Piston Cup Racing Series

## Piston Cup Racing Series

### Manufacturers

CRS
Next-Gen

### Engine suppliers

CRS
Next-Gen

### Current season

2023

The **Piston Cup Racing Series** is the top level racing series of the Piston Cup. It was founded by well known Texas businessman Roy Piston Sr. in 1949. From 2016 onwards, high-tech Next-Generation racers are dominating the circuit.

## History

### 1950-1954 seasons

In 1951, Hudson Hornet started racing and won in 1951, 1952 and 1953 season. He achieved thirteen victories in 1951, twenty-seven victories in 1952, and twenty-two victories in 1953 and sixteen victories in 1954. Louise Nash won three races in a row in her first season against Hudson Hornet. In a race in 1952 on the Thomasville Speedway, Hornet was pushed against the wall by Leroy Heming. But with quick thinking, Hudson performed a flip maneuver over him and crossed the finish line.

In 1954, on a race on Fireball Beach Course, the Hudson Hornet lost control while power sliding and rolled several times, receiving serious damage, and after that, he was hospitalized. His injuries rendered him unable to compete for the rest of the season. Hudson Hornet made a healthy recovery; however, he was forced to retire.

### 1955-1959 seasons

Throughout 1955 to 1959 there have been many changes. A wave of cars retired following Hornet's career ending crash.

### 1960s seasons

Throughout the 60's, more asphalt tracks were introduced while dirt tracks were taken out of the schedule or repaved into asphalt. Morris Axler won 2 Piston Cups in 1960 and 1966.

### 1970s seasons

By 1972 all dirt tracks were taken out of the schedule. The 1970 Piston Cup was won by Bobby Carsac which was later followed by Strip Weathers' 3 Piston Cups in 1971, 1974 and 1975. Thomas Tireson won a Piston Cup in 1972.

### 1980s seasons

The 80's decade started off with Dale Earnhardt winning the 1980 Piston Cup which was followed by Darrell Cartrip winning twice in 1981 and 1982 and then winning again in 1985.

### 2016 season

In 2016, Lightning McQueen was planning on getting his 8th Piston Cup, which would guarantee breaking the record of the Piston Cups. McQueen won several races in the beginning and middle of the 2016 season. But then during the 2016 Dinoco 400, Jackson Storm debuted and won his first race. After that, 6 more next-generation rookies debuted, with 6 veteran racers fired to make room for the rookies. Jackson Storm was very consistent in 2016, and ever since his debut, he won every single race in the season, and Lightning McQueen finished lower than he used to be due to the next-gens being more fast. Lightning McQueen had a big slump when Storm was winning several races.

After the Bumper Save Gears and Glory 450, reporters questioned to Rusty and Dusty, the owners of racing team Rust-eze, if Lightning was planning on retiring. Lightning became frustrated and told the reporters he wouldn't take any questions. One of the reporters asked one more question regarding if Lightning knew about veteran racer Cal Weathers retiring. Lightning replied to the reporter he wouldn't take any comments about that either. Later, Lightning found Cal Weathers and his pit crew leaving. Lightning went to talk to Cal and asked why he was retiring. Cal replied that he asked his uncle when it was time to stop racing, and his uncle had told him that the youngsters would tell him. As Cal reversed to his hauler, he told Lightning that he and him had good times together, and he would miss that the most. Cal and Lightning said goodbye and Cal's hauler left.

More changes happened after the Bumper Save Gears and Glory 450 race, several veterans have been fired to make room for the younger and faster next-gen racers according to racing analyst Natalie Certain.

On lap 461 in the 2016 Los Angeles 500, the last race of the 2016 Piston Cup season, Lightning McQueen made his way to pit road with Jackson Storm in front of him. McQueen told Guido, his racing pitty, to make a quick pit-stop to guarantee that McQueen would be out of the pits before Storm. McQueen succeeded in that, however, Storm quickly caught up to him. Storm passed McQueen and told him to "enjoy his retirement", indicating the Storm believed that McQueen would soon retire as a Piston Cup racer. As Lightning tried to catch up to Storm, he got frustrated, and next-gen racers Daniel Swervez and Chase Racelott passed him on the race track. Lightning McQueen then crashed very badly on the backstretch, and went airborne and flipped multiple times. The race was red-flagged after the crash, and the race went on shortly afterwards, Jackson Storm won the race and the 2016 Piston Cup championship.

### 2017 season

2017 saw the whole field as next-gens. Cruz Ramirez debuted and became the first female in years to win a Piston Cup race. She won multiple races and became the second ever female champion after Louise Nash did in 1957.

### 2018-present seasons

Since 2018, Cruz Ramirez has dominated, winning the 2018 and 2021 titles. Jackson Storm won again in 2019. Chase Racelott won the 2020 Piston Cup. Tim Treadless won his first Piston Cup in the 2022 season, the first for the Nitroade team since 1966. Ryan Laney would win the 2023 Piston Cup.

## Logos

1940-20042005-2009, 2011-201520102016-present
## Officials

### Main Announcers

1. Bud Palmer and Buddy Jones (1940-1959)
2. Bill Flemming and Bud Palmer (1960)
3. Bill Flemming and Chris Economaki (1961-1974)
4. Bill Flemming and Ned Carett (1975-1978)
5. Ken Sqwheeler and Ned Carett (1979-1988)
6. Bob Jankens and Benny Pitstops (1989-1997)
7. Bob Cutlass and Benny Pitstops (1998-2000)
8. Bob Cutlass and Darrell Cartrip (2001-2019)
9. Billy Oilchanger and Bob Cutlass (2020-2021)
10. Billy Oilchanger and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2022-Onwards)

### Pit Reporter

1. River Scott (1999-2000)
2. TBA (2001-2004)
3. Kori Turbowitz (2005-2015)
4. Shannon Spokes (2016-2022)
5. Milo Carson (2023-?)

## Trivia

* The Piston Cup Racing Series is based off from the real-life racing series of NASCAR.

## See Also

* List of Piston Cup Racing Series Racers
* List of Piston Cup Racing Series Champions
* Piston Cup Racing Series Schedule
* 2024 Piston Cup Season
* Piston Cup Bumper Save Pro Series
* Junior Piston Cup Pro Series
* Piston Cup IGNTR Truck Series