| Category | Open wheel |
|---|---|
| Country |  United States |
| Inaugural season | 1952 |
| Folded | 1953 |
| Last Drivers' champion | Pete Allen |
The NASCAR Speedway Division was a short-lived series brought forth in 1952 by NASCAR president and founder Bill France Sr. The series consisted of open-wheel race cars competing with stock engines. The idea of the series was to draw from the popularity of other open-wheel racing events such as the Indianapolis 500. [1]
The first Speedway Division race was held at Darlington Raceway and was won by Buck Baker with a Cadillac engine. [1] [2] The series' second race was held at Martinsville Speedway on May 25, with only 17 entries. [3] The pole at Martinsville was won by Bill Miller in an "Olds 88 Special". Tex Keene, driving a car with a stock Mercury engine came from 16th place to win the race. A total of seven races were run in 1952 with Buck Baker becoming the series champion. [4]
In 1953, Speedway Division events were paired with those in the Sportsman Division. Three races were held with few entries before the series was quietly discontinued. The final series champion was Pete Allen. [5] [6]
| Driver | NASCAR Speedway Division (1952–1953) |
|---|---|
| Wally Campbell | 3 |
| Tom Cherry | 2 |
| Pete Allen | 1 |
| Al Keller | 1 |
| Tex Keene | 1 |
| Buck Baker | 1 |
| Wayne Alspaugh | 1 |
| Driver | NASCAR Speedway Division (1952–1953) |
|---|---|
| Pete Allen | 1 |
| Buck Baker | 1 |
Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately 0.25 to 2.66 miles. It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It originated in the southern United States; its largest governing body is NASCAR. Its NASCAR Cup Series is the premier top-level series of professional stock car racing. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, Brazil and the United Kingdom also have forms of stock car racing. Top-level races typically range between 200 and 600 miles in length.
The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500. Today, USAC serves as the sanctioning body for a number of racing series, including the Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Cars, National Midgets, Speed2 Midget Series, .25 Midget Series, Stadium Super Trucks, and Pirelli World Challenge. Seven-time USAC champion Levi Jones is USAC's Competition Director.
South Boston Speedway, or "SoBo", is a short track located just outside South Boston, Virginia. SoBo is located approximately 60 miles (97 km) east of another area familiar to most NASCAR fans, Martinsville. It is owned by Mattco, Inc., the Mattioli family trust that owns Pocono Raceway, with general manager Chase Brashears operating the track, replacing Cathy Rice who retired in 2021 after serving in that role for 21 years. NASCAR's three national series have raced at the track, though the Cup Series has not done so since 1971, while the Busch Series last raced here in 2000. After the Busch Series left the schedule, the Craftsman Truck Series competed at SoBo for a few years between 2001 and 2003. The SRX Series visited the track in 2022.
The Daytona Beach and Road Course was a motorsport race track that was instrumental in the formation of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. It originally became famous as the location where 15 world land speed records were set.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) is a modified stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR in the Modified Division. The Modified Division is NASCAR's oldest division, and is the only open-wheeled division that NASCAR sanctions. NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events are mainly held in the northeastern United States, but the 2007 and 2008 tours expanded to the Midwest with the addition of a race in Mansfield, Ohio. The tour races primarily on short oval paved tracks, but the NWMT also has made appearances at larger ovals and road courses.
Raleigh Speedway was a one-mile (1.6 km) oval race track which opened in 1952 one mile (1.6 km) north of Raleigh, North Carolina in Wake County. It was the second superspeedway ever built. It was also the first lighted superspeedway and the first track on which NASCAR sanctioned night-time races. The track had a long and narrow shape, like a paper clip, with the front and back straights about 500 feet (150 m) apart and the straightaways about 1,850 feet (560 m) long. The turns were banked at 16° and the straightaways were flat.
Saugus Speedway is a 1/3 mile racetrack in Saugus, Santa Clarita, California on a 35-acre (140,000 m2) site. The track hosted one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event in 1995, which was won by Ken Schrader. Schrader became the first NASCAR driver to win in a race in all three of the sanctioning body's major series, following previous wins in the Winston Cup and Busch Grand National Series. The stadium was closed on July 19, 1995 and no longer holds races.
Lakewood Speedway was a race track located south of Atlanta, Georgia, in Lakewood, just north of the eastern arm of Langford Parkway. The track held many kinds of races between 1919 and 1979, including events sanctioned by AAA/USAC, IMCA, and NASCAR. It was a one-mile (1.6 km) dirt track which was located adjacent to Lakewood Fairgrounds. Lakewood Speedway was considered the "Indianapolis of the South" as it was located in the largest city in the Southern United States and it held an annual race of the Indy cars.
The 1952 NASCAR Speedway Division consisted of seven races, beginning in Darlington, South Carolina on May 10 and concluding in Langhorne, Pennsylvania on June 29. There was also one non-championship event in Daytona Beach, Florida. The season champion was Buck Baker. This was the first season of the NASCAR Speedway Division. Every driver was an American racecar driver and every race was in the USA.
The 1953 NASCAR Speedway Division consisted of three races, beginning in Greensboro, North Carolina on June 12 and concluding in Fayetteville, North Carolina on June 28. There were also two non-championship events. The season champion was Pete Allen. This was the final season of the NASCAR Speedway Division. Every driver was American racecar driver and every race in the USA.
The 1955 NASCAR Grand National season began on November 7, 1954, and ended on October 30, 1955. Even though the season was resolved in the course of two different years, all NASCAR personnel were allowed to have their traditional two-month silly season that traditionally comes between mid-November and mid-February. Tim Flock won the 1955 championship by a margin of 1508 over top of Buck Baker. This season was unusual because of its 11-month season. As the ninth season of the series now known as the Cup Series, most of the drivers involved were still the first-generation race car drivers. They did not have any ties to the stock car racing world through their parents or grandparents although some of them served in World War II prior to their NASCAR careers. However, the generation that would gain notoriety and fame through nepotism would emerge about ten years later. The average horsepower of a stock car competing the 1955 NASCAR Grand National season would be 230 horsepower.
The 1957 NASCAR Grand National Series saw driver Buck Baker win his second consecutive NASCAR Grand National Series championship. Baker won the championship with 10,716 points over second place driver Marvin Panch (9,956), and Speedy Thompson (8,560). Baker was the first driver to win back-to-back NASCAR championships. Baker accumulated $30,764 for his efforts in the 1957 NASCAR season. Ken Rush was Rookie of the Year, and Fireball Roberts took home the Most Popular Driver Award.
The 1956 Virginia 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on May 20, 1956, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia. As the inaugural event for the NASCAR Grand National Series in Martinsville, this race would set a precedent for all other 500-lap races to follow on this newly paved short track.
The 1956 Old Dominion 400 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on October 28, 1956, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia. As a NASCAR-sanctioned "Sweepstakes" race, sedan vehicles from the Grand National Series and stock convertibles from the NASCAR Convertible division raced side-by-side with other for the same amount of money and championship points.
The 1966 Columbia 200 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on April 7, 1966, at Columbia Speedway in Columbia, South Carolina.
The 1953 Wilkes 160 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on October 11, 1953, at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.
The 1987 Goody's 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that was held on September 27, 1987, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia.
The 1957 Virginia 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on May 19, 1957, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia.
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the 'Strictly Stock Division', and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the 'Grand National Division.' In 1971, when the series began leasing its naming rights to the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, it was referred to as the 'NASCAR Winston Cup Series' (1971–2003). A similar deal was made with Nextel in 2003, and it became the 'NASCAR Nextel Cup Series' (2004–2007). Sprint acquired Nextel in 2005, and in 2008 the series was renamed the 'NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' (2008–2016). In December 2016, it was announced that Monster Energy would become the new title sponsor, and the series was renamed the 'Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series' (2017–2019). In 2019, NASCAR rejected Monster's offer to extend the current naming rights deal beyond the end of the season. NASCAR subsequently announced its move to a new tiered sponsorship model beginning with the 2020 season similar to other US based professional sports leagues, where it was simply known as the 'NASCAR Cup Series', with the sponsors of the series being called Premier Partners. The four Premier Partners are Busch Beer, Coca-Cola, GEICO, and Xfinity.
The 1956 NASCAR Grand National Season began on November 13, 1955, and ended on November 18, 1956, lasting slightly longer than a full year. Driver Tim Flock was the defending champion, and started off with a win at the opening Hickory Speedway, but it was Buck Baker who captured the championship. Along with the trophies, Baker also collected $34,076.35 in prize money, and finished more than 400 points ahead of his closest competitor. Baker competed in 48 races throughout the 1956 season as Speedy Thompson and Herb Thomas rounded out the top three in points by the final race. Even though auto manufactures Chevrolet and Ford both contributed millions of dollars into their cars during the season, it was Carl Kiekhaefer's Chryslers and Dodges that dominated the season including a 16 win stretch through the summer months.
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