what racers have won on a oval track, dirt track, and road course in one season

by Mr. Ryan Gislason 9 min read

Andretti had a long career in motorsports. He was the only person to be named United States Driver of the Year in three decades (1967, 1978, and 1984). He was also one of only three drivers to have won major races on road courses, paved ovals, and dirt tracks in one season, a feat that he accomplished four times.

What do you need to know about dirt track oval racing?

Oct 01, 2020 · This will be the first Cup Series race held on dirt since 1970. Who won that race? None other than Richard Petty. The return to dirt racing comes as one of many shakeups, however. NASCAR is dropping both Kentucky and Chicagoland from their schedule. In their place, they’re adding Road America in Wisconsin – and Circuit of the Americas in Texas.

What is dirt track racing?

Jan 14, 2022 · The dirt oval is classified as a 3/8-mile track, and iRacing also says that the off-road dirt track that measures in at 1.3-miles with nine corners will also be included. Finally, Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pennsylvania will also join iRacing this year. The half-mile dirt oval is one of the oldest in the United States, having opened in ...

What is the origin of the oval track in NASCAR?

What is the most famous race held on a combined road course?

Who is the best dirt track racer of all-time?

Lee Petty, 42 Petty also won more races on dirt than any driver in NASCAR history, claiming 42 of his 54 race wins on dirt tracks, most of which were located in the Deep South.Mar 22, 2021

Has any NASCAR driver won at all tracks?

Kyle Busch has 207 NASCAR national series wins, and his victories have come on all track types and at every active facility on the NASCAR schedule -- except one. The Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, first run last year, is scored separately from the races on Charlotte's full oval.Nov 14, 2019

What NASCAR driver has the most road course wins?

The driver with the most wins on a road course track in NASCAR history is the legendary Jeff Gordon. Gordon won a total of nine times on these circuits; four race wins at Watkins Glen and five race wins at Sonoma.Dec 30, 2021

How many IROC races did Dale Earnhardt win?

eleven series racesDale Earnhardt has been invited to compete in IROC 17 times. The 2000 season was his last full season. In 2001 he ran the Daytona event but was killed shortly after in a Daytona 500 wreck. He has captured the IROC title in 1990, 1995, 1999 and 2000, and has won eleven series races.

Has anyone won 4 Nascars in a row?

Since 1972 there have been eight drivers that have been able to win four consecutive races. Those drivers are Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Harry Gant, Bill Elliott, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

What NASCAR tracks did Kyle Busch not win?

Despite scoring wins at some of NASCAR's toughest tracks, including Darlington, Bristol and Indianapolis, Busch has never won his sport's biggest event – the Daytona 500.Jun 1, 2018

Who is the best NASCAR road course racer?

Chase Elliott has the most road course wins among active drivers with six career victories, including the inaugurual event at Circuit of the Americas.Jul 2, 2021

What NASCAR drivers are good on road courses?

Read on to see where the regulars rank in their road-course prowess.Tony Stewart. 8 of 10.Clint Bowyer. 7 of 10. ... Kyle Busch. 6 of 10. ... Jimmie Johnson. 5 of 10. ... Martin Truex Jr. 4 of 10. ... Carl Edwards. 3 of 10. ... AJ Allmendinger. 2 of 10. ... Brad Keselowski. 1 of 10. Brad Keselowski is great at The Glen; not so super at Sonoma. ... More items...

What are the 7 road courses in NASCAR?

As of 2022, current NASCAR national-level road courses include Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Circuit of the Americas, Sonoma, Watkins Glen, the Charlotte Roval, Road America, Mid-Ohio and Mosport.

What is an IROC car?

The Humble Beginnings. Starting it 1974, the International Race of Champions (IROC) opted for the Porsche Carerra RSR as their standard, universal competition vehicle. A year later, the governing body decided to switch to the Chevrolet Camaro, but the race was effectively discontinued in 1980.

Who won the last IROC championship?

StewartThey include Dale Earnhardt, Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarbrough and Mark Martin, the winningest IROC champ with five titles. The last champion was Stewart in 2006.Nov 9, 2020

What country is IROC from?

United StatesIt was created and developed in 1972 by David Lockton, the developer of the Ontario Motor Speedway, launched in 1973, with Mark Donohue being the first driver to win the championship in 1974....International Race of Champions.CategoryStock car racingCountryUnited StatesInaugural season1974Folded2006Drivers123 more rows

What is oval track racing?

Oval track racing is a form of closed-circuit automobile racing that is contested on an oval-shaped track. An oval track differs from a road course in that the layout resembles an oval with turns in only one direction, almost universally left (counter-clockwise orientation). Oval tracks are dedicated motorsport circuits, ...

What are some examples of oval track designs?

Pocono for example, has the shape of a scalene triangle with rounded corners. Darlington was built with an egg-shape to accommodate a nearby minnow pond. Tracks that are built in the traditional "oval" shape include Homestead and Dover. Prior to its reconfiguration in 1997, Atlanta also conformed to this layout.

What is a dogleg track?

A "dogleg" is a defined as a soft curve down one of the straights, either inward or outward, which skews the oval into a non-sysmetric or non-traditional shape. Phoenix is one example of a dogleg shape. While the extra curve would seemingly give the oval 5 turns, the dogleg is normally omitted from identification, and the ovals are still labeled with 4 turns. Trenton Speedway had a unique right-hand dogleg, giving the track what was called a "kidney bean" shape.

What is a tri oval with a double dogleg called?

A tri-oval with a "double dogleg" is often called a "quad-oval". The first such was Charlotte built in 1960. The shape has become a signature for SMI, which owns the other two major quad-ovals, Atlanta and Texas .

How many superspeedways are there in the US?

Superspeedways are at least Template:Convert/mi in length. There are seven superspeedways in the United States, the most famous being Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Daytona International Speedway, both Template:Convert/mi long. These tracks were built in 1909 and 1959 respectively. Indianapolis Motor Speedway was built as a facility for the automotive industry to conduct research and development. Daytona International Speedway was built as a replacement for the Daytona Beach Road Course, which combined the town's main street and its famous beach. Daytona hosts the Daytona 500, NASCAR's most prestigious race, while the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is home to the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400 .

Do oval tracks have slope?

Oval tracks usually have slope in both straight and in cur ves, but the slope on the straights is less, circuits without any slope are rare to find, low-slope are usually old or small tracks, high gradient are more common in new circuits.

How many races did Dan Gurney win?

Dan Gurney won five NASCAR races as a ringer, while also succeeding in Formula One. The last win by a road course ringer in a NASCAR Cup race was by Mark Donohue in 1973 in a Penske Racing AMC Matador in the Motor Trend 500 at Riverside.

What is a dirt track ringer?

Dirt track ringer. A variant of the road ringer, the dirt track ringer, has appeared in NASCAR since the Truck Series organized the Eldora Dirt Derby. Teams have often added a dirt track ace, typically a sprint car or dirt late model driver, for the Derby.

What is a road ringer?

A road course ringer, also known as road course specialist, road course expert, or a road runner, is a non-NASCAR driver who is hired by a NASCAR Cup Series or NASCAR Xfinity Series team to race, specifically on road courses . As of 2020. [update]

Who is the greatest ringer in NASCAR history?

NASCAR describes road course ringers as "drivers who specialize in turning both left and right," and says that "perhaps the greatest road-course ringer in NASCAR history might be Dan Gurney " after he won four straight NASCAR races at Riverside. He lapped the field at the 1964 event.

What does ringer mean in sports?

"Ringer" is a slang term commonly used in sports to describe a particularly good competitor who is brought in to win in a specific match as opposed to competing in the entire schedule. It can also be used to describe an athlete who plays in a higher level playing in a lower level tournament; a softball team in a Class C/D tournament (as governed by USA Softball) hires one or two players who fit in Class A or B, or a tennis player who plays in Class I tournaments as a "ringer" in a Class II tournament. For example, in association football, at the FIFA Under-23 Championships that is typically held at the Olympic Games, teams are allowed a selected number of players just over the age of 23. The term does not relate directly to racing and does not refer to the shape of the race course, but instead the term in NASCAR refers to the driver being typically driver who races in other circuits.

Who is Ron Fellows?

Ron Fellows is one of the few ringers to win races in two of NASCAR 's top three divisions. A road course ringer is often brought in if the usual driver either is inexperienced at road courses, or is having a poor season and the team needs an excellent qualifying run to qualify for the race.

How many turns does an oval track have?

A typical oval track consists of two parallel straights, connected by two 180° turns. Although most ovals generally have only two radii curves, they are usually advertised and labeled as four 90° turns. While many oval tracks conform to the traditional symmetrical design, asymmetrical tracks are not uncommon.

What is an oval track?

Oval tracks are dedicated motorsport circuits, used predominantly in the United States. They often have banked turns and some, despite the name, are not precisely oval, and the shape of the track can vary. Martinsville Speedway, a symmetrical oval, following a race. Major forms of oval track racing include stock car racing, open-wheel racing, ...

How long is a short track?

A short track is an oval track less than one mile (1.6 km) long, with the majority being 0.5 miles (0.8 km) or shorter. Drivers seeking careers in oval track racing generally serve their apprenticeship on short tracks before moving up to series which compete on larger tracks.

When did the oval track construction boom start?

There have been two distinct oval race track construction "booms" in the United States. The first took place in the 1960s , and the second took place in the mid-to-late 1990s. The majority of tracks from the 1960s boom and the 1990s boom have survived, but some tracks failed to achieve long-term financial success. Incidentally, these two booms loosely coincided with the similar construction boom of the baseball/football cookie-cutter stadiums of the 1960s and 1970s, and the subsequent sport-specific stadium construction boom that began in the 1990s.

What is pack racing?

Pack racing is a phenomenon found on fast, high-banked superspeedways. It occurs when the vehicles racing are cornering at their limit of aerodynamic drag, but within their limit of traction. This allows drivers to race around the track constantly at wide open throttle.

How long is a 1 mile oval?

Synonymous with the name, a 1-mile (1.61 km) oval is a popular and common length for oval track racing. The exact measurements, however, can vary by as much as a tenth of a mile and still fall into this category. Most mile ovals are relatively flat-banked, with Dover being a notable exception.

What is a tri oval?

The tri-oval is the common shape of the ovals from the construction booms of the 1960s and 1990s. The use of the tri-oval shape for automobile racing was conceived by Bill France, Sr. during the planning for Daytona. The triangular layout allowed fans in the grandstands an angular perspective of the cars coming towards and moving away from their vantage point. Traditional ovals (such as Indianapolis) offered only limited linear views of the course, and required fans to look back and forth much like a tennis match. The tri-oval shape prevents fans from having to "lean" to see oncoming cars, and creates more forward sight lines. The modern tri-ovals were often called as cookie cutters because of their (nearly) identical shape and identical kind of races.

Overview

  • Oval track racing is the predominant form of auto racing in the United States. According to the 2013 National Speedway Directory, the total number of oval tracks, drag strips and road courses in the United States is 1,262, with 901 of those being oval tracks and 683 of those being dirt tracks. Major forms of oval track racing include stock car racing, open-wheel racing, sprint car r…
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Wins

Term origin

Drivers

Notable road course ringers

Dan Gurney won five NASCAR races as a ringer, while also succeeding in Formula One. The last win by a road course ringer in a NASCAR Cup race was by Mark Donohue in 1973 in a Penske Racing AMC Matador in the Motor Trend 500 at Riverside.
Current ringers Fellows, Said, and Pruett had combined for 13 Top 10 finishes in their 35 career road course starts (as of 2007). Said has the only two poles by a road course ringer, but only on…

Decline in the Cup Series

"Ringer" is a slang term commonly used in sports to describe a particularly good competitor who is brought in to win in a specific match as opposed to competing in the entire schedule. It can also be used to describe an athlete who plays in a higher level playing in a lower level tournament; a softballteam in a Class C/D tournament (as governed by USA Softball) hires one or two players who fit in Class A or B, or a tennis player who plays in Class I tournaments as a "ringer" in a Clas…

Xfinity and Truck road course ringers in playoff era

A road course ringer is often brought in if the usual driver either is inexperienced at road courses, or is having a poor season and the team needs an excellent qualifying run to qualify for the race. Cup Series teams who are near the bottom of the top 35 in owner points hire a ringer or adept former competitor like Terry Labonteto ensure that they remain in top 35 to keep a guaranteed starting spo…

Dirt track ringer

• Mark Donohue
• Ron Fellows (his only oval start in Loudon 1998)
• Dan Gurney
• Tommy Kendall
• Scott Pruett (although he ran the 2000 season, was full-time, and took wins and poles in open-wheel oval track racing)

Overview

Since the late 2000s, the "ringer" has steadily disappeared from the Cup Series. Factors contributing to this trend are:
• The Chase/NASCAR playoffs has made it counterproductive for teams to sacrifice the driver points of their full-time drivers in exchange for a possible win by a road course specialist.
• Because of this, full-time drivers have been forced to become more proficient on road courses, …

Oval racing

• The nature of the Xfinity Series races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Road America often allows road course ringers to participate in those races, since they are not subject to NASCAR's seven-race restriction Cup Series regulars are restricted by NASCAR rule. Also, prior to 2021, both events (Mid-Ohio only in 2021) are often held on weekends where Cup Series action is at an oval (different road course in 2021) elsewhere around the country.

Track classification

A variant of the road ringer, the dirt track ringer, has appeared in NASCAR since the Truck Series organized the Eldora Dirt Derby. Teams have often added a dirt track ace, typically a sprint car or dirt late model driver, for the Derby.
Notable drivers have included Scott Bloomquist, Bobby Pierce, Logan Seavey, and Kyle Strickler.
Truck Series regulars Stewart Friesen and Sheldon Creedbegan their NASCAR careers as dirt trac…

Combined road course

Oval track racing is a form of closed-circuit motorsport that is contested on an oval-shaped race track. An oval track differs from a road course in that the layout resembles an oval with turns in only one direction, and the direction of traffic is almost universally counter-clockwise. Oval tracks are dedicated motorsport circuits, used predominantly in the United States. They often have banked turnsand …

Oval track construction booms in North America

Pack racing is a phenomenon found on fast, high-banked superspeedways. It occurs when the vehicles racing are cornering at their limit of aerodynamic drag, but within their limit of traction. This allows drivers to race around the track constantly at wide open throttle. Since the vehicles are within their limit of traction, draftingthrough corners will not hinder a vehicle's performance. As car…

International oval tracks

Oval tracks are classified based upon their size, surface, banking, and shape.
Their size can range from only a few hundred feet to over two and a half miles. The definitions used to differentiate track sizes have changed over the years. While some tracks use terms such as "speedway" or "superspeedway" in their name, they may not meet the specific definitions used in this article.

See also