Legends car racing

2013 US Dirt Nationals Young Lions champion Troy Hoff

Drivers can be classified into four different divisions. The Pro Division is for the experienced drivers. The Masters Division features drivers 40 years and older. The Semi-Pro Division is for drivers with less than two years of experience in a legends, featuring the drivers that are new to the INEX legends car or have been inactive in other forms of racing for a while. Finally, there is the Young Lions Division, which is designated for drivers between the ages of 12 and 16. There are separate nationals for dirt and asphalt cars.

Legends car drivers who have raced in NASCAR include Brennan Poole, Ryan Blaney, Reed Sorenson, David Ragan, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch,[1] and Kurt Busch.[1]

Legends Racing UK at Croft Circuit

Running since the late 1990s, Legends Racing UK visits tracks all over the country, and ran a 15-round championship, all brought to the UK by legendary music promoter Phil Cooper.

Three races are held – two heats and a final – at a round of the championship, with the heats lasting between 7 and 12 laps depending on the circuit, with the final a few laps longer. The grid for race one is drawn by lots, with the reverse for heat two, and in the final the grid is formed by the reverse of the drivers points in the previous two races – meaning the most successful driver will start near the back.[2] In each race however, all rookies start at the back of the grid.

In 2018 Team 247, a race team set up by engineering firm 24hr Solutions, with rookie driver Phil Turner (Hertfordshire), entered the competition in support of Help for Heroes. With racing and 'event dates' across the country, the Team 247 brand was built on the Legends racing platform.

Historically, legends racers from the UK have performed well at the world finals, winning Semi-pro (Glenn Burtenshaw), Pro (John Jon Higgins) and Masters divisions (Peter Morton).

Scottish legends championship race start at Knockhill

Brought to Scotland by Aly Hunter, and with only six cars taking to the grid in April 2000 at Knockhill, it is now the norm to find around 20 cars taking part, with 25 competing in the support races at the 2007 BTCC meeting. All the races in 2007 took place at Knockhill, but the series has organised “away” rounds at Croft, Oulton Park, Donington Park, Cadwell Park and Anglesey in recent years. The series observes the same race format rules as the UK legends, however the races are 8 and 10 laps long for the heats and final respectively.

Legends are available for race or track hire at Knockhill.[3][4]

Legends have been racing in Finland since 1999 and the Legends Trophy series have existed since 2000. The first cars came to Finland from defunct Swedish series. Since then, over 60 cars have been imported to Finland. Legends is currently the most popular racing class in Finland with over 40 cars in the grid regularly. In 2010 Seinäjoen Vauhtiajot street racing event saw the record breaking 54 legends cars in the entry list.

The most successful racer in Finland is Pasi Matintupa, who won the trophy three times, in 2005–2007. In 2007 Rory Penttinen won the legends car world finals at Infineon Raceway in the pro class.

There is also an ice racing series for legends cars in Finland. Earlier legends have been raced in rallycross and rally sprinting.

Legends Cars Baltic racing run a FIA Northern European Zone championship consisting of racers from Finland, Sweden, Russia and Baltics. In 2016, the series was won by Marko Kilpiä. More than 50 racers participated in three events. Series will continue in 2017 with round in Riga, Parnu and Ahvenisto.

Legends have been raced in France since 2004.[5] and have supported the French Grand Prix at Magny Cours; also in Belgium and Spain.[6]

A legends racing series has been announced in Mexico for 2009, consolidating a true ladder system for the NASCAR Corona Series. The series is open for drivers 12 years and older, and is marketed as being the step before the NASCAR Mexico T4 Series.

In 2012, a legends national championship started in the Republic of Georgia at the newly rebuilt Rustavi International Motorpark, 10 km from the country's capital of Tbilisi. The 2012 season consisted of eight races for the championship of Georgia and one international race where 18 drivers from Georgia, Russia, Belarus and Germany took part.[7] For the 2015 season seven races are scheduled from April till November.

For a number of years legends raced on Australian oval tracks, surviving as a minor category, as the popularity of oval track racing "down under" is not what it is in the United States. Mainly Legends is a speedway category racing on dirt and clay ovals running on midget and sprint car meets, but also briefly became a tarmac category, racing as a support category with the Australian NASCAR series, mainly racing on the Calder Park Thunderdome superspeedway (something that the Legends Cars do not race, as they typically are on smaller ovals and road courses). Phil Ward, a former touring car racer, recognized the potential for this type of economical racer, and developed the Aussie racing car, with a focus on road racing. The Aussie racing cars retain the same Yamaha motorcycle engines. The classic legends style bodyshape of old Fords and early Holdens have been gradually supplanted by imitations of modern road cars for commercial purposes. The category has visited many of the major Supercars Championship races across Australia. While high grid numbers have long been a feature of the class, calendars have fluctuated wildly as category management has clashed with event promoters. Another very similar category Future Racers also emerged during the 2000s technically very similar although the bodywork was more sportscar in nature.