NASCAR then and now

[TennFan]

Hope we can get a lengthy thread about NASCAR from back in the 50's to current. I have a NASCAR book covering from back in the 50's. It's really interesting and I'd bet we could discuss drivers from back when Daytona was a 4.5 mile track to tracks that are no longer on the circuit. Join in the discussion.:yes:

 

[tidwell]

I began following/watching/paying attention to NASCAR in 1994 when I was 7 years old. It was m first love really, as far as sports go. Since then I've taken in and read about as much as a personc an about it. Also researched and read a lot about the past as well, but obviously it's not the same or as fresh on my mind as everything post 1994 (post Southern 500 in 1994, to be exact) would be.

 

[doozer]

i grew up at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. i went to 500 practice for the first time when i was 3. i went to my first 500 when i was 10, the same year my hero, Rick Mears, won his 4th Indy 500.

my first NASCAR race wasn't until i was curious enough to check out the Bickyard 400 in 1998. i thought it was a snooze-fest.

i had always been a casual fan of NASCAR until they went to the Brickyard for the first time in 1994. i remember being pissed at my family (my parents are divorced) for my dad going to the race while i had to go to the beach with my mother.

i have relatively no history of NASCAR pre-1994. yeah, i watched the Daytona 500. i was raised to hate Dale Sr and respect Rousch racing for his previous road racing history.

i can tell you all you want about Indy Cars pre-1994.

all of that said, i am making an effort to watch more and more old races, documetaries, and read more stories about NASCAR. i think it's absolutely fascinating to see how a southern racing series grew to a massive muti-million dollar advertising machine. i love looking at pictures of places like Bristol, Atlanta, Daytona, and Charlotte and seeing how big they've gotten and how much they changed.

racing has always been my first love. if it's got four wheels and a motor, i'll watch people race it.

 

[TennFan]

The first NASCAR race I ever went to was at Dover in 1977. Believe they only had a 250 or 300 lap race then. I don't ever remember seeing any accidents/major crashes. Tickets were $10 then. I remember watching NASCAR on TV years ago. Darlington, Daytona, Bristol seemed to be the major races in the 60's. The Bristol track in the 60's only held just over 30,000. Remember when they had races at Hickory. My hometown-Elizabethton - is only 20 miles from Bristol. I became a casula fan years ago and have become an avid fan in the last 20 years. Have seen some major crashes during the years on TV and some great drivers get killed. I'll come back with more later.
Hope to keep this post going as long as everyone is interested.

 

[Crew]

The first race I ever watched was when Rusty Wallace won his championship back in '89 in the #27 Kodiak Pontiac Gran Prix. I remember it beacause of how he almost busted his hump jumping up and down on the hood.

 

[TigersTalons]

I don't really remember my first memories of NASCAR but when Davey Allison was killed I stopped watching for years.I started back and picked DJ when he won the title.