What are F1 Stockcars? Formula One Stock Cars are unlimited power, 600 bhp custom built, open wheeled racing cars. Most cars have 6 or 7 litre Chevrolet powered race engines. Cars weigh about 1500 kilos, have large steel bumpers front and rear and are painted with bright colours. They have large wings which act as brakes on the bends, but also offer a large area for advertising and sponsorship. Each car has a unique number which should be clearly painted on the wing and on the side of the car along with the driver's name. The racetracks are oval shaped, either shale or tarmac surface and are around 400 metres long. Unlike other forms of motor racing, the best drivers start each race at the back. Also, unlike any other form of motor racing, contact is allowed to push cars out of the way.Tracks are oval and around 400 metres round. The target of all drivers is to win the meeting Final. At most meetings there are 3 heats in which to qualify to race in the meeting final, a consolation or last chance race, then the meeting Final. The last race was traditionally an all comers race, for any cars still in race condition, now it is called the Grand National. A normal heat is raced over 16 laps and the meeting final is over 20 laps. Each race is started with a rolling lap and once the green flag has been waved the race starts. What's with the different wing colours? Well, the drivers are graded according to how many points they have. The drivers with the least points have a white wing and start at the front, behind them are the yellow wings, then the blues then the reds. Starting right at the back are the top 5 drivers, called Superstars and they have flashing orange lights on their aerofoil, which will include World Champion & the National Points Champion. See below: Andy Smith 2006 World Champion. The World Champion always wears the Gold roof Frankie Wainman Jnr in 2005. The National Series champion wears the Silver roof Tom Harris with a Red top at Northampton Nick Smith with a blue roof at Skegness Craig Utley here wearing yellow at Coventry Steve Hattersley with white at Kings Lynn There are two racing surfaces; shale and tarmac. On shale there is a lot more grip required, the offside rear Hoosier tyres are used as bought and cars are fitted with large "wing" aerofoils. tarmac cars use scrubbed tyres, almost slicks, and the aerofoils are flatter and streamlined. Gearing, suspension and front axle set up also differ greatly according to the racing surface. Speeds on both surfaces are around 70 mph entering the bends and up to 100 mph on the fastest part of the straight on tarmac. SHALE - Dave Berresford's car here at Sheffield with a typical shale aerofoil, designed with wind resistance in mind when cornering on loose surface tracks, to act as a brake and create downforce so the outside rear tyre has maximum traction on the track surface. However, some drivers race with the tarmac style wing and have equal success, so overall the effect from the wing type aerofoil is minimal. The major benefit from these large wings has been the much needed extra space available for sponsorship. It has been said they are glorified advertising hoardings, maybe but without sponsorship, many drivers would struggle to get a car out onto the track. TARMAC - Frankie Wainman Jnr's car at Venray, Holland with his lower profile and more streamlined aerofoil, assumed to create downforce. The maximum downforce from this set up will be around 40lbs. The subsequent drag created lifts the front of the car and forces the rear wheels down to produce more traction. Some drivers such as Murray Harrison and Ray Witts tried a sprint car/F1 Stockcar compromise albeit without tangible success. In the USA, Australia & RSA, sprint cars use aerofoils 60cm above the roof of the rollcage and some have tried concave surfaces. However; over a 400m oval, the positive effect of anything other than the aerofoil seen above are estimated to be negligable.