-The first NASCAR-sanctioned race was held on Daytona's beach course Feb. 15, 1948, just two months after the organizational meeting.
-Red Byron, a stock car legend from Atlanta, won the event in his Ford Modified.
-Six days later on Feb. 21, 1948, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing was incorporated.
-Series first known as NASCAR Grand National
-The country's first asphalt superspeedway was Darlington Raceway in South Carolina
-Names like Lee Petty, Fireball Roberts, Buck Baker, Herb Thomas, the Flock brothers, Bill Rexford, Paul Goldsmith and others became as well-known to race fans as Willie, Mickey and the Duke were to baseball fans
-Looking to the future and with the success of Darlington, France Sr started construction on a 2.5-mile, high-banked superspeedway four miles off the beach in Daytona Beach
-The race in Daytona was originally on the beach but moved to the track in 1959
-The first Daytona 500 didn't end for three days. It took that long for NASCAR officials to study a photograph of the finish between Petty and Johnny Beauchamp before declaring Petty the winner
First Daytona 500 – Feb. 22, 1959
Lee Petty (42) nipped Johnny Beauchamp (73) at the stripe to win the inaugural Daytona 500
Beginning | Terms, part 1 | Drafting Example | Terms, part 2 | Restrictor Plate | History, part 1 | History, part 2
History, part 3 | History, part 4 | History, part 5 | End of Presentation