced to 13 rounds spanning over 8 events at both Rockingham and Lausitz. Minassian's replacement at RML, Ben Collins took six race victories, all coming in the final eight rounds of the season. In 2004 the ASCAR label was dropped completely and the series was labelled as the "Days of Thunder Racing Series", the series also dropped the Germany races due to the costs involved and the projected grid numbers of cars willing to make the journey. The season which now ran exclusively from Rockingham was won by Stevie Hodgson of TorqueSpeed.

2005 saw the series renamed once again "Stock Car Speed Association" (SCSA) after a link-up with the American Speed Association and incorporated the Pickup Truck Racing Series under the same banner. Michael Vergers who had been with the series since the inaugural season took the title for Team West-Tec winning three of the twelves rounds which once more were all held at Rockingham. In 2006 the SCSA and Pickup Truck Racing ran at Rockingham as part of the "Thunder Sundays" package organised by the BRSCC. The series continued to field only the twelve rounds and the participating number of drivers was moved down to 18. Oli Playle took the title with a dominating season scoring eight race wins.

The SCSA name remained for 2007; as part of a new sponsorship deal competitors competed for the 'SCSA MAC Tools V8 Trophy'. On Wednesday 5 September, British motorsport publication Motorsport News reported that the SCSA would come to an end after the final race of this season. However, the teams, and the organisers of the Mac Tools V8 Trophy vowed to continue in 2008, whether as a MSA Sanctioned championship, or just as a "series". The final recognised oval racing season was won by Colin White, with the field reduced once more to seven rounds, competed by only 15 drivers. 2008 heralded a new direction for the series with a focus on road courses due to a lack of dates offered by the oval tracks. The cars ran as part of the VSR Series, with the stock cars known as the VSR V8 Trophy. In 2009 the series joined with CAMSO V8 to form the new European Late Model Series.

In 2003 the series took on the additional name of "Days of Thunder" after the film of the same name. This was done as a marketing tool as starting in this year they promoted the series as a day out for all the family and had appearances from bands such as Busted and The Darkness.

ASCAR fielded the latest NASCAR Generation 4 variant race machines at the time, a combined field of 5.7 litre V8s tuned to 470 bhp & sporting Ford Taurus, Chevrolet Monte Carlo or Pontiac Grand Prix body shells.^[4]

In 1992, the Gen 4 car arrived at the sport when steel bodies became primarily custom made instead of using stock pieces, and wind tunnels became a staple as teams worked to gain aerodynamics.^[5] At racing speeds approaching 200 miles per hour, a modern NASCAR race car can generate enough lift to get airborne if it spins sideways. To keep cars firmly planted, roof flaps were required in 1994.^{[citation needed]}

1994 was also the final year that V6 engines were used in the Busch Series, as many short track series had abandoned six-cylinder engines.^{[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]}

In 1995, Chevrolet switched back to the Monte Carlo, which started the trend of rounder body shapes in Cup and the then-Busch Series. In 1998, Ford introduced the Taurus, which was the first four-door stock car model approved for NASCAR competition in the modern era.^{[citation needed]}

The Gen 4 car was used full time until 2007, and it was retired in the Cup Series after the 2007 season (in which Toyota, who had already competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, made their debut in the Cup and the then-Busch Series with the Camry), while the other sixteen races were run by the fifth-generation Car of Tomorrow. The Car of Tomorrow went full-time in 2008, with the second-tier series adopting their own Car of Tomorrow first part-time in 2010 and full-time the following year. Body panels in the style of the Gen 4 car continue to be manufactured by Five Star Race Car Bodies, and were legal in the ARCA Racing Series until 2020, when composite-bodied cars in the style of the Generation 6 were mandated (despite this, modern ARCA cars still use Gen 4 chassis). As of 2022, the Gen 4 car is still legal in the ARCA Menards Series West and East (though Dodge body panels are illegal); Hailie Deegan scored her first NASCAR win at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway dirt track in a Gen 4 Toyota Camry in 2019.

In the generation's final years, aerodynamic development led to some of the cars (otherwise known as "offset" bodies) being called "twisted sisters" in reference to the asymmetrical shapes of the car's body. The Car of Tomorrow, by contrast, featured a symmetrical body in order to curb aerodynamic development wars in an attempt to cut costs.

The inaugural championship in 2001 was won by future NASCAR driver John Mickel racing for Torquespeed.^[2] In 2002 French driver Nicolas Minassian of RML Group arrived from CART and took the title.^[3] Further Champions were Ben Collins in 2003,^[13] who also worked as The Stig on Top Gear during his ASCAR tenure,^[14] Stevie Hodgson, Michael Vergers, Oli Playle and Colin White.

Although most of the field often included a field of British professional and semi-professional stock car drivers, a number of well-known racing drivers from across a wide variety of series competed, often racing either single races or for one full season. They included former WRC champion Colin McRae,^[15] ex Formula 1 drivers Max Papis^[16] and Kelvin Burt,^[17] former IndyCar series driver Darren Manning,^[18] former World Superbike Championship rider Aaron Slight,^[19] American Nascar drivers Randy Tolsma,^[20] Brandon Whitt^[21] and Steve Grissom^[22] also took part, as did former BTCC champions Jason Plato,^[23] Matt Neal^[24] and John Cleland.^[1] Aside from Ben Collins, future Top Gear presenter Chris Harris took part in the 2004 season,^[25] and fellow motoring journalists Tiff Needell and Amanda Stretton raced in the debut 2001 season.^[26] Toby Scheckter the son of 1979 F1 champion Jody competed in the 2002 season.^[27]

Season	Driver	Team(s)
2001	Amanda Stretton	Team West-Tec
2001–2004	Rob Speak	Team West-Tec, Colin Blower Motorsport, Team Turn Four
2001	John Cleland	Cleland SpeedSport
2001	Tiff Needell	Colin Blower Motorsport
2001–2005	Mark Proctor	Oughtred & Harrison, Fast Tec Motorsport
2001–2005	John Mickel	TorqueSpeed
2001–2007	Colin White	CWS Racing
2001	Aaron Slight	TJ Motorsport
2002	Kevin McGarrity	Hodgson Motorsport
2002	Kelvin Burt	RML Group
2002	Nicolas Minassian	RML Group
2002–2004	Ben Collins	Fast Tec Motorsport, RML Group, Team Turn Four
2002	Paula Cook	Fast Tec Motorsport
2002	Randy Tolsma	Deuce Racing
2002	Brandon Whitt	Deuce Racing
2002	Toby Scheckter	Deuce Racing
2002–2003	Derek Hayes	Deuce Racing, Team West-Tec, Team HTML
2002	Colin McRae	Xcel Motorsport
2002	Darren Manning	Xcel Motorsport
2002	Matt Neal	Xcel Motorsport
2002	Jason Plato	Xcel Motorsport
2002	Darren Turner	Team HTML
2003	Steve Grissom	RML Group
2003–	Andrew Kirkaldy	Xcel Motorsport
2003	Kieran Dynes	Scott Racing Services
2003	Max Papis	Team HTML
2004, 2006	Steve Dance	TorqueSpeed, Team Catchpole Racing
2004	Chris Harris	TorqueSpeed
2005	Gavin Seager	Kidd Richardson Racing
2005–2006	Hunter Abbott	TorqueSpeed, Steward Racing
2006–2007	Pete Wilkinson	Team Ranger Racing
2006	Paul Poulter	Steward Racing
2007–2008	Carl Boardley	CB Racing

The nationalities of every driver who participated in an ASCAR race from 2001 to 2007.

Country	Drivers
United Kingdom	70
United States of America	4
Australia France Republic of Ireland	2
Colombia Germany India Italy Netherlands New Zealand South Africa Sweden	1

Between 2004 and 2007 all of the ASCAR races were held at the Rockingham Motor Speedway in England. The circuit was overlooked by the 6280 seat Rockingham Building, a steel-framed, glass-fronted grandstand building containing suites, offices, bars and kitchens, and by four grandstands. Together the building and grandstands offered a total seating capacity of 52,000. The inner pit and paddock complex was accessed from the Rockingham Building via two pedestrian tunnels and there was a further spectator viewing area on top of the pit garages. The 1.48 mile American-style banked oval circuit was 18.3 metres (60.0 ft) wide and had a maximum bank angle of seven degrees and comprised four very distinct corners. Rockingham's oval was unique in the UK and one of only two speedways in Europe (the other is Lausitzring). The oval circuit could also be converted to a road course layout for events by positioning temporary chicanes and curves both on the main area and apron of the circuit.

In 2002 and 2003 the series also raced in Germany at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz but the venue was eventually dropped due to the costs involved and the projected grid numbers of cars willing to make the journey. The entire 2008 season was a road racing based series as opposed to the Oval circuits. This incorporated trips to Snetterton, Cadwell Park, Lydden Race Circuit, Brands Hatch, Pembrey Circuit, Mallory Park and the French race track at Croix en Ternois.

Circuit	Years	Races	Notes
Rockingham Motor Speedway	2001–2007	72	Rockingham ran as the sole circuit for the entire series from 2004 to 2007.
EuroSpeedway Lausitz	2001–2003	7	Lausitz was scheduled for 2001 but cancelled, it later hosted races in 2002 and 2003 before being dropped from the calendar.
Knockhill Racing Circuit	2001	0	The event at Knockhill was cancelled and removed from the calendar due to a fuel pickup issue.
Mondello Park	2001	0	The event at Mondello Park was cancelled and removed from the calendar due to a fuel pickup issue.
Snetterton Circuit	2008	4	The final season of competition saw the series run as a road racing championship.
Cadwell Park	2008	1	The final season of competition saw the series run as a road racing championship.
Lydden Hill Race Circuit	2008	1	The final season of competition saw the series run as a road racing championship.
Brands Hatch	2008	3	The final season of competition saw the series run as a road racing championship.
Circuit de Croix-en-Ternois	2008	1	The final season of competition saw the series run as a road racing championship.
Mallory Park	2008	1	The final season of competition saw the series run as a road racing championship.

In the United Kingdom, Motors TV aired full races of ASCAR, whilst Channel 4 aired a highlight show presented by Helen Chamberlain. In 2004 SCSA coverage reached 44 million viewers.^[4]

A panorama of Rockingham Motor Speedway

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• Pickup Truck Racing
• NASCAR Whelen Euro Series
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