Okay, so todays post is going to be completely off-topic. Those of you who follow me on Twitter will probably have seen some rather odd tweets from me lately. Well, odd if you aren’t a New Zealander. I’m not talking about the rugby, though to some people those might have been odd as well. I’m talking about Stockcar Racing. So I’m going to do a post or two on Stockcar Racing, complete with pictures and video links. Right, on with the show!
This is a Tank
The vehicle on the left is a Stockcar, more specifically, it is the “Tank” variant. They are so named because the original was so heavily armoured compared to other stockcars of its time that it was almost unstoppable. These days, they are still formidable as block-cars, and some, when put in the right hands, can even make great runner cars, racing away to try to win the race, a task made easier for a tank because they are harder to stop than normal stockcars. They are usually a bit heavier than other cars due to all the extra steel, although that difference is becoming smaller and smaller and lighter and stronger material become available to the car builders.What’s up with all that steel you ask? Well, it isn’t just there to look good, these things are designed to intentionally crash into each other.
The Above video is from the New Zealand Superstock Teams Champs in February 2011, one of, if not the, must see events on the New Zealand Speedway Calender. Every year 18,000+ people descend on my home town of Palmerston North for a weekend of some of the best racing you will ever see. Teams Racing is the most exciting form of motor sport ever invented. Two teams of 4 go head to head over 12 laps with points awarded for finishing in the top 5 positions. Over the weekend 12 Teams will compete to be top qualifier for their group and gain a place in the Semi-finals. Once the qualifying has been completed, things move to a first past the post, knock-out format with the first car to cross the line in each semi-final securing a place in the final for their team, and the overall winner being determined by the same system as the semi finals.
Video thanks to PetrolFumes
The Skorpius Chronicles 