75 Great, Historic, and Sometimes Sad Stories That Impacted NASCAR

NASCAR is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2023.

And before the inevitable NASCAR-sized party takes place at the Daytona 500 on February 19, Autoweek is kicking off it's own celebration of the milestone with 75 stories that impacted the series.

Beginning on December 7, Autoweek will publish one historical NASCAR story a day for the 75 days leading up to the 500. We'll revisit the birth of the series, the first Cup Series race, and take a look back at unforgettable (and a few forgettable) moments and personalities along the way that helped make the series what it is today.

We hope you'll enjoy looking back at Fireball, the Intimidator, Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, Smoke, Silver Fox, Sliced Bread, Wonder Boy, Rowdy, and of course, The King.

NASCAR has given fans plenty to talk about on Monday morning at the water cooler over the years. Accusations of race-finish fixing, a NASCAR champion that lost his ride because of a video game, and even the occasional conspiracy theory have given fans (and haters) lots of fodder for arguments and bonding.

We had a blast putting together the list of 75 stories that helped define three-quarters of a century of NASCAR, and we hope it brings back some good memories.

We'll update this page daily with a link to the all the stories in the series published to date—the latest piece of the 75-year puzzle.