France’s
early ambition helped push the series quickly into the limelight. By 1950, the
first superspeedway – Darlington (S.C.) opened to big crowds. As races became
more accessible and commonplace, drivers who had been cult heroes up until
then, began to emerge as more mainstream. Drivers like Lee Petty, Fireball
Roberts, Buck Baker, Herb Thomas, Bill Rexford and Paul Goldsmith dominated the
action as stock-car enthusiasts now had their own idols in place.
When France helped put together the Daytona International Speedway in 1959
in Daytona Beach, Fl., NASCAR had itself a home base and created its biggest
event – the Daytona 500. Petty was the first Daytona 500 winner, inching out
Johnny Beauchamp in a battle that took officials three days to decide.
The 1960s saw the NASCAR boom continue, as speedways opened throughout the
South and Richard Petty – son of Lee – became the most dominant driver in the
history of the sport – winning an unprecedented 200 races in his illustrious
career, a record that remains standing today.
The 1970s saw corporate sponsorship for NASCAR go to the next level, as R.J.
Reynolds became the prominent sponsor of the series, giving it the familiar
“Winston Cup” moniker. Races began to be televised and over the next 30 years,
NASCAR continued its evolution to where it stands today.
The Great Boom
Most view the mid-1990s as the time when NASCAR went from popular to
national obsession. The series and its drivers began to pop up on the covers of
Sports Illustrated, Time Magazine and newspapers throughout the land.
Attendance at races broke the 5-million mark overall, and television ratings
soared.
The series also began to experience a new wave of younger drivers. Dale
Earnhardt Sr., long the most popular driver in the series and the torch-carrier
of the grizzled, old-school drivers of the past was faced with a new challenger
– Jeff Gordon. In 1995, Gordon, with his clean-cut looks and image won the
series championship at the age of 24 to become the series’ youngest champion.
The rivalry between Earnhardt and Gordon was a figurative battle of Jack
Daniels against milk, and NASCAR’s popularity exploded.