The Most Awesome Interesting Nascar Trivia Questions to Know
There are over 75 million NASCAR fans in the United States, and over six million of them will attend races each year. The sport of auto racing and NASCAR has steadily grown in popularity over the years and is now as big as ever.
An interesting fact about NASCAR is that they have their biggest race of the season at the beginning. After the first of the year, the anticipation starts building for the start of the racing season. For the next month and a half, the tension builds until the big day for the Daytona 500 arrives, and the new racing season is off and running.
Question #1 How long is the Daytona 500?
The first two Daytona 500 races were not 500 miles. The race didn't become 500 miles until 1961. Racing started at Daytona on a track that was part on the roads and part on the beach. The first race in 1959 was won by Lee Petty, Richard Petty's father. The race winner was originally said to be Johnny Beauchamp. After reviewing the film and photos for 3 days, the winner was declared to be Lee Petty. The photo finish camera at the time was at track level, 3 cars were side by side at the finish line which made it hard to determine the winner.
What huge thing happened in the 2001 Daytona 500?
In 2001 Daytona was won by Michael Waltrip, second place was Dale Earnhardt Jr, running in third place on the final turn of the final lap was Dale Earnhardt senior when he crashed and was killed. Dale Earnhardt senior was the owner of two of the three cars.
Because of this and an 18-car crash earlier in the race, NASCAR changed forever after that.
When was the first NASCAR race held?
The National Association for stock car auto racing (NASCAR) ran its first official race on June 19, 1949, at Charlotte North Carolina fairgrounds. In front of a crowd of 23,000 fans. Jim Roper won the race and the $2,000 purse, driving a Lincoln Cosmopolitan. The next 4 finishers were Fonty Flock who took second, Red Byron finished third, Sam Rice finished fourth, and Tim Flock finished fifth. Other well-known drivers in the race including Lee Petty, Curtis Turner, and Buck Baker.
Who was the first Winston Cup driver to crash in a race?
Lee Petty was the first driver to crash in a Winston cup race. He crashed at lap 107 in that first race at Charlotte on June 19, 1949.
Jim Roper was the winner of that first Winston Cup race.
Who was the first driver to run a race of 250 miles and lead start to finish?
The first driver to run a race over 250 miles, and lead start to finish was Daniel Dieringer in April 1967 at The Gwyn Staley 400 race North Wilkesboro speedway in North Carolina. This race was called the 400. At this time, the race was 400 laps, not 400 miles. It was 250 miles.
What legendary driver invented the window net to keep drivers body parts inside the car?
After Joe Weatherly's fatal crash in 1964 NASCAR made the window net mandatory. Richard Petty is credited with inventing the window net to help keep drivers' arms inside the car to avoid injuries during a crash.
Who is the best stock car racer of all time?
The King, Richard Petty, won 200 NASCAR races in his career. He won 7 stock car championships, won Daytona 7 times and is still to this day known as the greatest driver in the history of NASCAR.
At 85 Petty is still working dealing with racing. He is a NASCAR team owner and runs Petty's Garage in Level Cross North Carolina the does car restorations and modifications.
What driver has the record for the most starts without a win?
Michael Waltrip holds the record for the most starts without a win. When he won the tragic 2001 Daytona 500, it was his first win and the 463 start of his NASCAR racing career.
Who was the legendary dirt track racer who was also successful in NASCAR?
Dick Trickle was rookie of the year in 1989 at the age of 48 years old. He never won a Winston cup race, but he had 5 third place finishes, fourteen top 5 finishes and thirty-two top 10 finishes. All this was after having raced for 31 years in short track racing, and although it can't be verified, he is said to have won over 1200 feature races.
Sadly, he died from a suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot to the chest. He was in severe pain from an illness that they could not find a reason or a way to treat him. His brother said Dick told him he didn't think he could take it much longer, the day before.
Who was the first woman to compete in a Winston Cup race?
In 1976 Janet Guthrie became the first woman to compete in a Winston Cup race. She finished 15th in the world 600 race. She also qualified for the Daytona 500 and the Indy 500 in the same year of 1977.
The sport of auto racing in big and will keep growing. Of all auto racing NASCAR is by far the biggest. It generates hundreds of millions of dollars per year in revenue for hundreds of different industries.
Fans love NASCAR for the competition, the personalities of the drivers, and also for the crashes. There are not many things more spectacular than seeing what happens when cars crash at over 200 miles per hour. Below is a video of some of the best crashes of the 2011 season.
If you are a fan, good for you, if you're not a fan, you should check it out and see what all the excitement is all about.