The History of NASCAR

In the earliest decades of the 20^th century Daytona Beach was known as the place to go to set land speed records. Here on the firm and smooth sands of Daytona drivers gathered from across the country to test their cars to the limit. By 1935 their cars were approaching speeds of almost 300 miles per hour.

During the 1920's, many if not most of the drivers who were setting these records were rum runners. It was a fast and profitable source of income and gave them the money and the time to keep making their cars better and faster. With the end of prohibition, however, many of these drivers found their main source of income gone.

At about the same time in 1935 a new track opened up at Bonneville Flats in Utah, where Malcolm Campbell was the first to break the 300 mph barrier on land. Most of the speed drivers picked up and headed for Utah to test the limits of speed.

Daytona, however, realized how important drivers were to the health of the beach and city. At the same time, drivers were looking for a new source of income in the post-Prohibition world. Amidst all of this races began to be sponsored. The first and only race sponsored by the city of Daytona was held in 1936. One of the organizers and racers was a young man by the name of William Frances, Sr.

The Birth of NASCAR

That first official race in Daytona ended poorly (due to poor track conditions the race had to be ended after only 75 of what was supposed to be a 250 lap race), but the spark had been set. Racing was a rising sport across the country.

By the time of the end of World War II in 1945, racing had truly begun to come into its own. In 1947 Frances called a meeting with a number of the top organizers of the day to discuss where to take this new sport. They put in new rules into place, set up a new system of organization and gave their association a new name: National Association of Stock Car Automobile Racing, NASCAR.

The "stock" part of NASCAR was very important in those early days. Frances felt it important that racers be driving the same sorts of cars that people could buy for themselves. The name of the first NASCAR series was called, in fact, "Strictly Stock" in 1949, to differentiate it from races using specially designed race cars. The "Strictly Stock" name quickly became the "Grand National" in 1950, however.

Daytona, the birth place of NASCAR, was of course the host of the first ever NASCAR sanctioned event, which took place on the old track at Daytona Beach on February 15^th, 1948. The legend of NASCAR had begun.

The Early Years

NASCAR's first "Strictly Stock" series had taken place on traditional race tracks, but 1950 brought something new: the first ever super speedway, the Darlington Raceway. It was the home of the first ever 500 mile NASCAR race in 1950. This would be followed with the building of many more super speedways, including the Daytona International Speedway in 1959.

As years progressed the new sport began to increase in popularity. In 1960 it garnered its first ever television report on CBS at Daytona. NASCAR also began to move slightly away from its "strictly stock" roots after the deaths of several drivers required new safety features to be installed in the vehicles, although for the most part they were still stock cars.

During the 1960's the Talladega Super Speedway was constructed. It is the longest and fastest track in the NASCAR circuit, and has become a NASCAR legend (inspiring the title of the 2006 movie Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby). In 1970 it also was the site of a NASCAR first, when Buddy Baker broke the barrier of 200 MPH.

The Winston Cup

The 1970's marked the beginning of a new era in NASCAR. Sponsors began to play a larger role in the events, and inn 1971 the Grand National was changed to the Winston Cup after Winston cigarettes, a product of primary sponsor R.J. Reynolds Tobacoo Company.

In 1972 William Frances, Sr. passed on the reigns of control of NASCAR to his son, William Frances, Jr. NASCAR events began to get some significant television play, primarily on ABC's "Wide World of Sports."

The first television broadcast of an entire NASCAR race from start to finish came in 1979, when CBS broadcast the Daytona 500 that year. This turned out to be an exciting race where the two leaders, Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison were involved in a wreck allowing the third place driver to cross the finish line for first place. A fist fight erupted between Yarborough and Allison, underlining the danger and emotion of NASCAR racing for new viewers who had never been exposed to stock car racing before.

During this time period the point system also began to change for NASCAR. While previously the most important thing in determining prizes was one's standing in an individual race, cumulative points began to play a larger role in determining winnings for the championship.

The Nextel Cup

The current name of the main NASCAR series is the Nextel Cup. In 2004 Nextel took over the sponsorship of NASCAR, and replaced the Winston Cup with the Nextel Cup. New rules were also put in place and a new format was created for the events. Kurt Busch was the first to win the Nextel Cup in 2004.

NASCAR's popularity has only continued to rise, and is today one of the most popular spectator sports on television. In 2005 NASCAR received higher ratings than they ever had before in their history, although these numbers dropped slightly in 2006. As of now, however, the sky is the limit for where NASCAR can go from here.