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NPS Form 10 -900 -a 0108 Approval No. 1024 -001 a (8.86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Co t[nuation Sheet. Occoneechee Speedway Orange County, N.C. Section number 8 Page 13 Just as NASCAR was making its way into popular culture, popular culture was having its effect on the sport. NASCAR reflected an element of southern society that found itself dissatisfied, frustrated and trapped by increasing prosperity and the accompanying pressure to become "presentable." These were the farm -families who had come to the mills and were finding it difficult to conform to the regimented workday. These were also the farmers and urban workers who were gaining a measure of prosperity and were now expected to be ruled by the clock and the dollar .21 Historian Pete Daniel asserts that although the repetitive nature of racing around a track could seem to suggest those regulated elements of the urbanizing, working world, racing actually suggested just the opposite. The drivers repeated tasks, like a mill hand, but cars often "bumped or crashed into each other, interrupting the cycle, destroying sponsors' investments and sometimes injuring drivers.... Skilled drivers at the edge of control constantly suggested that escape was possible for those with enough talent or nerve. ,22 Fighting was common at NASCAR events of the 1950s and 1960s, as was on -track retribution. While drivers and crew members engaged in all -night parties that sometimes continued into the race day and generally included alcohol, women, fights and wild, untamed behavior, the race -day behavior of fans was no different. 23 Infield parties featured sex, drinking, guns, knives, fights and country music. "The racetrack offered an unpoliced space for uncivil behavior and vile language ....The farther people moved from the country and its cycles into hourly work and consumer culture, the more they needed a fix of racing, wildness, fun and laughter. ,24 Fans "scorned polite society and were in revolt against the constricting forces that threatened to tame them and rob them of the spontaneity. They were rude, violent, uncouth and proud of it.s25 At Darlington, an infield jail was necessary. As increasing prosperity and urbanization was threatening the wildness of southerners, those same forces were marginalizing women in every aspect of society, including NASCAR, where in its early years, women had raced alongside men at venues including Occoneechee Speedway. Ethel Flock Mobley, named for the high -test gasoline, was the sister of famed racers Tim, Bob and Fonty Flock. She raced modified cars before taking on stock cars. At the 1949 Daytona Grand National race, she finished eleventh, beating brothers Bob and Fonty. Sara Christian raced 21 For a discussion of this theory, see Dan Pierce, Southern Cultures, (Summer 2001): 8 -31. " Daniel, 96. "Daniel, 113 -117. "Ibid., 96. "Ibid., 117. "The Most Southern Sport on Earth: NASCAR and the Unions,"