How SUV-Based Race Cars Became The Next Big Thing

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Stock car racing once meant exactly what it sounded like. It was about racing unmodified production cars, then later on, it came to refer to race cars that were at least based on real production machinery. These days, what we call stock cars are now really “silhouette” racers that merely bear an external visual resemblance to the cars they’re supposed to be. In Argentina and Brazil, though, stock cars won’t even be cars anymore! The two countries are seeing their premiere stock car racing series switch to racing SUV models instead.

In Brazil, the top series is known as the Stock Car Pro Series. Presently, it sees competition that is ostensibly between the Toyota Corolla and the Chevy Cruze. It also plays host to some big names, like Felipe Massa and Reubens Barrichello, both of whom claimed victories this year. From 2025, though, the series is set to switch to new SUV-based race cars. From Toyota Gazoo Racing will come the Corolla Cross race car, while GM will field a Chevy Tracker. Two more automakers are expected to join the series at this point with the switchover to SUVs.

Hilariously, both race cars look more like racing wagons, given their low ride height (chosen for better handling). According to reporting from Quatrorodas, the series will also move away from V8 power, instead switching to 2.1-liter turbo four-cylinder engines that meet a similar power output of around 500 hp. They will also feature movable rear wings and sequential semi-automatic XTrac transmissions.

It might sound crazy to old-school enthusiasts, but research undertaken by the series says it’s going in the right direction. According to surveys of both “fanatical” and “standard” fans, the series claims these groups are 77% and 54% in support of the change, respectively. It perhaps makes some sense, given the taste for SUVs in the general population. The manufacturers are on board too, given their popularity, says Chris Rego, marketing director at GM South America.  “SUVs already represent more than 40% of passenger vehicle sales and have evolved a lot in design, technology, and vehicle dynamics,” said Rego, translated from Portugese. “The aim is to bring even more excitement and appeal to the Stock Car.”

It follows on from an earlier announcement that Argentina’s TC2000 series will go to SUVs in 2024. Presently, series competitors race a variety of models based on road-going compacts, including the Chevy Cruze, Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Fiat Cronos, Citroen C4, and Renault Fluence.

In the case of this series, it won’t be a hard switchover to a new format. Instead, the SUVs will race alongside existing cars next year. Some teams will split their efforts, with YPF Honda RV Racing announcing it will run two Honda Civics and two Honda ZR-Vs in the 2024 season. The Volkswagen Nivus is also expected to star in the series in future, and was recently shown off in development at a test in San Nicolás.

The Volkswagen Nivus has been promoted as a next-generation race car for the TC2000 series.

It’s interesting to see these South American series and to imagine NASCAR doing the same. In the United States, 46% of new vehicle sales in 2021 were SUVs, and yet NASCAR sticks with the Chevy Camaro, Ford Mustang, and Toyota Camry (lol). Reportedly, NASCAR has been testing a Crossover-style body for its experimental electric car racing series and a probable leak shows something that could work as either a Blazer or a Mach-E.

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Oh, those were halcyon days…

If you speak Spanish or Portuguese, you might like to tune in to next year’s telecasts of the TC2000 and Stock Car Pro Series. For the rest of us, it’s a little hard to follow, but it might be worth keeping your eye out for some quality on-track action. Not since the Volvo 850 Estate took on the British Touring Car Championship has the world seen such family-hauling heft celebrated on the racing circuit. Let’s see how it goes this time.

Image credits: Stock Car Pro Series, TC2000, Volvo

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34 thoughts on “How SUV-Based Race Cars Became The Next Big Thing”

    1. No joke, there used to be someone in my neighbourhood who had a lowered Subaru Outback. And not a new, like a 2010 model – when they were still selling the Legacy Wagon. I can’t even begin to understand that logic!

  2. I’m predicting a general trend towards lower “SUV” and “crossover” vehicles that are really just wagons and hatchbacks but with a marketing name that is palatable to men and women who are afraid of being emasculated by the implication of having a normal seating position in a vehicle. It’s already happened with the Kia EV6 for the most part, even our Kia Niro EV is technically considered a “small station wagon” even if it is sold as a crossover.

      1. I know you’re joking but the dictionary puts my usage first! Ignore the OED please…
        emasculate
        verb
        emas·​cu·​late
        i-ˈma-skyə-ˌlāt
        emasculated; emasculating
        Synonyms of emasculate
        transitive verb
        1: to deprive of strength, vigor, or spirit : WEAKEN
        2: to deprive of virility or procreative power : CASTRATE
        Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary

    2. I also think that’s sort of inevitable as the EV adoption race marches on. High ground clearance leads to shite efficiency, so automakers are going to make EV ‘CUVs’ that are as low and slim as possible. What do you get when you do that to a CUV? A hatchback.

  3. They look more like hatchbacks then the crossovers they are supposed to be based on. And they didn’t revealed the other two brands, but would not be surprised with a Bronco Sport shell, even if Ford doesn’t build anything in Brazil anymore.

    It is a shame they will replace the V8 with a 2.1 turbo. That engine sounds really nice.

  5. How is this more ridiculous than “Bagger” racing, Semi racing or lawnmower racing?

    The old adage that the first drag race happened the same day the second car was delivered still holds. Build it and someone will race it.

    1. This is much more ridiculous!

      Why? Baggers still look like large motorcycles. Semis look like semis. Lawnmowers look like lawnmowers.

      Racing SUVs? Nope, they’ve been modded back into cars/hot-hatches, while somehow pretending they’re “SUVs”

  6. damn, that sounds like fun – something I would definitely check out. They make good looking machines too, unlike the generations of jelly bean cars we have all been watching but not driving.

    1. Exactly! This is hatchback racing, not SUV, and I’m here for it. If there was a road car of the racing corolla cross, I’d be seriously interested.

    2. The 2023 Ford Escape was getting sooo close to that, I figured in another refresh it would be there and I could think about one. But no, it’s now heading back to SUV and then it’ll be gone. People seemingly just have to have the off-roader look, no matter what.

      1. I’m sure the looks are part of it, but it really is easier for older people and parents of small kids to have the higher entry point.

        I have a sedan and a minivan with an SUV-like seating position, and there’s no question which is easier to load my kids into.

        1. What’s interesting is that Ford at least did try to remedy that in its cars back when SUVs were really taking off.

          My Focus has a much higher entry level/seating position than say the Escort it replaced…you more or less slide in and out.

          1. I’ve lifted a 7 year old in to the frunk of a 996 911.

            It’s quite bad on the back, lifting them over the shiny paintwork at the front of the car.

  11. If they’re gonna race crossovers, they should race in mall parking lots and replace the corner curbing with actual curbs. Let’s see how they handle racing in their natural habitat.

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