For decades, the Ford Crown Victoria spent its working life chasing people.
Police departments drove them.
Taxi companies drove them.
Grandparents drove them.
Eventually America looked at thousands of retired Crown Vics and asked the only logical question:
What if we put nitrous on them and raced them?
Welcome to Crown Vic racing.
WHY DOES EVERYONE RACE CROWN VICS?
The Crown Victoria is almost perfect for this kind of nonsense.
It's big.
It's rear-wheel drive.
It's powered by a V8.
There used to be approximately nine billion of them.
And because police departments and fleets bought them by the truckload for years, Crown Vics became inexpensive, durable platforms that racers could turn into relatively affordable track cars.
The result is one of the most entertaining forms of grassroots-style racing happening right now.
The cars look familiar.
The racing gets physical.
And because many events put experienced racers, internet personalities and professional drivers in essentially the same type of machinery, things get interesting fast.
ENTER THE NEW ENGLAND 900
One of the biggest showcases for Crown Vic racing is Cleetus McFarland's New England 900 at Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut.
Despite the name, the main Crown Vic feature is a 90-lap race.
And these aren't quiet Sunday afternoon parade laps.
Stafford describes the event as a field of nitrous-infused Crown Victorias, and recent editions have brought together drivers from professional motorsports and the wider automotive-entertainment world.
That combination is important.
These cars may have started life doing traffic enforcement, but the people driving them are absolutely racing.
JIM YORK GOES CROWN VIC RACING
This is also exactly the kind of event where Jim York tends to appear.
In the 2024 New England 900, Jim moved to third by lap five and took second on lap 11 before eventually finishing ninth in the 19-car Crown Vic field. Kevin Smith took the win, with Travis Pastrana finishing second.
In 2025, things went considerably more American Stunt Society.
Jim was involved in a Turn 1 incident on lap 27 and ultimately recorded a DNF. Coverage from Street Machine described the major incident of his race as York backing the Crown Vic into the outside wall at speed.
Crash reel: secured.
Then came 2026.
Jim started the New England 900 near the sharp end and moved into second place immediately behind Jackstand Jimmy. Fourteen laps later, a spin in Turn 2 brought out the caution. By lap 30 he had worked back into the top 10 while the front of the field descended into exactly the kind of door-to-door chaos Crown Vic racing tends to produce.
That's racing.
That's also why we keep showing up.
THESE THINGS ARE WAY MORE SERIOUS THAN THEY LOOK
From the grandstands, a field of old police cars looks hilarious.
And it is.
But once the green flag drops, the joke disappears quickly.
At the 2026 New England 900, the lead battle involved names including NASCAR drivers Ty Dillon and Ryan Preece, along with Zack Walker, Kevin Smith and others fighting through traffic and repeated cautions. Walker ultimately took the victory after contact with Dillon on the final lap, while Preece finished second.
That's the magic of Crown Vic racing.
The barrier between legitimate racing and complete nonsense gets very thin.
Professional racers are trying to find tenths.
Internet personalities are trying to survive.
Jim is trying to make the crash reel.
And everyone is doing it in a platform originally engineered to spend twelve-hour shifts idling behind a billboard.
Beautiful.
AND THEN THEY BRING OUT THE MINIVANS
Because apparently 90 laps of Crown Vics aren't enough, the New England 900 has also featured Van Prix.
So once everyone has finished beating on retired police cars, ordinary minivans head onto Stafford's Mini-Mile and attack a course with a jump.
In 2026, the Van Prix ran for 10 laps with the ramp in play and, according to the race report, plenty of vehicle parts left behind on the track.
We appreciate a racing event that understands its audience.
WHY WE LOVE CROWN VIC RACING
Motorsport doesn't always need carbon fiber, wind tunnels and a nine-figure budget.
Sometimes you need a Ford Crown Victoria.
A V8.
A roll cage.
A bunch of friends.
And just enough competitive spirit to make everyone forget these cars were supposed to be cheap.
Crown Vic racing is loud, accessible, physical and just ridiculous enough to make people who don't normally care about racing stop and watch.
That's our kind of motorsport.
And if Jim York is in the field, there's one more thing you can probably count on.
Something is making the crash reel.
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