The Early Laps of Stock Car Racing

A History of the Sport and Business through 1974

Betty Boles Ellison (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

296 Seiten

2014
McFarland & Co Inc (Verlag)
9780786479344 (ISBN)

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The first organized, sanctioned American stock car race took place in 1908 on a road course around Briarcliff, New York--staged by one of America's early speed mavens, William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. A veteran of the early Ormond-Daytona Beach speed trials, Vanderbilt brought the Grand Prize races to Savannah, Georgia, the same year. What began as a rich man's sport eventually became the working man's sport, finding a home in the South with the infusion of moonshiners and their souped-up cars.

Based in large part on statements of drivers, car owners and others garnered from archived newspaper articles, this history details the development of stock car racing into a megasport, chronicling each season through 1974. It examines the National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing's 1948 incorporation documents and how they differ from the agreements adopted at NASCAR's organization meeting two months earlier. The meeting's participants soon realized that their sport was actually owned by William H.G. "Bill" France, and its consequential growth turned his family into billionaires. The book traces the transition from dirt to asphalt to superspeedways, the painfully slow advance of safety measures and the shadowy economics of the sport.

Betty Boles Ellison, a former journalist and noted historian, is a nationally recognized historical researcher as well as an established author. She prepared the script for the prize-winning documentary, Dreamers and Doers: Voices of Kentucky Woman. An avid and longtime historic preservationist, she is a board member of Friends of Kentucky Libraries, which provides support for the commonwealth’s public libraries.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Introduction

1. In the Beginning

2. Beach-Road Racing in Daytona

3. Whiskey Roots, Red Georgia Clay and Carolina Back Roads

4. Hardened Heroes

5. A Lily White Sport

6. Beer, Broads and Unadulterated Bull

7. NASCAR’s Early Years

8. Dollar Signs Everywhere

9. Drivers’ Revolving Door

10. The Finest Years

11. France Gets a Prize

12. Kiekhaefer Factor

13. Big Boys Come to Town

14. Whatever Happened to Marshall Teague?

15. Charlotte, Atlanta Join the Super Speedways

16. Caution Flags Everywhere

17. Those Dreaded Teamsters

18. Turner’s Back

19. The Man NASCAR Kept Overlooking

20. Big Boys Return

21. Who Was Running NASCAR?

22. Eastaboga and the PDA

23. Not as Easy as It Once Was

24. Money Infusion and Restrictor Plates

25. A New Boss Takes Over

26. Total Control

27. Ever Evolving NASCAR Rules

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index

Zusatzinfo	12 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Verlagsort	Jefferson, NC
Sprache	englisch
Maße	178 x 254 mm
Gewicht	517 g
Themenwelt	Natur / Technik ► Fahrzeuge / Flugzeuge / Schiffe ► Auto / Motorrad
	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport ► Motor- / Rad- / Flugsport
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte
	Weitere Fachgebiete ► Sportwissenschaft
ISBN-13	9780786479344 / 9780786479344
Zustand	Neuware