The Race of Champions is a racing organization which sanctions eight different series on asphalt and dirt surfaces, and promotes an annual marquee racing weekend featuring one of the oldest continuing championship races in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

History

The Race of Champions 250 originated in 1951 as the National Open on the dirt surfaced

Langhorne Speedway Langhorne Speedway was an automobile racetrack in Middletown Township, Bucks County, near the borough of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, a northern suburb of Philadelphia. According to the book ''Langhorne! No Man's Land'' by L. Spencer Riggs: "With ...

in Middletown Township, Bucks County, near the borough of

Langhorne, Pennsylvania Langhorne Borough, formerly known as Attleboro, is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,643 at the time of the 2020 census. The mailing address "Langhorne" is used for Langhorne Borough but also broadly ...

, a northern suburb of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. In order to secure the strongest modified field possible, promoters Al Gerber and Irv Fried guaranteed starting spots in the race to the track champions at many of the top short-tracks in the northeast. After the 1971 event the speedway was closed, and the race was rebranded the Race of Champions. The event was relocated first to

Trenton Speedway Trenton Speedway was a racing facility located near Trenton, New Jersey at the New Jersey State Fairgrounds. Races for the United States' premier open-wheel and full-bodied racing series of the times were held at Trenton Speedway. Racing histor ...

in New Jersey, subsequently to

Pocono Raceway Pocono Raceway (formerly known as the Pocono International Raceway in early years) is a tri-oval track in Blakeslee, Pennsylvania. The track has held a variety of events since its opening in 1969, including NASCAR, IndyCar Series, and IMSA GT ...

in Pennsylvania, and then back to New Jersey at the

Flemington Speedway Flemington Speedway was a motor racing circuit in Flemington, New Jersey which operated from 1915 to 2002. The track was once known for being the fastest 5/8-mile dirt track in the United States. Early history Flemington Speedway was created as ...

. The process of awarding the guaranteed starting positions in the annual Race of Champions was replaced with the 'Trail of Champions', a touring series of special events held at venues throughout the northeast, and which crowned its own champion. In 1996, promoters Alex Friesen and Andrew Harpell purchased the rights to the event from Al Gerber’s son Joe, and moved the race to the

Oswego Speedway The Oswego Speedway is a 5/8 mile race track in Oswego, New York. It was built in 1951 and was paved with asphalt since the 1952. The track has held dates on several national tours - the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, ASA National Tour, and USAC ...

in New York. Later that year, Friesen was fatally injured in a snowmobile accident, and Harpell moved forward with plans to expand the business model to sanction races and touring series for other classes of race cars. Going into the 2016 season, Joe Skotnicki, a former

Super DIRTcar Series The Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds is a North American modified racing, big block modified touring series currently promoted by World Racing Group. The series primarily races on dirt track racing, dirt ovals in the Northeastern United S ...

director, left his post with

World Racing Group World Racing Group, Inc. (WRG) is a licensing, sanctioning and promotional organization aligned with oval dirt track auto racing. Through its World of Outlaws and DIRTcar brands, WRG supports individual races and racetracks, and also operates ...

and purchased both the dirt and asphalt programs from Harpell.

Race of Champions Touring Series

The Race of Champions Touring Series has grown to a family of

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...

series on both

dirt Dirt is any matter considered unclean, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debris: scattered pieces of waste or remains * Du ...

and asphalt including asphalt modifieds, dirt and asphalt sportsman, late models, super stock and the 4 cylinder dash. It was nominated for and won Best Touring Series on the 51's (which is an annual fan voted awards) for the 2017 season. In the 2019 season a TQ Midget Series was introduced into the Race of Champions Group. Andy Jankowiak became the inaugural series champion at Lake Erie Speedway. Also in 2019 the Race of Champions began experimenting with

sim racing Sim racing is the collective term for racing games that attempt to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tire wear and grip, and suspension settings. To be competitive in sim racing, a dr ...

via

iRacing.com ''iRacing'' is a subscription-based online sim racing video game developed and published by iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations in 2008. All in-game sessions are hosted on the publisher's servers. The game simulates real world cars, tracks, and ...

one of the most well-known

services.

Asphalt Modified Series

The Race of Champions Asphalt Modified Series was first developed by Harpell in 1994 as the ''New York Modified Series.'' It was rebranded upon the creation of the Dirt Modified Tour in 2005.

Dirt Modified Series

The Race of Champions Dirt Modified Tour was formed in 2005 as an alternative for dirt modified and sportsman cars. The Dirt 602 Sportsman Modified Series continues on, but the modified portion was disbanded in 2017.

The Race of Champions 250

The Race of Champions 250 is the yearly stock car race using modified race cars and is the direct descendant of the National Open. Although the first 14 open championships were held on a dirt surface, Langhorne Speedway was paved in 1965, and the event has since been held on asphalt surfaces. The tracks hosting the event have ranged from the .375 mile

Lake Erie Speedway Lake Erie Speedway is a 3/8 mile (0.6 km) paved, banked oval race track which opened on June 21, 2002 in Erie County, Pennsylvania south of North East, Pennsylvania, United States. It was a member of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series from 2 ...

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pen ...

to the 2.5 mile Pocono Raceway tri-oval.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Race of Champions Stock car races Auto racing organizations in the United States