A History of NASCAR Sports Cars

It's said that racing cars got its start during Prohibition in the 1920's and 1930's when bootleggers delivered their Appalachian whiskey to distributors. The bootleggers used small, fast cars to help elude police, but the cars were often modified to increase their speed, better their handling and provide more cargo space. The repeal of Prohibition cut back on some of the bootlegger's business, but many continued to ply their trade. By the late 1940's these "bootlegger cars" were being raced for entertainment in the rural South, particularly the Wilkes County region of North Carolina. The cars being raced at that time were street vehicles that had been lightened and reinforced.

"Strictly Stock" cars-cars that were virtually unmodified factory vehicles-were raced next. The first "Strictly Stock" NASCAR race was held at the Charlotte Speedway (not to be confused with the Charlotte Motor Speedway) on June 19, 1949. The race was won by Jim Roper, and the "Strictly Stock Division" was renamed the "Grand National Division" in 1950. Eventually, modifications for both safety and performance were allowed.

By definition, stock cars are automobiles that have not been modified from their original factory specifications. The term was originally coined to differentiate between "stock" cars and racing cars, cars designed specifically to be raced rather than to be used for regular transportation. Stock car racing has thus come under criticism in recent years for not being "stock cars" at all. In the early years of NASCAR, it was required that any car entered in a race be made of parts available to the general public through auto dealers and that the car must be from a model run of which at least 500 of those cars were sold to the general public. During that time, it was not unusual for a driver to arrive at the track in the car he planned to race.

There were many rule changes in the year 1972, and many consider this to be the year of the start of modern NASCAR racing. While today's "stock" cars may resemble standard cars, they are, in fact, racing cars built to satisfy a strict set of regulations. The chassis, suspension and engine are virtually identical on all cars allowed to participate in NASCAR. Interestingly, these modifications are not always the modern ones you might expect. For example, NASCAR insists upon carbureted engines in its vehicles, while the more sophisticated fuel injection system is now the standard in passenger cars.

Sources:

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sports/A0935133.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_cars