1001 NASCAR Facts. John Close

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      53 While mass production is usually seen as the launching point of American automobile culture, it was the development of several tools during the 19th Century that made construction of early cars a reality. Interchangeable parts on cars and their mass production would have never been possible without the milling machines, lathes, metal planers, and standardized control jigs developed in the late 1800s. All of these tools are still commonly used in the construction of NASCAR purpose-built race cars.

      54 NASCAR has had countless epic races, but none of them have ever earned the right to be called the “Race of the Century.” That distinction was reserved for the 1895 Chicago to Evanston, and back again, event. Held November 28, 1895, the event is widely considered the first official stock car race held in the United States. The Chicago Times Herald newspaper and publisher, Herman H. Kohlsaat, fanned interest for the event. A total of 83 cars entered for the event originally scheduled for November 2, but when only three cars showed up, the race was rescheduled for Thanksgiving Day. On that day, six vehicles attended including one lone American-made gasoline car, the Duryea Motor Wagon. The high, thin-profile wooden-spoke carriage-wheeled car featured a 2-cylinder engine with tiller steering.

      Battling near-freezing temperatures and overnight snow making roads nearly impassable, Duryea was the early leader before he hit a rut and broke the steering arm off his car. Undaunted, he found a blacksmith and had a replacement bar formed. Now in second place behind a Benz owned by Macy’s Department Store, Duryea regained the lead just before the halfway turnaround in Evanston. On the drive back to Chicago, Duryea’s car lost one of two cylinders requiring another near-hour delay for repairs. Despite that, Duryea crossed the finish line at Jackson Park more than an hour ahead of the Macy’s Benz, the only other car to finish. Duryea won $2,000 and great celebrity for his win as newspapers across the country hailed his amazing achievement for winning The Race of the Century.

      55 The Ford Motor Company has scored more than 700 NASCAR Cup division wins, a foundation of success built when the first victory came in its first race. The October 10, 1901, contest pitted a then-unknown Henry Ford and his Sweepstakes car against Alexander Winton, already a major automobile builder. Considered one of the best race drivers of the day, Winton and his Bullet race car were clearly the favorite at the Grosse Point, Michigan, horse track located outside of Detroit. Winton quickly pulled away from Ford at the start of the race. Ford, a novice driver at best, eventually steadied his tiller-steered car and began closing the gap on Winton. When the Bullet slowed with mechanical problems in the 8th mile of the 10-mile event, Ford roared by and rolled to an easy win with a time of 13 minutes 23 seconds. The victory attracted investors to Ford’s new venture, Ford Motor Company, and signaled the beginning of the brand’s long participation in motorsports.

      56 Named after Charles Goodyear, an American chemist who developed and patented vulcanized rubber in 1844, the Good-year Tire and Rubber Company was founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling. One year later, the Akron, Ohio, company produced its first automobile tire. In 1901, Seiberling provided Henry Ford, what is considered the first racing tires for his Sweepstakes car. Goodyear later developed and patented the first tubeless tire in 1903. When Henry Ford introduced his Ford Model T in 1908, it rode on Goodyears. Spurred on by early successes such as providing tires for Barney Oldfield’s world speed record run of 131.72 mph in 1910, Goodyear continued developing racing tires and won its first Indianapolis 500 in 1919. After another Indy 500 victory in 1920, Goodyear coined the phrase “Win On Sunday, Sell On Monday” in its advertising. Goodyear eventually came to NASCAR with a series of tire tests for the Convertible Division at Darlington in 1954 and, in 1955, team owner Carl Kiekhaefer used Goodyear “Police Specials” on his potent Chrysler 300 NASCAR champion race cars. In the 1960s, Goodyear survived a tire war with Firestone and fended off Hoosier Tires for NASCAR supremacy in the middle 1990s. Since 1968, every NASCAR Cup, and Grand National champion has raced on Goodyear tires.

      57 As it is today, Detroit was a focal point for the American automobile industry and it makes sense for the city to be among the first having organized car races. In one of the first track-rental agreements in motorsports, a local automobile dealer leased Daniel Campo’s Grosse Point area track for Detroit’s first race. October 10, 1901, was practically a civic holiday as many businesses and even the local courthouse closed for the day. Meanwhile, the event attracted entries from all over the country. The first race was a 1-mile electric car test and was won by a Baker produced in Cleveland, Ohio. The second 1-mile race was a contest for cars weighing less than 1,500 pounds and was won by a Toledo Steam Car. The third event saw Henry Ford and his Sweepstakes racer score a stunning victory over Alexander Winton in a 10-mile clash.

       The open-wheel crowd was the first to discover unique ways to get its racers to the track as evidenced by this heavy-duty Ford truck pulling double duty as a hauler and tow vehicle. (Photo Courtesy Steve Zautke Collection)

      58 Long before NASCAR was established in 1947, the American Automobile Association (AAA) was sanctioning races. Formed in March 1902, the AAA Racing Board sanctioned its first race in 1904, the Vanderbilt Cup. A year later, AAA created the National Motor Car Championship marking the first time in American racing history that a points system was used to decide a national champion. A feud with the Automobile Club of America (ACA) spurred a name change to the AAA Contest Board in 1908 and, with the backing of the Manufacturers Contest Association (MCA), organized a set of rules that outlawed purpose-built European race cars СКАЧАТЬ