NASCAR's success belies its' modest beginnings

Visit The-NASCAR-Circuit to read what the race fans are saying.

From lowly roots in the deep Southern US, NASCAR racing has developed to almost unbelievable popularity across the entire uSA. Through the decades, from the first races observed in 1948, NASCAR has turned into arguably the most watched spectator event in The USA. NASCAR, with it’s current NEXTEL Cup and Busch series, touts 75 million truehearted fans. Intriguing demographics indicate that 40% of fans are female and 53% function in white-collar or skilled labor jobs. Not your average racing buff that almost all americans anticipate. The other areas of fan interest are impressive also; annual attendance at the tracks is Above 7 million, upwards of 275 million Race fans follow on television, and the merchandise marketplace tops $2 billion. Websites have also appeared sporting key NASCAR news items.

The roots of NASCAR in the “bootlegging” era and the grass roots start of a number of of its first aces seems to be motivating to fans today. In this day of the spoiled, pampered, arrogant pro athlete, NASCAR racing followers appear to be looking for a normal, more grounded kind of champion to give their loyalty to.

Commentators who closely monitor the NASCAR races give credit to several reasons for its great growth over the years. A substantial reason is a convention that virtually no other spectator sport utilizes. Week in and week out, the better teams (drivers) are competing directly against each other. Different from, for instance the NFL, in which you may have to wait weeks for a very big matchup between top teams, you can follow number 1 versus number 2 every week. It’s practically like having the World Series of this sport every week.

NASCAR history has matured to a point where racing is no longer a spectator sport just for Southern "rednecks". The success of the sport has evolved from its Southeastern origins to places across the nation producing NASCAR fans all across the nation. NEXTEL Cup races are now run in New Hampshire, Michigan, California, Arizona, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Texas and Nevada. There have even been exhibition races held in Japan and other international venues.

How does NASCAR draw its beginnings back to bootlegging? The commerce of bootlegging kept on even after the finish of the Prohibition era, due to the incredible tax put on hard liquor on reversal of the Volstead Act in 1933. As bootlegging prospered , the drivers started to race between themselves to learn who had the swiftest automobiles. The bootleggers raced on Sunday afternoons and then drove the same autos to carry corn liquor Sunday night. As more and more people came to observe the competitions, racing moonshine automobiles became really popular in the backroads of the Southern US.

The American passion for auto racing that produced in the 1940’s did not elude the attention of promoters who promptly made an "official" competition out of it, making a number of organizations, each with their own rules. Then on December 14, 1947, Bill France, decided to assemble with thirty five of the leaders of all racing associations in existence to create the outline of what was going to turn into the American national automobile sport. It required four times for the group to settle on all the rules, to pick out the name of NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) and the Association was in the end officially born on February 21, 1948.

The conclusion of World War II had an affect on the start of NASCAR. At the conclusion of the war, the request for new cars in the U.S. made a great leap with the reappearance of the troops. The manufacturing capacity that produced the “weapons of war” shifted to creating motorcars. Next followed the arrival on the market of speedy, powerful and robust automobiles which were relished by the young masses of the time. The American West was fervent for the "sports" cars, the Midwest for those with uncovered wheels, while the South-east preferred the stock cars. A great number of these were custom-made to carry out the illegal booze traffic and employed in the "contests" that sprung up all over the Southland.

The first contests of what was to in the end turn into the NASCAR series were held in 1948 with modified pre-war cars, which later became the "modified" series. Some important milestones for the NASCAR Racing world across the years include:

--The inaugural 500 mile race takes place at Darlington in 1950

--The inaugural Daytona 500 takes place at Daytona International Speedway in 1959.

--Initial television report by CBS in 1960.

--Buddy Baker exceeds the 200 mph barrier at Talladega in 1970.

--A Gallup poll shows that 28% of people are “race fans” in 1976.