STEALING THE 500: The Story of Carroll Shelby’s 1968 Turbine-Powered Indycars, Part 2 of 2

STEALING THE 500: The Story of Carroll Shelby’s 1968 Turbine-Powered Indycars, Part 2 of 2

September 7, 2016
Stephen Cox Blog Presented by McGunegill Engine Performance
 
 
(Read Part 1 by clicking here) Ken Wallis was running out of time. Both of Carrol Shelby's turbine-powered cars were now at Indianapolis but they were nowhere near race-ready condition. His drivers, McLaren and Hulme, had only a six-day window before they returned to Europe for the Spanish Grand Prix.
 
In a desperate bid to make the cars competitive, Wallis used a liberal interpretation of USAC's rules to design a new annulus (the engine opening that fed air to the turbine). When measured by technical inspectors, the annulus was under the legal 16-inch limit. But at full throttle on the race track, a variable valve system opened to permit greater air flow into the turbine. At best, this was a careful translation of the rules. If they were caught there was no guarantee that USAC wouldn't immediately disqualify the Shelby/Wallis Turbines. Such a move would be an unmitigated disaster not only for the team principals, but also for Goodyear, their drivers and their sponsors.
MAVTV Air Times Announced for SCSCS Beginning September 2016

MAVTV Air Times Announced for SCSCS Beginning September 2016

Mount Joy, Pennsylvania (August 17, 2016) – In January, the Super Cup Stock Car Series (SCSCS) and the MAVTV motorsports network originally announced their agreement to televise multiple 2016 events.  After much anticipation, air dates and times have been released.
 
SCSCS, billed as Racin’ the Way It Used to Be, is enjoying its ninth season of competition, touring around short tracks throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.  600 horsepower, 3,300 pound steel-bodied stock cars, many of which originated from the former Hooters Pro Cup Series, are featured in the unique race formats.
What’s Going On? The EPA’s Plan to Annex Auto Racing

What’s Going On? The EPA’s Plan to Annex Auto Racing

June 28, 2016
Stephen Cox Blog Presented by McGunegill Engine Performance
 
 
Even as Americans grill hot dogs, gawk at fireworks and celebrate freedoms we don't have, the Environmental Protection Agency recently planned to hit the motorsports community with a devastating blow. Although the agency now appears to be backing off the original plan, there is still no clear legislation to prevent it from reappearing.

The EPA's Clean Air Act, which has afflicted decent people since 1970, is an ever-growing but never totally understood mass of vagueness that the EPA calls upon any time it craves yet another vast expansion of its already criminally overreaching power.