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What is NASCAR? A brief history
Without any doubt NASCAR is the most popular motor sport in the United States of America (Don’t shout at me IndyCar fans), but Where? How? And why did it begin? These are questions we ask as we try to discover what makes it so popular and answer that age old question, where did the sport originate? Moonshine – Believe it or not NASCAR was never a sport to begin with. Way back in the early 1900’s it was illegal to produce and transport ‘moonshine’ (an alcoholic drink) in the south, however it was far too profitable for the makers just to take it on the chin and give up. So what did they do? Well, it was no good transporting it in the back of a standard pick-up truck, this would have made it far too easy for the police to find and catch them, thus losing lots of money. So they began to modify cars. If a police car could reach 100mph then the moonshiners needed to build a car that went 110mph, therefore able to outrun the police. As the police got faster, so did the moonshine runners. Thus beginning what we know today as NASCAR racing. Of course, there is no moonshine involved now and they even make children’s films about the race series (take Disney Cars for example).
being affiliated to anyone, remaining a family business since it was originally founded in 1948 by Bill France Jnr. It’s now run by his grandson, Brian France. It has a fan base of around 75 million people, spending around $3 billion a years on licensed products, making it one heck of a profitable privately owned sport. The 2014 season will consist of 38 races (2 of which are exhibition races) and started mid-February. It runs through to mid-November. For the fans, that is nine months of high octane action. It all got underway at the Daytona International Speedway and finishes in sunny Miami during November at the Homestead circuit. NASCAR doesn’t stop at the stock car standard. They run truck races and many other disciplines. All this culminates in the company sanctioning over 1500 races at over 100 tracks in 39 US states and over the border in Canada.
The first NASCAR races were during the 1940’s, shortly after prohibition, with people racing for pride and profit. Most of the cars back then were simple street cars, made lighter and reinforced. It was mainly focused in the southern counties NASCAR has always steered clear of of the USA, and North Carolina,