AmeriCar Championship Road Racing Series

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Hanmore AmeriCar Championship Road Racing Series
AmeriCar2018.png
Year Founded 1978
Founder(s) Harry Kent
Executive(s) Anthony Bailey
Current Divisions AC-1, AC-2, AC-3, AC-4 Classes
Current Champion AUS.png Max Gibson
Racing Series

The AmeriCar Championship Road Racing Series is one of the lead road racing tours in America, alongside North American GT racing, being sanctioned by the National Sports Car Club of America (NSCC).

It was founded in 1978 by NSCC president Harry Kent, initially named American Road Racing Car Championship, the name was changed to American Road Car Championship by 1982 and then contracted to AmeriCar Championship by 1988. The series underwent multiple name changes, mostly due to sponsorship changes, with Hanmore Industries sponsoring the tour since 2016.

It evolved from a championship for sedans and modified automobiles to a battlefield open to multiple race car styles, including GT styled automobiles, muscle cars and compact production cars.

Over the years the series contested races in various types of facilities in the United States, Canada and Mexico, currently holding races in all three of those countries as of 2019.

Classes[edit | edit source]

The series instituted the class system for the 2019 season.

The classes that will challenge for the AmeriCar championship will be:

AC-1: The main class is comprised by high performance race cars, veterans of the series regularly flock to this category, powered by 358 cubic inch, V8 engines that can achieve up to 900 horsepower on track. It's the most expensive tour, featuring less teams than in AC-2 and AC-3.

AC-2: The most popular class in AmeriCar, AC-2 is comprised of cost-effective muscle cars, featuring bodies made by Cromwell Raceworks. These bodies are extremely similar to FARC Lowe Dollar Series bodies, which allow for teams contesting both tours to seamlessly crossover between then with few changes to the engine and bodywork. The class uses engines similar to the ones in AC-1, albeit restricted to only 500HP, in order to level the field of competition. The second cheapest class to contest, it regularly features 24+ car fields.

AC-3: Formerly the NSCC Production Car Challenge's top class, the Sport production car class, AC-3 is the second most cost effective series among AmeriCar, regularly contested by rookies , seeking their big break. It's also the series with the most foreign manufacturer representation, with British, Japanese, and Central European manufacturers battling against traditional American brands.

AC-4: The NSCC's Production Car Challenge stock class, this production car class is the cheapest within AmeriCar, it is contest by street cars with standard safety measures, hotly contested by hobby drivers. It's akin to Hornet Racing on road courses, attracting NSCC-registered drivers that don't have the money or the means to be in the top brass but want a taste of racing emotion nonetheless. The full-time fields is small, but the grid is filled with local drivers.

Former Champion[edit | edit source]

Year Driver's Champion Manufacturer's Champion
1978 USA.png Don Ashcroft USA.png Lenard
1979 USA.png Don Ashcroft USA.png Lenard
1980 AUS.png Richard McAvoy USA.png Saar
1981 AUS.png Joe Gallagher GER.png Gessler
1982 USA.png Lloyd Weathers USA.png Saar
1983 GBR.png Tom Hickman USA.png Lenard
1984 USA.png Derek Calhoun USA.png Inglesby
1985 USA.png Lloyd Weathers USA.png Saar
1986 USA.png Harry Brock USA.png Saar
1987 USA.png Lou Yates Sr. USA.png Saar
1988 USA.png Rick Greaves GER.png Gessler
1989 USA.png Jack Ashcroft USA.png Sellick
1990 USA.png Rick Greaves GER.png Gessler
1991 USA.png Jack Ashcroft USA.png Sellick
1992 USA.png Jack Ashcroft USA.png Sellick
1993 CND.png Paul Overton USA.png Saar
1994 USA.png Fred Newton USA.png Saar
1995 GBR.png Burton Baker USA.png Lenard
1996 USA.png Franklin Graziano USA.png Saar
1997 USA.png Franklin Graziano USA.png Saar
1998 FRA.png Vic Rousselot GER.png Gessler
1999 FRA.png Vic Rousselot GER.png Gessler
2000 USA.png Franklin Graziano USA.png Saar
2001 USA.png Franklin Graziano USA.png Saar
2002 USA.png Paul Barnes Jr. USA.png Saar
2003 USA.png Richard Thygesen GER.png Gessler
2004 USA.png Franklin Graziano CND.png Xenos
2005 USA.png Jeff Bright USA.png Lenard
2006 USA.png Bradley Berger USA.png Lenard
2007 USA.png Perry Barrett USA.png Lenard
2008 USA.png Tony Bell USA.png Saar
2009 USA.png Paul Barnes Jr. JPN.png Kanako
2010 USA.png Paul Barnes Jr. JPN.png Kanako
2011 USA.png Paul Barnes Jr. JPN.png Kanako
2012 CND.png Leon Kennedy USA.png Saar
2013 USA.png Steve Barco USA.png Lenard
2014 USA.png Tony Bell USA.png Saar
2015 USA.png Julia Ashcroft USA.png Lenard
2016 USA.png Tony Bell USA.png Saar
2017 AUS.png Max Gibson CND.png Xenos
2018 AUS.png Max Gibson CND.png Xenos
FOUR-CLASS ERA
2019 TBA TBA
TBA TBA
TBA TBA
TBA TBA