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The Optima Batteries ChumpCar World Series is a series of automotive endurance races held on paved road race courses across North America. The races range in length from 6 to 38 hours. The name is a parody of Champ Car, a defunct open wheel professional racing series. Races are sanctioned throughout the United States, as well as in Canada and Mexico. Teams are encouraged, but not required, to decorate their cars with themes. The series is similar in some ways to the 24 Hours of LeMons, another low-cost endurance racing series. The series has a different overall philosophy, however, placing more emphasis on racing and less on decorations, costumes, and themes. ChumpCar's slogan is "Real Racing, Real Tracks, Real Cheap Cars", and its stated mission, as stated on its website, is to be "...a throw-back to the era when racing was fun and cheap... when Bondo beat carbon-fiber; when a crescent wrench was the most valuable tool in your box; when home-made engineering made everyone sit up and take notice; and when adding a little theme to your car didn't get you laughed off of pit lane. Those were good times... and they're back."〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.chumpcar.com/about.php )〕 Competitors generally refer to themselves as Chumps. == History == ChumpCar World Series founder John Condren was the owner of Altamont Raceway Park in California when the first 24 Hours of LeMons events were held at the track. Condren entered a team in the early LeMons races, but was dissatisfied with the party atmosphere and tongue-in-cheek mockery that continues to characterize the LeMons series. After finding that other racers were interested in cheap endurance racing and shared his dissatisfaction with LeMons, Condren formed the ChumpCar World Series and organized the first ChumpCar race in October 2009 at Portland International Raceway. In the first full year of the series, ChumpCar hosted 9 events across the United States at tracks that included Texas Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway, Portland International Raceway, Hallett Motor Racing Circuit, and Putnam Park, among others.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=https://www.chumpcar.com/results.php )〕 ChumpCar races resembled LeMons races in the beginning, as many LeMons teams participated in lavishly decorated cars and costumes. Likewise, many of the rules in ChumpCar mirrored those in LeMons to allow teams to easily switch between the two race series. Over time, ChumpCar's rules evolved to form a more coherent, distinct series unlike any other in North America. ChumpCar's popularity grew, and as of 2013 the series schedules over 40 events across North America at some of the best-known road racing venues on the continent, including Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Sonoma Raceway (Sears Point), Road America, Virginia International Raceway, Watkins Glen, Road Atlanta and Daytona International Speedway. Notable ChumpCar competitors include NASCAR Sprint Cup champion driver Tony Stewart, well known NASCAR teams Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing, and Ars Technica contributing writer Jonathan Gitlin. In July 2014, ChumpCar reformed as a membership driven club, and 501(c)7 tax exempt organization. 〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://chumpcar.com/downloads/bod/ChumpCarBylaws.pdf )〕 John Condren serves as Chairman of the Board. 〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://chumpcar.com/bod.php )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「ChumpCar」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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