stock car racing developed in the south were the moon shiners drove their souped up automobiles to get away from the cops, revenuers and deliver their shine. Today stock car racing is the largest spectator sport in America by drawing 10 million fans annually to the track.
Stock car racing was born in the Southern Appalachians. True stories abound of “good old boys” transporting loads of illegal moonshine in their souped up 34 fords, trying to outrun the revenuers and police as they drove without headlights along dark, twisting dirt roads at speeds exceeding 120 miles per hour delivering their shine. The need to beat the cops and their friends in their souped up automobiles led to weekend races. Bill France saw the need for formally organized competition, and his efforts led to the
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As the sport grows the fan base is also slowly changing from Southern male to all of America. The fan base continues to expand as new speedways are built near urban centers such as Kansas City and Chicago. Media coverage is widespread every NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series, and Camping World Truck Series race is televised, as are selected races of other stock car racing associations. Syndicated cartoons and racing pages appear in newspapers across the country. Stock car racing has become a significant part of popular culture.
The brand loyalty of stock car racing fans is legendary if their favorite driver is sponsored by a certain soft drink producer, that’s the product they buy. The market for souvenirs is huge, and fans are just as likely to buy $250 jackets as $20 tee shirts.As NASCARS’s popularity boomed in the 1950s auto manufacturers begaan to get more involved in the sport by giving “factory backing” to individual drivers. to put it simply they paid drivers to drive their car. there was a popular motto that manufacturers used during this time “win on sunday. sell on