What is NASCAR?

      As the Chase for the Sprint Cup series continues to add racers to the field to the finals, some people ask, "What is NASCAR, and what is it all about?".  Now, I know that most people who read this know what NASCAR is, but i would still like to talk about it to educate those who do not know.

      NASCAR stands for the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing.  Now, a stock car is by definition, any normal "stock car" that had been modified for racing.  Within the association however, there are many different types of classes that allow for different amounts of modifications to be made to the car.  The most extreme of these cars are what you see racing around the oval across the country every weekend.  Although these cars are designed to look similar to those cars that you can buy from a dealership, they are the farthest thing that you can get from them.  For example, a normal Toyota Corolla costs somewhere in the $ 20,000 range brand new and makes 140 horsepower max.  The stock car version of the Corolla has been known to cost upwards of $150,000 dollars with the engine alone costing up to $100,000.  These monstrous engines are capable of creating power numbers upwards of 900 horsepower that at some tracks, can push the cars to their 200 mph racing speed with the capability of going much faster, if it wasn't for all of those darn left turns and restrictions that are put upon the cars to help maintain safety.

     Along with monstrous horsepower numbers and even heftier price tags, these race cars are also equipped with some of the greatest feats of driving safety known to man.  These include the roll cage and the front and rear driving assembly, which in case of a crash are designed to crumple and push all harmful parts of the car away from the driver while the roll cage maintains a solid structure around the driver.

     Another cool thing that not many people know about NASCAR is the story about where it came from.  The NASCAR actually originated from moonshiners.  Crazy right?? During prohibition, all of these moonshiners needed faster cars to be able to make quick deliveries of moonshine along with being capable of outrunning the police if needed.  When these moonshine runners weren't out on delivery runs, they tended to want to cut loose.  What better way for young restless men who have these souped up cars to pass their time other than racing them against each other?  What began as friendly competition soon turned into a nationwide racing organization.  What really spurred the growth of NASCAR was the end of prohibition, with even more free time to organize races and meetings, along with the funding available to them from their "questionably legal business ventures", NASCAR fever quickly caught on in a car-crazy country and the rest is history.