ISCRA Championship

The International Stock Car Racing Association Championship Division (more commonly known as ISCRA Championship) is the premier stock car series in the SMA. It runs using the ICR mod on Papyrus Design Group's "NASCAR Racing 2003 Season".

The ISCRA Championship uses "blueprint" chassis designs to allow as many manufacturers as possible to compete at a low cost. This has absolutely worked, with Acura, Audi, Chevrolet, Ford, Infiniti, Nissan, Toyota, and Volvo all competing in the series, and Honda having competed formerly.

## Series Management:

The series was founded by Solar, who has ran it continuously since 2021.

## Founding of ISCRA:

The International Stock Car Racing Assosiation was set up as a wholly-owned, wholly-controlled sub-division of the SMA, in late 2020, to manage the expanding number of stock car series separately from the central SMA body. It exists as more than just a name - ISCRA series run under a separate rulebook, and the ISCRA records its financial information separately - although all profits are returned to the SMA, and all losses cancelled by the SMA. The ISCRA currently sanctions the CANAC Series, Drydene Modified Tour, and of course the ISCRA Championship. A series utilising older cars and de-tuned engines to run as a feeder series to the Championship, known as ISCRA-2, is in the works, but will not run until 2024 at the earliest.

## Technical and Operating Regulations:

### Technical Regulations:

#### "Blueprint" Chassis:

In order to keep down costs, all chassis, regardless of manufacturer, are identical. They share a 111.5in wheelbase. All chassis are produced by Lola Cars International. Chassis components are built in Huntingdon, UK. Many chassis are assembled there too, for the European-based teams; the US-based teams source chassis assembled in Mooresville, North Carolina.

#### Engine Regulations:

The series mandates direct-injection V8 engines with a maximum capacity of 5 litres. The most powerful engines generate an estimated 520 horsepower. Engine development is open, although strictly regulated, and there are a number of engine providers available. Some engine providers receive direct factory support and are exclusive to a single manufacturer. These are: Abt (Audi Sport), ECR (Chevrolet), MUGEN (Acura/Honda), NISMO (Nissan), Roush-Yates (Ford), and Toyota Racing Development (Toyota). It is worth noting that not every factory team uses a factory engine - the Infiniti, and Volvo teams have no factory provider. There are also a number of independent providers. As of January 2023, non-factory engine manufacturers are: AEM, Gibson Technology, KRE Race Engines, Lighthouse Ingenieurwesen, Neil Brown Engineering, and PME Engines.

#### Aerodynamics:

All ISCRA Championship cars run a 6.5-inch spoiler at all tracks. The spoilers are supplied by American metal fabrication company Gilchrist to the teams at the start of the season, although teams can apply for more at any time, although there is a short waiting list. The spoilers must fit to strict templates, and they are often the main focus of post-qualifying inspection. The only way in which the ISCRA plate package differentiates from other tracks is through air ducts on the nose and hood of the car. At Daytona, Lausitzring, and Talladega, these are mandated to be fully opened, keeping the engines cool, increasing drag, and increasing the ability for following cars to build runs.

## Series History:

### Building the Series:

The ISCRA Championship was formally announced in November 2021, but much work had gone in before the announcement. SMA officials had contacted manufacturers directly as early as 2019 talking about a premier division Stock Car Series with a focus on manufacturer input. They'd collected five names - Toyota, Ford, Honda, Audi, and Mercedes - who had expressed a clear interest and had concept cars on the table. SMA officials also spent this period lining up suppliers for spec parts, and a contract with Lola was signed in March 2021. The final step before the announcement was finalising rules, a process which involved the advisory of a series of existing race teams which would not have a conflict of interest, since they had ruled out entering. These were Parity Racing, a modified team; Lambert Brothers Motorsport and Schwerkoldt Racing, CANAC teams; and Panoz-Hemelgarn Racing, an IndyCar team. The technical regulations were made public alongside the announcement in November, and, although Mercedes backed out from entering due to the SMA blocking chassis development, many new manufacturers came forward, wishing to start programmes. The provisional entry list for the 2021 season had 41 cars from seven manufacturers, although not all would make appearances that year.