World Stock Car Championship | |
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Abbreviation | WSCC |
Founded | November 4, 1948 |
Folded | {{{defunct}}} |
Headquarters | Norwalk, Connecticut |
President | Jay Faulkner |
Chief Executive Officer | Vickie Harper |
Key Staff | Malcolm Michaels, Jr. (CDRO) Cal Harper (CTO) Joanne Phelps (CMO) Chandra Parik (CFO) Dexter Smith (CLO) Stefan Pisano (CAO) |
Feeder Series | World Stock Car Lites Eurocup North American Stock Car Tour Pacific Championship Convertible Division (former) |
The World Stock Car Championship (WSCC) is an international stock-car racing series headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, founded by Elliott Crawford in 1949 and holding its first season in 1950. It is the premier stock-car racing series in the world, attracting millions of fans globally and broadcasting across every major continent. A World Stock Car Championship season consists of a series of races which are held worldwide on purpose-built circuits and public roads.
The results of each race are evaluated using a points system to determine a series of championships. Drivers, manufacturers, and teams all compete for championships. Most events are held on purpose-built tracks in rural locations; however, there are several events in major metropolitan areas and city centers. The Icebreaker Sweepstakes, the Donington Grand Prix, and the Lime Rock Classic, the series’ premier events, have been broadcast to both the International Space Station and the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica.
While the series’ traditional base in the United States, it has evolved into a global championship, with half of the series’ races coming from outside of the U.S. The series’ global economic impact means its political and financial battles are closely watched and widely reported on, and its high profile has created a major advertising and merchandising environment. WSCC officials’ commitment to cost controls and fan experience have helped the series’ popularity grow, as it is still seen as an affordable sport for fans and competitors alike. The series also currently serves as the largest manufacturer battleground among all racing series, with more than 25 global manufacturers supporting teams as of 2018.
History[edit | edit source]
Early Years[edit | edit source]
The World Stock Car Championship traces its roots to bootleggers who, in order to outrun the authorities during Prohibition, would have to upgrade their vehicles while leaving them appearing ordinary. They would eventually begin holding organized races at local dirt tracks (often converted harness racing tracks, like the Port Huron Dirt Colosseum) by the early 1930’s. Though stock car racing (along with all other forms of motorsports) was banned during World War II, it quickly gained popularity in the post-war period as automakers began to ramp up production of civilian cars again. The main challenges that many racers face were a lack of unified rules among tracks and unscrupulous event organizers who would leave with the money promised to drivers after events brgan. Elliott Crawford, himself a former racer, set up a meeting at The Inn at Longshore to form the first organization with a unified set of rules.
1950’s[edit | edit source]
When the National Stock-car Championship Series was formed in 1950 to regulate stock-car racing, the new series established several guidelines for cars that wished to enter the series. Chief among these were rules that declared any car entering had to be constructed entirely from parts available to the public through automotive dealers, and had to be models that sold more than 500 units to the public. During the earliest years of the series, drivers often entered the family car on race day.
The series benefited significantly from new technology that automakers were making available at the beginning of the 1950’s, with the first modern, more powerful engines making their way onto showroom floors by 1949. The earliest days of the series were dominated by Hudson, with the Hornet, Oldsmobile with the Rocket 88, and Studebaker, with the Champion. Cameron Yost drove a Studebaker to the inaugural series championship, but it was Hudson, in particular, that was nearly unbeatable in the next four seasons of competition. Hudson won the first manufacturer's championship despite having a smaller, older-style flathead engine compared to the modern overhead valve V8s used in many of the other cars.
As stock car racing became more popular, the series overhauled its safety rules in the name of driver and spectator protection. Many of the smaller dirt tracks from the series’ early days were abandoned in favor of more modern tracks with upgraded barriers. Drivers were required to add rollbars to their cars by 1955, but the practice had been encouraged from the beginning. Additional rules would be added throughout the 1960’s as race cars began to require significantly more protection than their street-used counterparts.
In 1957, the series’ first race on a specifically-built road course was held at Lime Rock Park, a newly-constructed course in northwestern Connecticut; though street course races had been held previously, as had races at Willow Springs Raceway, Road America, and Watkins Glen International, these courses were not specifically built for stock car racing. The Lime Rock Grand Prix is currently the longest-running continuously held road course race on the schedule.
1960’s[edit | edit source]
As the 1950’s drew to a close, manufacturers began production of numerous “special edition” models of their cars to remain competitive in the stock car championships. The series placed a restriction on engine size soon after, limiting engines to 7.0 liters. Ford and Chrysler fought for prominence through much of the early part of the 1960’s, with aerodynamic and horsepower both major points of development. While Chevrolet tried to abide by a 1957 manufacturer’s ban on directly supporting teams, by 1963 they abandoned compliance (following similar circumventions by Ford, Chrysler, and sister-brand Pontiac).
As speeds began to increase, the series abandoned dirt tracks entirely by 1968, and by 1970 had left any tracks that were smaller than one half-mile in length. The series also, controversially, introduced rules against visiting tracks more than once per season; this was seen as a way to “soft abandon” traditional markets in the search of new ventures.
1970’s[edit | edit source]
Purchase of the American Stock Car Tour[edit | edit source]
1980's[edit | edit source]
1990's[edit | edit source]
2000's[edit | edit source]
2010's[edit | edit source]
Significant People[edit | edit source]
Elliott Crawford[edit | edit source]
Jack Crawford[edit | edit source]
Vickie Crawford Harper[edit | edit source]
Lucky Hornick[edit | edit source]
Malcolm Michaels[edit | edit source]
Board of Directors[edit | edit source]
As of October 16, 2018, the Board of Directors for the World Stock Car Championship consists of the following members:
- Vickie Harper, Chair and CEO
- Malcolm Michaels, Jr., Chief Director of Racing Operations
- Cal Harper, Chief Technical Officer
- Chandra Parik, Chief Financial Officer
- Dexter Smith, Chief Legal Officer
- Stefano Pisano, Chief Administrative Officer
- Louis Harper, Jr., Director of World Stock Car Lites
- Ben Crawford, Director of Eurocup
- Harry Crawford, Director of the Pacific Championship