Modifieds in the Bowman Gray Madhouse

[flemke]

If any of you have the chance to see a new series called "Madhouse" currently on the US History Channel, you might enjoy it. I believe it is shown on Sunday evenings at 22:00 (EST).
It's similar in mentality to the "Ice Road Truckers" stuff, so it tends to make the leading personalities a bit cartoon-like, and to exaggerate reality.
The "Madhouse" subject is the Saturday night "Modified" class of NASCAR racing at Bowman Gray Stadium, which is a 1/4 mi asphalt oval near Winston Salem, NC. They've been racing there since 1949.
This is an overview of the Bowman Gray scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6vrDHmQr4w

A typical Modified race there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSZzADuZoY4&fea...

It's a lot of fun, and only about a thousand times more entertaining than some motoring-related waste of time on BBC2 Sunday evenings.

[skeggysteve]

flemke said:

This is an overview of the Bowman Gray scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6vrDHmQr4w

A typical Modified race there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSZzADuZoY4&fea...

It's a lot of fun, and only about a thousand times more entertaining than some motoring-related waste of time on BBC2 Sunday evenings.

I watched a little bit of the first YT and all of the second.

First clip I was just thinking ???

Second I was waiting for the racing and then 4 mins in came the 'race', I think I saw one overtake.

Sorry Flemke but I just don't get it.

Must add that I didn't have the benefit of sound due to computer problems.

I thought tonight's Topgear was not 'that' bad.

[flemke]

skeggysteve said:

flemke said:

This is an overview of the Bowman Gray scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6vrDHmQr4w

A typical Modified race there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSZzADuZoY4&fea...

It's a lot of fun, and only about a thousand times more entertaining than some motoring-related waste of time on BBC2 Sunday evenings.

I watched a little bit of the first YT and all of the second.

First clip I was just thinking ???

Second I was waiting for the racing and then 4 mins in came the 'race', I think I saw one overtake.

Sorry Flemke but I just don't get it.

That is fair enough, in that Bowman sees less overtaking than any circuit that I can think of (apart, of course, from any circuit that at that moment is holding a Formula One race).

These are more typical of Modified racing, and show the northern version of it, which is more competitive than the southern one. The southern boys, however, the Bubbas, Gomers and Goobers, make better characters on TV:
Superior northern version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5woWCmLJSA&fea...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVFGZ-EBCnU&fea...

The cars run about 600 bhp, weigh 1200 kg, and have slicks about as wide as they were running in F1 25 years ago. On circuits of 1/2 mile or shorter, they're faster than Sprint Cup cars.

These days, I would not recommend that anyone go to Bowman Gray to see a "race". That particular place is more about the history, characters, and local colour. Modified racing, more broadly as a genre, is pretty cool.

skeggysteve said:

Must add that I didn't have the benefit of sound due to computer problems.

I thought tonight's Topgear was not 'that' bad.

I have seen a number of episodes of TG over the years. Never saw one that was much good. It seems like complete bull5hit, from 3 guys who might know something about cars but, if they do, show no evidence of it on television.

[35secToNuvolari]

I don't have the patience for Madhouse. It's got that tinny, overly-dramatic quality, with jumpy edits during races. Although the power-to-weight ratio of the cars is intriguing.

[mybrainhurts]

Do they all fall over when they get out of those cars after a race...?

[zac510]

Are these related to the outlaws?

[flemke]

zac510 said:

Are these related to the outlaws?

No, totally unrelated.
"Outlaw" racing is sprint cars with the mind-bendingly ugly wings on the top:

The racing is quite good, but the cars look so bad that I cannot bring myself to watch them.
Just that single image above brings me pain.

IINM, the "World of Outlaws" only race on dirt. They're organised under their own sanctioning body. Most of their racing is in the midwestern US, although it has spread towards the east and west. I don't know much about or pay attention to them, because the cars are just so fugly.
These outlaw things have largely, although not entirely, supplanted the traditional USAC sprint cars, which compete on dirt or asphalt.
Modern USAC sprint car:

Not the prettiest thing in the world, but you can live with it.

The traditional "USAC" sprint car would be the thing in which Mario Andretti, P. Jones, Foyt, Rutherford, and others made their bones:


At Bowman, they race NSACAR "Modifieds". This type of car has been around since the mid-'60s. They are raced on both dirt and asphalt, but there is almost no cross-over between the two for any single team or driver.
This would be a classic Modified:


This a modern version:

[Alfie Noakes]

Do you have a picture of Eddie or George Mr F?

[flemke]

Alfie Noakes said:

Do you have a picture of Eddie or George Mr F?

George:


Ed:

(Yes, he's smoking a cigarette.)

[Mazda Baiter]

flemke said:

George:

Interesting spelling of "Flempke".

[Alfie Noakes]

Thanks. Love the car. I used to be a real Hot Rod fan in my teens. My first car was a 1933 Austin Seven with a few Hot Rodesque modifications.

Been wracking my brains trying to put a name to that car. Is it a Willys Coupe?

[flemke]

Alfie Noakes said:

Thanks. Love the car. I used to be a real Hot Rod fan in my teens. My first car was a 1933 Austin Seven with a few Hot Rodesque modifications.

Been wracking my brains trying to put a name to that car. Is it a Willys Coupe?

They typically used '37 Chevys, although occasionally a Ford of similar vintage was used instead.
I don't believe I ever saw a Willys on a circuit.

[Tegs]

Check the new UK version of Classic Modifieds

http://www.classicmodifieds.co.uk/