Historic Stock Car Racing Series

The Historic Stock Car Racing Series (HSCRS) is an auto racing organization based on the west coast of the United States. Founded by San Jose, California businessman John Davis in the late 1990's and originally known as the Historic Stock Car Racing Group West, the organization was formed to establish a venue for drivers to race retired NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) stock cars in friendly competition.

The cars that are raced by HSCRS members are retired and now-privately owned Winston Cup (currently NEXTEL Cup) stock cars, with a few Busch Grand National stock cars granfathered into the group. The newest an HSCRS car can be is 2003, based upon the last year of series sponsorship as the "Winston Cup".

Owners/drivers who wish to join the HSCRS are required to demonstrate that their car is a verifiable NASCAR stock car that, with a few exceptions allowed on behalf of driver safety, has been restored to its original racing condition.

The primary focus of the group are NASCAR stock cars built and raced 1994 and earlier, but they are further broken down into classes for reference:

1995 - 2003: Contemporary cars

1981 - 1994: Historic cars

1980 and earlier: Vintage cars

While the cars were originally raced in NASCAR-sanctioned events, the group is not associated with NASCAR. The former sponsors of these cars do not provide any compensation to the current owners, nor do they assume any liability for the continued cometition of these race cars. Still, the cars are maintained in their original livery for accurate historical representation.

Prior to the formation of the HSCRS, the few existing owners/drivers of these historic race cars were limited to participating in Vintage Racing events, and were often relegated to sub-groups that paired the 3400-lb. machines with much smaller vintage race cars that ranged from diminutive European compacts to Shelby Mustangs, Corvettes and Cobras.

While this was initially done because there were not enough of the former NASCAR race cars to be treated as their own group, it revealed vast differences in speed and performance between the various types of cars. Although car-to-car contact is considered a grave offense in Vintage Racing (preservation of the vintage and historic race cars in lieu of cutthroat competition is paramount), racing accidents are inevitable. There began a growing concern that even minor contact between a massive purpose-built NASCAR racer and its smaller and lighter street-based counterpart could be devastating to the smaller car, and especially to the driver.

The HSCRS (and its east-coast counterpart, the Historic Stock Car Racing Group) is growing in popularity with long-time NASCAR fans who are less attracted by today's "cookie-cutter" race cars, and with the many who hold fond memories of NASCAR's storied past.

External links

• Organization website