The Fast and the Couriers
A Brief History of Truck Racing
In terms of the very beginning, truck racing started off in America, and it first became recognised as a genuinely sanctioned sport in 1979. In these early days, truck racing was carried out on either dirt or paved circuits, and much of its initial appeal stemmed from the inclusion of truck racing in the opening sequence of famous movies, like Smokey and the Bandit II.
Like so many things which start off confined within one nation, truck racing began to spread further afield, and Britain soon embraced this exciting sport. The British Truck Racing Association was founded in 1984, and it has remained active ever since. Nowadays, strict regulations are in place to ensure that racing trucks all adhere to similar specifications, and many of the most respected brand names in the trucking industry are all represented by fully-licensed drivers.
What Sort of Trucks Are They?
Originally, truck racers used working trucks with standard street tyres to take part in sporting events, but things have certainly changed in the last decade or two. Whilst the major components within racing trucks are pretty much identical to their more mundane counterparts, and they look almost identical in terms of aesthetics, heavy modifications are now carried out to allow these trucks to really excel on the racetrack.
The speed limit for a truck race is capped at 100 miles per hour, due to safety reasons, but otherwise a truck race can consist of numerous laps where vehicles of 5500kg and upwards all jostle to cross the finishing line first. Despite its rather alarming appearance, truck racing is actually comparatively safe, and separate divisions are enforced to allow trucks of differing capabilities to race in a suitable environment.
Of course, if your trucks are more akin to pure logistics and haulage vehicles, as opposed to finely honed racing machines, then it’s very likely that things like fuel efficiency will matter greatly to you. Because of that, the team at Fueltek provide proven fuel management systems to ensure that the profitability of any commercial transport business is assured.
Truck racing might be great fun, but getting the fuel efficiency of more regular trucks right is just as tricky as throwing a high-performance vehicle around a corner, so don’t hesitate to contact the Fueltek team if you’d like some assistance. Call us now on 01254 291391 or email support@fueltek.co.uk if you’d like to find out more.
