Hello, and welcome to the wonderful world of Nascar! If you’re a new fan of stock car racing, this is the place for you! In this ten-part series we’ll take a look at what you should and could know about America’s #1 auto racing organization. Let’s get started!
2. THE HISTORY—from 1948 to today and how we got here.
The Pre-History: Obviously people have been racing cars since they were invented, but Nascar can trace its specific roots back to the days of moonshine running. Those transporting illegal/untaxed alcohol would supe-up their sedans in order to outrun the law. People being competitive by nature, moonshine runners began to develop reputations as skilled drivers and started racing each other on off-days to see who had the fastest hot rod. From these humble (and, well, illegal) beginnings Nascar grew.
The Founding (1948): Nascar was officially founded in Daytona Beach, Florida in 1948. At the time there were a number of competing stock car racing series of varying degrees of legitimacy, and local racing impresario “Big” Bill France Sr. sought to bring unity to the nascent sport by forming a single national organization under his control and ownership. Other smaller series soon fell by the wayside and soon Nascar was essentially unchallenged as the premiere stock car racing series in America.
The early Winston Cup Era (1972-1991): In 1972 big changes came to Nascar. The year before, RJ Reynolds, barred from advertising on American television, brought money and marketing savvy to Nascar through their Winston brand, renaming the premiere series The Winston Cup Series, so named for the championship trophy. In 1972 the series became more of a true touring schedule, with all dirt track races, all mid-week races, and most shorter-races cancelled, bringing the schedule to under thirty races a year, one per weekend. France’s son, Bill France Jr., stepped into the fore as the sport began to grow beyond its southern roots, although the sport’s biggest stars of the 1970s (Richard Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough) and 1980s (Dale Earnhardt Sr., Darrell Waltrip, Bill Elliott) still hailed from the southern states. In 1979 a major milestone was achieved as the sport’s biggest race—the Daytona 500—was aired live on network TV for the first time ever, ending with a spectacular fight between rivals Yarborough and the Allison brothers, Bobby and Donnie. As the eighties marched on the sport began to gain additional exposure through the proliferation of cable TV, particularly through the growing ESPN network.
The later Winston Cup Era (1992-2003): The final race of 1992 saw a momentous championship battle between former champion Bill Elliott, fan favorite Davey Allison, and independent northerner Alan Kulwicki. Elliott would win the race, but Kulwicki would win the championship in an event that saw the retirement of the legendary Richard Petty and debut of a then-unknown Jeff Gordon. The mid-90’s would see Gordon eclipse Dale Earnhardt Sr. as the sport’s brightest star, with Gordon’s good looks and media savvy bringing Nascar to a new national fanbase. After battling Earnhardt for on-track dominance (and off-track popularity), the sport appeared ready to take off with a new national television contract for 2001. In the first race of this new media deal, Dale Earnhardt Sr. was tragically killed on the final lap of the Daytona 500. What followed was a level of attention and media coverage never seen before in the sport, as Nascar quickly boomed to true major-league status.
The Nextel/Sprint Cup Era (2004-2016): Winston bowed out of the sport after 2003, with telecommunications company Nextel stepping in as the Cup Series title sponsor. Meanwhile, Bill France Jr.’s leadership passed on to his son, Brian France, who began to take the sport in new directions. Not only were race dates transferred outside of the sport’s traditional southern base, but Brian France would institute a new “playoff”-based season format, meant to keep fan interest throughout the increasingly lengthening season. Turn-Of-The-Millennium stars like Gordon and Tony Stewart gave way to the dominance of Gordon’s teammate Jimmie Johnson, who would win a record five Cup Series championships in a row. Whether it was due to fan annoyance at the new playoff format, Johnson’s dominance, oversaturation of the market due to too many races, the arrival of foreign make Toyota, or simply people moving on to something else, the Nascar boom eroded and the sport began to shrink in terms of popularity, money, and prestige.
The Monster/modern Cup Era (2017-present): Sprint (which had bought out Nextel) left the sport after 2016, and Monster Energy stepped in as Cup Series sponsor for three years. With fan and sponsor interest continuing to decline, Nascar introduced a new “Nascar Cup Series” branding for 2020, with four companies (Geico, Coca-Cola, Busch Beer, Xfinity) sponsoring various parts of the series. Furthermore, the media-shy Jim France (brother of Bill Jr., uncle of Brian) took over for Brian France as head of the sport after Brian’s issues with substance abuse. With racetracks lowering capacity and further changes made to appeal to a broader fanbase, time will tell if this is an era of further shrinking, or an era of rebounding towards the future.