On April 20, 2008, then a 26-year-old Danica Patrick (42) won 
the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan,
making her the first female winner in IndyCar racing history.

NASCAR

SPRINT CUP

A beloved figure in the NASCAR broadcasting world has
died. 

Andrew Lorenz, a former driver turned media figure,
passed away following an illness.

Lorenz, who played an important role behind the scenes
in the NASCAR world, had been dealing with heart issues
and was hospitalized for 10 days and under Hospice care
for 12 days.

On February 21, 1948, the National Association for Stock Car
Racing—or NASCAR, as it came to be widely known—was
officially incorporated. NASCAR racing went on to become
one of America’s most popular spectator sports, as well as
a multi-billion-dollar industry.

The driving force behind the establishment of NASCAR was
William “Bill” France Sr. (1909-1992), a mechanic and auto-
repair shop owner from Washington, D.C., who in the mid-
1930s moved to Daytona Beach, Florida to escape the Great
Depression .

Bill France as a racer.

After a short racing career, Bill France realized that
organizing races is business for him.

Bill France on the construction site of the Daytona
International Speedway.

    
    
    
    
    
   
On February 18, 2001, Dale Earnhardt Sr., considered one of the
greatest drivers in National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) history, died at the age of 49 in a last-lap crash at the
43rd Daytona 500 in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Earnhardt died of a basilar skull ring fracture, the most serious
type of skull fracture.        
        
        
   
       

Ralph Dale Earnhardt
(April 29, 1951 – February 18, 2001)

LeeRoy Yarbrough chased down Charlie Glotzbach, who
had an 11-second lead, and passed him on the final lap
after starting 19th. It was the first Daytona 500 won on a
last lap pass.

Yarbrough won in a back-up Ford car after crashing his
primary one. This would also be the second-last Daytona
500 before the NASCAR Grand National Series became
the Winston Cup Series in 1971. Starting in 1971, all races
were to have 43 competitors maximum in a starting grid
starting with the 1971 Daytona 500.