1.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
2.
Melbourne, Florida
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Melbourne /ˈmɛlbərn/ is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 76,068, the municipality is the second-largest in the county by both size and population. Melbourne is a city of the Palm Bay – Melbourne – Titusville. In 1969 the city was expanded by merging with nearby Eau Gallie, evidence for the presence of Paleo-Indians in the Melbourne area during the late Pleistocene epoch was uncovered during the 1920s. Loomis found a second elephant, with a large rough flint instrument among fragments of the elephants ribs. Loomis found in the same stratum mammoth, mastodon, horse, ground sloth, tapir, peccary, camel, at a nearby site a human rib and charcoal were found in association with Mylodon, Megalonyx, and Chlamytherium teeth. A finely worked spear point found with these items may have displaced from a later stratum. In 1925 attention shifted to the Melbourne golf course, a crushed human skull with finger, arm, and leg bones was found in association with a horse tooth. A piece of ivory that appeared to have been modified by humans was found at the bottom of the stratum containing bones. Other finds included a spear point near a mastodon bone and a scraper and blade found with bear, camel, mastodon, horse. After the Civil War, pioneer families arrived, and Melbourne was founded in 1867 by former slaves, the first settlers arrived after 1877. They included Richard W. Goode, his father John Goode, Cornthwaite John Hector, Captain Peter Wright, Balaam Allen, Wright Brothers, and Thomas Mason. The city, formerly called Crane Creek, was named Melbourne in honor of its first postmaster, Cornthwaite John Hector and he is buried in the Melbourne Cemetery, along with many early residents in the area. The first school in Melbourne was built in 1883 and is on permanent exhibit on the campus of Florida Institute of Technology, by 1885, the town had 70 people. The Greater Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in 1885 and is still active, in the late 1890s, the Brownlie-Maxwell Funeral Home opened and it is still in business. The oldest black-owned business in the county is Tuckers Cut-Rate plumbing, in the early 1900s, houses were often built in the frame vernacular style. In 1919, a fire destroyed most of the downtown along Front Street. At the time, it was rebuilt west of US Hwy 1, during the Jim Crow years, black people were required to enter movie theaters via a different entrance from whites and sit in the balcony
3.
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
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The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. It is named for the current sponsor, Monster Energy, but has been known by names in the past. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Series, in 1971, when the series began leasing its naming rights to the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, it was referred to as the Winston Cup Series. A similar deal was made with Nextel in 2003, and it became the Nextel Cup Series, Sprint acquired Nextel in 2005, and in 2008 the series was renamed the Sprint Cup Series, which lasted until 2016. In December 2016, it was announced that Monster Energy would become the new sponsor starting in 2017. The championship is determined by a system, with points being awarded according to finish placement. The season is divided into two segments, after the first 26 races,16 drivers, selected primarily on the basis of wins during the first 26 races, are seeded based on their total number of wins. They compete in the last ten races, where the difference in points is greatly minimized and this is called the NASCAR playoffs. The series holds strong roots in the Southeastern United States, with half of the races in the 36-race season being held in that region, the current schedule includes tracks from around the United States. Regular season races were held in Canada, and exhibition races were held in Japan. The Daytona 500, the most prestigious race, had an audience of about 16 million U. S. viewers in 2009. Cup Series cars are unique in automobile racing, the engines are powerful enough to reach speeds of over 200 mph, but their weight coupled with a relatively simple aerodynamic package make for poor handling. The bodies and chassis of the cars are strictly regulated to ensure parity, in 1949, NASCAR introduced the Strictly Stock division, after sanctioning Modified and Roadster division races in 1948. Eight races were run on seven dirt ovals and on the Daytona Beach beach/street course, the first NASCAR Strictly Stock race was held at Charlotte Speedway on June 19,1949. Jim Roper was declared the winner of race after Glenn Dunaway was disqualified for having altered the rear springs on his car. The division was renamed Grand National for the 1950 season, reflecting NASCARs intent to make the more professional. It retained this name until 1971, the 1949 Strictly Stock season is regarded in NASCARs record books as the first season of GN/Cup history. Martinsville Speedway is the track on the 1949 schedule that remains on the current schedule
4.
NASCAR
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The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is an American family-owned and operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto-racing sports events. Bill France Sr. founded the company in 1948 and his grandson Brian France became its CEO in 2003, NASCAR is motorsports preeminent stock-car racing organization. The three largest racing-series sanctioned by this company are the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, the Xfinity Series, the company also oversees NASCAR Local Racing, the Whelen Modified Tour, the Whelen All-American Series, and the NASCAR iRacing. com Series. NASCAR sanctions over 1,500 races at over 100 tracks in 39 of the 50 US states as well as in Canada. NASCAR has presented exhibition races at the Suzuka and Motegi circuits in Japan, the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico, NASCAR has its official headquarters in Daytona Beach, Florida, and also maintains offices in the North Carolina cities of Charlotte, Concord, and Conover. Regional offices are located in New York City and Los Angeles, with offices in Mexico City. Owing to NASCARs Southern roots, all but a handful of NASCAR teams are based in North Carolina. NASCAR is second to the National Football League among professional sports franchises in terms of television viewers, internationally, its races are broadcast on television in over 150 countries. In 2004, NASCARs Director of Security stated that the company holds 17 of the Top 20 regularly attended single-day sporting events in the world, fortune 500 companies sponsor NASCAR more than any other motor sport, although this sponsorship has declined since the early-2000s. By the time the Bonneville Salt Flats became the location for pursuit of land speed records. Drivers raced on a 4. 1-mile course, consisting of a 1. 5–2. 0-mile stretch of beach as one straightaway, the two straights were connected by two tight, deeply rutted and sand covered turns at each end. Stock car racing in the United States has its origins in bootlegging during Prohibition, bootleggers needed to distribute their illicit products, and they typically used small, fast vehicles to better evade the police. Many of the drivers would modify their cars for speed and handling, as well as increased cargo capacity, the cars continued to improve, and by the late 1940s, races featuring these cars were being run for pride and profit. These races were popular entertainment in the rural Southern United States, most races in those days were of modified cars. Street vehicles were lightened and reinforced, mechanic William France Sr. moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, from Washington, D. C. in 1935 to escape the Great Depression. He was familiar with the history of the area from the speed record attempts. France entered the 1936 Daytona event, finishing fifth and he took over running the course in 1938. He promoted a few races before World War II, France had the notion that people would enjoy watching stock cars race
5.
Langhorne Speedway
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Langhorne Speedway was an automobile racetrack in Middletown Township, Bucks County, near the borough of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, a northern suburb of Philadelphia. Spencer Riggs, With all other courses up to that time being fairground horse tracks, high-profile American racing clubs like the American Motorcyclist Association, American Automobile Association, and United States Auto Club made Langhorne one of the stops on their national circuits. The USAC races featured notable racers such as A. J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Bobby Unser, Gordon Johncock, Lloyd Ruby, Langhorne was also featured prominently in NASCARs early years and hosted at least one NASCAR-sanctioned race every year from 1949 to 1957. The speedway was built by a group of Philadelphia racing enthusiasts known as the National Motor Racing Association, freddie Winnai of Philadelphia qualified in 42.40 seconds, a new worlds record for a one-mile track, and went on to win the 50-lap main event. The NMRA operated Langhorne through the 1929 season, staging 100-lap events on Labor Days, difficulties in track preparation, management disputes, and poor attendance drove the speedway to the brink of bankruptcy until noted promoter Ralph Pappy Hankinson took over in 1930. Pappy brought in AAA Championship 100-lap races and continued to stage shorter Sprint car racing on the circular track. One of the first stock car races in the northeastern U. S. was held at Langhorne in 1940, Roy Hall of Atlanta, in 1941, Hankinson sold the track to stuntman Earl Lucky Teter after a falling out with the AAA. However, Teters tenure only lasted until July 5,1942 when he was killed while attempting his Rocket Car leap stunt in Indiana State Fairgrounds. That very same month, the U. S. Government banned all forms of racing due to Americas involvement in World War II. As a result, the Speedway sat idle and did not host a race of any kind until 1946. Less than a month after the ban was enacted, Pappy Hankinson. With a huge void created in the management, ownership of Langhorne Speedway was passed on to John Babcock. Then in 1951, Irv Fried and Al Gerber became promoters, however, as suburban growth engulfed the speedway, the offers from developers became too tempting to refuse. Fried and Gerber announced the sale of the property to developers in 1967. The final race held at Langhorne occurred on October 17,1971, the landscape of the once-famous racetrack was dramatically altered after that last race over 40 years ago. Almost immediately after Langhornes closure, the property was razed in order to make way for a new shopping development, the current space features a Sams Club and a Restaurant Depot warehouse where the pits and grandstand were once located. A heavily overgrown wooded area has completely enveloped the infield and backstretch, while a small grocery store, as a result, no physical remnants of the track itself remain. It hosted a NASCAR inaugural race in 1949, notable drivers Doc Mackenzie, Joie Chitwood, Rex Mays, Lee Petty, Dutch Hoag, A. J
6.
1952 NASCAR Grand National Series
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When the 1952 NASCAR season was concluded, driver Tim Flock was crowned the Grand National Champion after winning 8 of the 33 events that he competed in. This was the first year that NASCAR scheduled its events to avoid the conflicts of having two races, at two different tracks, on the same day. The only exception was on June 1, when races were held at both Toledo Speedway in Ohio, and Hayloft Speedway in Augusta, Georgia, Herb Thomas finished second to Flock after competing in 32 races, and Lee Petty finished third in the standings that year. Throughout the 1952 season, a total of 261 drivers entered at least one of the 34 events, virtually every American car manufacturer had at least one of their cars start that season. The 1952 NASCAR Grand National season was dominated by Hudson automobiles, no other make won more than three times. The reason the Hudson Hornet was so successful, winning over 80 NASCAR races between 1951 and 1955, has attributed to its low center of gravity, mono-built body. The center point steering system contributed to the superior handling and cornering abilities. Palm Beach Speedway in West Palm Beach, Florida was a half-mile, the 100 mile event was slowed by two caution flags, and was won by driver Tim Flock. 6,000 fans flocked, to see Flock, capture his first of 8 victories in the 1952 season, Flock started on the pole, and drove his #911951 Hudson, sponsored by Ted Chester, to victory. He claimed his $1,025 winnings with only five drivers still running at the end of the race, Flock captured the pole position for the race in 27.78 seconds, with an average speed of 64.79 mph. The second event of the 1952 season took place on the famed 4.1 mile road course of Daytona Beach Speedway, Herb Thomas led the first lap of the event, but Teague managed to lead laps 2 to 37. 20,000 spectators witnessed 61 drivers start the event, but at the end of the scheduled 200 mile race, the race was eventually halted on lap 37 due to the incoming tide which encroached on the beachfront straight of the track. The third event of the season took place at the dirt track of Speedway Park in Jacksonville. Marshall Teague won his race in a row in the 200 lap,100 mile contest. On June 29, NASCAR traveled to the US auto manufacturing center in Detroit Michigan for a scheduled 250 mile event, the race was held at the Michigan State Fairgrounds Speedway, a one-mile dirt oval built in 1899. NASCAR offered its first 5-figured purse of $11,675 to the contestants, fans watched as Flock led laps 88 –110, until driver Buddy Shuman took the lead for one lap on the 111th circuit. Flock retook the fourth and final change on the next lap. Shuman finished the event in place, capturing a total of $2,225
7.
Martinsville Speedway
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Martinsville Speedway is an International Speedway Corporation-owned NASCAR stock car racing track located in Henry County, in Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At 0.526 miles in length, it is the shortest track in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, the track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. It is also the race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948. Along with this, Martinsville is the only NASCAR oval track on the entire NASCAR track circuit to have asphalt surfaces on the straightaways, the track is often referred to as paper clip-shaped and is banked only 12° in the turns. The combination of long straightaways and flat, narrow turns makes hard braking going into turns, the track was paved in 1955 and in 1956 it hosted its first 500 lap event. By the 1970s, a combination of high-traction slick tires and high speed were putting excessive wear on the asphalt surface, in 1976 the turns were repaved with concrete. By 2004, the then 28-year-old concrete had shown significant wear, on April 18,2004 a large chunk of concrete had become dislodged from the tracks surface and caused severe damage to the body of Jeff Gordons car. In reaction to this, the track was repaved with new concrete. Until 1999, Martinsville was notorious for having two pit roads and this was rectified when pit road was reconfigured to extend from the entrance of turn 3 to the exit of turn 2. This move allowed for a garage to be built inside the track, the first NASCAR sanctioned event was held on July 4,1948. In 1951, only 4 cars were running at the finish, in 1960, Richard Petty became the youngest winner at Martinsville, at 22 years,283 days, to date Petty has the most wins. In 1991, Harry Gant became the oldest winner at 51 years,255 days and it was Gants fourth win in a row, earning him the nickname Mr. September. In 2004, the track was sold exclusively to the France family for over $200 million as a result of an estate sale following the death of Weatherford. Plans had existed to add an additional 20,000 seats along the back stretch, from 1982 until 1994, and again in 2006, the speedway hosted Busch Series events. This occurred first with 200- and 150-lap features, then 300 laps from 1992 until 1994 as part of a Late Model/Busch Series doubleheader, the venue was dropped from the Busch Series schedule for 2007 and a race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal was run on the open date. Winners of the NASCAR Cup Series, Truck Series, and Whelen Modified events receive a clock as a trophy. This tradition started in 1964, when Earles decided he wanted to present a trophy that would reflect the Martinsville area and he chose clocks made by a local company, Ridgeway Clocks. The clocks presented as trophies are valued at around $10,000
American