Sporting spectacles within the racing circles do not only offer a stage in which the worlds greatest drivers show off their skills and determination to win. It is not only a gathering wherein the worlds well-known car manufacturers showcase their newest and freshest brands of makes and models. It is also a venue for an automobile enthusiast to take a first hand look at the hottest displays and sales of accessories. Now since cars are not the only ones revving up the racing circuits truck lovers can also find their way to the best picks possible.
Apart from the ever growing popularity of truck racing another more specific brand of the vehicle is surging up the charts towards more following and enthusiasm. Pickup truck racing is another variation of auto racing wherein customised and upgraded versions of the said vehicle are showcased within the confines of challenging race tracks and circuits. Pickup trucks utilized in races are very much similar with the coupe-shaped stock cars in terms of mechanisms. The main difference which gives a disadvantage to pickup trucks is the very boxy shape of the cab which results into decreased aerodynamics as compared to the usual stock cars.
At present there are around six major truck racing series recognized. These include the likes of the National Pickup Truck Racing Association, the FASCAR Pro Truck and Sportsman Series, the ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series, the British Pickup Truck Racing, the Australian V8 Utes, and the one series that made it possible for pickup trucks to enter the racing scene in 1994, the NASCAR. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has seen the arrival of vehicles that have rapidly and vastly improved in terms of engine quality, speed, and aerodynamics since the start of the event in 1995.
The counterpart of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in the United Kingdom is simply tagged as Pickup Truck Racing. The aim of its birth in 1997 was to deliver the American pickup truck culture to the European circles. This Pickup Series showcases the form of trucks called 230bhp racing specials which possessed a tubular space frame chassis, was powered by a 2 liter multi-valve twin-cam engine, and weighed about 900 kg. These trucks were built and designed to test the limits of the drivers skills and knowledge in racing.
At the onset of 2001, the Pickup Series became the core of the Rockingham-based oval SCSA Racing Series wherein the trucks used employed right hand drive mechanisms which resulted to the prohibition of the race format of anti-clockwise at a 1.5 mile speedway so a roval course was built in order to allow the pursuance of the competition. In 2003 the season opened with the conversion of mechanisms to left hand drive orientation and was finally allowed to take place within an oval track.
Pickup Truck Racing regulation encompasses all the trucks that take part of the races and the series itself is identified as a single make series. The making of the chassis of the trucks is handled by SHP Engineering while engines can be a choice between Ford Zetec and Vauxhall. Nevertheless, both manufacturers offer four cylinder engine types having a two liter capacity and sixteen valves.
Racing events offer truck enthusiasts a lot of opportunities which range from the excitement each race offers and the chance to take a closer look at the newest and latest brand of accessories available.