‘Fast Masters’ Is a Supercar Racing Series You Probably Never Heard Of
The Fast Masters series put XJ220’s on a small road course. It was a pricey experiment but retired drivers made it successful.
Retired drivers, a small sprint car course, and the most expensive car in the world which was too fast to race on it. That’s what Fast Masters was all about. And despite it seeming like a hacked together idea, it actually pulled off moderate success.
Jaguar Racing was in a very odd spot in the early 90’s. After notable success with their XJR Le Mans racers, Jaguar wanted out of racing. Brock Beard from the NascarMan History YouTube channel describes the way it came together.
Beard notes, “Tony Dowe of Tom Walkinshaw Racing said Jaguar wanted to get out of American racing in 1993, but had a one year contract to the IMSA team.” As such, Jaguar offered one year of support for Fast Masters and would supply XJ220’s for Tom Walkinshaw Racing to service and prepare instead of continuing their endurance racing efforts. The stage was set.
But the stage used was an unusual one. Broadcasting by ESPN was Indianapolis based at the time, and local track Indianapolis Raceway Park was right in their backyard. Remember, in 1993, Indianapolis Motor Speedway had yet to implement a road course configuration. IRP was a very tight track contained within a tighter oval. With a wide and powerful car like the XJ220 it meant racing would be tight, and chaotic at times.
Fast Masters was able to attract drivers who’d won the Indy 500, the Daytona 500, international sports car races, and even drag racers. Drivers would race in a field of about a half dozen, with the top finishers going on to the next round. However, in the first few races, spin outs and crashes were par for the course. It was bad enough that the Fast Masters series nearly got cancelled. But it didn’t.
The broadcast did create success in terms of viewership. But it was a costly experiment for Jaguar. They viewed it as older drivers representing their target demographic at the time. But it was a one-and-done deal.
interestingly, it is noted the XJ220’s racing in the series were refurbished and later sold. So somebody out there might have a Jaguar raced by an Indy 500 winner.
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