Stock Car Racing (magazine)

Last updated
Stock Car Racing
Categories Auto racing
PublisherSource Interlink Media
First issueMay 1966
Final issue2008
Country United States
Based in Concord, North Carolina
Language English
Website www.stockcarracing.com

Stock Car Racing (SCR) was founded in the U.S. in May 1966 [1] [2] The magazine is based in Concord, North Carolina. [3]

Contents

The monthly magazine ceased publication in 2008. [4] As of April 2009, the website was still active.

History

Stock Car Racing was launched in May 1966. [1] At the time, Jim Davis was publishing a drag racing magazine called Super Stock , so with the existing production staff, the printer, and the distribution network already in place, Jim Davis was planning to add a second magazine to his business. [1]

It was Dick Williford who suggested that Davis start a magazine on stock car racing, [1] because no other magazine had devoted full coverage to stock cars. Jim Davis recalled, " Speed Sport News was about it.... Some of the general automotive magazines like Motor Trend would have occasional articles about stock car racing...". [1] However, there was no magazine, at the time, devoted exclusively to stock car racing.

So Jim Davis and business associate John "Monk" Reynolds, following the suggestion from Dick Williford, began Stock Car Racing in May 1966. The first issue, on the cover, showed a picture with defending NASCAR champion Ned Jarrett and another cover photo of racer Curtis Turner [1] (1924–1970).

The magazine had limited success in the first years. [1] Jim Davis noted, "It was extremely difficult, because NASCAR didn't want anything to do with us. They didn't like the idea of outsiders coming in and, in their opinion, making a profit off of their shows." Jim Davis met with NASCAR officials to arrange an agreement; he noted, "Monk and I called NASCAR and asked for a meeting so we could explain to them what we were going to do. They eventually had Monk and me down there [to Daytona], essentially to have a meeting about what we were doing." [1] Regardless, NASCAR was still not very receptive to the idea of a publication covering the sport, and Davis said that the press credentials were sometimes difficult to obtain because of that mindset.

The magazine persevered, however, by the tactics of staffing the big NASCAR races with an on-site photographer and publishing the related stories as written by local newspaper writers. [1]

Davis and Reynolds began publishing the magazine in Alexandria, Virginia, [1] and they eventually implored Dick Williford to come and help to keep the magazine in publication. Jim Davis, while covering drag racing with SuperStock, had become acquainted with Williford from seeing him at various drag racing events over the years. Williford was employed as a PR rep for Chrysler and had turned to drag racing (along with Richard Petty) when Chrysler pulled out of NASCAR in 1965. [1]

Williford, who had first suggested that David create a stock car publication, was vital in getting the early issues of Stock Car Racing to press. He did much of the writing and legwork necessary to publish the magazine. [1] "There is no way the magazine would have gotten off the ground without him," Jim Davis recalled. "He [Williford] set up all the contacts with the stringers we used at all the major NASCAR superspeedways. Monk and I didn't know any of those people and knew almost nothing about NASCAR racing." [1]

Three years later, in 1969, Jim Davis sold his interest in both magazines, [1] Stock Car Racing and Super Sport, to John Reynolds. Davis then started an advertising agency there in Alexandria, VA. By 1995, Davis had moved to Westchester, California, and co-founded Professional Products, working as the chief operating officer. [1]

In January 2012 Davis retired from Professional Products but retained an ownership position in the company. He launched an internet business called Performance Injection selling a line of performance auto parts.

John Reynolds eventually sold both magazines to Lopez Publications. Since then, several other companies have owned Stock Car Racing, including Primedia. [1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Larry Cothren, Automotive.com, Source Interlink Media, 2009,SCR "Beginnings of Stock Car Racing Magazine" Archived 2012-02-15 at the Wayback Machine .
  2. "Racing Magazines [Magazine-Agent.com]", Magazine-Agent.com, 2009, webpage:mag-agent [ permanent dead link ]."Specialty Equipment Market Association - SEMA.org",SEMA.org, 2009, webpage:Sema-95 Archived 2006-10-03 at the Wayback Machine .
  3. "Contact us". Stock Car Racing. Archived from the original on 2016-02-14. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  4. Jason Fell (September 16, 2008). "Source Interlink Reports $296M Net Loss, Folds Three Titles". Folio. Retrieved April 24, 2017.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stock car racing</span> Form of automobile racing

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; the world's largest governing body is the American 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muscle car</span> High-performance car

Muscle car is a description according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary that came to use in 1966 for "a group of American-made two-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving." The Britannica Dictionary describes these as "an American-made two-door sports car with a powerful engine."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Funny Car</span> Type of drag racing vehicle

Funny Car is a type of drag racing vehicle and a specific racing class in organized drag racing. Funny cars are characterized by having tilt-up fiberglass or carbon fiber automotive bodies over a custom-fabricated chassis, giving them an appearance vaguely approximating manufacturers' showroom models. They also have the engine placed in front of the driver, as opposed to dragsters, which place it behind the driver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mopar</span> Parts, service and customer care organization within Stellantis

Mopar is the parts, service, and customer care division of the former Chrysler Corporation, now owned by Netherlands-based automobile manufacturer Stellantis. It serves as a primary OEM accessory seller for Stellantis brands under the Mopar brand. The name is a portmanteau of the words "MOtor" and "PARts". "Mopar" is also used as a nickname by enthusiasts of Chrysler-built products to refer to any product built by the company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dodge Neon SRT-4</span> Motor vehicle

The Dodge Neon SRT-4 is a sport compact car manufactured by Dodge from 2003 to 2005. A turbocharged variant of the Neon, the car was developed by DaimlerChrysler's in house PVO tuner group. PVO was officially renamed SRT in 2004. The "4" in the SRT-4's name denotes the number of cylinders of the engine. ACR and Commemorative Edition models were later introduced as well.

Henry "Smokey" Yunick was an American professional stock car racing crew chief, owner, driver, engineer, engine builder, and car designer as well as being a pilot in the United States Army Air Corps in World War II. Yunick was deeply involved in the early years of NASCAR, and he is probably most associated with that racing genre. He participated in nearly every facet of the sport as a driver, designer, and held other jobs related to the sport, but was best known as a mechanic, engine builder, and crew chief.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SEMA</span> Specialty Equipment Market Association

Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) of the automobile aftermarket was formed in 1963 by Roy Richter, Ed Iskenderian, Els Lohn, Willie Garner, Bob Hedman, Robert E. Wyman, John Bartlett, Phil Weiand Jr, Al Segal, Dean Moon, and Vic Edelbrock Jr. and now consists of 6,383 companies worldwide, bringing together aftermarket manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers (OEM), media, car dealers, specialty equipment distributors, installers, retailers and restoration specialists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consulier GTP</span> American sports car by Consulier Industries

The Consulier GTP is an American sports car that was produced by Consulier Industries between 1985 and 1993 and successfully used in professional racing. Consulier Industries spun off their automotive division into Mosler Automotive which then rebranded the car as the Mosler Intruder and Mosler Raptor before production ended in 2000. Mosler replaced the car with the Mosler MT900 in 2001.

William Henry Getty France, also known as Bill France Sr. or Big Bill, was an American businessman and racing driver. He is best known for founding and managing NASCAR, a sanctioning body of US-based stock car racing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edelbrock</span> Company

Edelbrock, LLC is an American manufacturer of specialty automotive and motorcycle parts. The company is headquartered in Olive Branch, Mississippi, with a Southern California R&D Tech Center located in Cerritos, CA. The Edelbrock Sand Cast and Permanent Mold Manufacturing foundries are located in San Jacinto, CA. Edelbrock has two facilities in North Carolina: the Edelbrock Carburetor Division in Sanford, and the Edelbrock Race Center in Mooresville.

Everett "Cotton" Owens was a NASCAR driver. For five straight years (1957–61), Owens captured at least one Grand National Series win. Owens was known as the "King of the Modifieds" for his successes in modified stock car racing in the 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisconsin International Raceway</span> Racetrack

The Wisconsin International Raceway is an asphalt stock car racing oval and dragstrip in the Town of Buchanan, in Outagamie County, just outside Kaukauna, Wisconsin, USA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fabulous Hudson Hornet</span> Famous NASCAR Grand National Series and AAA stock car campaigned during the early 1950s

The Fabulous Hudson Hornet is a famous NASCAR Grand National Series and AAA stock car campaigned during the early 1950s that was produced by the Hudson Motor Car Company. Several drivers, including Marshall Teague and Herb Thomas, drove Hudson Hornets that were nicknamed the "Fabulous Hudson Hornet".

The Tasmanian Devil was the name of a drag racing car in the 1960s, named after the Tasmanian Devil cartoon character.

Competition Cams, Inc., often styled as COMP Cams, is a specialty performance automotive aftermarket, motorcycle, and kart parts manufacturer. The company has five US locations including headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pickup truck racing</span>

Pickup truck racing is a form of auto racing which involves modified versions of pickup trucks on racing circuits, mostly oval tracks. Race pickup trucks are mechanically similar to coupé-shaped stock cars, with the main difference being the more boxy shape of the cab, which does not have as good aerodynamics as stock cars.

The Dodge Little Red Wagon is an exhibition drag racing truck introduced in 1965. It was the first wheelstanding truck and was the world's fastest truck at that time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nostalgia Super Stock</span>

Nostalgia Super Stock is among the most popular, and fastest growing forms of drag racing. The Class recreates the style of drag racing very popular in the 1960s with drivers like Ronnie Sox, Dick Landy, Butch Leal and Judy Lilly.

Richard D. Moroso, commonly called “Dick”, was an American hot rodder, drag racer, and businessman.

Ernest Vigil Derr was an American stock car racing driver. He won 12 International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) Stock Car championships, made one start in the NASCAR Grand National Series, and won eleven ARCA Racing Series races. Along with Dick Hutcherson, Ramo Stott and Don White, Derr was a member of the "Keokuk Komets", a collection of racing drivers from Keokuk, Iowa.