Auto Racing is a sport in which vehicles with specialized tires and brakes compete on closed circuits, usually over long distances. Typically a race involves many car classes. For example, in a race held over 1000 km, there might be GT cars, GTS cars and prototype cars. Usually the cars are constructed by teams of two or three drivers who switch every now and then. If the chassis and engine are constructed by different entities, the car’s make is taken as one constructor’s name (eg Toyota or Ferrari) and a Constructor’s Championship is awarded to that team.
In auto racing, there are a number of rules which the drivers must follow to ensure they can safely compete. These rules differ among individual racing series, but generally a driver can be penalized for moving over or blocking another car, changing lanes while the race is in progress, and for deliberately hitting other drivers’ cars. In addition, most racing events are conducted on a closed course with flags to indicate the general status of the race or to give instructions to competitors.
Some of the earliest races in North Carolina involved police officers and moonshiners who raced their muscular vehicles on rough-hewn tracks to determine which man could get their liquor to the market faster. These races exemplified the cunning, gritty southern renegade spirit that helped to popularize the sport in the United States as an organized spectator sport in the 1930s.