The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing has come a long way since it’s dirt-track, prohibition-era beginnings to become one of the world’s best-loved racing series.
Having left Washington for Daytona, Florida in 1935 to escape the Great Depression, mechanic Bill France Sr, entered the 1936 Daytona Beach Event – a hair-raising 4.1mile race that spanned sections of beach and blacktop. After finishing a respectable fifth, France threw himself into promoting races. When the crowds watching the races began to outnumber the drivers, France, together with a team of die-hard racing enthusiasts decided to form the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.
Designed to provide drivers with a reliable alternative to the ad hoc events organised by unscrupulous promoters, and tap into the growing appetite for racing as a spectator sport, NASCAR initially championed three distinct divisions: Modified, Roadster and Stock Cars.
However, it was the use of standard (or stock) models, with virtually no race modifications that caught the public’s imagination and led to the first “strictly stock” NASCAR race on June 19, 1949.
In the decades that followed, NASCAR quickly established itself as the American racing series.
Charismatic champions like Richard Petty, Junior Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, explosive rivalries such as Yarborough v Allison and pioneers like Janet Guthrie helped to widen the appeal of Stock Car racing and turn NASCAR into a sporting institution. A building boom in speedways also helped to take the sport across the United States.
While the highly modified cars can no longer technically be called stock – the race has remained true to its roots. Drivers still line up on a circular track around 2.6 miles in diameter. However, races can be anywhere up to 600miles in length and include 200mph bumper-to-bumper duels.
The current NASCAR portfolio has also evolved into three
national series:
The NASCAR
CUP SERIES
The top-series in NASCAR with cars weighing in at 3,450 pounds, and 850 horsepower. Cars can reach speeds of more than 180 mph at some tracks.
The NASCAR
Xfinity SERIES
Often seen as a test-track and proving ground for Cup Series drivers, Xfinity cars weigh in around 3,400 pounds, and have 750 horsepower, making the cars slightly slower than their NASCAR Cup Series counterparts.
The NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series
Created in 1991, the series features 32 race-modified, 5.8L V8 pickup trucks and an exhilarating take on the traditional NASCAR format.
Tyres are a key component in modern NASCAR. Goodyear is proud to have been an exclusive supplier since 1997, and has been at the forefront of developing a NASCAR Racing Tyre that can meet the demands of today’s high-performance cars and drivers. Today, Goodyear supplies every team and every driver in NASCAR’s three national series: Cup, Xfinity and Truck.
