We all have watched with a little anxiety, a little rage, and a little humor and with some, "Yeah! Smack them!!" You know…that we all do it. So, what is he talking about? Them "on track" feuds we adore and resent at the same time. Those Kurt Busch and Jimmy Spencer grudges. The feuds that seem to build an upsurge of paint swapping, bumper scraping, spark flying paybacks just before NASCAR steps in and slaps them with a trip to the 'Big Red' truck and a heavy fine. But, is this new? From the humble beginnings more than 50 years ago, the history of NASCAR dated back to the 1940, to the sandy beaches of Daytona, Florida. And it was then in the Streamline Hotel in Daytona that The National Association For Stock Car Auto Racing was born. Organized and lead by Bill France Sr., this association organized races on the Daytona Beach road course. The races were scheduled to run all through low tide so as to allow the field enough room to maneuver and to give spectators a relatively safe viewing point.

But if you think that it was 1940 when the smart cars headed the ground in NASCAR tracks then you are mistaken, we have to go back in time about 5,000 years back to ancient Egypt. At this point, chariot racing was a major attraction for people. And it was during the reign of Pharaoh William the Elder, a much-hated dictator, responsible for the initiation of charging entry fee to the citizens to watch the races. Although the slaves submissively accepted paying but were soon rising in discord because of the same few chariots being victorious in all the races. Soon the fans started threatening to boycott the races for they had become very predictable. These threats did fruit with William the Elder acting fast since most of the admissions went into his treasury. Then, he consulted with his chief advisor, former chariot mechanic Gary the Slippery and they devised a solution by bringing out a set of rules that these chariot riders had to follow. Thus making racing an organized and competitive activity.

To be very precise, the beginning of NASCAR can be linked with the Whisky Rebellion, 1794, a century before the invention of the automobile. This rebellion of frontier farmers made them indulge in building secret stills, manufacturing and delivering the whisky and transporting the product in secrecy. When the bootleggers did not work i.e. haul the whiskey, they raced amongst themselves and had a nice time. The abolition of prohibition act marked the starting of NASCAR. However, NASCAR was founded in its true sense in the year 1938, when William H. G. "Bill" France organized a race on the Florida Beach. The winner was awarded bottle of rum, box of cigar and case of motor oil.

With the World War II car racing came to a halt and so did the manufacturing of new cars. As the war, ended people were again screaming for entertainment. The conclusion of World War II brought with it many soldiers and along with this heightened the demand for new cars all over USA. The industries that produced ammunition for 5 years, applied their designs to new cars, resulting in the arrival of fast, powerful and robust cars. The end of Second World War brought with it car racing enthusiasts, occasional and haphazard races at Daytona Beach. By 1940 Bill France realized the need for a national authority to govern stock car racing. By December 12, 1947, he brought together the promoters from Southeast, Northeast and Midwest in Daytona. Soon with NASCAR (The National Association for Auto Car Racing), came the trend of organizing legal races.

In fact, NASCAR history has evolved immensely, to a point where racing in not a sport for only Southern 'rednecks'. Today, NASCAR has grown from its Southeastern roots to nationwide with Winston Cup races being held in Michigan, New Hampshire, Arizona, New York, California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Nevada. Moreover, there is even an exhibition to be held in Suzuka, Japan, at the end of 1996 Winston Cup schedule, known as the NASCAR Suzuka Thunder Special 100.

All through the history of NASCAR, there has been a continuous transformation of racecars from road-going clumsy true "stock" cars into technologically advanced sleek machines that we see on the speedways. The evolution of the cars that we see now days in the Winston Cup Series can be traced back to the beginning of NASCAR and its strictly stock division. In 1948, at the time of formation of NASCAR in the post-war era, there was a definite shortage of the cars. NASCAR felt that the race fans would not stand for the new cars being beat up on a racetrack, at a time when they themselves were driving a rattletrap pre-war automobile. Thus, NASCAR came up with the idea of racing modified cars. However, in the year 1949, NASCAR president Bill France Sr. re-visited the idea of racing cars that people used for their personal needs- late model family sedans. Moreover, France thought that no other organization had apprehended the idea it might take root and create added interest.