(RacingWire) – 25 Years ago Ronald Reagan was starting his second term in office, New Coke came and went, Michael Jordon was an NBA rookie, and Madonna kicked off her first tour.
Alain Prost, Darrell Waltrip and Al Unser won the Formula One, Winston Cup and CART championships.
Motorsports history was also made in 1985 when a new car and a new class changed the face of amateur motorsports.
It was called Sports Renault and while there have been minor tweaks and a power plant change, the class has remained true to its core mission for 25 years.
That mission was two fold; remain relatively inexpensive when compared to the rest of the racing world and provide close racing in cars with nearly identical performance specs.
The 1.7L Renault drive train eventually gave way to a 1.9L Ford Escort derivative and now, 25 years later, 867 cars have been produced with the vast majority still capable of winning races.
The first cars sold for $9,950 and today's kits sell for $27,500.
The list of drivers who have passed through Spec Racer is impressive. Dorsey Schroeder, Robbie Buell, Brian Till, and Sam Schmidt are just a few who have strapped into a Spec Racer.
I'm proud to call myself a Spec Racer alum as well. My father bought his Sports Renault in 1988 and I was his crew chief for several years. Dad was also brave enough (or not smart enough to know better) to allow his know-it-all son to drive the car in a few driving schools.
Pondering the 25th anniversary of Spec Racer Ford started me thinking about what has made it the most popular class in amateur racing for most of the last two decades.
Nick Craw is currently the President of the FIA Senate. He was the President of the SCCA when Sports Renault went from concept to reality.
“The Sports Renault concept was the first of its kind and nobody was sure it would work,” said Craw who admitted he was both frightened and confident of what the club had taken on. “(I was) frightened because it had never been done before and there are some serious risks with being the first mover in any product area especially motorsports, but confident in the fact that I thought the constructors and manufacturers were pricing themselves out of the market.”
Today SCCA Enterprises is the manufacturer and distributor of the Spec Racer Ford. Enterprises was started by the club to run the project.
Early on there was some consternation among the club's faithful about how much money the SCCA was sinking into Enterprises.
Three things have gone a long way towards ending the debate. The SCCA hasn't funded Enterprises' coffers in years, Enterprises is paying down the loan at a greater rate each year and, most importantly, Spec Racer continues to be the most highly subscribed class in the amateur racing.
Why is that? Erik Skirmants is SCCA Enterprises' President. He feels it's a combination of extremely close competition, controlled costs, and lack of changes over the years.
“I think much of the system that has been put in place has proven itself just based on the volume we have had and the longevity,” said Skirmants. “Certainly we have had competitive threats like Spec Miata. They yielded to our structure and our program time and time again. Spec Miata bumped us off the top of the most popular national class for all of twelve months then fell below us immediately because everyone knows Spec Miata is “Similar Miata” not spec.”
Driver's get involved with the class for different reasons but close competition remains at the top of the list. “I have a number of people who could race anything in the paddock,” said Skirmants. “One of the things that impresses me the most about our community and I've told people to do this and they come back with absolute amazement. The guy driving in in the Ferrari, Maseratti, and the Porsche is probably going to pull up next to a GT-1 car, a Formula Atlantic or a Spec Racer.
The say yeah right. I say no, seriously, go look; and I'll be dammed if the guy in the Ferrari coming in the next morning pulled up next to the Spec Racer, the guy in the Porsche drove up to a Formula Atlantic and the next guy drove up to a Spec Racer.”
“So we have a number of guys who could drive anything in the world and have a budget far beyond what it costs to run a Spec Racer, but they are much more proud to be 14th in a field of 40 Spec Racers than they would be to lap the field in a GT-1 Corvette.
IMSA Champion, SPEED Network personality, and winner of the first Sports Renault Pro Series Championship Dorsey Schroeder agrees with that assessment. “They are fun to drive,” said Schroeder, “because no matter where you are, if you are running for first or running for 35th, of you've got someone around you all the time.”
The competition is close. So close Enterprises keeps the Spec Racer Ford power plants within one percent of each other.
Price is also a big consideration. Spec Racer Ford isn't the cheapest car on the track but its prices remain consistent and lack of changes eliminates the need to constantly upgrade with the latest “go faster” parts.
“Low budget is a moving target that changes over time,” said Craw, “but I think the Spec Racer concept, with more than 800 cars out there proves that there is a demand for that kind of racing.”
“What's kept Spec Racer low budget is that they all have sealed engines. They can only be rebuilt back at the shop here in Denver. Prices have remained pretty reasonable over the 25 year period of time, way below the rate of inflation. So that tells me there's a demand for that.”
Skirmants says there aren't any major changes on the horizon for Spec Racer Ford. “I find myself pausing trying to give you a punchline to go into a story that is worth telling but the punchline is the class isn't going to change.” “The punchline is; it's the most competitive, most equal class and the costs are as low as we can possibly make them.”
Craw has enjoyed a storied motorsports career. From the SCCA to President of the FIA Senate, he has a lot to be proud of. “It makes me feel pretty good on a couple of different levels. One, that we managed to do something for 25 years and not screw it up and that's a challenge. Number two, that it's provided hundreds of thousands of miles of relatively inexpensive racing for beginners, for students, for semi-pro people and pro people and I think that is frequently overlooked. The 110 regions within the SCCA that are fundamentally the distribution chain for our racing have been made that much more healthy by the fact that there is a class of cars out there that is competitive, has a lot of devotees, and therefore provides them a lot of entry fees. That long term beneficial impact has to make you feel good.”
Schroeder may have summed up the romance with Spec Racer Ford the best. “The class still makes sense. What made it good originally is what makes it good now. It is not as affordable as it used to be but that's just the way everything is. Yet, when you look at the car you are guaranteed the fact that if you go into that class you are going to have the same equipment as the guys you are racing around. The cars don't require a huge amount of maintenance so if you are not a mechanic by nature or not mechanically inclined you can get by. It's down to honing your driving skills. It leaves a lot more weekend to have a party atmosphere and have fun.”
And isn't having fun the reason we all got involved in this sport in the first place?
Note: The Spec Racer Ford 25th Anniversary Celebration is April 10-11 at Road Atlanta in Braselton, GA. There will be racing on both Saturday and Sunday afternoon with a VIP race ending the day's activities on Saturday. Information regarding the event is available at www.srf25.com.
