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NASCAR
history dates all
the way back to 1794 during the whiskey rebellion. Fast
cars were needed to smuggle whiskey and eventually the
bootleggers got together to see who was the fastest. The
first official race took place at Daytona Beach Florida
in 1938. William France, a bootlegger, organized the
race which included prizes like rum, cigars and even
motor oil.
In 1947
William France organized the National Association for
Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) to bring together racers
and fans. The sport was off to a great start. The first
NASCAR race actually took place in 1949 at Charlotte
North Carolina Fairgrounds. The first “Speedway”
event was in 1950 when the track hosted the “Southern
500”. Today it is a longstanding Labor Day race that
is frequently sold out well in advance.
Through
the 1950’s NASCAR was gaining speed. NASCAR'S first
superstar Glen “Fireball” Roberts won 32 races
throughout his racing career. In 1950 the Daytona
International Speedway was opened. The spectator area
was huge. The entire 2.5 mile track could be seen by the
spectators in the bleachers. It was almost twice as long
as any other track in existence at the time.
By the
1960’s NASCAR changed some rules and stock cars became
heavily modified speed machines. In 1964 Chrysler raised
many eyebrows when it introduced the 426 Hemi engine
which dominated the races. Winston cigarettes became a
big sponsor in 1970 and the Winston Cup began in 1971.
The Winston cup is now known as the Nextel Cup.
With
more speed and faster cars NASCAR made certain safety
equipment mandatory like roll cages and five-point
safety harnesses. With speeds over 200 mph drivers were
being killed when they crashed into the restraining
walls so NASCAR made it mandatory to install restricting
plates on the intake manifolds to keep the speeds at or
below 200 mph.
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