NASCAR PLANS ON A JUBILEE SEASON

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No matter how big or small, every dream has to start somewhere, right? For one particular racing enthusiast, that dream got started on a December day in 1947, at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach, Fla. 

The dreamer was Bill France Sr., a then 38-year-old racing enthusiast who had been promoting auto racing on the Daytona sand dating back to the late 1930s. Joining him that day were 35 influential leaders in the burgeoning sport. The dream? To consolidate and coordinate stock car racing under a single, unified banner. 

Two months later, France formed the privately-owned company and the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing was officially born. Today, that company is a household name under the acronym of NASCAR. 

This month marks the Diamond Jubilee for the auto racing organization that was incorporated Feb. 1, 1948 and is based in Daytona Beach. As it begins its 75th year, NASCAR remains focused on that original dream of organizing, promoting, and improving stock car racing in the United States. 

In the beginning.

Although NASCAR has always been based in Daytona Beach, ironically, races did not always begin in the city during the organization’s first decade. 

NASCAR ran its first race Feb. 15, 1948, on Daytona’s beach road course. While the date holds significance for the first race under the “Strictly Stock Car” banner, and was the predecessor to the NASCAR Cup Series, the official inaugural race to kick off the eight-race series, took place June 19, 1949, on a 0.75-mile dirt track know at the time as the Charlotte Fairgrounds Speedway. Attendance included 13,000 spectators and featured a field of 33 stock cars running 197 laps. Race honors went to No. 34, driver Jim Roper in his 1949 Ford Lincoln. 

Other locations during those early years included Palm Beach Speedway; Palm Beach Raceway (dirt oval); Tri City Speedway, North Carolina; Hickory Speedway, Newton, N.C.; Fayetteville, N.C.; and Lancaster, CA.

Great American Race is Born

Beach racing continued attracting a public spectacle, but the size of that spectacle was becoming unmanageable. France’s attempt to find a solution involved numerous talks and proposals in 1953 and ‘54. Eventually, the talks led to a land clearing in 1957, and the first practice on the 2.5-mile oval on Feb. 6, 1959. Two weeks later, the checkered flag dropped as Lee Perry crossed the finish line ahead of 58 other racers, before a crowd of 41,921. The Daytona 500 became known as Great American Race, earnings its place in the stock car racing annals. 

Breaking the barriers

Wendell Scott, a World War II veteran and mechanic, had numerous close calls while chasing his dream to win at NASCAR. Heading into the 1964 NASCAR Grand National Series, Scott, 42, already had garnered 34 top-10 and five top-five finishes. His pole win on July 20, 1962, at the Savannah Speedway made him the first black driver to claim the pole position in qualifying. His search for his first win came to end in 1964, when Scott got his first and only win in NASCAR’s National Series at that year’s Jacksonville 400 at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, FL., making him the first black driver to win. 

Finding new fans

The second race to open the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup was fraught with near misses on the track. However, it was something off the track that marked another historical footnote achievement for that sport, which was looking to grow. On Feb. 19, 1979, CBS Sports presented the first flag-to-flag telecast coverage of the Daytona 500. It was the first time the 500-mile NASCAR event was televised by a major network in its entirety. A post-race fight between Cal Yarborough and the Allison brothers, sparked by an on-track incident between Yarborough and Daniel Allison only added to the excitement of the inaugural broadcast. 

Changing of the guard

Alan Kulwicki may have won the 1992 Cup at the season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but the other memorable footnote in NASCAR history was one that nobody saw coming. The highlight of the race on the 1.5-mile course brought the end of one era and the beginning of another. That day, legendary driver Richard Petty, 55, drove his last race. That same day saw a young Jeff Gordon compete in his first. Four months before that day, Petty secured his 10thcareer Cup at Daytona International Speedway. It was also Petty’s 200thwin in the Cup series. That mark still remains top among Cup drivers 21 years later. 

Putting action behind the words

The death of Dale Earnhardt on Feb. 18, 2001, brought a more concerted effort to improve safety aspects of the sport. NASCAR took the lead with the the creation and opening of the NASCAR Research & Development Center in January 2003. Located in Concord, N.C., its focal point is the constant effort to improve driver safety. Spanning 60,000 square feet, it includes everything from testing engines to assessing barriers. The center has both a behind-the-scenes and close-up personal force toward driving the sport in a safer direction.

The best of the best

The NASCAR Hall of Fame opened May 23, 2010 with the induction of five inaugural members: Bill France, Sr., Bill France, Jr., Dale Earnhardt, Junior Johnson, and Richard Petty. Since that day, 56 drivers, owners, crew chiefs, and broadcasters have joined the five. 

Another broken barrier

Ask someone who the first woman in NASCAR was and they are likely to say Danica Patrick. They were also be wrong. Patrick wasn’t the first woman to race in the Daytona 500. That honor goes to Janet Guthrie did that in 1977. Patrick is however, the first and only woman to win the pole award in NASCAR premiere series history. Guthrie qualified for the 500 in 39th place. 

A new generation for the future

NASCAR knows the future of racing is going to change. That’s evident with the growth of EV’s among the public. That’s why they have been working on cars for the future. A nine-year run for the Generation 6 car came to an end following the 2021 NASCAR Cup season. However, NASCAR didn’t waste any time introducing Gen 7, known as “Next Gen.” The vehicle took the NASCAR landscape by storm in 2022, during the inaugural Busch Light Class at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. A record-setting 19 drivers could say they won with the vehicle by the end of the 2022 season. 

Source: NASCAR Historical records

See you at the races.

WOW! NASCAR turns 75 years old. Diamonds are what you are supposed to buy for this anniversary. Let’s just say it is quite a feat for any business in this world to last 75 years. The true visionaries are no longer with us and a few are listed below. But they are not forgotten. Nothing just happens by chance. Bill France Sr. and a bunch of good ole boys had a vision and you can watch on any given Sunday, February - November to see their legacy. 

Here is a glimpse at the last 75 years! The Daytona 500 just didn’t happened, it evolved. Here is who won the first 10 years and they all didn’t start at Daytona. The Daytona 500 didn’t come into existence until 1959 and the first television broadcast wasn’t until 1979. We’ve come a long ways in 75 years!

1948-1958

1948 – Red Byron (beach course Daytona Beach) 

1950 – Harold Kite – Daytona Beach RC 19 races

1951 – Herb Thomas – Daytona Beach RC

1953 – Lee Petty – Palm Beach Speedway 

1954 – Herb Thomas -2-7-54 Palm Beach Raceway dirt oval

1955 – Herb Thomas. Actual race was 11-7-1954 this was a split season Tri City Speedway NC and season ended 10-30-1955

1956 was split season 2 and was held between 11-13-55 to Nov 18, 1956. First race was at Hickory Speedway. Tim Flock won this race.

1957 – Marvin Panch – 11-11-1956 Willow Springs Speedway – Lancaster, CA with spilt season 3. 2-17-1957 Daytona Beach RC–Cotton Owens won.

1958 – Rex White, 11-3-1957 Fayetteville, NC on was the start of the last split season. Daytona was held on the beach course for the final time, February 23 and won by Paul Goldsmith, aka Goldie.

1959-2022

1959 – Lee Petty – 1st official Daytona 500 Feb 22, 1959

1960 – Junior Johnson

1961 – Marvin Panch

1962 – Glenn “Fireball” Roberts

1963 - Tiny Lund

1964 - Richard Petty

1965 – Fred Lorenzen

1966 – Richard Petty

1967 – Mario Andretti

1968 – Cale Yarborough

1969 – LeeRoy Yarbrough

1970 – Pete Hamilton

1971 – Richard Petty

1972 – A.J. Foyt

1973 – Richard Petty

1974 – Richard Petty

1975 – Benny Parsons

1976 – David Pearson 

1977 – Cale Yarborough

1978 – Bobby Allison

1979 - Richard Petty

1980 – Buddy Baker

1981 – Richard Petty

1982 – Bobby Allison

1983 – Cale Yarborough

1984 – Cale Yarborough

1985 – Bill Elliott

1986 – Geoff Bodine

1987 – Bill Elliott

1988 – Bobby Allison

1989 - Darrell Waltrip

1990 – Derrike Cope

1991 – Ernie Irvan

1992 – Davey Allison

1993 – Dale Jarrett 

1994 – Sterling Marlin

1995 – Sterling Marlin

1996 – Dale Jarrett

1997 – Jeff Gordon

1998 – Dale Earnhardt

1999 – Jeff Gordon

2000 – Dale Jarrett

2001 – Michael Waltrip 

2002 – Ward Burton

2003 - Michael Waltrip

2004 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.

2005 – Jeff Gordon

2006 – Jimmie Johnson

2007 – Kevin Harvick

2008 – Ryan Newman

2009 – Matt Kenseth

2010 – Jamie McMurray

2011 – Trevor Bayne

2012 – Matt Kenseth

2013 – Jimmie Johnson 

2014 – Dale Earnhardt Jr. 

2015 – Joey Lagano

2016 – Denny Hamlin

2017 – Kurt Busch

2018 – Austin Dillon

2019 – Denny Hamlin

2020 – Denny Hamlin

2021 – Michael McDowell

2022 – Austin Cindric 

In 1948 was the first of what is now known as the Modified Division. But in 1949 it was a different name – do you know it? What was NASCAR Cup originally called:  Strictly Stock Division 1949,

The first 10 years of NASCAR didn’t always start at Daytona or in February. There were four split seasons which could be a bit confusing. It wasn’t until Feb. 22, 1959 that the first official race was at the Daytona International Speedway in Florida. This was on the actual track and not the beach. 

1950 – 1970 called the Grand National Division. The times change and a major sponsor became the Title Sponsor of the series. This went on until 2019 when it became NASCAR Cup Series still with major sponsors but none having the Title Sponsor of the series. Here is the breakdown from 1971-2019. 

1971-2003 Winston Cup Series

2004-2007 NEXTEL Cup Series

2008- 2016 renamed NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (Sprint bought out NEXTEL).

2017-2019 Monster Energy NascaRCup Series. 

2019-present – NASCAR Cup Series and sponsors being called Premier Partners. The four partners are Busch Beer, Coca-Cola, GEICO and Xfinity. 

So there you have. 75 years in a nutshell. It hasn’t always been as regimented and defined as it is today. The beginnings were not as well organized but Bill France Sr. kept true to his vision. That was to have an organized event of racing that would be safe, profitable and competitive. 

See you at the races!!

 I hope this finds you all doing well.  It's been a while since I felt like writing.  Not sure if writers block or depression.  This is a real topic that no one likes to discuss.  With the holidays, depression likes to rear it's ugly little head.  So if you feel like you need help, please contact your local health department or family physician and get the resources to make life a little easier.  I have, I did and I do.  So, with that being said, I am wishing all of you a very happy holiday season however you celebrate.  

Look for new article in 2023.  

See you at the races!! 

Erik Jones born May 30, 1996, and now at a mere 25, has established the Erik Jones Foundation to benefit reading, animals and early detection for cancer patients. 

He began racing at seven years old in quarter midget and moved quickly up to stock cars, ASA, Late Model at age 13 in 2010. He was the youngest ever winter of the Oktoberfest race at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway. 

In 2011, he moves to the Champion Racing Association – CRA All Star Tour and won the series championship in his rookie year. Also, that year he won the Governor’s Cup 200 Late Model race at New Smyrna Speedway. He led every lap and was the first driver, who was not banned in Florida to achieve that feat in over 30 years.

Between 2012-2014, he drove in the ARCA series and the Camping World Truck Series for KBM and he was allowed to race at age 16 as long as it was ovals shorter than 200 meter and road courses. He was the youngest driver to win in history of NASCAR’s top competition and that time, winning the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Racing and was only 17 years, 5 months and 8 days.

He continued to drive in the Camping World Truck Series and in the Xfinity Series throughout 2014-2019. In the Xfinity series he drove for Joe Gibbs Racing and won several races including back to back at Texas and Bristol in 2017.

In 2017, he began racing full time in the NASCAR Cup Series. He won his first career cup series win at the Coke Zero Sugar 300 at Daytona International Speedway. In 2019, he won his second Cup series at Darlington.

September 2020 he won the Busch Clash and would end his career at Joe Gibbs that began back in the early days of his racing career. On October 21, 2020, it was confirmed that Erik would drive for Richard Petty Motorsports, RPM, number 43 replacing Bubba Wallace for the 2021 season.

In August 2021, it was revealed that Erik would stay with RPM and would have Focus Factor as the main sponsor. RPM was purchased by GMS Racing which then became Petty GMS Motorsports with Ty Dillon joining as a teammate. 

While his success in racing has to be tremendous, Erik has had to deal with unpleasant personal issues in his racing career. The hardest was the death of his father, Dave. Dave Jones was diagnosed with melanoma and passed in 2016. While his father was dying, his mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and is full remission. This is one of the major factors in deciding to include early cancer detection has one of his three main benefactors. 

His other loves are animals and his is an avid reader. While he has not attended college, he is self-taught and believes in giving back to the fans and community. 

He decided to announce his new foundation in Michigan at Back to the Bricks in 2021 in Flint, MI.

The foundation has had a couple of events. One was a benefit for the Genesee County District Library and another was for the Fenton Adopt a Pet.

While he has chosen Michigan and Genesee County as benefactors, he held an event at the Birch Run Event Center in May 2022 and proceeds went to the early cancer detection. Coming up in April 2023, there will be a Clay Shoot event. Watch for more details at www.ErikJonesRacing.com by clicking on giving back. 

See you at the races.

Picture it – It was Birch Run 1948 and Doering and Scrivo families came together to build Dixie Motor Speedway. It was a 1/3 dirt oval racetrack and racing was just getting started. 

Over the next decade, the track would have a Figure 8 course built through the infield and pit area and moved that to the area outside of the 1/3 mile oval. The other major change was it went from dirt to asphalt.

In 1996, the track was sold to the Kern family. The speedway saw amazing changes including a luxury VIP box that was built on top of the main grandstands, new bathrooms were installed along with stadium lights. In the pits, a new tech barn was built and the biggest addition was going from a 1/3 oval to a ¼ oval track.

In 2008, the Kern family sold to Checkered Flag Promotions. In 2017, the local car dealer, Andy Suski bought the track and renamed it the Birch Run Speedway and Event Center. Even though the track name changed, the big ovals in the middle are still called Dixie. The entrance from the road to the main building has also been asphalted. 

Since Suski has bought the track, the scoring system has been updated with Westhold transponders and they now use My Race Pass software. 

The concrete pits can accommodate 110 cars with new asphalt everywhere in the pit area.

The parking can hold 4500 cars and the average attendance is over 2500 patrons on any given race night.

The division names have changed throughout the years and currently host sprint cars, JEGS/CRA, Outlaw Super Late Models, Modified, Street Stock, Sports Compact and Truck series. 

Track sponsorships comes via partnerships including United Financial Credit Union, B&S Heating & Cooling, Premier Security, Wheeler Trucking, Fast Flame Auto Exchange and many more. Track events at the Birch Run location attract thousands of people to the area annually. 

The Event Center can be rented for special occasions such as weddings, open houses and even for fundraising events such as the Erik Jones Foundation did in May.

The final event Monster Auto & Scrap Eve Destruction championships will be held on, Friday, September 30, 2022. For further details go to www.birchrunracing.com.

See you at the races. 

 You don’t want to bet against John Doering when he has a vision; especially if he sets his mind to seeing it come to fruition.  

A perfect example of that happened in 1955, when he thought Vienna Township, which sits next to rural Clio, MI would make a perfect place for a racetrack. The Auto City Speedway was born with its first race taking place on a dirt track. The next 50-plus years would see many changes at the facility.

One of the first major changes was the paving of the track in 1986. This track currently has three race areas including the half-mile, quarter mile, and figure 8. Which area of the track is utilized depends upon the race event on the schedule. It could be all three in one night! 

The division names have also changed through the years. Presently the track has Figure 8; Herald Pure Stocks; Enduro; All-American Truck Series; Lipstick Ladies, and Maximum Destruction. 

In 1999, Joe DeWitte bought the Vienna Township business. In 2008, the name changed to the Auto City Outdoor Event Center. The event center has hosted a variety of events including the Cannabis Cup, and even serving as storage for hundreds of General Motors trucks due to the chip shortage.

The track has 100 concrete pads for race cars and can accommodate 200 rigs/setups in the pit area. The parking lot has room for more than 3,000 vehicles. The stand/seating will accommodate more than 4,000 spectators.

Track sponsorship comes via several partnerships including, O’Sullivan Distribution; Dr. Pepper/Snapple; Elga CU; CK105.5; GFS; MSD Ignition; MSPA, Muffler Man; The Herald; Tiger Auto Salvage; Xtra1330, and many more. Track events at the Vienna Township location attract thousands of people to the area annually.

The track is updating the registration and scoring system. They will be using My Race Pass. The drivers have received the information for the new software system. The track has also had to update the internet system and back up as the old-school way of pen and paper has joined relics of the Stone Age. It will be a learning curve for all involved going from pen and paper to computers. 

Average attendance on any given Saturday night is between 1,200 and 2,000 spectators. Maximum Destruction events will bring in more than 3,000 fans. All events begin at 7 pm. 

On major event – in addition to the racing - is the Lantern Festival. The event is June 11. Doors open at 5 p.m. with launches starting at 8 p.m. This event features the launching of Lanterns honoring the memories of loved ones or folks celebrating a fresh new chapter such as a marriage, birth or other noteworthy events. For details, go to https://www.facebook.com/events/452881186378677. 

The final event of the season is Sept. 24 and is another Maximum Destruction – Witches Night Out. All spectators are encouraged to dress as their favorite witch.

DeWitte takes nothing for granted, especially the continued success of the track through the next five years. “Local tracks will need to be more creative when running the shows to not only increase, but also keep the spectators coming back,” he said.  

See you at the races!!