The sixth round of the 2010 Independent Race Series saw the introduction of some exciting new racecars. The Oz Trucks are fast, they look good, and as you are about to find out they are affordable to buy and most importantly, affordable to run.
The Oz Truck concept has been developed by Greg McIntyre and Graham Struber. They have put a significant amount of thought into the cost associated with running racecars, and the Oz Truck concept has grown from that thought.
The cars have been declared eligible for the McHitch Touring Car Challenge on an ongoing basis, and with Queensland Raceway laptimes comparable to the ex-V8 Supercars that have raced in the Touring Car Challenge, it should prove to be a great match.
To catch you up on all the details of Oz Truck, we'll let Greg and Graham pick up the story:
Oz Truck Stock Car Racing was founded in 2009 by Greg McIntyre and Graham Struber, two race mechanics who spent the preceding three years working together in the V8 Supercar series. We had been working for other team owners in both the Development Series and the V8 Supercar Championship Series and decided to explore running a car ourselves in the Development Series for the first Townsville Round in 2009. As Australia was becoming effected by the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), we found that drivers were struggling to find funding to run in the Development Series. It seemed they were either able to find only part of a running budget but could not cover potential crash damage, or they may have been able to sign a crash guarantee but could not cover the running expenses. It seemed the challenge was finding a sponsor to see the value in sponsoring a car at that price level.
It was then that our thoughts were confirmed that the feeder categories to professional motorsport in Australia had become far too expensive for the majority of up and coming drivers to enter, with only the privileged few able to indulge in the sustained spending of large amounts of money year after year until they reached a high enough standard where they slotted into a professional team if there happened to be a spot available. If drivers can’t afford the ongoing cost of maintaining and repairing their cars then the quality of racing will suffer. We realised that Australia needed a professionally run and presented category with lower cost to enter into, lower running costs with cars that are cheap to maintain and repair.
Around this time we started looking farther afield to what other categories were available in other parts of the world and found that the NASCAR style trucks running in several state based oval series in the USA seemed to be thriving. We started talking with a test and development driver who was driving for a race truck manufacturer on a circuit racing specific prototype truck that was being developed by a new partner in their business. We started talking about specifications and pricing and sounding out some people in Australia who we thought may be interested in what we were up to. It was then that Wayne Miles, a Speedway Super Sedan driver from Cairns became interested, asking “how do I get a drive in one of those?” We then made an enquiry about having a run in the trucks in the USA and arranged for Wayne, his wife Di and ourselves to take a trip to the USA in October 2009 to spend a weekend testing some trucks. We were able to test 3 different trucks with 3 different engine/gearbox combinations allowing us to pick the driveline package best suited to the Australian spec truck. We spent some time at the factory running through more details, setting up one of their trucks, met with their engine builder to run through the engine specifications, made contacts with the safety equipment suppliers, tyre suppliers, freight forwarders and completed all the things that would have been difficult to do from Australia. We then returned home and spent the next 3 months working through an exclusive agreement to distribute the trucks in Australia and New Zealand. Wayne absolutely loved driving the trucks in the USA and immediately placed an order for the first truck, as part of our agreement we ordered a second truck to keep as stock in Australia as well as a range of essential spares, consumables including slick and wet tyres to service the first two trucks for the first six months or so.
Initially the biggest challenge with running the trucks in Australia was fuel. In the USA the trucks run on a 110 octane leaded racing fuel, which would have cost over $5 per litre in Australia and really blow out the running cost. Graham had some discussions with Jim VanGordon the engine supplier and it was decided to look at the E85 Ethanol blend fuel. This was all new to the yanks but we knew only too well that converting to this less expensive and more readily available fuel could only be a good thing. We did our research on the local E85 suppliers and got to know Brett Thompson from Fuel control, Brett was only too helpful when it came to providing us with information on E85. The E85 from Fuel Control was available at a good price and they already had some runs on the board in supplying V8 Supercars with the same E85 for the previous season. We then had Jim VanGordon test some of the USA E85 on one of the engines to choose the correct carburettor and fuel system requirements. We opted for a larger fuel cell to accommodate the increased fuel consumption of Ethanol blend fuels. Jim's feedback on the E85 was very encouraging, the engine made more power, burnt cleaner and even with the increased fuel consumption the dollars per lap was reduced to around two thirds of the running costs of the leaded fuel with the benefits of being nicer to work around and making our class of racing more sustainable environmentally.
The trucks have only been in the country for a short while, we have completed a shakedown session for both trucks at Lakeside Raceway. Wayne's truck has also completed some test days at Queensland Raceway and at Paul Morris's facility at Norwell, with several professional drivers behind the wheel turning lap times in the low 1 min 15 seconds, around 3-4 seconds off current V8 Supercar lap times. We recently ran the 2nd truck at the Shannons Sports and Muscle Car Spectacular at Queensland Raceway so that potential customers could see the truck in action and the response from current and past racers was phenomenal. It seems everyone loves the look of the trucks, they sound unbelievable and look tidy on the track whilst running very competitive lap times. We have not received any negative response to the pricing with everyone surprised at the low cost for a brand new, turnkey 500+h.p. 1200kg race car.
What are they?
An Oz Truck is based upon a Mild Steel space frame seamless tube chassis. The chassis is very similar to a Trans-Am/Sports Sedan, it is a straight rail chassis; the rails run under the diff for simplicity. It features a double wishbone front suspension, 3 link rear end with non adjustable but re-valveable coil over shocks front and rear, the rear end is a bullet-proof full floating, non-cambered Winters 9” with full spool and nodular iron centre. The engine and gearbox sit centrally and at the front giving easy access for maintenance. The body is fibreglass with a beautiful gelcoat finish meaning painting is not necessary, just add vinyl graphics and sponsors decals. The other benefit to this is that racers don’t have to carry their own spares, they can simply carry a spare sticker kit and buy panels from Oz Truck at the track to add their own stickers when fitting. There are no opening doors to replace and no expensive headlight or taillight assemblies, only stickers for aesthetics.
The engine is a carburettored 520 HP spec engine taken from an ARCA series where they run the previous seasons NASCAR Sprint Cup cars. It is a wet sump, hydraulic engine meaning no adjusting tappets, it features a fully self-contained Mallory ignition system with programmable rev limit set well below its capability at only 6400rpm. This ignition system is built specifically for this engine and is only available to VanGordon Racing Engines. The engine is mated to a T101-A, 4 Speed Dog Box as per NASCAR via a Quarter Master reverse mount starter bellhousing and clutch. The radiator is mounted at the rear in the pick-up bed for protection against crash damage and also contributes to the excellent 53% rear weight bias.
The secret to the low cost of chassis components is that the chassis is designed around off the shelf components, not custom machined high end parts as found on most open wheelers and V8 Supercars. For example, if the truck hits a wall and takes off a front corner the components that will normally require replacing are the Top Arm ($115), Steering Tie Rod ($100) and the Caster Rod ($120) that’s a total of only $335 per corner! If the front Grill/Bumper section is damaged beyond repair then it would be $595 for a replacement. These things are cheap to repair because they are a well thought out design, not sophisticated, but engineered to be raced hard and repaired for very little cost. There is no excuse for not having a dive up the inside of someone in one of these.
We have been very careful to spec the trucks so that they can be run with only the driver and one other person at the track, we have fitted remote adjusters on both the panhard bar for rear roll centre changes and the top arm on the rear end for instant centre adjustments, the reason being we want people to be able to make adjustments to the truck during a practice session without having to jack the truck up.
The other requirement we had was the trucks had to be able to be maintained in a garage with simple tools, without needing a hoist or special pneumatic equipment, just a trolley jack and four jack stands. To achieve this we have stuck with the single seat layout, this allows the rear of the engine, electrical system, exhaust, gearbox and tail shaft to be accessed through the removable tinwork on the passenger side of the drivers compartment, in fact with this tinwork removed and the single piece hood comprising the bonnet and front guards removed it is easier than working on an open wheel race car allowing all components to be easily accessed. We expect engine life to be such that racers should not need to own their own engine hoist, any gearbox removals and clutch maintenance can be done from the passenger compartment such is the ease of access on a vehicle without a production car style floorpan.
Oz Trucks Future
Oz Trucks mission is “To create the most diverse yet committed group of racers in the country running in the most cost effective yet exciting class of racing ever to come to Australia and New Zealand. To be the race series of choice for racers and fans alike.”
The series will be structured so that all competitors and Oz Truck have a voting right, in both the direction of the category and specifications of the truck. If competitors decide a component of the trucks is limiting the performance of the trucks relative to the overall performance or is affecting the quality of the racing and they have a majority vote on upgrading that component, Oz Truck will research and develop a suitable upgrade or source a suitable replacement component in response, the competitors will then take a vote on whether or not to proceed with specifying the new component in the rules. The same with the future of the category. If an opportunity presents itself for the trucks to run at a new venue or event, Oz Truck will research the pros and cons of such a move, present this to the racers as an option to be voted upon and if the majority decide this is the direction the category should take then so be it.
The series will be controlled as a spec class. The engine is sealed by VanGordon Racing Engine in the U.S.A, Oz Truck have appointed Steve and John Murphy at M & R Performance as the authorised engine builders in Australia. M & R will complete any re-sealing or inspections required and will work with VanGorgon Racing on any issues that may arise. The critical chassis components have been identified with tamper evident stickers to protect racers from costs getting out of control through the development of suspension components that will give those with large budgets or special resources at their disposal an advantage over others. To look at a possible example: front uprights, if someone decided they wanted to develop their own upright with unique front end geometry, this would give them an obvious advantage over someone without the resources or budget to do so, this would mean costs would blow out for everyone without any gain in the quality of the racing. This is why the components are controlled and marked. We have been very careful to price all components so that there is no need for racers to look at other suppliers due to running cost, to try and cheat the system, this means that even with simple components such as trailing arms, control arms etc. racers can be assured they are all coming from the same supplier and therefore no advantage has been gained.
We are aiming to have a field of trucks on the grid for season 2011 and judging by the response we have received so far we are well on track. We will initially be running the trucks under the AASA at Queensland Raceway and Lakeside, plus Morgan Park at the iRace meeting. The series will be Queensland based with the possibility of adding an interstate round if that is what the racers indicate they would like to do. Beyond this we aim to introduce the same concept to a 2nd Australian state and to New Zealand should it prove viable to do so.
All in all the timing couldn’t have been better really as we got to talk with the guys in the USA during the trucks development, the AASA is well established in Australia, Rod Dale from iRace has provided us with an option to run at extra tracks and with the GFC of recent times people are looking at an alternative category to what is currently available where for many the running costs are unsustainable.
We are very excited with where we are at right now and the momentum that Oz Truck is gaining, we can’t wait to see a field of trucks out there with everyone have a real go as we know they will.
The trucks retail at $69.000 USD, this includes a driver seat fitting and shake down session at the track, more information can be found at www.oztruck.com including pricing of all components and consumables for racers to estimate their running costs. There is also a registration form to join our mailing list for news and updates. We are currently talking with potential customers racing in other categories as well as people who have had a break from racing and are looking at re-entering circuit racing through Oz Truck, plus a large amount of interest from Speedway racers looking at entering circuit racing through Oz Truck as Wayne Miles has done. We would also like to hear from any businesses that may like to become involved either through series sponsorship or who may be looking at supporting an individual driver in a new and exciting race series that will attract attention by default.
For general enquires please contact us directly:
Greg McIntyre, greg@oztruck.com or Phone: 0408 742 111
OR
Graham Struber, graham@oztruck.com or Phone: 0417 004 917
More information, click the logo:
