In the summer of 1938 a man by the name of William "Bill" France  organized an event on the sands of Daytona Beach. The winner was to receive many prizes including a box of cigars, rum and motor oil. This is the true origin of NASCAR. A couple years later the World, and the sport of NASCAR, came to a halt with the outbreak of WWII. It wasn't until after the war that those involved in the sport began racing unorganized races on the beaches of Daytona. The title NACSAR followed in 1947 when William France organized the sanctioning body for the sport -  the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing.

The first sanctioned race took place in Charlotte, NC on June 19th, 1949. The cars that ran in this race were strictly stock - unmodified, full sized American-made passenger cars. The winner of the race was Glenn Dunnaway who drove a 1947 Ford but was later stripped of the victory after it was discovered his car had modified shock wedge to increase speed. Jim Roper was given the victory and is recognized as the winner of the first NASCAR Race.

In the 1950's the sport evolved and Super-Speedways were born. These larger speedways allowed for greater speed. In 1959 Daytona Speedway opened up and put NASCAR into prime time.

Today NASCAR is America's second most-popular spectator sport. On an average Sunday, a track like Indianapolis Motor Speedway can pack in just over 300,000 spectators.

For more history of NASCAR  check out:         Bill  France interview  from LookSmart. Nascar.com,  Eracefans, Race Hippie

NASCAR Quick Resources 
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• Find out more about the sport: Terminology,  Quiz, How NASCAR Works
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The Nextel Cup Circuit decides a yearly champion based on a points system. Points are awarded to drivers every race based on their finish in that race. You can find out how points are scored by individual race and see the current NASCAR Nextel Cup points leaders leaders by visiting the TickCo NASCAR Points Page. More races have been added to the NASCAR schedule in recent years as the sport is making a push outward from its Southern US roots expanding into the West with more races being added to the schedule in Texas, Arizona and California.

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