HPC 013002 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

,n 50 2 NPS Form 10.900 -a OMB Approval No. 1024 -0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Occoneechee Speedway Orange County, N.C. Section number 8 Page s Recreation and Social History Context: The History of Stock Automobile Racing in the South Organized stock car racing's roots lie in the notorious bootlegging trade of the early twentieth century, mainly the 1920s to just after World War II, when many residents of the mountains and foothills of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia made and hauled illegal alcohol from isolated stills to cities and towns. These drivers, known as trippers, were masters behind the wheel, skilled at speeding along mountain roads in specially modified cars. Many were talented mechanics and those who were not, employed expert mechanics who were often simultaneously beefing -up the cars local law enforcement agents used to chase the trippers. Cars were overhauled for optimum speed, handling and hauling capacity. From the outside, these cars looked like the common cars of the 1930s and 1940s, but raise the hood or go under the car and one would find a modified engine, high - quality brakes, a souped -up transmission and a, heavier suspension. ) From these high speed chases came informal competitions that exhibited and tested the skills of both drivers and mechanics and drew onlookers searching for diversion from the tedious days of farming or factory work. Eventually, local entrepreneurs, recognizing the money- making opportunities these races afforded, built tracks and formalized the events somewhat, charging admission and sometimes building wooden bleachers. Although most of these impermanent sites have been lost, the foundations for NASCAR were laid on these dirt tracks in the 1940s.2 The more formal organization of auto racing in the United States took shape in the first half of the twentieth century. Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened in 1909 and the first Indianapolis 500 took place there in 1911. By the early 1940s, many sanctioning bodies were organizing races throughout the United States. The American Automobile Association (AAA) staged open - wheel, open cockpit racing and eventually became known as the USAC /CART league (Indy -car racing). Also operating were the United Stock Car Racing Association, the National Auto Racing League and the American Stock Car Racing Association. The National Stock Car Racing Association operated in its home state of Georgia. The Daytona Beach Racing Association was responsible for that city's races. Each organization had its own rules, competition criteria and racetrack 1 Pete Daniel, Lost Revolutions: The South in the 1950s (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000), 94- 95; and Sylvia Wilkinson, Dirt Tracks to Glory: The Early Days of Stock Car Racing as Told by the Participants (Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 1993), chapters I and 2. 2 Dan Pierce, "The Most Southern Sport on Earth: NASCAR and the Unions," Southern Cultures, (Summer 2001): 10.