2026 SMVR RULES - DOWNLOADABLE

2026 SMVR Rules

Before competing, every car must be built safe, inspected and approved by an 

S.M.V.R. Tech Inspector! (No exceptions)

Above all, keep in mind that you are here to have fun, show respect for your fellow competitors, race hard but clean, and—above all—remember that 

"The Cars are the Stars!"

Conduct: Racers and Race Team Members of the Show Me Vintage Racing Series will always maintain an appropriate and professional personal code of conduct. Actions on or off track deemed by SMVR officials to be detrimental to the sport or SMVR will be dealt with severely. Consequences for fighting, cheating or other actions deemed inappropriate may include fines, probation, suspension, deduction of points or any combination of the above. 

Show Me Vintage Racing reserves the right to alter or amend the rules and regulations in the interest of safety, cost control, and/or fair competition. It is the responsibility of each

competitor to read and understand the contents of these rules. If there is a disagreement or dispute regarding the meaning or application of these rules, the decision of the Show Me Vintage Racing Board of Directors and Series Director shall prevail. No expressed or implied warranty of safety shall result from publications of or compliance with these rules and/or regulations. 

The rules and/or regulations set forth herein are designed to provide for the orderly conduct of SMVR racing events and to establish minimum acceptable requirements for such events. These rules govern the condition of all events, and by participating in these events, all participants are deemed to have complied with these rules. No pretense is made for having designed a foolproof set of rules and regulations. The spirit and intent of the rules is the standard by which SMVR events will be governed.

The SMVR Series Director and Board Members are authorized to decide if an equipment change or modification is an attempt to circumvent these rules. The SMVR Series Director and Board Members can and will disqualify a racecar in violation of the spirit and intent of these rules. If this rulebook does not specifically state that you can alter, change, or otherwise modify something on your car, you should consider it a violation of these rules. No part is deemed to have been approved by SMVR by passing through prior technical inspections. The Series Director shall be empowered to permit reasonable and appropriate deviation from any of the specifications herein or impose any further restrictions that in his opinion do not alter the minimum acceptable requirements. No expressed or implied warranty of safety shall result from such alteration of specifications. Any interpretation or deviation of these rules is left to the discretion of the Series Director and Board Members. Their decision is final. These rules are intended as a guide for the conduct of the sport and are in no way a guarantee against injury or death to a participant, spectator or official. All participants, guest and crew members fully understand that racing is inherently dangerous and that they are exposed to risks of death or serious bodily injury. The participants, guests and crew members voluntarily assume these risks.

No driver or crew member may be under the influence of alcohol, drugs or any other controlled

substances while competing.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Any driver/crew member/participant found by SMVR officials to be engaging in unsportsmanlike behavior or any inappropriate behavior that affects the orderly

conduct of an event, the interests of racing, or SMVR will receive a penalty. This includes any aggressive action toward an SMVR official by a driver/crew member/participant including arguing, yelling, cursing or raising your voice when talking to an official, touching the official in

any physical way, and any social media posts, public or private statements that are offensive or detrimental to SMVR or an official.

Driver/Crew Member/Participants are always solely responsible for the actions of all team members and in the event that a team member shows Unsportsmanlike Conduct, SMVR officials may penalize the driver/crew member/participant for the actions of the team member in addition to any penalty to the team member for his / her actions.

PLEASE READ AND UNDERSTAND THESE RULES

1. No Super modifieds, Sprint cars, Pickup trucks, Convertibles or Station wagons.

2. 1973 or older American made steel bodies only. Must have 65% of original OEM sheet metal.

3. 1949 to 1973 must be full bodied cars.

4. American made Coupes & Sedans only.

5. All bodies must include Factory Cowls and OEM BODY WIDTH, and any changes must be approved by the Steering Committee. All cars must be kept in good appearance.

6. NO REAR VIEW OR ANY TYPE OF MIRRORS ALLOWED IN OR ON THE CAR.

7. Chrysler OEM torsion bar suspension allowed.

8. OEM complete torsion bar suspension attached to 10” circumference, frame rail or equal.

9. On rear coil cars, factory GM factory 4-link and 3-link rear suspensions. Bottom bars

must be equal length and have no more than 7 degrees of upward angle. *They MUST be

the same on both sides. 3 link cars, lower control arms CANNOT be shorter than 18

inches center of Heim joint to center of Heim joint. Factory GM 4 links must use factory

style upper and lower arms, the same length as stock and must mount equivalently to

stock. No aftermarket or fabricated 4 links. All bars must go forward. No lift arms allowed.

10. DROOP RULE - ALL CARS MUST HAVE A CHAIN ON THE LEFT REAR AXLE. The chain will be attached to the frame and travel down and also be attached to the rear axle. When the car is sitting at ride height the chain will have three inches of slack. It will be teched by measuring from the ground to bottom side of frame in front of left rear tire, it will be jacked up at the frame in front of left rear tire and at 3 inches of rise the chain MUST be tight. There is no tolerance. This must be a solid chain, no spring-loaded chain tensioners. Axle chain mount must be clamped solid or welded. If you tape the chain, you may be asked to remove it for tech.

11. Mono leaf springs with coil over-shocks or sliders allowed.

12. No Z-link or rear steer cars. No type of rear steer is permitted!

13. One (1) spring or torsion bar per front wheel.

14. All bird cages must be bolted or welded so they cannot rotate.

15. Bird cage connecting arms no longer than 3 inches from top of axle tube or bottom of

axle tube.

16. Only one (1) shock per wheel.

17. Must have front and rear brakes in good working order. 4-wheel brakes are mandatory.

You may run a manual or electric valve to shut off the right front brake only, however it

must be controlled in the driver compartment.

18. Tires, any combination up to 11-inch max tread width. Wheels up to 15-inch max, no

snow tires or unilug wheels.

19. Steering box can be manual, power, or rack and pinion.

20. Front axle can be straight OEM or after-market.

21. You can use a coil spring A-frame front stub, but it must be OEM. You cannot narrow

stub or move lower control arm mounts. Stub must be complete from where the steering

box bolts on (front of car, front of steering box) to kick outs. Kick outs can be removed,

but turn down on stub must remain.

22. Tubular upper control arms are allowed.

23. FABRICATED LOWER A FRAME REPLACEMENT ALLOWED ON STOCK

FULL FRAME CARS ONLY. Example: a1957 Ford is allowable, but not a Camaro

stub chassis.

24. Any OEM frame rails must be boxed in for safety at all cage attachment points.

25. Straight axle cars must have 10” circumference frame rail on fabricated chassis.

26. OEM FRONT A-FRAME STUB CARS MUST HAVE 2X3” TUBING TO REAR MAIN

CAGE URIGHTS or a10inch circumference frame rail.

27. Any new car’s being built must be 1 ¾ OD.095 wall or bigger tubing on MAIN CAGE.

Cars built prior to 2007 are grandfathered in with existing tubing.

28. All cars max 15-inch engine set-back from center of lower ball joint or kingpin to #1

spark plug.

29. Weight; With driver at end of feature 2500 lbs for inline 6 cylinder, 100% GOTRA Legal

Car 2500lbs, 2600 lbs for GOTRA legal car with 4 barrel carb, 3000 lbs v-8 with stock

clutch or functioning converter, 3250 v-8 with mini clutch or coupler. Weight must be

around the front pillar on the driver's side. If no weight markings are visible the car will

be counted as 3250 lbs.

30. Open wheel cars; Bumpers to be no wider than center of front and center of rear tires.

Fender cars; Front & rear bumpers not to extend past body panels. End of bumpers must

be connected to the body panel or frame rail to prevent tire damage. Open wheel car

bumpers may cover 75% of the tire. Please call with questions.

31. Weight bars must be painted white, securely fastened, and have your car #

painted on them. The drive shaft must also be painted white and have your car # painted

on them.

32. Nerf bars must be between centerline and outside of the tire. Nerf bars must be smooth.  NO sharp edges!

33. ENGINE- No Engine Blocks allowed with VIN # ground off or no identification #'s. MUST WHISTLE 10.0 OR LESS. No tolerances allowed.

a. Maximum CI,360 on all V8 engines: 320 CI max on 6 cylinder engines

b. All 6 cylinder engines must be inline.

c. Any combination of carburetors up to a max of 4 barrels of carburetion.

d. Flat top pistons allowed, no dome or dished pistons allowed.

e. NO SBC 400 BLOCKS. 602 crate are legal sealed or unsealed, 604 crate must remove roller cam and aluminum heads.

f.  Roller chain & roller rocker are allowed, No roller cams allowed.

g. Aluminum intake allowed.

h. No aluminum heads. Aftermarket heads must be 64cc combustion chambers or

larger. Porting to match gaskets only.

i. No turbos, No injections, No blowers, No alcohol, No N.O.S., No fuel additives.

34. Pump gas and/or racing gas only.

35. Any ignition, NO crank trigger or magneto. No traction control.

36. Deck lid spoiler up to 5 inches tall allowed. The surface of the deck lid cannot exceed

more than 6 inches. The deck lid Spoiler cannot extend past the top edge of the Quarter

Panel.

37. TRANSMISSION

a. OEM Manual 3 speed, 4 speed or automatic with stock or functioning converter.

b. Cars weighing 3250 and above are allowed to run mini-clutches or automatic with

a coupler (non-functional torque converter).

c. Scatter shield or steel bell housing or explosion proof bell housing on standard

transmission.

d. No aluminum bell housing.

e. Automatics must have ¼” scatter shields, blanket or both.

f. Drive shaft: Must have a loop no more than 6 inches from the front U joint.

38. All cages must fit the body and have sufficient roof support to insure two escape routes, roll bar padding added to driver’s compartment recommended. Roof bars must be within 5 inches of the top of the car. The front roll bar must be within 12 inches of a pillar.

39. All cars must have a 106” wheelbase or longer.

40. Rear ends: Any rear end locked, or quick-change are allowed. No independent

suspension.

41. SAFETY EQUIPMENT

a. Fire suit SFI approved, Neck brace. DOT approved full-face helmet & gloves.

b. Fuel cell SFI approved. Fire extinguisher or onboard fire system within driver’s

reach, both recommended.

c. Good five-point harness, left side drive cars, window net. Center drive cars,

window nets or arm restraints

d. Fully enclosed firewall front and rear of driver.

e. Doors must be securely fastened. Arm restraints are mandatory on all cars with

open tops.

f. Battery must be securely fastened outside of the driver's compartment.

g. No electric fuel pumps. Kill switch mandatory and must be within drivers reach.

h. Aluminum racing seat mandatory.

i. Fuel line: 90 percent copper, aluminum, steel, or braided racing line.

j. Main door bars– 3 or more bars horizontal with vertical supports and gussets

k. All joints must be welded 360 degrees or 100%.

l. Left side steer cars may have 10-gauge steel plates on the driver’s side door bars.

Center steer cars may have 10-gauge steel plates on both side door bars.

m. Door bar plates are highly recommended, but not mandatory.

n. TRACK SAFETY RULES SUPERSEDES SMVR RULES.

42. MEMBERSHIP/CLUB RULES

a. All memberships will be reviewed by the Steering committee for renewal yearly.

b. All new competitors and cars must be approved by the Steering Committee,

inspected by the Tech inspector to meet ALL rules and become a member before

showing up at the track to race for the first time. If you show up to the race track

Without approval and a tech inspection YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO

COMPETE!

c. Drivers must be at least 18 years old and if under the age of 40 MUST NOT race

in any other competitive series, more than 3 times in 1 year to be eligible to race in

our Vintage Series and follow all track and SMVR rules.

d. Any on track grievance will be handled by Steering committee along with the

members that were present and witnessed the incident. The members will take a

vote on disciplinary action (Maximum 1 vote per paid registered car).

e. All rules will be enforced. If you don’t see it in the rules, ask before you do it

because it’s probably illegal.

f. Anyone who wants to attend a committee meeting must get prior approval.

g. Tech Directors’ decisions are final!!!

h. Any rule changes during the year to improve competition must be approved

by 75% of registered drivers.

i. After 3 wins you must add 100 lbs. in front of the centerline of the ball joints, and the driver will start tail back of feature for the remainder of the season.

43. UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT– This applies to every single person in our pits. In

the pit area, drivers and car owners will be held accountable for any unsportsmanlike

conduct by anyone connected to their team.

a. 1st infraction, you will lose your tow money and 1-2-race suspension at Steering

Committee choice.

b. 2nd infraction, loss of tow money and 3-race suspension at Steering Committee

choice.

c. Any additional infractions and/or discipline to be decided by the Steering

Committee.

44. Rule Violations- The Driver is responsible for making sure your car is within the rules. Any Rule Violation can result in an immediate Disqualification at the Discretion of the

Technical Director. Rule Violations not deemed a Disqualification will have the

following penalties applied.

a. 1st infraction, you will lose 10 Points and be required to fix the Violation before

the next race

b. 2nd infraction, you will lose 20 Points and be scored in the Last Finishing

Position

c. Any additional infractions will result in a DQ and discipline to be decided by the

Steering Committee up to and including the revocation of your SMVR

Membership.

ALL COMPLAINTS NEED TO BE PUT IN WRITING AND GIVEN TO THE STEERING COMMITTEE.

**Please, do not discuss your complaints at the track!**

2026 SMVR Points Rules

1. All drivers will get 10 points for Heat Race.
2. All drivers will get 20 points for showing up at a SMVR Club Sanctioned Event.
3. All drivers will get 10 points for starting the feature.
4. All drivers will get 20 points for FINISHING the feature. Position doesn’t matter but you have to finish. If your car gets damaged, please pull off the track (you will not be allowed to limp around the track with a flat tire/or broken car for the last 5 laps to get that 20 points). If you are involved in an accident and you can’t continue, whether it’s your fault or not, it still counts as a DNF.
5. All drivers finishing in the top 10 will receive 1 extra point.
6. If you get black flagged, it counts as a DNF.
7. All race dates will count as points races towards championship points.
8. Drivers’ top points nights minus two (2) will count towards the Championship.

2026 SMVR Feature Lineup Rules

1. All cars will be inverted from the previous week.

2. DNF cars start behind inverted cars.

3. Cars not in attendance in the previous week start behind DNF cars.

4. Finally, the car that finished first in the last feature event, will start behind everyone else. If you win and aren’t at the next race you will start in the back the next race you attend.

5. If you don’t want to start in your assigned position and wish to start in the back, you need to let a SMVR official know as soon as heat races are concluded.

6. Cars not in attendance the previous week will be positioned by car number.

This will rotate on a random basis.

7. New drivers will start in the back, the first 2 races.

8. SMVR non-point races will be determined by pill draw.