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Home , 1995 NASCAR Busch Series, 1998 NASCAR Busch Series, 2001 Talladega 500, Air Base Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Junior Johnson

ECONOMICHISTORY Roads to Riches How Stock Car aseball is America’s national more power for their frequent getaways pastime. But stock car is from the police on the windy back Racing Became a Bits fastest-growing sport, with 10 roads of the South. million fans attending live races across It wasn’t long before farmers real- Huge Sport— the country each year, and another 250 ized that there was money to be made million watching them on television. It from charging admission to stock car and Business wasn’t that long ago, however, that stock races. They fenced off their pastures car racing was a relatively small sport and put up gates. “The drivers’ payout centered in the Southeast. continued to climb, too, and eventu- BY AARON STEELMAN According to oral histories of the ally the cash prize at the checkered flag sport, the first stock car race took place was worth as much as moon- in a cow pasture in Stockbridge, Ga., shine from Wilkes County [N.C.] to in the mid-1930s. Several moonshiners Charlotte,” writes Robert Hagstrom in were debating who had the fastest car The NASCAR Way: The Business That and who was the best driver. They Drives the Sport. decided to settle it by racing around a Probably the most famous bootleg- quarter-mile dirt track in the middle of ger to ever race stock was Robert a farmer’s field. “Junior” Johnson. He ran whiskey for his father, Glenn Johnson, who had a successful moonshine operation in western . Johnson would go on to win 50 races on the Cup series sponsored by the National Association for Stock Car (NASCAR).

NASCAR’s Roots Moonshiners from were the early stars of . But the sport may have remained stuck on the dirt tracks of the rural South if it hadn’t INTERNATIONAL HALL OF FAME been for Bill , known to most as Early NASCAR races were held at small That first race drew a modest “Big Bill.” France was an auto mechanic tracks throughout the Southeast prior to crowd, but word quickly spread. Soon and part-time stock car driver in Mary- the construction of the super speedways at hundreds of people began to attend land who, in the mid-1930s, moved to Daytona Beach, Fla., and Talladega, Ala. similar races featuring the best drivers Daytona Beach, Fla. Daytona was in the area, many of them moonshin- already well known to racing fans. Its ers. Producing and distributing moon- long, hard-packed beaches made it a shine was illegal, of course. Those who good location for drivers to try to set delivered it from the stills to the cus- new land records. Each year, tomers were wary of being caught by racers from around the world flocked the police — or “revenuers,” as moon- to Daytona to try to post faster speeds shiners called them. So these drivers — and hopefully to break the 300 souped up their cars to gain a little miles-per-hour mark, long seen as the

36 Region Focus • Summer 2003 holy grail of the sport. But strong winds need to be assured that they weren’t prevented drivers from hitting this laying their lives on the line for mark, and by 1936, many drivers had nothing. So NASCAR decided to guar- decided to take their cars to the Bon- antee the purses at all events it spon- neville Salt Flats of Utah instead. sored. This meant that racetrack France, who had set up a service owners would have to put down a station shortly after arriving in , deposit with NASCAR before the race realized that there was a void to be would be held. Also, in order to assure filled. Many people still wanted to see sustained interest in the sport over the racing in Daytona, and the local busi- course of the year, NASCAR estab- ness depended on the tourists coming lished a points system. Drivers would to town each year. So he organized and accumulate points at each race, promoted beach races in Daytona in depending on how they fared, and at the late 1930s. Those races were suc- the end of the year, a national cham-

cessful and France started setting his pion would be crowned. INTERNATIONAL MOTORSPORTS HALL OF FAME sights higher. He wanted to establish a In its first year, NASCAR sanc- “Big Bill” France was the guiding force racing series, with events throughout tioned three different divisions, behind the creation of NASCAR. the Southeast. The problem was depending on the make and models of money. He needed a sponsoring organ- the cars: Strictly Stock, Modified the Winston Cup what Triple-A base- ization to get things off the ground, so Stock, and Roadsters. Strictly Stock ball is to the major leagues. Typically, a he helped form the National Champi- cars had to be full-size American cars Busch Series race will be run on a Sat- onship Stock Car Circuit (NCSCC) with standard hoods, fenders, bumpers, urday and a Winston Cup race the fol- and later the unfortunately named and grilles. In other words, they would lowing Sunday. Stock Car Auto Racing Society be the types of cars that average people (SCARS). Both organizations were drove on a daily basis — except they The Super Speedways short-lived. But they gave birth to would be equipped with fantastically Even after NASCAR was founded, NASCAR in late 1947. powerful engines. Today, NASCAR many of the races were still run on dirt The organizers of NASCAR real- sponsors a dozen series, including tracks. Those tracks, to be sure, were ized that their sport was plagued by several regional stock car series and the in better shape than the cow pasture in some shady businesspeople. For Craftsman Truck Series. But the two Stockbridge, Ga., where stock car racing instance, racetrack owners would often most popular, by far, are the Winston began. But they were a long way from overstate the sizes of the purses or not Cup Series, where you will find the what we think of as modern, profes- pay them at all. This left the sport in a best-known racers competing, and the sional raceways. In 1949, Harold Bras- precarious position. If stock car racing Busch Series, which features up-and- ington went to to watch was going to succeed, drivers would coming drivers. The Busch Series is to the . He wondered why

NASCAR 2003 Winston Cup Series

Feb. 8* ...... Bud Shootout (FL)† June 1...... Dover Int’l Speedway (DE) Sept. 21...... Dover Int’l Speedway (DE) Feb. 13 ...... Gatorade 125’s (FL)† June 8...... (NY) Sept. 28...... (AL) Feb. 16 ...... (FL) June 15...... Int’l Speedway (MI) Oct. 5...... Speedway (KS) Feb. 23...... North Carolina Speedway (NC) June 22...... Infineon Raceway (CA) Oct. 11*...... Lowe’s Motor Speedway (NC) Mar. 2...... (NV) July 5*...... Daytona Int’l Speedway (FL) Oct. 19...... (VA) Mar. 9...... (GA) July 13...... (IL) Oct. 26 ...... Atlanta Motor Speedway (GA) Mar. 16...... (SC) July 20...... New Hampshire Int’l Speedway (NH) Nov. 2...... Phoenix Int’l Raceway (AZ) Mar. 23...... (TN) July 27...... Pocono Raceway (NY) Nov. 9 ...... North Carolina Speedway (NC) Mar. 30 ...... (TX) Aug. 3...... Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IN) Nov. 16...... Homestead- Speedway (FL) Aug. 10...... Watkins Glen International (NY) April 6...... Talladega Superspeedway (AL) *Night race April 13...... Martinsville Speedway (VA) Aug. 17...... Michigan Int’l Speedway (MI) †Nonchampionship point events April 27...... California Speedway (CA) Aug. 23*...... Bristol Motor Speedway (TN) Schedule is tentative and subject to change; May 3* ...... Richmond Int’l Raceway (VA) Aug. 31...... Darlington Raceway (SC) visit www..com for updates. May 17*...... The Winston (NC)† Sept. 6* ...... Richmond Int’l Raceway (VA) SOURCE: Richmond International Raceway May 25* ...... Lowe’s Motor Speedway (NC) Sept. 14 .....New Hampshire Int’l Speedway (NH)

Summer 2003 • Region Focus 37 a 500-mile race was possible for open- car racing. He started to think of ways 18,800, portable bleachers that could wheel cars, but not for stock cars, and to tap into the sport’s growing popu- accommodate 6,500 more, and an could think of no compelling reason. So larity. One idea: the super speedway. enormous infield that could house he decided to build a paved, 1.25 mile To turn this idea into reality, France 75,000 fans, Daytona was not just a oval track with grandstands that would returned home to Daytona. He secured race, it was an event. seat 9,000. The location would be his financing for a 2.5 mile track. This was Ten years after building the track at hometown of Darlington, S.C. This the same lap distance as drivers ran at Daytona, France would construct what, seemed improbable for two reasons. the Indianapolis 500, an event that in some ways, was an even more First, a paved — and, at that time, long France hoped his Daytona race would impressive course at Talladega, Ala. At — track seemed unnecessarily extrava- eventually rival. “The shape of the 2.66 miles long and a lane wider than gant. Second, Darlington was a tiny Daytona course, though, differed from Daytona, Talladega became the fastest town. But with the help of investors and Indy or anyplace else. It was a tri-oval, speedway, with drivers eventually Big Bill France, Brasington completed conceived by France to allow for an posting speeds over 200 miles per hour. construction of the track in the summer unobstructed view of the track from Still, the Daytona 500 remained the of 1950. That , the first the grandstands,” writes Joe Menzer in signature event on the NASCAR was run. The Wildest Ride: A History of NASCAR. circuit. When network television finally “The track was banked at a stunning broadcast its first stock car race in 1979, thirty-one degrees in its top big turns, it was from Daytona. To many, this may and at eighteen degrees in the apex of have seemed only a trifling advance for the swift dogleg that would run past the sport. But it was much more. Cable the grandstands. Asked why the degree television, which in 1979 was only in its of the bank was set at thirty-one infancy, would bring stock car racing degrees, France replied simply, ‘Because into the homes of millions of Ameri- they couldn’t lay the asphalt any cans, dramatically boosting the popu- steeper.’ There was no place else like it larity and profitability of the sport. in the entire world of racing.” The track struck awe in the drivers. The Business of NASCAR NASCAR PUBLIC RELATIONS Here finally was a track where they Unlike most team sports, there is no could see what their cars could do. amateur draft in NASCAR. Nor do you NASCAR drivers had not been able to have to finish in the top 125 on the break the 140 miles-per-hour mark. But money list to keep your playing exemp- Robert “Junior” Johnson at the initial Daytona 500, run on Feb. tion, as you do in golf. In NASCAR, if (left) ran moonshine in 22, 1959, the average speed of the winner, you can convince someone that you are North Carolina before , was over 135 miles per hour. good enough to race competitively and becoming one of the early The track also struck fear in the to pay for your team of mechanics and stars of NASCAR. drivers. In fact, as Petty would later crew chiefs, you are ready to go. A California native (above) has won the remark about the first Daytona 500, company may have three or four teams. Winston Cup championship “There wasn’t a man there who wasn’t For example, in 1996, Hendrick Motor-

INTERNATIONAL MOTORSPORTS HALL OF FAME four times since 1995. scared to death of it.” Petty himself sports had teams for three drivers: Jeff would be involved in a horrible acci- Gordon, , and Ricky Few people really thought that dent at Daytona just a few years later. Craven. Each of Hendrick’s teams cost 9,000 people would show up for the His car flew 150 feet into the air, soared about $7.5 million to operate that year. inaugural race at Darlington. If half over the guardrail, and landed in the Another $7.5 million went into joint that many came, Brasington thought it parking lot. He suffered a crushed efforts, such as car development. How would be a success. But the event chest cavity, a broken collarbone, and does Hendrick pay for this? Far and proved more popular than anyone had a broken leg. Petty, the winner of 54 away the biggest source of income imagined. On race day, roughly 25,000 races from 1949 to 1960, more than any comes from corporate sponsors who people came to Darlington. Since the other driver during that period, would pay to advertise on a team’s car and uni- grandstands could hold only about a race only six more times before retir- forms. About 55 percent of Hendrick’s third of the crowd, the organizers ing. His son, Richard, though, would revenues in 1996 came from sponsor- started selling seats on the infield area. become perhaps the best and most ships. That year, the top sponsors were It was, in many ways, a logistical mess famous of all NASCAR drivers. DuPont, Kellogg’s, and Anheuser- for Brasington. But one that he was Daytona was great for spectators. Busch. Roughly 10 to 15 percent came certainly willing to handle. It also With a parking lot that could hold from race winnings (which are split showed France the potential of stock 35,000 cars, grandstands that could seat 50/50 between the driver and the

38 Region Focus • Summer 2003 (ISC). The two organizations — NASCAR and ISC — are often thought of synonymously, mainly because they are both still run by the . But according to Doug Fritz, president of the Richmond International Raceway, it’s important to distinguish between the two. NASCAR, Fritz says, is the sanc- tioning body for the sport. In other words, it is a league office, much like the one headed by David Stern of the National Basketball Association or Paul Tagliabue of the . ISC, on the other hand, is a publicly held company that owns 12 major racetracks — including Fritz’s track in Richmond — and promotes

INTERNATIONAL MOTORSPORTS HALL OF FAME more than 100 events each year. , known to many fans as simply “The King,” is arguably the greatest Over time, ISC has branched out NASCAR driver of all time, having won 200 races, including seven at the Daytona 500. from the Southeast and built tracks in once-unlikely places such as San organization), 10 percent from the sales president, owned car dealerships Bernardino County, Calif., Phoenix, of collectibles, 10 percent from throughout the South before entering Ariz., and Kansas City, Kan. In addi- research projects sponsored by General the world of NASCAR in 1984. At first, tion, , the 2002 Winston Motors, and 10 percent from leasing Hendrick had just one driver: Geoff Cup champion, is a native of . engines to other drivers. Bodine. Later, , Darrell And Gordon, arguably the sport’s Why are sponsors willing to put up Waltrip, and entered the biggest star, also hails from outside the so much money to sponsor a NASCAR fold. All those drivers eventually left — Southeast; he was born in California. team? According to Rubbermaid, which Richmond died and Bodine, Waltrip, Stock car racing, according to one sponsors ’s No. 97 car, the and Schrader went on to other com- author, has gone “From Moonshine to answer is a high degree of brand loyalty panies — but the business advantage Madison Avenue.” And while long-time combined with ideal demographics. of running more than one team had fans and employees of the sport may More than 75 percent of NASCAR fans become clear to Hendrick. So he think that statement is a bit hyperbolic, are in the 18-to-54 age bracket and, quickly recruited new drivers to his there is some truth to it. Certainly, the according to Rubbermaid, about 40 company. “I related racing to the auto- sport has come a long way since that percent will switch to a product if it mobile business,” Hendrick told Stock first race in a Georgia pasture. RF becomes a NASCAR sponsor. Car Racing. With his car dealerships,

“Since birth, NASCAR has under- Hendrick had learned that by “being R EADINGS stood how expensive it is to participate able to share information we were more Golenbock, Peter. American Zoom: Stock Car Racing in stock car racing. Whereas baseball, successful. I could think of no reason From the Dirt Tracks to Daytona. New York: football, and basketball all started with why the same theory wouldn’t work in Macmillan, 1994. a fairly low operating base, which NASCAR.” Since Gordon signed with Hagstrom, Robert G. The NASCAR Way: The allowed owners to make a decent profit Hendrick, he has won four Winston Business That Drives the Sport. New York: John Wiley on their investment, the sport of stock Cup championships and is now men- & Sons Inc., 1998. car racing began with a substantial tioned in the same breath with such Howell, Mark D. From Moonshine to Madison Avenue: financial burden,” writes Hagstrom. “In all-time greats as Richard Petty and the A Cultural History of the NASCAR Winston Cup order to survive, the sport had to late . Series. Bowling Green, : Bowling Green State master the sponsorship relationship. University Popular Press, 1997. The Framework for Success Today’s fans know how important the Menzer, Joe. The Wildest Ride: A History of NASCAR sponsors are; so do the drivers.” A few years after Big Bill France organ- (or How a Bunch of Good Ol’ Boys Built a Billion- Team owners also understand that ized NASCAR, he founded Bill France Dollar Industry out of Wrecking Cars). New York: it pays to take advantage of economies Racing Inc. It was this company that Simon & Schuster, 2001. of scale. That’s why many sponsor mul- officially owned the track at Daytona — Visit www.rich.frb.org/pubs/regionfocus for tiple teams. Consider Hendrick Motor- and which now goes by the name of the links to relevant Web sites. sports. , the company’s International Speedway Corporation

Summer 2003 • Region Focus 39