On December 14th, 1947, Bill France Sr. organized a meeting in Daytona Beach, FL at the Streamline Hotel for drivers of “souped-up” automobiles. Some of the drivers invited had previously run liquor and had used their vehicles as a delivery mechanism. Their cars had originally been modified for greater speed, but still looked normal to cursory glances.
Some of the modified cars had floorboards and seats removed, so they were able to transport as many cases of liquor as possible. Stronger suspension was required to handle the increased weights, and if dirt roads might feature in the high-speed chases, it was common to put deflector barriers in front of the engine grill to reduce the ingress of road dirt clogging the radiator.
Even before Prohibition ended in 1933, some drivers were already racing these souped-up automobiles just for fun, through the streets of North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and other states in the South. In 1932, Ford introduced its flathead V-8, with eight-cylinders, liquor runners were fast to adopt the engine – and so too did police departments in a bid to keep pace.
Hence, some of the early NASCAR drivers had moonshining somewhere in their or relatives’ upbringing. For example, Junior Johnson tore up dirt tracks across the South and notched five victories on the NASCAR circuit in 1955. It is reputed that between races and seasons, he would return home to the mountains of North Carolina to work in the family business – moonshining. You had to have a fast car to be able to moonshine and stay ahead of law enforcement and, for Johnson, that was the perfect introduction to a career with the National Association of Stock Car Racing.
When on May 23rd, 2010, the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame class was introduced, several of the best-known drivers were original front runners during the end of the prohibition era. The root of stock car racing comes from Prohibition and has now blossomed into a world-famous organization.
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