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NPS Form 10 -900 -a 63 OMB Approval No. 1024 -0018 (8.98) 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 15 drivers who died on the track or to injured drivers, but revenues were growing exponentially. 32 France engaged in capricious rule bending to the greatest personal and professional benefit. Dirt tracks remained plagued by holes, ruts, mud and dust while the asphalt on paved tracks was prone to failure as speeds increased in the 19605. While NASCAR promoted and demanded increased speed, the skill of drivers and mechanics, safety measures and track construction technology were not given an opportunity to develop correspondingly.33 NASCAR drivers attempted to unionize in 1961 and 1969, but their efforts, like those of the mill workers of the 1930s, were met with the same reaction: union organizers, participants and sympathizers were successfully strong - armed, intimidated, blacklisted and threatened. Today, NASCAR stands as the only major sporting organization without significant representation by eompetitors.34 Safety concerns still arise, usually after the deaths of high - profile drivers such as Adam Petty and Dale Earnhardt, but the use of helmets and fireproof suits continues to be encouraged rather than required. The France family still controls NASCAR and the majority of its tracks. Bill France Sr. remained at the helm of NASCAR until 1972 when his son, Bill France Jr. took over. The elder France died on June 7, 1992.35 NASCAR is the fastest growing spectator sport in the United States today. Between 1991 and 1998, attendance at NASCAR events increased seventy percent, almost four times faster than the National Basketball Association.36 The first Strictly Stock race in Charlotte attracted several thousand fans. Today the Lowe's Motor Speedway, the modern name for the Charlotte Motor Speedway, seats 133,000 people and has sold tickets to fans in all fifty states and fourteen countries. From its roots, NASCAR has grown into a multi- million dollar industry in which drivers are synonymous with their sponsors and all races ate televised. The Darlington infield, where a jail was required to help maintain peace, has been divided into the President's Suite, the Azalea Terrace, where tickets cost $500 and the Fourth Turn Club with a large corporate tent.37 Fighting 32 Charlotte Observer, August 10, 1961, A -1, cited in Pierce, 14. 33 Pierce, 22. 34 Ibid., 30. 35 Chengalis and Pierce, 31. 36 Robert G. Hagstrom, "Driving America Wild," National Geographic (on -line version), May 9, 2001 www.nationaleeooraphic.com /ng_m /9806 /forum /caressay.html 37 Daniel, 119.