On February 21, 1948, the National Association for Stock
Car Racing, or NASCAR, as it became 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. a mechanic and auto-repair
shop owner from Washington, D.C., who in the mid-1930s
moved to Daytona Beach, Florida.

After witnessing how racing rules could vary from event
to event and how dishonest promoters could abscond
with prize money, France felt there was a need for a
governing body to sanction and promote racing.

Bill France Sr. or Big Bill (1909 – 1992).