Bandoleros And Naskarts: Small Size, Great Fun

The great popularity of motorcycle-powered, full-bodied cars has been well documented. Many think those powerplants are as small as you can get with subscale stock cars, but that's just not the case. The so-called Bandolero and Naskart super subscale race cars will testify to that with engines of 570 cc and 206 cc, respectively.

They may be mini-racers, but they serve as great starting points to a youthful racing career. Here are the facts and figures on these machines. One of these might be just what you're looking for.

The pamphlet advertising the Band- olero describes these mini-machines as "affordable, competitive, and fun."

That's certainly the case with this subscale class of racing which came to life in 1997 under the sanction of 600 Racing Inc., which operates under the umbrella of Bruton Smith's Speedway Motorsports Inc.

We're talking about a very simple machine, something that just cries to be one's first racing machine. Consisting of only 150 parts, the half-scale Bandolero could best be described as a cross between a kart and a car. There's left-foot braking and a centrifugal clutch, so there's no shifting of gears for a new driver to worry about.

These cars are designed to provide the first racing experience for young drivers. They help discover and develop the skills required to move to the next level. The first level is for drivers ages 8-11 years. Should one want to continue running these cars at a higher level of competition as an older driver, that too is possible. The Young Guns Class, for 12 to 15-year-olds, is followed by the Outlaws Class, in which drivers are 16 and over.

These cars are definitely small, with a 70-inch wheelbase, 47-inch maximum width, and an overall length of 10 feet, 9 inches. With the driver in place, the car weighs in at about 750 pounds. The cars roll on 7-inch BFGoodrich tires with the ride dampened with Bilstein coilover shocks. They have the design of a Late Model stock car and carry a fiberglass body. There are also sturdy steel bumpers

The rear-mounted, chain-driven 570cc Briggs & Stratton Vanguard engine, with its 30 hp, might not sound like big power, but it gets these little cars around the track at surprising speeds of up to 70 mph.

Safety is a keynote with a strong full-tube frame that features extra strength built into the driver-side area, a stout overhead cage, and the use of an Impact five-point belt system.

The Bandolero series continues to grow at a constant rate with an estimated 650 of the cars on the track competing. This growth has spawned new tracks in the Northeast as well as many new markets in the western United States.

These cars have run at many of the NASCAR tracks, including Lowe's Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, and others. There is actually a Bandolero National Series involving over 40 tracks for these cars, similar to 600 Racing's Legend Series, with a National Championship race at Sunny South Raceway in Mobile, Alabama. Thus far, all Bandolero racing is done on pavement, with a few dirt races receiving positive reviews from competitors.