How did NASCAR get its start?

From grass roots roots in the deep Southern US, NASCAR racing has matured to almost unbelievable success across the whole u.S.A.. Across the many years, from the beginning races observed in 1948, NASCAR has turned into arguably the first spectator event in The United States of America. NASCAR, with the current NEXTEL Cup and Busch series, features 75 million loyal fans. Interesting demographics show that 40% of fans are female and 53% work in white-collar or skilled labor jobs. Not your typical racing buff that most folks anticipate. The additional points of fan interest are solid also; yearly attendance at contests is Over 7 million, upwards of 275 million Americans watch on tV, and the wares arena surpasses $2 billion. Websites have also popped up featuring key NASCAR news items.

NASCAR history has grown to a point where racing is no more a spectator sport just for Southern "rednecks". The popularity of the sport has grown from its Southeastern roots to points across the nation producing NASCAR fans all across the united States. NEXTEL Cup races are now run in New Hampshire, Michigan, California, Arizona, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Texas and Nevada. There have even been exhibition races held in Japan and other international destinations.

The lineage of NASCAR in the “bootlegging” days and the modest background of a lot of of its original aces seems to be motivating to fans currently. In this era of the spoiled, pampered, arrogant professional athlete, NASCAR racing fans seem to be searching for a normal, more grounded kind of hero to give their allegiance to.

Those who closely follow the NASCAR sport ascribe several factors for its incredible growth over the years. One major reason is a recipe that literally no other spectator competition matches. Weekly, the leading teams (drivers) are competing head to head against each other. Unlike, for instance the NFL, where you may have to hold off weeks for a exciting matchup between top tier teams, you can view number 1 versus number 2 every week. It’s nearly like getting the World Series of this circuit every week.

The beginning races of what was to ultimately turn into the NASCAR series were observed in 1948 with modified pre-war cars, which later became the "modified" series. Some important milestones for the NASCAR Racing world across the many years include:

--The 1st 500 mile race takes place at Darlington in 1950

--The first Daytona 500 takes place at Daytona International Speedway in 1959.

--Initial television report by CBS in 1960. --Buddy Baker passes the 200 mph limitation at Talladega in 1970. --A Gallup poll shows that 28% of Americans are “race devotees” in 1976.

How does NASCAR draw its beginnings back to bootlegging? The commerce of bootlegging went on even after the conclusion of the Prohibition days, due to the large tax placed on whiskey upon reversal of the Volstead Act in 1933. As bootlegging boomed , the drivers began to race between themselves to see who had the fleetest cars. The bootleggers raced on Sunday afternoons and then used the same automobiles to carry moonshine Sunday night. As more and more people came to view the contests, racing moonshine cars became very popular in the backroads of the South.

The close of World War II had an impact on the start of NASCAR. At the end of the war, the request for new automobiles in the U.S.A. made a huge leap with the coming back of the military personnel. The manufacturing might that brought forth the “weapons of war” turned to creating motorcars. Next came the arrival on the marketplace of fast, powerful and robust autos which were loved by the young americans of the time. The American West was impassioned for the "sports" automobiles, the Midwest for those with uncovered wheels, while the South-east picked the stock cars. Many of these were modified to carry out the illegal booze traffic and utilized in the "contests" that sprung up all over the Southern US.

The American zeal for auto racing that evolved in the 1940’s did not elude the attention of promoters who promptly made an "official" sport out of it, making a number of organizations, each with their own formulas. Then on December 14, 1947, Bill France, decided to assemble with thirty five of the leaders of all racing associations in existence to produce the outline of what was going to become the American national automobile sport. It took four times for the group to settle on all the formulas, to decide on the name of NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) and the Association was finally officially created on February 21, 1948.