As Atlanta took control of the stock car racing scene, it would seem Bill France's dream of Daytona being the centre of the sport was lost.

But a tragedy and the outbreak of the Second World War would see the sport shaken up again, and pave the way for the emergence of NASCAR.

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Resources

There is a lot on the web about NASCAR’s early days, including a heap of contemporary sources. Rising above all that and a lot more accessible if you want to learn more are two key books, Real NASCAR: White Lightning, Red Clay, and Big Bill France by Daniel S. Pierce and Driving with the Devil: Southern Moonshine, Detroit Wheels, and the Birth of NASCAR by Neal Thompson.

For more on how the moonshine industry worked, North Carolina Moonshine: An Illicit History by Frank Stephenson Jr. and Barbara Nichols Mulder is fascinating.

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