From that meeting, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing was born, and France, nor anyone else at that meeting could have envisioned what NASCAR has become today (History pp).
The first NASCAR-sanctioned race was held on Daytona's beach course on February 15, 1948, however, it was 1949, when what is now the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, the premier racing division in America, was born (History pp). There were eight events held in 1949, and less than a year later, the country's first asphalt super-speedway at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina opened its doors for the new division (History pp). Characters became heroes, and names like Lee Petty, Fireball Roberts, Buck Baker, Herb Thomas, the Flock brothers, and others became as well-known to race fans as Willie, Mickey and the Duke were to baseball fans (History pp).
In May 2004, after forty-five years of hosting two races in NASCAR's major circuit, it was announced that Darlington Raceway had lost one of its dates, when NASCAR took races from Darlington and the only date from North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina, and gave them to tracks in Texas and Arizona as part of a lawsuit settlement (Beard pp). The 2005 Nextel Cup schedule will no longer include North Carolina Speedway, known as "The Rock" and Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, stock car racing's original super-speedway, will have only one race (Beard pp). Although, The Rock had held two races in NASCAR's elite series every year from 1966-2003, NASCAR decided it needed to move3 out of saturated markets and into major markets (Beard pp). Battles over Cup dates became common as speedway construction boomed in the 1990's, when the sport set attendance records and began to change its image from a Southeaster sport, with new tracks near Los Angeles, Chicago, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Miami, and Dallas (Beard pp). NASCAR president Brian France said that the latest changes are "another example of us increasing our visibility in an area of the country that is truly a hotbed for NASCAR fans" (Beard pp).
Sterling Marlin said, "There just wasn't any TV coverage of the Southern tracks. At one time there were four Cup drivers from Alabama and now there aren't any. There aren't any from South Carolina, and just Bill Elliot from Georgia" (Minter pp). Moreover, without any strong short-track series, "I don't know where a Southern driver is going to come from," said Marlin (Minter pp). Ed Clark, Atlanta Motor Speedway president, said he wishes there were more drivers like Marlin, saying, "We need more guys from the South, and from Georgia, out of that same mold" Minter pp). Clark said that Marlin's fun-loving attitude is good for racing, "Sterling still like to have a good time, which is something some of these drivers today don't seem to want, and he's not ashamed of it" (Minter pp).
Once upon a time, Richard Petty lingered after stock-car races, signing autographs until every fan that wanted one was satisfied, because he knew he was more than a champion driver, he was NASCAR's ambassador (Long pp). Today, however, NASCAR's only living seven-time champion rushes through, signing as many autographs as he can, yet knowing he will never reach the end of the line (Long pp). In 1971, NASCAR did not enjoy its current widespread popularity, when Winston was its premier sponsor and Petty raced before small grandstands in North Wilkesboro, Nashville and Winston-Salem, and signed autographs for all who asked (Long pp). However, in 2004, Nextel's chirping cell phones replaced Winston cigarettes as the series sponsor, and drivers are now racing at speedways near Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami, evidence that NASCAR is ushering in a new era (Long pp).
In 1971, spectators were nearly all male, today, about forty percent of fans are female, and racing souvenirs, once limited to T-shirts and ball caps, now include mouse pads, candles and die-cast cars, and even Disney has partnered with NASCAR to sell apparel and novelties that feature Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck (Long pp). NASCAR ranks No. 2 in TV ratings behind the NFL, and its TV contract is worth about $2.4 billion (Long pp). In 2003, seventeen of the 20 largest single day sports crowds nationally were Cup races, and the series claims 75 million fans (Long pp).
As NASCAR races forward, many fans fear the sport has forgotten its roots amid the myriad of changes that includes a new approach by a new leader, a radical new points system, a new series sponsor and even a Japanese-based auto manufacturer competing...
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