As a child, all stock cars looked alike to me. How did the Hobby, Sportsman and Modified cars at Norwood Arena differ in appearance - or did they? At some tracks, Sportsman was the name attached to the Modified division. Help!
Good question. This is the short answer - really!Referencing the NASCAR 1965 and 1968 Rule Books, the only significant difference between the Modified and Sportsman Divisions was the motor. The Sportsman were near stock in nature, with subtle alterations allowed. The Modifieds were allowed to “bore the blocks out to any size” with “piston displacement unlimited.” The same holds true for manifolds, super-chargers, fuel injectors and many other alterations not legal in the Sportsman Division. This explains why you saw many different motor set-ups in the Modified Division.
The Hobby Division had similar motor limitations that compared to the Sportsman Division. Hobby was limited to “Any engine permitted providing it does not exceed 318 cu in.” The Sportsman was limited to “Engines measuring not more than 330 cu. in. may be interchanged in any manufacturer’s line.” However, it was legal to run a 331 cu in engine in a 1952 Cadillac since that was the stock motor for that car for that year. You had a few more minor things you could do to the Sportsman motor compared to the Hobby Div.
The Hobby Division also ran stock transmissions and rear ends where the Modifieds and Sportsman were allowed modifications or required changes. The Hobby Division was also limited to “Any interchangeable passenger car wheels are permitted, provided they are reinforced. Must be NASCAR approved.” This is why you saw more flying wheels in the Hobby Division compared to the Sportsman and Modified since they ran heavier hubs and spindles to support the larger tires. The list of difference goes on. Most are based on keeping the cost low.
By the way, the NASCAR Divisions from the mid 1960’s were:
Grand National (known as Nextel Cup today, ran one race at Norwood in 1961)
Sportsman (ran at Norwood, produced national champs)
Modified (ran at Norwood, produced national champs)
Limited Sportsman Division (ran only in 1963 at Norwood – Bob Melnick was the champ.
Late Model Modified (did not run at Norwood)
Hobby (ran at Norwood)
Cadet (did not run at Norwood)
Other (yes, this was where NASCAR ran local divisions on a track by track basis and included the Norwood Junior Hobby Division, Street Division and Tiger Division)
The very late 60’s and early 70’s brought the Late Model Sportsman and another “Other Division’ known as the Mini-Stock Volkswagen Division that ran until the track closed out the 1972 season.
Thanks for the summary Don.
Would be neat to eventually compile the same for the various stock car classes and organizations that ran at Norwood prior to the 1961 NASCAR years.
Carl,
It's on my list! I can dig out the pre-NASCAR racing organization names but car classes will be a challenge since many of those records are lost. I'll have to add a day onto the June Norwwod Arena reunion to dig through the New England Race Museum and see what they and R.A. Silvia have. R.A. is a great data provider for this site. We all owe him!!!!
Thanks for the explanation! Admittedly, it was a bit difficult telling the divisons apart (except for the cut-downs) way back when. I do remember the wheels flying off the cars! Very exciting!
