Jeff Breault: A Short History of Nascar

For car enthusiast Jeff Breault, you simply cannot talk about automotive racing in the U.S. without touching on Nascar, the racing event sanctioned by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The sport has a place in American culture so significant that it beats the NFL, an athletic behemoth in its own right, in terms of viewership. Nascar’s history is as colorful as the stock cars that take part in the sport and stretches as far back as the early years of the 20^th century.

Stock car racer and Loras College Associate Professor David “Turbo” Thompson says Nascar may be traced back to the Prohibition when alcohol was considered illegal. Runners delivered moonshine, a type of home-brewed whiskey, to patrons and evaded federal tax agents by driving souped up cars. To see who the best and fastest runners were, these daredevils held informal races on public streets.

In the end of 1947, a driver named Big Bill France organized a meeting between car owners, drivers, and mechanics in Florida. This led to the foundation of NASCAR and the creation of a set of standard racing rules. In February of the following year, the first Nascar race was held in Daytona in which Red Byron emerged as the victor. Big Bill was soon appointed as NASCAR’s leader.

According to Jeff Breault, the track was pretty much set after that. One of the most remarkable highlights in Nascar history happened during the very first Daytona 500 in 1959 in which racer Lee Petty won, although he was declared the winner more than 60 hours after the race. His son Richard would win the same race 20 years later. Over the next following decades, Nascar became known as one of the most prominent names in American sports, with a viewership that matched its growing predominance.