75th Anniversary

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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!!