The pioneer eras of showroom stock and street stock endurance road racing and IMSA Racing Stocks and International Sedan (RS/IS) competition in North America will be celebrated this fall with the Inaugural Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) Street Stock Road Racing and RS/IS Reunion. The race was announced today by HSR as a featured addition to the seventh running of the HSR Classic Daytona presented by IMSA weekend at Daytona International Speedway (DIS), October 27 – 31.
Eligible entries include cars that competed in the IMSA Firestone Firehawk Endurance Championship, the SCCA Pro Escort Endurance Championship, the Motorola Cup North America and other street stock series of the era. Cars that competed in IMSA’s small sedan road racing series best known as the IMSA Radial Challenge and IMSA Champion Spark Plug Challenge in the 1970s and 1980s will also be welcome.
“We have seen increasing interest from competitors and fans alike in providing a showcase for Firehawk, Escort, RS/IS and the other street stock road racing and sedan series that were at the foundation of these popular and competitive segments of sports car racing,” said HSR President David Hinton. “The timing is right to literally drop the green flag and we couldn’t think of a better venue than Daytona International Speedway during the HSR Classic Daytona presented by IMSA weekend.”
Known for incredibly close racing and massive grids, sometimes numbering 75 to 100 cars, street stock road racing and RS/IS were first introduced by the SCCA and IMSA, respectively, in the ‘70s.
The IMSA RS/IS series was first to make its mark with huge fields of the increasingly popular small sedans and coupes of the day that emerged in response the U.S. energy crisis of the ‘70s.
Street stock competition was also strong out of the box in the ‘70s but the true breakout decade was the ’80s. The SCCA was soon joined by SCCA Pro, IMSA and other sanctioning bodies as more endurance race events were added to the format.
Street stock endurance road racing also played a major role in defining production-based sports car racing as it is known today.
The “World Challenge” moniker was first used by SCCA in its Escort series in the early 1990s.
Today, World Challenge has evolved into a global GT3 series contested in America, Europe and Asia, and is regarded as a popular and highly-sought-after championship for competitors and manufacturers on a worldwide scale.
The Canadian-based Motorola Cup became GRAND-AM Cup prior to the 2001 season and, after several different series names and sponsorships over the years, competes today as the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.
The HSR Street Stock Road Racing and RS/IS Reunion event schedule and car and series eligibility list will be announced in the near future. For more information visit www.HSRRace.com
