I recently had the opportunity to test a West Coast ProTruck for 10 laps on the half-mile oval at Irwindale Speedway. Needless to say it was a fun experience and quite different from the road racing background I come from.
The West Coast Pro Truck Racing Series (originally named the American Race Truck Series) was formed in 1996 in Tempe, AZ, to be a low-cost alternative to entry-level oval racing in a full-size vehicle. The WCPTS currently run full size Chevy Silverado, Ford F150, and Dodge Ram body styles and engines on identical chassis. Of course in any form of motorsports, money talks. However in this case, it's more of a whisper compared to their more expensive and well-known counterparts - the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks. Believe it or not, you can get a roller chassis that has everything but the engine, tranny, and driveshaft for only $12,000! A complete WCPT is only $17,500. That's a turnkey truck in somewhat ready to race trim. As in all of racing, it's always the engineering of the suspension/chassis that gets the racecar (or truck in this case) ready to go, but for only $17,500, you can afford to hire an engineer!
The nice thing about the WCPTS is that the entry fee is only $50 (when was the last time we paid that kind of entry fee?) and there's actually money to be won. For each race the purse will be up to $4k and will pay from 1st to 20th. First place pays $500, 2nd $400, 3rd $300, and lowers to 20th place being paid $100 as long as 25 trucks start the race. Typical starting grids usually feature about 25-30 trucks. If it sounds like I'm excited about this series, I am. It's like a whole new dimension of racing for me having not seen or partaken in too many ovals over the years.
Driving the truck on track was simplified by getting a couple of orientation laps by current series driver Josh Hulsebosch. He said things to me that sounded reasonable like "Roll off the throttle going into the corner and roll on coming out. Make sure that you do that smoothly" he said matter of factly. Of course riding in the passenger seat in any racecar somehow seems faster that when you drive it - especially on an oval. I was second in line of a small group of invited journalists to get to drive the truck. If you were one of those without a competition license then you just went along for the ride. After watching the first guy gradually increase his speed going into the corners and picking up the throttle sooner coming off, I was reminded of what Josh had said about being smooth. With only two laps to go in his stint, we saw some smoke come off of the lower side of the truck. Unfortunately, a water hose came undone and overheated the engine. We all waited patiently while the truck was repaired and then it was my turn. Unfortunately, about as soon as I got on track, I had to bring it back in when the water temperature light came on. One new fan belt later and I was back on track with no problems. Apparently, this particular truck had sat for quite a while before they towed it out for this test.
I remembered what Josh had said about the banking at Irwindale. "It doesn't like to go down to the apron here, mid-track is best." (Irwindale's oval has graduated banking at 6, 9, and 12 degrees). The Chevy I drove is like the other makes in that it has a two speed automatic transmission. Use first to get going and then shift to second and leave it there. With 350 horsepower on tap and a 2,600 pound dry weight, the truck had spunk coming off the corners. As I circulated around the track, I just tried to be smooth and stay in that middle groove. I found that as I became more comfortable I started looking farther and farther ahead in the corners and feeling where the truck was. There was no apex per say other than that general black groove of rubber. It was a wee bit disorienting not coming down to a white line or FIA curbing but my lap times kept dropping as I kept bringing up the speed gradually. I didn't break any track records but the WCPTS staff was complementary of my performance.
Right now the WCPTS are primarily set up for oval track racing, but there's a guy in Europe who installed a Chevy 350 and four-speed manual transmission in his and he's busy cleaning the clocks of all the Porsche drivers he races against.
It wouldn't take too much to convert this to a road racing class - I know what you're thinking - not another class in SCCA. I hear you, but it would certainly benefit Cal Club's car counts. We'll have to wait and see . . .
For more information on the WCPTS please contact John Hulsebosch at 909-945-8583.
Larry Mason on a racing truck test.
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