Connecting Bootlegging and NASCAR

Abstract

From some of the first stock car races to the inception of NASCAR in 1949, automobile racing has been a prominent feature of the American South. Similarly, moonshiners and bootleggers also took prominence in the same region. While the old saying goes that NASCAR was inspired by bootleggers outrunning local sheriffs in their modified cars, the real history goes deeper. Other than Bill France's role in promoting NASCAR it was the moonshine kingpins that created the two main foundations of NASCAR, the race tracks and the drivers. Without the support of the moonshine and bootlegger industry, NASCAR and stock car racing would not have blossomed into the internationally recognized sport that it is in the twenty-first century.