The Strictly Stock Car (abbreviated as SSC) is the common name used for the chassis that accompanies the NASCAR RCA Cup Series (from 2014 to 2021 as a full-time), Arby's Convertible Series, and Busch Series (from 2015 to 2021 as a full-time) race cars; a variant known as the Strictly Stock Truck (SST) is used in the Craftsman Truck Series.
History[]
In 2009, development began on a new car to replace the previous generation cars that had been used since 1990.
Specifications[]
In reality, the SSC isn't really a new car more than it is a modernized version of the second-generation cars run between 1967 and 1980, as the cars have modifications to the chassis, engine, and interior, but are still visually identical to their showroom counterparts. Private engine builders were banned in favor of having the manufacturers build engines, often being race-spec stock engines (Toyota and Honda had to develop brand-new engines for use in the SSC, while Chevrolet, Ford, and Dodge adapted their existing engines).
The SSC was designed specifically to fit the Gen 4 chassis, which resulted in the car sounding identical to it. Engines and body panels come directly from the manufacturer, and are distributed from a designated factory team (usually whichever team finished highest in points the previous season); for 2014, the factory teams were Hendrick Motorsports for Chevrolet, Roush Fenway Racing for Ford, Joe Gibbs Racing for Toyota, Team Penske for Dodge, and Michael Waltrip Racing for Honda.
The rules were also changed so that manufacturers could run multiple models on the track. All manufacturers fielded two models, except Toyota, which did not have a suitable model other than the Camry (of the other two suitable models in the lineup at the time, the Corolla could not be adapted to the Gen 4 chassis, and the Crown was only sold in Asian markets, having not been exported to the contiguous United States since 1973); Toyota eventually began fielding the Avalon alongside the Camry in 2019). In terms of original models used:
- Chevrolet fielded the Camaro and Impala, with the Camaro being temporarily banned after the Coke Zero 400 tragedy
- Dodge fielded the Charger and Challenger, and also offered the Dart at short track and road course races
- Ford fielded the Mustang and Fusion, with Roush fielding its own variant of the Mustang
- Honda fielded the Accord and Civic
- As noted above, Toyota only fielded the Camry
In addition, the