Full Throttle

I was doing research for a future post listing the 10 most significant cars in NASCAR’s history. The idea is to provide a possible list of vehicles that should be recognized in some way in the new Hall of Fame.

In the process I was reminded of an important date in NASCAR history. I also wondered why Brian France selected March 7 to announce the location of the new Hall. A delay of 24 hours and they could have tied the press conference into that date.

70 years ago today, March 8, 1936, the first stock car race ever held in America took place. Bill France, who operated a local gas station, finishes fifth (some records say fourth) in the first stock car race ever held in Daytona Beach. The course includes a southbound leg of Highway A1A, then northbound along the beach south of the city. (The image at upper left is the program cover for that race.) Bill Cummings won the race with an astounding average speed of 70.39 miles per hour.

Four short years later (Jan. 24, 1940) Bill France Sr. was declared the National Stock Car champion. At the time racing was considered a hobby, that all changed when France Sr. founded NASCAR as the countries first sanctioning body in 1948.

What followed was the birth of the Southern 500 in 1950 that was won by Johnny Mantz. The first sanctioned event in the North occured in 1951 with the first Motor City 250, held in Detroit, Michigan. Buck Baker, Frank Mundy, Tim Flock, Cotton Owens and Paul Goldsmith were all stars before Bill France realized his dream of his own superspeedway.

Officials at the brand-new Daytona International Speedway mailed out entry blanks (Jan. 6, 1959) for the inaugural Daytona 500 that boasted a total purse of $67,760. (Program cover image at right) Early February saw Gene White, driving a Chevrolet convertible, the first driver to qualify for the 500 at DIS. The first Daytona 500 sees Lee Petty beat Johnny Beauchamp in a photo finish. It takes officials three days to determine the winner. (And you thought Race Control sucked today!)

Now that I have wondered far off the subject. (Hey I had to write something to surround the cool images) Maybe I missed it, did anyone notice during the announcement ceremonies for the Hall of Fame the significance of March 8^th noted by any of the “dignitaries?” I know it’s never been in any of the dozens of stories that papers have taken off the new wires.

Strictly speaking, NASCAR’s “history” didn’t start until 1948, but to ignore the years previous to that is a dis-service to the fans and damn disrespectful to the drivers of that era.