What Exactly is a SUPER Modified?

[Music] in my previous video about the modified division in nascar there is one glaring omission that i now have to address what about dirt modifieds well during the 1960s and into the early 70s there was a schism in modified racing between whether to stick with dirt or switch over to asphalt racing this split happened in pretty much every north american motorsport around this time and universally racing disciplines turned their attention to paved tracks the faster speeds meant more fan interest and that in turn meant more money so you can see why they made the switch by 1971 indycar and nascar had held their last dirt races and the modifieds would soon follow but as with other racing series the modifieds had their fair share of dirt holdouts and their cars began to morph into what we see today hiked up rear ends and setups that more closely resemble sprint cars than stock cars and that only made sense now that they were outcasts from their respective parent disciplines and found themselves racing at the same tracks over and over it was only natural that some features would bleed over into each other i mean just take a look at asphalt 8 model legendary blue over here in the shaffer 200 at the syracuse mile gary was known for his late models that were aerodynamic monsters and when he entered this dirt modified race he had a nifty idea since dirt modifieds had to have a roof and didn't allow wings he would just take a sprint car wing chop off the side plates and use that as his roof thus getting around the no wing roll and still making a metric crap ton of down force clever guy and this marriage between sprint car and modified racing would inevitably bounce back onto the asphalt scene after all sprint cars had migrated onto racing at paved tracks and the asphalt modifieds were still a thing and all that cross-pollination would eventually culminate into this the super modified the super modified is an abomination to all that is holy in card construction the car is radically offset to the left side and the engine is grotesquely mounted outside of the frame rails like someone's still beating hearts sticking out of their ribcage as if that wasn't enough there's even a sprint car inspired wing mounted on top of the car that is even equipped with a formula one style drag reduction system so that it'll lay flat on the straights and pop back up in the corners what godless set of circumstances had to occur in order to get us to this well unlike most other disciplines of racing that have a muddied and poorly recorded history with the super modifieds we have an exact place a time and even a name [Music] in 1951 william caruso founded the oswego speedway in oswego new york on the southeastern side of lake ontario originally at dirt track the speedway was paved in 1952 and became a hot spot for local racing and even popped up on the nascar modified tour with its big purses and steel walls the track quickly gained the nickname the steel palace in 1961 the caruso family lengthened the track from 3 8 of a mile to 5 8 giving it its now signature curved back stretch eagle class modifieds were popular in the midwest and they were more or less just regular modified bodies hung on purpose-built chassis and they were known to come out to upstate new york and compete against the vibrant modified scene there so for opening year of the new configuration the crusoe family held a 200 lap international classic one of the highest paying short track features in the country at that time and they threw the rule book completely out of the window for their modified division and said anything goes so long as the engine breeds air the car has four wheels and a roll cage you can run it and they simply called it the super modified division the midwestern invaders ranks were originally filled with aspiring indycar stars and they brought over their knowledge of sprint car racing to the division gordon johncock and arc bennett started on the front row with their tubular upright modifieds and bennett took the win the very next year the crusoe family started holding weekly super modified races and that brought in even more drivers to start pushing the envelope of what was thought possible on pavement relatively standard super modified designs were the most popular throughout the early to mid 60s and i say relatively because each one looked completely unique some were purpose-built race cars some were heavily altered street cars at one point and a few even began their lives as sprint cars these creations were built by hand in garages all across the country by guys who never got engineering degrees and since there were no templates or really any rules for that matter guys just went hog wild but in 1966 competitor todd gibson had a breakthrough what if i just take an indie roadster put a roll cage on it and race that sure man go for it but these indy cars weren't just fast because of their sleek lines oh no they had offset drivelines with the engines pushed slightly to the left side and the driver sitting on the right this put all the weight on the left side and meant that corner speeds were drastically higher todd gibson took the roadster out to oswego for its first race but it was just to get the kinks worked out the next time he showed up he won and by 1968 he had won nearly everything at the track including a track championship with 13 feature wins nine of which were in a row the days of the upright tubular chassis were over and things were about to get very weird very quickly first it was fairly standard stuff wings and spoilers being mounted to the back bigger tires etc but one man was about to turn everything upside down one mad lad from nearby clay new york was not content with the indie roaster design and began thinking as far outside the box as he possibly could his name was jim champine his revolutionary wedge design was so unorthodox that i could probably make an entire video just about it but suffice it to say the thing was a straight-up downforce factory and in order to get the weight distribution right he began mounting essential components in seemingly random spots the radiators yes radiators plural were mounted on the left and right sides behind the front tires and the nose actually dipped below the front axle jim wasn't just creating curious looking cars though he was winning in these things in just eight years he got five track championships and 59 feature wins including two wins at the international classic during this stretch though everyone else rallied together to bring the big man down they started building rear engine cars and racing those fred graves built a four wheel drive rear engine car that would have won a lot more if he could have just worked out the reliability issues and many just started straight up buying rear engine indie cars welding a roll cage on the cockpit and calling it a day with varying degrees of success one guy even tried a three in one configuration where you put three wheels on the right side and one on the left they said you had to have four wheels but they never did say where those wheels had to be located unfortunately though it never won this was all just insanity these were just regular guys like you and me straight up building f1 cars in their backyards champion not to be outdone by his competitors went back to his garage and created something that actually resembles a super modified from today the radical offset design with the engine mounted outside the frame rails jim offset the driveline a full 18 inches from the center line of the car it was so far offset that even the drive shaft was outside of the car's frame in 1977 he raced the car for the first time and won in his very first and second starts ever he would eventually win 11 weekly features that year in a row but being the mad scientist that he was he wasn't entirely satisfied with his designs and he wanted to push the envelope to see what was possible at the 5 8 of a mile track in 1979 he unveiled his own rear engine car the green machine the car was made as wide as possible and everything was squished over to the left side and to cap it all off the rear end scoop wing looked like it was taken off of a front end loader heck you could just about fill that thing with water and take a bath in it in 1980 though rule mandates from the speedway would outlaw rear engine cars thus leaving the radical offset design from 1977 as the design of choice for super modified competitors at oswego after that innovation stagnated for a long time until 1998 a guy from new england named clyde booth who had moved down to north carolina to work in nascar eventually moved back home and began working on a super modified that now used all the innovations he had learned in the southeastern motorsport he called it the arrow super modified dozens of wind channels brought the air gently to its perfectly crafted rear wings so that the car would plant itself in the ground and zip through the corners like nothing else combine that with its indycar-esque front wing and formula one style independent front end and inboard suspension and you had an unbeatable car left with its raw brushed stainless steel bodywork booth's number 61 machine was dubbed the silver bullet by 2005 oswego would ban independent front suspension and the car went into mass production now anybody could get in on the action if they had the cash and the willpower and that led to the explosion and popularity of the international super modified association originally founded in 1974 by oswego competitors jim champine and nolan swift the isma continues the no holds barge style of racing that made the supers what they are today isma super modifieds ditched the rear wing in favor of a massive sprint car style wing and they even have a drag reduction system for it it's not electronic like in formula one and it actually doesn't take any inputs from the driver instead the wing is mounted on pneumatic pistons and once the car reaches a certain speed the weight of the air rushing over it will cause it to lay flat and when the driver hits the brakes for the corner the wing will pop back up as an air brake and give the car more down force where it's needed it's honestly one of the most clever things i think i've ever seen in a race car super modifieds in this division also have a unique tire layout every tire at every corner of the car is a different width and rubber compound and the naturally aspirated methanol fueled engines produce nearly 900 horsepower and when running flat out they can smoke a nascar cup car at most venues as was demonstrated at the bristol speed trials back in 2011 they race at short tracks all over the northeastern united states and even make a few trips up to canada so if you're in the area definitely give them a shot but their home still is and always will be oswego speedway still standing and going strong oswego is the mecca for all modified racing in the world hosting weekly racing for supers isma events the nascar wheel and modified tour and even dirt modifieds yeah dirt if you go on google maps right now and take a look at the aerial view of oswego you'll see the entire venue covered in dirt once a year during super dirt week they bring in a bunch of new york clay and put on dirt races for three days straight and the dirt modifieds are always at the top of the ticket originally super dirt week was held at the moody mile at the syracuse fairgrounds but in 2015 the track was torn down and the event needed a new home oswego was the obvious choice just a short drive up the road and already the nexus of every other type of modified racing in the world there was simply no more fitting alternative the same steel and wooden grain stands that held spectators during the days of upright tubular modifieds and jim champine's dominance still stand today and i heard the track concessions actually make a damn good hot dog to boot so as soon as i can you bet your bottom dollar that i'm flying out there for a super modified showdown i can picture the slap on location episode in my head already anyway i'm slap shoes thanks for watching and until next time y'all take it easy you

Channel: S1apSh0es

Views: 478,319

Keywords: NASCAR, ISMA, Supermodified, supermodified racing, auto racing, super modified, Oswego, Oswego Speedway, Super Dirt Week, Dirt modifieds, Whelen modifieds, modified, S1ap, slap, slapshoes, slap shoes, S1apSh0es, S1ap Sh0es, Jim Shampine, Nolan Swift, Clyde Booth, racing, short track, fastest car in the world, motorsports history, what is a super modified race car, New York, International Classic, full race, big block, NASCAR modified

Id: BVibUVsumiU

Length: 10min 50sec (650 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 07 2020