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United States Racing Championship: History

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United States Racing Championship: History Empty United States Racing Championship: History

Post by bsoyuz Sun Nov 05, 2017 8:20 pm

In the Fall of 1999, 26 men and women took part in an exhibition race at the USA International Speedway, in Lakeland, Florida. Among the drivers were former STARS race winner Brian Hunt, and short track promoter Adrian Russell.

Following the event, both held a short reunion with the most of the drivers and british entrepreneur Ray Porter, who was in attendance and was a good friend of Hunt and Russell, proposing a national championship for low-budget teams, intended to both have their own stars and springboard young talent to the STARS Main Tour.

With that, the United States Racing Championship was formed, holding its first official race in February of 2000 in Lakeland, the winner of the 100-lapper was Jack Hale in his jet black #7. After a 10 race season that saw 18 cars contesting all events, with field of up to 30 starters in some occasions, Randy Barnes was crowned champion.

Timeline:

2000: 10 races, mostly concentrated in the southern US. Champion: #55 – Randy Barnes

2001: 12 races, initial expansion to the north. Champion: #55 – Randy Barnes

2002: 12 races, first race in Canda is held. Champion: #1 – Carl Murphy

2003: 6 of the 12 races broadcasted on television. Champion: #24 – Marshall Swanson

2004: 12 races, start of the rivalry between Marcus Stanton and Jack Ashcroft. Champion: #13 – Marcus Stanton

2005: 12 races, Jackie Marsh qualifies for the Rockingham race becoming the first woman to start a USRC race. Champion: #9 – Jack Ashcroft

2006: Schedule expands to 16 races, first races in the Midwest are held. Champion: #9 – Jack Ashcroft

2007: Tom Thomas attempts the race at Daytona, wins, never attempts a race again: #13 – Marcus Stanton

2008: Dan Pittman succumbs to injuries after a violent crash at the Texas World Speedway, becoming the first and so far only fatality of the series, and as a result, the series starts to work towards using second hand steel bodies from STARS teams, opposed to composite bodies, Texas World is never visited again by the series. Champion: #22 – John Atkins

2009: 18 races and the largest full-time field with 26 cars contesting all races, Kayla Hunt becomes the first female to win a race in the series, by surviving a rain drenched race at VIR. Champion: #49 – Zach McCormick

2010: The whole season is broadcasted on television Marcus Stanton suffers a string of injuries halfway through the year, being forced to retire earlier than predicted, he is replaced by newcomer Pat Larson, who achieves his first win in his third start, in the finale at Kansas. Champion: #49 – Zach McCormick

2011: Jack Ashcroft leaves USRC to attempt a career in STARS, where he is ever since. His family team still competes in the series, with his niece and nephew Julia and Brandon. Champion: #18 – Kurt Lowe

2012: There’s a slight downsize in field and calendar, in order to allow teams to save money. Champion: #18 – Kurt Lowe

2013: Brian Hunt, Adrian Russell and Ray Porter step down from their positions, with the USRC presidency being taken by Paul Martin, former driver and official for the series. Champion: #5 – Ollie Michaels Jr.

2014: A high number of crashes in the New York Autoring produced the least amount of finishers in USRC history, 5, with the winner being Brandon Ashcroft. Champion: #6 – Kevin Woods

2015: The series restarts their expansion, with a 20 race calendar, working its way into the western United States. The rulebook also changes, allowing only 8 teams to compete, each team entering 4 cars, in order to save costs. Champion: #6 – Kevin Woods

2016: Kevin Woods’ sister Patricia becomes the first women to win a USRC championship. Champion: #7 – Patricia Woods.

2017: Kevin and Patricia Woods reach the height of their rivalry with Brandon and Julia Ashcroft, as they would start crashing and battling for wins for most of the year, culminating with the first title for the Ashcroft family in 12 years. Champion: #9 – Brandon Ashcroft.

bsoyuz

Posts : 11
Join date : 2017-03-21

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