NASCAR PLANS ON A JUBILEE SEASON

---

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.