AmeriCar Championship Road Racing Series
| Hanmore AmeriCar Championship Road Racing Series | |
| |
| Year Founded | 1978 |
| Founder(s) | Harry Kent |
| Executive(s) | Anthony Bailey |
| Current Divisions | AC-1, AC-2, AC-3, AC-4 Classes |
| Current Champion |  Max Gibson
|
| Racing Series | |
The AmeriCar Championship Road Racing Series is one of the lead road racing tours in America, alongside North American GT racing, being sanctioned by the National Sports Car Club of America (NSCC).
It was founded in 1978 by NSCC president Harry Kent, initially named American Road Racing Car Championship, the name was changed to American Road Car Championship by 1982 and then contracted to AmeriCar Championship by 1988. The series underwent multiple name changes, mostly due to sponsorship changes, with Hanmore Industries sponsoring the tour since 2016.
It evolved from a championship for sedans and modified automobiles to a battlefield open to multiple race car styles, including GT styled automobiles, muscle cars and compact production cars.
Over the years the series contested races in various types of facilities in the United States, Canada and Mexico, currently holding races in all three of those countries as of 2019.
Classes[edit | edit source]
The series instituted the class system for the 2019 season.
The classes that will challenge for the AmeriCar championship will be:
AC-1: The main class is comprised by high performance race cars, veterans of the series regularly flock to this category, powered by 358 cubic inch, V8 engines that can achieve up to 900 horsepower on track. It's the most expensive tour, featuring less teams than in AC-2 and AC-3.
AC-2: The most popular class in AmeriCar, AC-2 is comprised of cost-effective muscle cars, featuring bodies made by Cromwell Raceworks. These bodies are extremely similar to FARC Lowe Dollar Series bodies, which allow for teams contesting both tours to seamlessly crossover between then with few changes to the engine and bodywork. The class uses engines similar to the ones in AC-1, albeit restricted to only 500HP, in order to level the field of competition. The second cheapest class to contest, it regularly features 24+ car fields.
AC-3: Formerly the NSCC Production Car Challenge's top class, the Sport production car class, AC-3 is the second most cost effective series among AmeriCar, regularly contested by rookies , seeking their big break. It's also the series with the most foreign manufacturer representation, with British, Japanese, and Central European manufacturers battling against traditional American brands.
AC-4: The NSCC's Production Car Challenge stock class, this production car class is the cheapest within AmeriCar, it is contest by street cars with standard safety measures, hotly contested by hobby drivers. It's akin to Hornet Racing on road courses, attracting NSCC-registered drivers that don't have the money or the means to be in the top brass but want a taste of racing emotion nonetheless. The full-time fields is small, but the grid is filled with local drivers.
Former Champion[edit | edit source]
| Year | Driver's Champion | Manufacturer's Champion |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 |  Don Ashcroft
|
Lenard
|
| 1979 | Don Ashcroft
|
Lenard
|
| 1980 | Richard McAvoy
|
Saar
|
| 1981 | Joe Gallagher
|
 Gessler
|
| 1982 | Lloyd Weathers
|
Saar
|
| 1983 |  Tom Hickman
|
Lenard
|
| 1984 | Derek Calhoun
|
Inglesby
|
| 1985 | Lloyd Weathers
|
Saar
|
| 1986 | Harry Brock
|
Saar
|
| 1987 | Lou Yates Sr.
|
Saar
|
| 1988 | Rick Greaves
|
Gessler
|
| 1989 | Jack Ashcroft
|
Sellick
|
| 1990 | Rick Greaves
|
Gessler
|
| 1991 | Jack Ashcroft
|
Sellick
|
| 1992 | Jack Ashcroft
|
Sellick
|
| 1993 |  Paul Overton
|
Saar
|
| 1994 | Fred Newton
|
Saar
|
| 1995 | Burton Baker
|
Lenard
|
| 1996 | Franklin Graziano
|
Saar
|
| 1997 | Franklin Graziano
|
Saar
|
| 1998 |  Vic Rousselot
|
Gessler
|
| 1999 | Vic Rousselot
|
Gessler
|
| 2000 | Franklin Graziano
|
Saar
|
| 2001 | Franklin Graziano
|
Saar
|
| 2002 | Paul Barnes Jr.
|
Saar
|
| 2003 | Richard Thygesen
|
Gessler
|
| 2004 | Franklin Graziano
|
Xenos
|
| 2005 | Jeff Bright
|
Lenard
|
| 2006 | Bradley Berger
|
Lenard
|
| 2007 | Perry Barrett
|
Lenard
|
| 2008 | Tony Bell
|
Saar
|
| 2009 | Paul Barnes Jr.
|
 Kanako
|
| 2010 | Paul Barnes Jr.
|
Kanako
|
| 2011 | Paul Barnes Jr.
|
Kanako
|
| 2012 | Leon Kennedy
|
Saar
|
| 2013 | Steve Barco
|
Lenard
|
| 2014 | Tony Bell
|
Saar
|
| 2015 | Julia Ashcroft
|
Lenard
|
| 2016 | Tony Bell
|
Saar
|
| 2017 | Max Gibson
|
Xenos
|
| 2018 | Max Gibson
|
Xenos
|
| FOUR-CLASS ERA | ||
| 2019 | TBA | TBA |
| TBA | TBA | |
| TBA | TBA | |
| TBA | TBA | |