US Legend Cars, formerly known as 600 Racing Inc. is an American race car constructor. The company, based in

Harrisburg, North Carolina Harrisburg is a town in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, United States. It is a northeastern suburb of Charlotte. In the 2020 census, the population was 18,967. Geography Harrisburg is located in southwestern Cabarrus County. It is bordered to ...

, builds all cars involved in

Legends car racing Legends car racing is a style of auto racing designed primarily to promote exciting racing and to keep costs down (as of 2022, a brand-new Legends car could be purchased in the USA for $17,500 USD). The race car bodyshells are 5/8-scale replicas ...

. US Legend Cars holds the title of largest race car manufacturer in the world, due to their high production volume.

History

US Legend Cars was launched by

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009 due to sponsorship reasons) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It has hosted various major races since it ...

officials seeking a cheaper alternative to

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 ...

. The target was a racing car low in purchasing price and in maintenance. The first car was unveiled in April 1992 by Charlotte Motor Speedway president

Humpy Wheeler Howard Augustine Wheeler Jr. (born October 23, 1938), nicknamed Humpy Wheeler, is an American motorsports executive and businessman. He is best known as the former general manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway, a banked racetrack in Concord, Nort ...

and former racer

Elliott Forbes-Robinson Elliott Forbes-Robinson (born October 31, 1943, in La Crescenta, California) is a road racing race car driver. He is known for his race wins and championships in many different series, including the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), Super Vee, Trans ...

. The first legends racing cars body styles were based on the stock car modified divisions from the 1930s and 1940s. Wheeler and Forbes-Robinson based the legends cars on a Dwarf cars racing division based in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. As Wheeler was the Charlotte Motor Speedway president and

Speedway Motorsports Speedway Motorsports, LLC is an American company that owns and manages auto racing facilities that host races sanctioned by NASCAR, NHRA, World of Outlaws and other racing series. The company was founded by Bruton Smith and has its headquarters ...

president the new company developing the cars was introduced as a subsidiary to Speedway Motorsports. For 1993 a Legends racing series on road courses was introduced in the United Kingdom. For 1998 a new car was introduced, the Bandolero model. The car was fitted with a 570cc

Briggs & Stratton Briggs & Stratton Corporation is an American manufacturer of small engines with headquarters in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Engine production averages 10 million units per year as of April 2015. The company reports that it has 13 large faciliti ...

Vanguard Model 35 engine. In 2011 a new car was launched, the Dirt Modified. The car is similar to a regular Legends racing car. However a slightly different body and adjusted Bilstein shocks make it handle more like a

midget car Midget cars, also Speedcars in Australia, is a class of racing cars. The cars are very small, with a very high power-to-weight ratio, and typically use four-cylinder engines. They originated in the United States in the 1930s and are raced on most ...

Ray Evernham Raymond Donald Evernham Jr. (born August 26, 1957) is an American consultant for Rick Hendrick, Hendrick Companies, formerly an auto racing crew chief for Bill Davis Racing and Hendrick Motorsports, owner of his own team Evernham Motorsports fr ...

helped develop the new racing car. The first track to run the dirt car series was East Lincoln Speedway in

Stanley, North Carolina Stanley is a town in Gaston County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,556 at the 2010 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.57%, is water. T ...

. The legend

car engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal co ...

was updated from a Yamaha 1250 to a Yamaha FZ-09 in the spring of 2018.

Models

References

{{reflist

External links

Car Battery Information
Racing cars Stock car racing series American racecar constructors Companies based in North Carolina Auto racing series in the United States Stock car racing series in the United States American companies established in 1992

History

Models

See also

References

External links