1.
Miami
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Miami is a seaport city at the southeastern corner of the U. S. state of Florida and its Atlantic coast. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, Miamis metro area is the eighth-most populous, Miami is a major center, and a leader in finance, commerce, culture, media, entertainment, the arts, and international trade. In 2012, Miami was classified as an Alpha−World City in the World Cities Study Groups inventory, in 2010, Miami ranked seventh in the United States in terms of finance, commerce, culture, entertainment, fashion, education, and other sectors. It ranked 33rd among global cities, in 2008, Forbes magazine ranked Miami Americas Cleanest City, for its year-round good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets, and citywide recycling programs. According to a 2009 UBS study of 73 world cities, Miami was ranked as the richest city in the United States, Miami is nicknamed the Capital of Latin America and is the largest city with a Cuban-American plurality. Miami has the third tallest skyline in the U. S. with over 300 high-rises, Downtown Miami is home to the largest concentration of international banks in the United States, and many large national and international companies. The Civic Center is a center for hospitals, research institutes, medical centers. For more than two decades, the Port of Miami, known as the Cruise Capital of the World, has been the number one cruise port in the world. It accommodates some of the worlds largest cruise ships and operations, Metropolitan Miami is the major tourism hub in the American South, number two in the U. S. after New York City and number 13 in the world, including the popular destination of Miami Beach. The Miami area was inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous Native American tribes, the Tequestas occupied the area for a thousand years before encountering Europeans. An Indian village of hundreds of people dating to 500–600 B. C. was located at the mouth of the Miami River, in 1566 the explorer, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, claimed it for Spain. A Spanish mission was constructed one year later in 1567, Spain and Great Britain successively controlled Florida, and Spain ceded it to the United States in 1821. In 1836, the US built Fort Dallas as part of its development of the Florida Territory and attempt to suppress, the Miami area subsequently became a site of fighting during the Second Seminole War. Miami is noted as the major city in the United States conceived by a woman, Julia Tuttle, a local citrus grower. The Miami area was known as Biscayne Bay Country in the early years of its growth. In the late 19th century, reports described the area as a promising wilderness, the area was also characterized as one of the finest building sites in Florida. The Great Freeze of 1894–95 hastened Miamis growth, as the crops of the Miami area were the ones in Florida that survived. Julia Tuttle subsequently convinced Henry Flagler, a tycoon, to expand his Florida East Coast Railway to the region
2.
Florida
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Florida /ˈflɒrᵻdə/ is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, Florida is the 22nd-most extensive, the 3rd-most populous, and the 8th-most densely populated of the U. S. states. Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States, the Miami metropolitan area is Floridas most populous urban area. The city of Tallahassee is the state capital, much of the state is at or near sea level and is characterized by sedimentary soil. The climate varies from subtropical in the north to tropical in the south, the American alligator, American crocodile, Florida panther, and manatee can be found in the Everglades National Park. It was a location of the Seminole Wars against the Native Americans. Today, Florida is distinctive for its large Cuban expatriate community and high population growth, the states economy relies mainly on tourism, agriculture, and transportation, which developed in the late 19th century. Florida is also renowned for amusement parks, orange crops, the Kennedy Space Center, Florida has attracted many writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, and continues to attract celebrities and athletes. It is internationally known for golf, tennis, auto racing, by the 16th century, the earliest time for which there is a historical record, major Native American groups included the Apalachee, the Timucua, the Ais, the Tocobaga, the Calusa and the Tequesta. Florida was the first part of the continental United States to be visited and settled by Europeans, the earliest known European explorers came with the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León. Ponce de León spotted and landed on the peninsula on April 2,1513 and he named the region La Florida. The story that he was searching for the Fountain of Youth is a myth, in May 1539, Conquistador Hernando de Soto skirted the coast of Florida, searching for a deep harbor to land. He described seeing a wall of red mangroves spread mile after mile, some reaching as high as 70 feet. Very soon, many smokes appeared along the whole coast, billowing against the sky, the Spanish introduced Christianity, cattle, horses, sheep, the Spanish language, and more to Florida. Both the Spanish and French established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success, in 1559, Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano established a settlement at present-day Pensacola, making it the first attempted settlement in Florida, but it was abandoned by 1561. Spain maintained tenuous control over the region by converting the tribes to Christianity. The area of Spanish Florida diminished with the establishment of English settlements to the north, the English attacked St. Augustine, burning the city and its cathedral to the ground several times. Florida attracted numerous Africans and African-Americans from adjacent British colonies who sought freedom from slavery, in 1738, Governor Manuel de Montiano established Fort Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose near St
3.
Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola
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The Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola is an annual Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Daytona International Speedway. Since its inception, it has traditionally held on or around United States Independence Day. Since 1988, the race has been scheduled for the first Saturday of July closest to July 4, in 1998, it became the first restrictor plate and Daytona race to be held at night. The company replaced Pepsi-Cola, a 19-year race sponsorship, to showcase Coke Zero as the races title brand through 2018, brad Keselowski is the defending winner of the race. Prior to the opening of the track, and prior to the inaugural Daytona 500, however, following two separate fatal accidents to drivers Marshall Teague and George Amick, speedway officials cancelled the race, citing dangerously high speeds, as well as low turnout. Bill France Sr. announced plans to hold a 100-lap/250-mile NASCAR stock car race instead, the race was named the Firecracker 250, because the race would be held on the United States Independence Day. Bill France announced on July 1 that the winner of the race would receive the Marshall Teague Memorial trophy, a trophy honoring and commemorating the life of Teague, the trophy had been presented by Teagues daughter and widow. Before the race, preliminary activities took place, including a Miss Dixie pageant, where twenty aspiring pageant winning hopefuls marched to showcase their bathing suits. Over the course of the three years a couple of NASCARs top drivers would go on to win the Firecracker 250, including Jack Smith, David Pearson. In just three years from the inaugural event attendance had grown by more than 10,000 spectators. In 1963, the race was expanded from 100 laps to 160 laps, for a distance of 400 miles, in the same year, Fireball Roberts drove his 1963 Ford to victory, becoming the first driver to win back-to-back events, barely beating Fred Lorenzen. Roberts was unable to go for three straight wins due to his death on July 2,1964, Richard Petty was the man to beat during the sixth annual 400-mile July race, but on lap 103, engine problems cost him a chance at victory. Over the course of the final 56 laps, Bobby Isaac, Foyt swapped the lead 15 times. Coming out of the turn, Foyt was able to barely edge out Isaac to the stripe. One year later Foyt got his second win, becoming the second driver to win back-to-back Firecracker races. Foyt did not try to defend the title of reigning race winner in 1966, instead it was the dark horse 1965 Rookie of the Year driver Sam McQuagg winning the race. McQuagg collected his first and only NASCAR victory driving a 1966 Dodge Charger while utilizing a new racing mechanism, the air cutting spoiler allowed McQuagg to shatter Foyts 151.451 mph race average set two years prior. Only two cars finished on the lap and the margin of victory to second place driver Darel Dieringer was sixty-six seconds
4.
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
5.
Charlotte Motor Speedway
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Charlotte Motor Speedway, formerly Lowes Motor Speedway, is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina 13 miles from Charlotte. The complex features a 1.5 mile quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, the NASCAR All-Star Race, and the Bank of America 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. with Marcus G. Smith as track president, the 2,000 acres complex also features a state-of-the-art quarter mile drag racing strip, ZMAX Dragway. It is the only all-concrete, four-lane drag strip in the United States, alongside the drag strip is a state-of-the-art clay oval that hosts dirt racing including the World of Outlaws finals among other popular racing events. Charlotte Motor Speedway was designed and built by Bruton Smith and partner and driver Curtis Turner in 1959, the first World 600 NASCAR race was held at the 1.5 miles speedway on June 19,1960. On December 8,1961, the speedway filed bankruptcy notice, at that point a committee of major stockholders in the speedway was assembled, headed by A. C. Goines and furniture store owner Richard Howard. Goines, Howard, and Robinson worked to secure loans and other monies to keep the speedway afloat. By 1964 Howard become the general manager, and on June 1,1967, the speedways mortgage was paid in full. Smith departed from the speedway in 1962 to pursue business interests, primarily in banking and auto dealerships from his new home of Rockford. He became quite successful and began buying out shares of stock in the speedway, by 1974 Smith was more heavily involved in the speedway, to where Richard Howard by 1975 stated, I havent been running the speedway. In 1975 Smith had become the majority stockholder, regaining control of its day-to-day operations, Humpy Wheeler as general manager in October 1975, and on January 29,1976, Richard Howard resigned as president and GM of the speedway. Together Smith and Wheeler began to implement plans for improvement and expansion of the speedway, in the following years, new grandstands and luxury suites were added along with modernized concessions and restrooms to increase the comfort for race fans. Smith Tower, a 135,000 square feet, seven-story facility was built, the tower houses the speedway corporate officers, ticket office, gift shop, leased offices and The Speedway Club, and exclusive dining and entertainment facility. In 1992, Smith and Wheeler directed the installation of a $1.7 million,1, the track became the first modern superspeedway to host night racing, and was the largest lighted speedway until 1998 when lights were installed around the 2.5 miles Daytona International Speedway. In 1994, Smith and Wheeler added a new $1 million,20,000 square feet garage area to the speedways infield, in 1995, 26-year-old Russell Phillips was killed in one of the most gruesome crashes in auto racing history. From 1997 to 1999 the track hosted the Indycar Series, on lap 61 of the 1999 race, a crash led to a car losing a tire, which was then propelled into the grandstands by another car. Three spectators were killed and eight others were injured in the incident, the race was canceled shortly after, and the series has not returned to the track since
6.
Michigan International Speedway
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The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is sometimes known as a track to Texas World Speedway. The track is owned by International Speedway Corporation, Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking. Groundbreaking took place on September 28,1967, over 2.5 million cubic yards of dirt were moved to form the D-shaped oval. The track opened in 1968 with a capacity of 25,000 seats. The track was built and owned by Lawrence H. LoPatin. Financing was arranged by Thomas W Itin and its first race took place on Sunday, October 13,1968, with the running of the USAC250 mile Championship Car Race won by Ronnie Bucknum. In 1972, Roger Penske purchased the speedway for an estimated $2 million, during Penskes ownership the track was upgraded several times from the original capacity to 125,000 seating capacity. From 1996 to 2000, the track was referred to as Michigan Speedway and this was to keep consistency with other tracks owned by Roger Penskes Motorsports International before its merger with ISC. In 1999, the speedway was purchased by International Speedway Corporation, in 200010,800 seats were added via a turn 3 grandstand bringing the speedway to its current capacity. In 2004-2005 the largest renovation project in the history of the facility was ready for race fans when it opened its doors for the race weekend, Michigan was repaved prior to the 2012 season. This marks the first time since 1995 that the oval was resurfaced, along with 1967,1975, also new for 2012 was the addition of a new 20-space trackside luxury campsite to be known as APEX. Situated in turn 3, each site will offer a 20-by-55-foot area, with water and electric hookups, besides front-row seating for the racing action, the APEX area will offer personalized service to its guests, including a concierge to address any of their needs during race weekend. To accommodate these new campsites, the remaining silver grandstands in turns 3 and 4 were removed, july 16,1972, Merle Bettenhausen crashed into the outside wall on the backstretch during the USAC Champ Car Michigan 200. He tried to out of the car while it was still going. September 17,1977, Al Holbert flipped on the backstretch during the first race of the 1978 IROC V racing season, the car then slid hundreds of feet on its roof before stopping near turn 3. Cook survived, while Pfeifer only suffered cuts on his chest, july 25,1981, A. J. Foyt slammed sideways into the Armco barrier during the Michigan 500 and almost lost an arm. July 22,1984, Al Unser Jr. and Chip Ganassi crashed into the retaining wall on the backstretch
7.
Xfinity Series
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The NASCAR Xfinity Series is a stock car racing series owned and operated by The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. It is promoted as NASCARs minor league circuit, and is considered a ground for drivers who wish to step up to the organizations top level circuit. Xfinity Series races are held in the same venue as, and a day prior to. The series emerged from NASCARs Sportsman division, which had formed in 1950 as NASCARs short track race division. The sportsman cars were not current model cars and could be modified more and it became the Late Model Sportsman Series in 1968, and soon featured races on larger tracks such as Daytona International Speedway. Drivers used obsolete Grand National cars on larger tracks but by the inception of the format in 1982. Short track cars with relatively small 300 cubic inch V-8 motors were used, drivers used smaller current year models featuring V6 motors. The modern-day Xfinity Series was formed in 1982, when Anheuser-Busch sponsored a newly reformed late-model sportsman series with its Budweiser brand, the series switched sponsorship to Busch in 1984. It was renamed in 1986 to the Busch Grand National Series, Grand National was dropped from the series title in 2003 as part of NASCARs brand identity. Anheuser-Busch dropped the sponsorship in 2007, Nationwide Insurance took over the sponsorship for the 2008 season, the Nationwide sponsorship was a seven-year contract, and did not include the banking and mortgage departments of Nationwide. The sponsorship reportedly carried a $10 million commitment for 2008, with 6% annual escalations thereafter, on September 3,2014, it was announced that Comcast would become the new title sponsor of the series via its cable television and internet brand Xfinity, renaming it the Xfinity Series. In 2016, NASCAR implemented a seven-race Chase system similar to the one used in the NASCAR Cup Series, on March 6,2005, the series held its first race outside the United States, the Telcel-Motorola 200. The race was held in Mexico City, Mexico at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and it was won by Martin Truex Jr. On August 4,2007, the series held its second race outside of the United States, at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec and it was won by Kevin Harvick, while Quebec native Patrick Carpentier finished second. In July 2008, NASCAR announced that the Nationwide Series would not return to Mexico City in 2009, in 2016, the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the Camping World Truck Series adopted a playoff format similar to the NASCAR Cup Series Chase for the Championship. Unlike the NASCAR Cup Series, whose Chase consists of four rounds, after each of the first two rounds, the four Chase grid drivers with the fewest season points are eliminated from the grid and Chase contention. The best-placed driver overall from the four Dash 4 Cash races advances to the Chase, until 2000, the Busch Grand National Series was carried on a number of both cable and broadcast networks that had deals with the series tracks. Most standalone races were aired on TNN, while races that were companion races with Winston Cup dates aired on the airing the Cup race
8.
Bobby Allison
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Robert Arthur Bobby Allison is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Named one of NASCARs 50 greatest drivers, he was the 1983 Winston Cup champion and won the Daytona 500 three times in 1978,1982, and 1988. His two sons, Clifford and Davey Allison, followed him into racing, and both died within a year of each other, Allison was born December 3,1937 in Miami, FL. He entered his first race as a senior at Archbishop Curley-Notre Dame High School in Miami. Since he was only 17, he had to have his parents permission so he thought when his mother said ok, it was forever, but she thought it was for only one race. Unbeknownst to her, Carl Kiekhaefer was the owner of Mercury Outboard Motors, where Allison ended up working as a mechanic, while employed at Mercury Outboard Motors, Allison worked in the boat division for 10 months, then was transferred to the racecar division. During the 2 months he worked in the division for Carl Kiekhaefer, he went to 19 races—mostly Grand National. Every one of those races was won by a Carl Kiekhaefer car from the shop in which he worked, Kiekhaefer was a hard person to work for and several people got fired, so Allison decided to go back to Miami only after a little over 2 months. In 1956, having returned to Miami, Allison started his own racing again, in 1959, Allison took his brother, Donnie, Kenny Andrews—who owned a car and Gil Hearne went along as Kennys driver on a quest for more lucrative racing than was available in South Florida. Their searching led them to Montgomery Motor Speedway in Montgomery, Alabama, Allison entered and finished 5th in that race, which paid more than finishing 2nd in any big race in South Florida. He went to Montgomery the next night, won the preliminary races, the brothers returned home and Bobby talked his friend Red Farmer into coming back to Alabama with him. They had immediate success and soon they began answering to the name The Alabama Gang, Allison became a known driver and won the national championship in the modified special division in 1962. Allison moved full-time to the Grand National circuit in 1965 and got his first victory at Oxford Plains Speedway on July 12,1966. In 1972 he was voted national Driver of the Year for winning ten races and taking 11 poles and he was NASCAR Winston Cup Champion in 1983 driving for DiGard Racing. The 1982 Daytona 500 was fraught with controversy that became known as Bumpergate and he also won the Firecracker 400 in 1982, making Allison the fourth driver to sweep both Sprint Cup point races at Daytona in the same year. Of note, after Allison accomplished this, no driver repeated such a feat until Jimmie Johnson did it in 2013, Allison ran in the Indianapolis 500 twice, with a best finish of 25th in 1975. His NASCAR team owners included DiGard, Junior Johnson & Associates, the other AMC victory was accomplished by Mark Donohue also racing for Penske in 1973 at Riverside. He raced in NASCAR as a driver/owner of an AMC Matador, the impact, at over 200 miles per hour, tore out over 100 yards of fencing
9.
Atlanta Motor Speedway
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Atlanta Motor Speedway is a track in Hampton, Georgia,20 miles south of Atlanta. It is a 1. 54-mile quad-oval track with a capacity of 71,000. It opened in 1960 as a 1. 522-mile standard oval, in 1994,46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports other two 1. 5-mile ovals, the track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval, the project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit. The track hosted a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race weekend annually on Labor Day weekend from 2009 to 2014, other highlights of the facility are a quarter-mile track between the pit road and the main track for Legends racing and a 2. 5-mile FIA-approved road course. In 1996, the hosted the Countryfest concert, attracting over 200,000 fans. NASCAR does not require restrictor plates at Atlanta or Texas, which helped lead to the adoption of Atlantas commercial slogan, on August 5,2010, speedway president Ed Clark announced that Atlanta would be scaling back its NASCAR event schedule for 2011. The track kept its Labor Day weekend dates but lost its spring race, the weekend was expected to go to Kentucky Speedway, another track owned by SMI. Every year from spring until fall, the speedway hosts Friday Night Drags where participants drag race down the pit road, the racing is conducted on an 1/8 mile stretch and begins at the drop of a hand. No lights or timing tools are used, the track also hosts Speed Tech Driving School, which allows individuals to race 6 or more laps on the track when it is not in use for NASCAR or other events. NASCAR president Mike Helton was once the tracks General Manager, Ed Clark is the current President and CEO of the track. In late 2015 Atlanta Motor Speedway announced that they would install SAFER barrier around the whole of the outside, after 20 years, the track will undergo its first repave following the 2017 race weekend. This marks the first time the track has been repaved since it was reconfigured in 1997 from an oval to a quad-oval. For the past couple of years, the surface had to have its seams sealed to preserve the integrity of the track. In early September 2004, Atlanta Motor Speedway found another use, in 2005, the speedway received heavy damage on the evening of July 6, caused by an F2 tornado spawned from the remains of Hurricane Cindy. Roofs and facades were torn off buildings and the pylon was toppled. In 2005 practices began to extend in to Friday night, in 2006, the Bass Pro Shops 500 start time was adjusted to guarantee a night finish
10.
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
11.
Daytona International Speedway
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Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, in addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, USCC, SCCA, and Motocross. The tracks 180-acre infield includes the 29-acre Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing, the speedway is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation. The track was built in 1959 by NASCAR founder William Bill France and his banked design permitted higher speeds and gave fans a better view of the cars. Lights were installed around the track in 1998, and today it is the third-largest single lit outdoor sports facility, the speedway has been renovated three times, with the infield renovated in 2004 and the track repaved in 1978 and 2010. On January 22,2013, the track unveiled artist depictions of a renovated speedway, on July 5,2013, ground was broken on the project that removed backstretch seating and completely redevelop the frontstretch seating. The renovation to the speedway was constructed by Design-Builder Barton Malow Company in partnership with Rossetti Architects, after the renovations were completed, the tracks grandstands include 101,000 permanent seats with the ability to increase permanent seating to 125,000. The project was finished before the start of Speedweeks in 2016, NASCAR founder William France Sr. began planning for the track in 1953 as a way to promote the series, which at the time was racing on the Daytona Beach Road Course. France met with Daytona Beach engineer Charles Moneypenny to discuss his plans for the speedway and he wanted the track to have the highest banking possible to allow the cars to reach high speeds and to give fans a better view of the cars on track. Moneypenny traveled to Detroit, Michigan to visit the Ford Proving Grounds which had a high-speed test track with banked corners, Ford shared their engineering reports of the track with Moneypenny, providing the needed details of how to transition the pavement from a flat straightaway to a banked corner. France took the plans to the Daytona Beach city commission, who supported his idea, the city commission agreed to lease the 447-acre parcel of land adjacent to Daytona Beach Municipal Airport to Frances corporation for $10,000 a year over a 50-year period. France then began working on building funding for the project and found support from a Texas oil millionaire, Murchison loaned France $600,000 along with the construction equipment necessary to build the track. France was also able to secure funding from Pepsi-Cola, General Motors designer Harley Earl, ground broke on construction of the 2. 5-mile speedway on November 25,1957. To build the high banking, crews had to excavate over a million yards of soil from the tracks infield. 22 tons of lime mortar had to be brought in to form the tracks binding base, because of the extreme degree of banking, Moneypenny had to come up with a way to pave the incline. He connected the paving equipment to bulldozers anchored at the top of the banking and this would allow the paving equipment to pave the banking without slipping or rolling down the incline. Moneypenny subsequently patented his method and later designed Talladega Superspeedway. By December 1958, France had begun to run out of money, the first practice run on the new track began on February 6,1959
12.
Davey Allison
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David Carl Davey Allison was a NASCAR driver. He was best known for driving the No.28 Texaco-Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the Winston Cup Series, born in Hollywood, Florida, he was the eldest of four children born to Bobby Allison and wife Judy. The family moved to Hueytown, Alabama, and along with Bobbys brother Donnie Allison, family friend Red Farmer, growing up, Allison participated in athletics, preferring football, but was destined, like many children of racers, to become a racer himself. He began his career in 1979 at Birmingham International Raceway and notched his first win in just his sixth start and he became a regular winner at BIR and by 1983, was racing in the Automobile Racing Club of America series. Allison won both ARCA events at his track, Talladega Superspeedway in 1983, and was named ARCA Rookie of the Year in 1984. That same year, he married his first wife, Deborah, Allison continued racing in the ARCA series in 1985 and eventually notched eight wins in the series, four at Talladega Superspeedway. He also began competing in some of NASCARs lower divisions and in July 1985, Allison qualified Ellingtons Chevrolet 22nd and finished 10th in his first Winston Cup start. This impressive showing earned Davey more Winston Cup opportunities in 1986 where he would sub for injured friend, prior to the 1987 season, car owner Harry Ranier tapped Davey to replace veteran driver Cale Yarborough in the Ranier-Lundy No.28 Ford Thunderbird. Yarborough was leaving the Ranier-Lundy team to start his own operation along with the teams sponsor, Ranier negotiated a sponsorship deal with Texacos Havoline motor oil brand, a deal that was signed during the NASCAR edition of Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway. A pit miscue which allowed a rear tire to fall off on the track ended his hopes of a finish in the race. May 3,1987 would become a day in NASCAR history. Earlier in the week, Bill Elliott had qualified his No.9 Coors-Melling Ford Thunderbird at a record 212.809 mph for the Winston 500 at the unlighted Talladega Superspeedway. Davey Allison would qualify third, while father Bobby would start second alongside Elliott in the Stavola Brothers No.22 Miller Buick, on lap 22 of the event, Bobby Allison ran over a piece of debris, cutting his right-rear tire. The car turned sideways, lifted into the air, became airboirne, the car landed back on the track and collected a number of other competitors. Davey was ahead of his father at the time and saw the crash unfold in his mirror, Bobby Allison was not injured, but the crash slightly injured several spectators and the race was red-flagged for two hours and thirty-eight minutes. It was this event that triggered the requirement of smaller carburetors, when the race resumed, Davey continued to run up front and when Elliott exited the race with engine failure, Daveys toughest competition was eliminated. With darkness falling on the Talladega Superspeedway during a caution flag. Running second on the restart, Davey passed leader Dale Earnhardt on the backstretch, in winning the race, Davey became the first rookie since Ron Bouchard in 1981 to win a Winston Cup event
