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The history of auto stock car racing in the United States began with the laws of prohibition regarding the making and selling of liquor. Many backwoods distilleries had business all over major areas of the United States but most were among the country and rural areas where it was less possible to find the stills let alone catch the drivers between the years of 1919 and 1933.

Bootleggers, as the men and women who made runs for the men running the stills would add horse-power to engines, lighten the frames, and add and switch various weight within the car in addition to adding as much power as possible into the gas tank. These modified cars could outrun most local law enforcement agencies even with a full carload of the illegal liquor. Nothing could keep up with the bootleg drivers and their modified cars.

It was not until the end of the prohibition era did these drivers find there was nothing left and no reason to continue modifying and tweaking these special cars until the inception of National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, known as NASCAR, which incorporated in 1943.
With a venue to showcase the speed and skill used previously to race through the back-roads of the south and mountainous areas surrounding the Blue Ridge and Appalachia areas, these men had somewhere to go and a new sideline to make extra money. They had Nascar; the country had Nascar.

Today, the business of racing in Nascar is big business and not simply a sideline job. Sponsors for all types of companies donate a portion of money to keep the cars running and allowing the teams to find and train the best drivers in the country. Some of the late great drivers and ones that the country will remember for generations to come will be Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt.

Great racers of today and the past keep the dream and ideals of racing spirit high. Nascar comes from a history of drivers than handled cruel curves, steep inclines, wide open pastures, and some of the most dangerous terrain to cover in a vehicle. The drivers were not the only ones to go down in the history books and with Nascar. The cars did as well.

Many cars become the subject of legends and myths with names like Black Ghost, Grey Ghost, and the infamous Midnight Traveler. The drivers of these cars did have tremendous skill but the cars had to withstand the pressure and rigors of life in the illegal whiskey trade.

The first actual car race following the end of prohibition took place in Stockbridge, Georgia in 1937. Soon,

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