Milestone Marker: NASCAR incorporated 60 years ago
Milestone Marker: 60th Anniversary Of NASCAR Being Incorporated Under Big Bill France's Leadership, Things Got Serious on Feb. 21, 1948 DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 21, 2008) -- Sixty years ago today, the intent of Bill France Sr. became clear.
Milestone Marker: 60th Anniversary Of NASCAR Being Incorporated
Under Big Bill France's Leadership, Things Got Serious on Feb. 21, 1948
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 21, 2008) -- Sixty years ago today, the intent of Bill France Sr. became clear. Determined to bring organization to the long-disjointed sport of stock car racing, France had his newly formed sanctioning body -- the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing -- incorporated.
It became official, on Feb. 21, 1948. NASCAR had been born.
Incorporation was actually prefaced by NASCAR's first-sanctioned event, on Feb. 15, 1948. That race was run on a "beach-road" course that used both the Atlantic shoreline and a portion of State Road A1A, with Red Byron winning.
"Big Bill" France, of course, wanted everyone to win. One of his basic tenets was that for NASCAR to survive -- much less thrive -- everyone involved would need to benefit.
France had talked about that two months earlier, during the now-famous meeting in December 1947 at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach, which resulted in NASCAR's formation. Retrospect makes some of his words from that meeting seem prophetic, such as the following:
"Stock car racing has got distinct possibilities ... and we do not know how big it can be if it's handled properly. .... I believe stock car racing can become a nationally recognized sport by having a National Point Standing. ... We must try to get track owners and promoters interested in building stock car racing up. We are all interested in one thing that is, improving the present conditions."
France and his fledgling sport took a huge step toward all of the above, on Feb. 21, 1948.
-credit: nascar
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments