Urban Adventure Racing

National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) has grown over the years to become the biggest motorsport in North America. The sport was introduced on February 21, 1948 by Bill France sr. The idea to start his motorsport was out of his frustration with unscrupulous race promoters who promised big and delivered little. He gathered together a group of race promoters, race officials and drivers at the Streamline Hotel, Daytona Beach, Florida in December 1947 and that was when the sport was born.

Jim Roper, driving a 1949 Lincoln won the first ‘strictly stock’ race though he didn’t cross the line first. Glenn Dunnaway was the first to cross the finish line but was disqualified for having illegal rear shocks. The race was held on June 19th, 1949. Jim Roper as his prize for winning the race, had $2,000.

There are three national series in the NASCAR season in America. Two are strictly for stock cars

Five Greatest NASCAR Drivers of all time

NASCAR has undoubtedly produced some of the greatest drivers of the sport. Actually only few drivers have ever crossed the finish line first and very few still had won the actual championship. We are going to talk about these drivers.

1. ‘The Intimidator’ Ralph Dale Earnhardt sr. Dale Earnhardt was an aggressive driver who earned a lot of names for his driving style. He won a total of seventy six races. Earnhardt had his first race in 1975 with a race in the Winston Cup. It was held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. He finished his maiden race 22nd. He won his first race in 1979 at Bristol. He won a total of seven sprint cup series and had several awards notable amongst them were, NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the year (1979), named among NASCAR’s 50 greatest Drivers, named NASCAR’s most popular driver (2001), and inducted into Motorsports Hall of Fame (2002), International Motorsport Hall of Fame (2006) and NASCAR Hall of Fame (2009).

Earnhardt died during the 2001 Daytona 500. He crashed at the last lap. His cause of death was identified as basilar skull fracture.

2. Jeff Gordon. Jeff has won 82 career races. He is also four times Sprint Cup series and three times Daytona 500 winner. He is the first driver in $100million winnings for the cup series! His awards include NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie of the year (1993), named amongst NASCAR’s top 50 drivers of all times, inducted into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame (2009).

3. Darrel Waltrip. He has won the NASCAR Winston Cup three times. He is also the 1989 Daytona 500 champion. His awards include being named among the 50 greatest NASCAR drivers of all times, inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame (2005), Motorsport Hall of Fame of America (2003).

4. David Pearson. During the final nomination of David Pearson’s to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, the NACSAR said this of Pearson “With little exaggeration, when Pearson shows up at a race track, he won”. Those words are very true because Pearson is the second on NASCAR’s all time win with 105 wins. Pearson is 3 time championship winner. His achievements include NASCAR Rookie of the year (1960), named among the 50 greatest NASCAR drivers of all times, inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame (1990), Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (1993).

5. Richard Petty. ‘The King’ won the Championship seven times (only equaled by Earnhardt) and 200 race victories (record wins). His achievements include induction into the 1st class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame(2009), induction into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame(1997), named one of the greatest NASCAR drivers of all times, inducted into Motorsports Hall of Fame of America(1989).