First and foremost, YearOne is about street cars—building them, driving them, enjoying them. And while it’d be a real stretch to consider the typical ORSCA car a wolf in sheep’s clothing, we feel a whole lot more kinship with back-halved Mustangs, Camaros or pick-up trucks than a ProStock Cobalt or Stratus. Even though muscle car bodies are still prevalent in the super stock ranks, it’s hard relating to cars wallpapered with contingency decals and sponsorship logos covering the door and quarter panel. We won’t even mention our views on funny cars and rails. And at this point, the NASCAR jelly-beans aren’t far behind.
Nobody is going to confuse an ORSCA car with the family grocery-getter, but with rules requiring a full factory-style interior, stock-fitting body panels, stock front cross member and no sponsor lettering or contingency decals, they’re something the average enthusiast can relate to…you feel like there’s a chance you could see it in the parking lot at your local cruise-in.
Another thing that sets ORSCA apart from the rest is that they run the shorter 1/8-mile. We’ll admit this put us off at first as. It gets back to that whole “can I relate to it” point of reference. Factory and magazine performance numbers have been recorded in the ¼-mile times as far back as anyone can remember. When we hear that a street car is running 10-second quarter mile times at 130mph, we sit up and take notice. But what’s a good 1/8-mile time? Unless you race the 1/8 yourself, chances are you don’t know. To give you a reference, we went online and found a conversion chart to show what our Index Classes would run if they were in the ¼-mile. The “slowest” of our index classes is 7.0, which comes out to 10.92 in the quarter. Not bad for narrow tires, stock sheetmetal and mostly stock suspension. These cars you actually could see at Sonic on a Friday night. Our 6.0 classes step it up a bit, coming out to 9.36 seconds in the quarter, while the 5.0 class would hit the traps in 7.80 seconds. The chart didn’t go down to our fastest 4.5-second index class. The quicker classes are way into the 140 mph range, with the 4.5 Index cars knocking on 160’s door...in the 1/8th. These are 200mph+ cars in the quarter.
So why don’t they run the quarter mile? We asked the same question, and got some very well thought out, practical and business-like answers. First and foremost, racing in the 1/8th is safer. Studies have shown the majority of accidents happen “at the big end.” Lop the track in half, and they’re on the brakes and pulling the ‘chute while rolling over the real estate that hosts most wrecks. From a safety and human factor, that’s good policy.
We were also told there have been studies done that break down what it costs the racers, in dollar amounts, per pass. Aside from the costs associated with a crash, shorter bursts at wide open throttle and lower trap speeds are a whole lot easier on parts. Lower annual parts budgets open the series to more racers because it isn’t as expensive to keep their car in the hunt throughout the season as their ¼-mile counterparts. You don’t have to be a gazillionaire to go racing with ORSCA and be competitive.
Less breakage on-track also equates to a fast-paced show for the spectators, as there aren’t nearly as many oil-downs. Just look at how NHRA has instituted fines for professional teams that oil down the track. Oildowns—and the long, long clean-up times associated with them, are one of the biggest negatives for fans. Quarter-mile drag racing has such a problem with it they’re pressuring teams (thru fines) to make their cars more durable. That’s not nearly as big an issue with 1/8-mile racing. When you spend a day watching 1/8-mile racers, you spend the day watching racing!
And that’s where we really got hooked. Even after learning all the positives about 1/8-mile racing, we were still skeptical as we headed out to our first ORSCA race. We shouldn’t have been—we enjoyed our first 1/8-mile race a whole lot more than most ¼-milers we’ve been to, because the action is very, very fast. Not only is there a minimal amount of down-time due to oil-downs, but the shorter duration of the individual races keeps the action fast paced, with cars paired up and thundering down the track in a much brisker fashion.
We’ve also noticed something else while attending ¼-mile races as a spectator in the stands; you’re attention is focused on the cars when they launch at the starting line, and you follow them out to about the 1/8-mile…and then you take your eyes off the cars and watch the timing boards for the last half of the race to see who wins. With 1/8-mile racing, you watch the whole race and then check the boards for times and MPH when it’s over.
Fast paced on-track action, cars we dig, and wild wheels-up action…check out the next ORSCA race and see if you don’t agree with us. It’s the most fun we’ve had at a drag strip outside a car.
For more information on the Outlaw Racing Street Car Association, including class rules, go to
www.outlawracing.com