Forget about British reserve, this car can be spotted from the International Space Station | As strange as it seems, as you’re reading this there’s a team from Great Britain traveling to the American South to race scale replicas of dirt track stock cars of the 1950s and 1960s bodied in the shells of two-door coupes and four-door sedans of the 1930s.
The story actually starts in 1992, when many short tracks had allowed the cost of competition to escalate out of control with variable and sometimes unclear rules. Car counts began to drop drastically, and at that moment, track officials estimate that 30% to 40% of the racecars in North America were not in use because of cost.
What was needed was an affordable racecar that required little maintenance time and cost. Recognizing the need was the team at Charlotte Motor Speedway, who researched the problem. As a result of this research, in January 1992, US Legend Cars International, Inc. was launched and in April of 1992, the first Legends Car was unveiled. Currently they are the largest mass producer of racecars in the world.
UK Champion John Mickel heads to the US to defend his World title |
While the intention was for Legend cars to compete on short paved and dirt ovals, they started appearing in other situations. You can find them today running on race tracks with NASA, SCCA, and other groups. And they’ve spread across the globe as well. In Finland they’re raced on road courses in the summer and on frozen lakes in the winter. In addition to the UK, where our friends are from, there have also been series in France, Mexico, Belgium, Spain, and Australia.
In most of the countries, an infrastructure of paved or dirt ovals doesn’t exist, so the Legends cars are raced on road courses. In the UK, there are 15 rounds held on tracks that hosted Formula 1 races like Silverstone, Brands Hatch, and Donington Park are on the schedule as well as club circuits likes Pembrey and Anglesey.
Three races are held – two heats and a final – at each round of the championship, with the heats lasting between 7 and 12 laps depending on the circuit, with the final a few laps longer. The grid for race one is drawn by lots, with the reverse for heat two, and in the final the grid is formed by the reverse of the drivers points in the previous two races – meaning the most successful driver will start near the back. In each race, however, all rookies start at the back of the grid.
You can catch a glimpse of a pair of K&N RC-3510 air filters under the hood | This year’s UK champion is John Mickel who took the 2015 championship as well. “I'm really pleased to win it again especially as winning last year makes it back to back titles. Every year it gets harder. My 19 years of experience in Legends Cars keeps me fighting at the front and of course using the best equipment like K&N Filters helps.
John is bringing his winning number 4 K-Seal Legend car to the States, to be defending his world title and he’s excited to be doing so. “The USA is where the Legends cars were designed and first raced," he said. “It's like bringing the car home. Racing against the best of the best from each state of the USA plus drivers from Russia, Georgia, Sweden, Finland and winning both the World Title and the World Points Series last year, I just had to come back and defend them both in 2016.”
John’s no newbie to racing in the US. He spent several years trying to put together a NASCAR truck program, budget limiting him to running only a handful of races each year. So he turned his focus back on the UK and dominated ever since.
So how does a car from the UK compete with a car from the US or Russia or Finland? Machinery is kept evenly matched around the globe by all chassis and components manufactured only by US Legend Cars International, Inc. In addition every car is powered by a sealed Yamaha engine. With so much controlled by the organizers, small allowed differences can make a big difference. According to John, “engine costs are a big part of our budget, and using the best equipment available has always been cost effective. That’s why I have used K&N air and oil filters for over 30 years, because they’ve never let me down.” Just for the record, each car in John's stable is equipped with a pair of K&N RC-3510 filters.
While our focus has been on John as he heads for the World Championships, there are other members of his team that have plenty to celebrate themselves. Paul Simmons was crowned the 2016 UK National Masters (over 40) Champion in his black #51 Baileigh Industrial-sponsorsed machine, while the #3 K-Seal car shared by Mike Schlup and John Patterson won the 2016 UK Team Car National Championship title.
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