Informative Paper, Oxford Plains Speedway

Racing first started at Oxford Plains Speedway in 1950. A man named George Damon purchased 200 acres of flat land and six weeks later it was changed into a race track. Racing has been a part of my dad’s life for thirty six years and a part of my life since I was about two years old. I remember when I was little I would always wonder where my dad would spend most of his time.

One day my dad finally brought me to the garage where they worked on the race car. I remember it being in a huge yellow garage. Guys were running around everywhere, doing all sorts of different things to the car. My dad had me help move around the tires and hand him tools. I thought it was great to be there.

Now getting into the more serious parts of racing you should start off with doing research on who has the better parts.

Jerry Was a Race Car Driver

John Watson, Formula 1 race car driver in 2006

English: In Car Footage from a Van Diemen RF01 dri...

It’s good to watch races and see whose cars have been winning the most. Most people buy the parts that others are winning with. You should do research on the motor as well, the more horse power the better.

A few things you should have before buying a car and parts would be; a reliable truck and trailer, a garage, lots of tools, welders and torches as well. You should look for a bunch of guys and girls that can give a lot of their time to help you. A lot of people work on the race car during the week after work and then during the day on Saturdays. Most races are at night on Saturdays. Most people start out small and go bigger, depending on how much money they have. Every race car driver tries to get as many sponsors as he or she can. Sponsors help buy tires, gas/oil, broken parts, or sometimes they just give the driver money.

You should also do research on a chassis; it should be in great condition. A chassis is the frame of a car plus the running gear, like engine, transmission, drive shaft, and suspension. Either you can order it rolling or you can put it together yourself. Rolling means the only thing left to get is the motor and transmission. The other way is to put it together and order the parts yourself. If you do it this way you do need to know quite a bit about mechanics.

Next you should order front end parts and rear end parts. They have to be legal or you could disqualified and not be able to race. You have to have an oil tank, which is called a wet sump system. It sits back by the left rear and it holds five quarts of good racing oil. Then you have to plumb the system to the motor, which is up front. A fuel cell holds twenty two gallons and the purpose is so that it will not blow up during an accident, it’s mostly for safety.

Now you can put the racing body on. The racing body comes from racing dealers. There are three different kinds you can get; you want to get the one that will go through the air the sleekest. Once the body is on you should get it ready for paint, prime it and tape it off first. Most people paint it themselves and then send it off to someone else to get lettered. Getting it lettered consists of putting your name, number, crew members, sponsors and decals on it. Race cars don’t meet the weight requirement so you have to add lead to get to the 2,850 pounds, which includes the driver.

Next you have to have scales, they consist of four platforms. You have to have one for each tire, they collaborate the weight on each tire. A race car has to have a certain percent of left side and right side weight. Front and rear have to have a certain percent of cross weight. The car also has to be at a certain height, to get it at the right height you have to adjust the springs. A race car has to have a rear spoiler and the spoiler has to be at a certain height.

When you set the car up you have to borrow old racing tires and then when you get to the race track you buy four tires. You can’t buy tires in advance because their afraid you’ll put tire softener in the tires, which makes the tires softer and you’ll be able to go faster. The race car should have a good driver’s seat in it; you want to make sure the driver is kept as safe as can be. You should also have two spotters; spotters are people that have a radio on. So you can talk to the driver, you let the driver know about car crashes that happened or if someone is coming up behind them.

Once you get to the track you find your spot and then get ready for practice. After practice you have time to make any adjustments till you get it right, although sometimes you never do. I plan on going to Oxford Plains Speedway for the rest of my life and later in life I plan on bringing my children there.

Bibliographywww.oxfordplains.com

HRP, auto racing dirt

Ice Racing, Swedish championships 2007.