.png)
SPRING CITY, TN – Mountain View Raceway officials will be following with interest the development of a new Economy Winged Sprint Car series called the Southern Winged Warrior Sprint Car Series proposed for the 2023 racing season. The new series is being put together by former Mountain View Raceway Race Director Shannon Norwood and engine builder Scott Pass.
The big thing that sets the Southern Winged Warrior Sprint Car Series apart from other series is in the engine compartment. Instead of the traditional high-dollar 410 or 360 cubic inch fuel injected engine that costs $60,000 and up, the new series has opted for three more affordable engine options.
The three engine options for the Southern Winged Warrior Sprint Car Series are a built engine option using OEM Replacement Parts, a Chevrolet Performance 604 Crate Engine option, and a LS1 Engine option. All three engine options will use a single 4150 design carburetor and burn methanol fuel. Starters are also optional. Norwood says the series is right for the “Blue Collar” racer.
“Sprint Cars have been popular with the fans in the Southeast, but they have never been an option to the weekly racer because of the cost,” Norwood said. “The Sprint Car chassis is a very simple design that is affordable and readily available. The biggest cost of the traditional Sprint Car is the Engine, which can cost more than a Super Late Model Engine. We’re trying to create three affordable engine options for the blue collar racer.”
Norwood, who owns Fullmoon Graphics, sees the need for a race car in the Southeast that looks different, still goes fast, and something the fans want to see. He envisions the Southeast Winged Warrior Sprint Car Series can do just that, plus be an affordable Division for the racer and the tracks.
“With my graphics business, I wrap a lot of cars in a lot of different Divisions, but they all tend to look alike,” Norwood said. “It seems like there are at least four different Divisions that look like Late Models, and even the 4-Cylinder Division now looks like a Late Model. The fans need a variety of different looking race cars to watch.”
The economy aspect of the Southern Winged Warrior Sprint Car Series is what interests Mountain View Raceway officials. For the Series to have an Economic Balance, it must be affordable to the race track to where they can make it affordable to the fans.
“We have had Sprint Cars at Mountain View Raceway in the past, and they were so expensive to run here that we can’t charge our fans enough to make them profitable,” Mountain View Raceway Co-Owner Susan Hampton said. “Our fans want to see Sprint Cars, but they just can’t afford that high price for a ticket. If the new economy Sprint Cars cost half of what the traditional Sprint Cars cost, I think we might be able to work with that purse-wise.”
The single-seat, open-cockpit Sprint Cars are the oldest form of race cars in the country, dating back to the invention of the automobile at the turn of the 20th Century. They are a very simple design of a straight front axle, engine compartment, driver cockpit, rear-end assembly and fuel tank crammed into an 86-inch wheelbase on a steel space frame, The car weighs 1,200 pounds.
A Sprint Car is pound-for-pound the most powerful race car in the world with an astounding weight per horsepower ratio, even with the three engine options the new series is proposing. A traditional Sprint Car has no flywheel, clutch or transmission. It has just one gear in its quick-change rear-end assembly, and that’s go fast. A Sprint Car is push started in gear.
Up until 1980s, the top stars of the Indy Car Series were Sprint Car graduates, and after that, many of the top NASCAR drivers have come out of the Sprint Car ranks including former Champions Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kyle Larson.
For more information about the Southern Winged Warrior Sprint Car Series, contact Shannon Norwood at 423-368-0446, or Scott Pass at 865-221-0570. You can also visit their Facebook page at Facebook.com/Southern-Winged-Warrior-Sprint-Car-Series. There, you will find the series rules regarding the three engine options, and links to Sprint Cars that are for sale.
Mountain View Raceway where you can get “Your Thrill By The Hill” is located at 20626 Rhea County Highway (U.S. Highway 27), Spring City, TN 37381. For more information, call 423-405-8490 or visit the track website at www.mountainviewraceway.com. You can also like the Mountain View Raceway Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/mountainviewraceway.