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From lowly beginnings in the deep South, NASCAR racing has risen to huge popularity through the entire nation. Through the years, from the 1st races conducted in 1948, NASCAR has risen to arguably the most popular spectator competition in America. NASCAR, with it’s current NEXTEL Cup and Busch series, touts 75 million truehearted devotees. Fascinating demographics establish that 40% of those are ladies and 53% are employed in white-collar or skilled labor jobs. Not your average racing fan that almost all observers expect. The other areas of fan interest are robust also; annual attendance at competitions is Upwards of 7 million, more than of 275 million Race fans follow on the tube, and the product marketplace tops $2 billion. Internet sites have also appeared sporting key NASCAR news items.
The beginnings of NASCAR in the “bootlegging” era and the grass roots start of a number of of its initial headliners seems to be attractive to devotees nowadays. In this day of the spoiled, pampered, arrogant pro competitor, NASCAR racing followers appear to be looking for a down to earth, more grounded type of champion to give their loyalty to.
NASCAR history has evolved to a point where racing is no longer a event just for Southern "rednecks". The success of the sport has risen from its Southeastern origins to places across the country creating NASCAR fans all throughout the country. NEXTEL Cup contests are now held in New Hampshire, Michigan, California, Arizona, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Texas and Nevada. There have even been exhibition contests run in Japan and other international locations.
The American craving for auto racing that developed in the 1940’s did not escape the attention of boosters who quickly made an "official" event out of it, creating a lot of organizations, each with their own system. Then on December 14, 1947, Bill France, determined to get together with thirty five of the organizers of all racing associations in place to create the lines of what was going to turn into the American national automobile sport. It required four era for the group to finalize on all the guidelines, to choose the name of NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) and the Association was in the end officially born on February 21, 1948.
People who closely report on the NASCAR races assign a number of reasons for its great success over the many years. A significant cause is a combination that virtually no other spectator event utilizes. Each Week, the better teams (drivers) are contending directly against each other. Different from, for instance the NFL, in which you might have to wait weeks for a very big competition between top teams, you can watch number 1 versus number 2 every week. It’s almost like taking in the World Series of this sport every week.
The 1st competitions of what was to finally become the NASCAR series were attended in 1948 with customized pre-war autos, which later became the "modified" series. Some key milestones for the NASCAR Racing world through the decades include: --The inaugural 500 mile race takes place at Darlington in 1950 --The inaugural Daytona 500 takes place at Daytona International Speedway in 1959. --first tV report by CBS in 1960. --Buddy Baker surpasses the 200 mph barrier at Talladega in 1970. --A Gallup poll brings out that 28% of Fans are “compete fans” in 1976.
How does NASCAR trace its roots back to bootlegging? The practice of bootlegging kept going even after the finish of the Prohibition era, as a result of the incredible tax put on strong drink on repeal of the Volstead Act in 1933. As bootlegging expanded , the drivers started to compete among themselves to learn who had the fastest autos. The bootleggers competed on Sunday afternoons and then drove the same autos to cart corn liquor Sunday night. As more and more observers came to watch the competitions, racing moonshine automobiles became really popular in the backroads of the Southern US.
The conclusion of World War II had an affect on the beginning of NASCAR. At the finish of the war, the desire for new autos in the U.S. made a large jump with the homecoming of the troops. The manufacturing capability that created the “weapons of war” switched to producing autos. Next followed the arrival on the market of speedy, muscular and robust automobiles which were relished by the young people of the time. The American West was fervent for the "sports" cars, the Midwest for those with uncovered wheels, whereas the South-east chose the stock cars. A great deal of these were customized to carry out the illegal alcohol traffic and used in the "competitions" that sprung up all over the South.