Legends car racing is a style of auto racing designed primarily to promote exciting racing and to keep costs down. The race car bodyshells are 5/8-scale replicas of American automobiles from the 1930s and 1940s, powered by Yamaha XJ1250, FJ1200 (both air-cooled) or, starting in 2018, FZ09 (water-cooled) engines. The worldwide sanctioning body for legends car racing is INEX.
Legends cars are a "spec" series, meaning all cars are mechanically identical, with the exception of three styles of car (standard coupe, '34 coupe, and sedan) available with 10 types of body styles. New cars are currently offered with seven body styles, however many used cars exist with the "older" styles.
History
In 1992, Charlotte Motor Speedway officials noticed a need for lower cost racing cars with little maintenance time and cost. They found such a car existed, in the guise of the motorcycle-engined dwarf car, a 5/8-scale, steel-bodied and fenderless 1935 Ford coupé, which was being manufactured by the Dwarf Car Company in Phoenix, Arizona. As the coupé concept was not exactly in line in what they were looking for, and deeming steel replacement bodywork too costly, they adapted the dwarf car concept to fit their needs, creating cars resembling those of the 1930s and 1940s which competed in the early NASCAR modified tour races. To this day, the primary difference between the two cars is the legends have fenders over the tires, whereas the dwarfs have no fenders. The first legends car was unveiled in April 1992 by track president and general manager Humpy Wheeler and road racer Elliott Forbes-Robinson. Legends cars are produced by US Legend Cars International (formerly 600 Racing, Inc.) in Harrisburg, North Carolina. They are the largest mass-producer of race cars in the world.
Legends car racing around the world
Although the cars originated from the US, other countries including Canada and many European countries also host championships. Each November, the world finals are held in the US, with the exception of 2017, when the finals were held in Finland, at the Botniaring Racing Circuit.
United States
Drivers can be classified into four different divisions. The Pro Division is for the experienced drivers. The Masters Division features drivers 40 years and older. The Semi-Pro Division is for drivers with less than two years of experience in a legends, featuring the drivers that are new to the INEX legends car or have been inactive in other forms of racing for a while. There is also the Young Lions Division, which is designated for drivers between the ages of 12 and 16. There are separate nationals for dirt and asphalt cars.
Legends car drivers who have raced in NASCAR include Brennan Poole, Chris Buescher, Ryan Blaney, Reed Sorenson, David Ragan, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, and Kurt Busch.
United Kingdom
Running since the late 1990s, Legends Racing UK visits tracks all over the country, and ran a 15-round championship, all brought to the UK by music promoter Phil Cooper.
Three races are held – two heats and a final – at a round of the championship, with the heats lasting between 7 and 12 laps depending on the circuit, with the final a few laps longer. The grid for race one is drawn by lots, with the reverse for heat two, and in the final the grid is formed by the reverse of the drivers points in the previous two races – meaning the most successful driver starts near the back. In each race however, all rookies start at the back of the grid.
In 2018, Team 247, a race team set up by engineering firm 24hr Solutions, with rookie driver Phil Turner (Hertfordshire), entered the competition in support of Help for Heroes. With racing and event dates across the country, the Team 247 brand was built on the legends racing platform.
Historically, legends racers from the UK have performed well at the world finals, winning Semi-pro (Glenn Burtenshaw), Pro (John Jon Higgins) and Masters divisions (Peter Morton).
Scotland
Brought to Scotland by Aly Hunter, and with only six cars taking to the grid in April 2000 at Knockhill, it is now the norm to find around 20 cars taking part, with 25 competing in the support races at the 2007 BTCC meeting. All the races in 2007 took place at Knockhill, but the series has organised "away" rounds at Croft, Oulton Park, Donington Park, Cadwell Park and Anglesey in recent years. The series observes the same race format rules as the UK legends, however the races are 8 and 10 laps long for the heats and finals respectively.
Legends are available for race or track hire at Knockhill.