Short oval racing (Hot Rod and Stock Car Racing) was, and remains, one of the best supported forms of motor racing in the country, in terms of both competitors and spectators. Hot Rod and Stock Car Racing had seen packed terraces throughout the sixties and seventies, as the public went to local circuits each week to cheer on local heroes (and, of course, see the crash and bash). The sport much developed through these two decades, and arrived in the eighties as a slick, professional-looking sport which now boasted national rather than local heroes. Whilst the top level of the sport became more costly, the promoters began to introduce new classes to cater for the drivers who had become left behind in the race for purpose-built equipment. These new classes were to be the training ground for the star drivers of the future. This is the first work on the sport in the 1980s, and shows how the existing formulae developed throughout the decade, and how UK promoters continued to work together to keep the sport at a truly national (and in some classes international) level. Complete with 100 nostalgic, mainly colour pictures of racing throughout the decade, and a comprehensive listing of major championship dates, venues and winners.