Today is NASCAR’s 50th birthday(of a race anyhow). Thirty-three drivers kicked up a little dust over off of Wilkinson Boulevard on June 19, 1949. Actually, they kicked up lot of dust. The Charlotte Speedway was a ring of dirt, and 33 heavy automobiles — many just off a showroom floor — sent up a cloud of dust. A lot of dust settled quickly on the spectators who’d come to see what a man from Florida named Bill France called the Strictly Stock division of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.(In part from David Poole’s article Today marks Winston Cup’s birthday from That’s Racin’)(6-19-98)
