NASCAR Then and Now - Ben White [15]
Stock car racing began to be accepted as a legitimate sport when asphalt short tracks and superspeedways replaced the small dirt bullrings. As time wore on and nationally known sponsors became involved in the sport, dirt tracks were more and more considered the way of the past and were taken completely off the NASCAR schedule. But those old bullrings will always be remembered as the foundation of decades of memorable races.
Herb Thomas gets his Hudson Hornet sideways around a dirt track in 1954. All that was needed to bring a dirt track to life was a vacant piece of land, some paint for poles, and grandstands full of interested fans.
Today’s paved tracks are huge facilities with massive seating areas and high-banked turns. The 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway is the fastest of them all. The Alabama track opened in September 1969 amid controversy; drivers worried the tires would not hold up to the strain of speeds that surpassed 200 miles per hour. Over time, the tires were perfected, and today “The World’s Fastest Race Track” hosts some of the closest, most exciting bumper-to-bumper racing on the NASCAR circuit.
Daytona International Speedway
The racing heritage of Daytona Beach stretches all the way back to the early 1900s when well-to-do “horseless carriage” enthusiasts attempted land speed records on the beach’s hard-packed sands. The Beach and Road course opened in the 1930s and soon developed an enthusiastic following. Among the race’s regular competitors was a certain Bill France Sr., who envisioned a purpose-built facility befitting Daytona’s stature as a cornerstone of American racing.
After years of planning and local and state approvals, the Daytona International Speedway opened its gates in February 1959 to excited race fans from all over the country. Over the past five decades, the 2.5-mile track has been the site of NASCAR’s biggest and most prestigious event, the Daytona 500. To be listed as a Daytona 500 winner makes a driver’s career a success.
This shot from 1957 offers a great view of the long oval that made up the Daytona Beach and Road Course. At left is the beach with the Atlantic Ocean rolling in; at right is Highway A1A. That’s Tim Flock sliding around the North Turn in the No.15 Mercury.
The 500 isn’t the only race held at the giant Daytona facility. The speedway also hosts the Daytona 200 motorcycle road race, as well as the prestigious 24 Hours of Daytona sports car race. And every July 4th weekend, the facility hosts a second NASCAR event, a night race currently called the Coke Zero 400. Holding races at night is a great way to avoid the sometimes brutal Florida heat experienced during summer days.
Darlington Raceway
Patterned after the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the famed Darlington Race- way was the brainchild of visionary Harold Brasington, a former race driver who turned his attention to construction and farming. Over time, the historic egg-shaped oval gained a reputation as one of the toughest tracks on the NASCAR circuit, its single racing groove and tight turns earning it the nicknames “The Lady in Black” and “The Track Too Tough to Tame.” In recent years the track has been reconfigured: What was the front stretch is now the back stretch, and the turns have been renumbered accordingly. Seating has been increased to approximately 65,000 (the grandstand built in 1950 held 9,000). It remains one of the great venues in American racing.
An aerial shot of Darlington Raceway under construction shows its expansive original configuration. Built in 1950 over an old cotton field, the 1.366-mile speedway was designed in part to protect a small but productive minnow pond located just outside of the track’s second turn. At right are the original turns one and two. Note the minnow pond just off the second turn behind the small clump of trees.
Darlington Raceway as it is today features lights and a weathered racing surface. The famous minnow pond