Throughout the 53-year history of NASCAR its race cars have been transformed from road-going true “stock” cars, into these lightening-fast and technologically advanced cars that we see today. In tracing this evolution it’s necessary to go back to the beginnings of NASCAR.

When NASCAR was formed in 1948 it was the post World War II era and there was a shortage of new cars. It was a general consensus that the majority of race fans wouldn’t be real fond of new cars being beat up on a race track while they were driving a beater, pre-war era car. As such, it didn’t take too long before the “Modified” stock cars became the official staple of NASCAR racing.

Fast forward to 1949 when then NASCAR president Bill France Sr. contemplated the idea of actually racing the same cars that people drove on the street.  Thinking of that type of race car in modern times almost seems funny, but back then no other racing organization had seized the idea of utilizing street cars, that is, until Bill France thought it just might work. The current success of the NASCAR Cup Series proves his inklings were correct.

Genuine Stock Racing Cars
From the racers’ perspective in the earlier days of NASCAR, being able to put a race car together was not an expensive investment. If a brand-new Chevy sold for around $3,800, and considering the fact that there was little or no modification to be done to it, the actual race car could be raced for a very cheap investment. In some instances, rental cars were actually used by point-chasing drivers who had no guaranteed ride for a given event. Cars were typically either driven to the track or towed behind pick-ups and family sedans.  Other than some minor tweaking and tuning of the engine, nothing needed to be done to these early race cars that were strictly stock. Essentially, in the earlier day there were no roll bars, the window was intact, and aircraft harnesses, or sometimes even ropes, were used as seat belts.  When these cars rolled out on the track they were practically like showroom cars.

One of the many benefits of implementing the strictly stock design was the tremendous diversity of manufacturers with their cars on the track. For example, the first official strictly stock division race had nine makes on the line that included Buick, Cadillac, Chrysler, Ford, Hudson, Kaiser, Lincoln, Mercury and Oldsmobile However, as one would suspect, using a genuine “stock” automobile for racing had its downfalls.

One of the most significant problems were tire, wheel, and suspension failures brought on by stresses that were atypical of normal road use.  This was especially true with the rough-surfaced dirt tracks that were predominant in the early days of racing.  Nevertheless, the only modification that was allowed to the stock racing cars was a reinforcing steel plate on the right front wheel which helped to prevent the lug nuts from pulling right through the rim on factory wheels. Otherwise, racing stock cars in the early days of the sport was very much a bare bones ordeal.

For a certain number of years, that concept certainly worked and, through the support of fans, competitors and manufacturers, it continued to thrive. But the variety of race tracks in use and the intensity of the competition level necessitated various modifications. While many of these were instituted in the interest of safety, manufacturers found that there were ways to integrate high performance parts into their mainstream production line.

One of the first items produced specifically for stock car racing was a racing tire manufactured and distributed by the Pure Oil Company in 1952. Prior to that time, street tires were all that were available for racing applications.