Devil's Racetrack Road links Moonshine to NASCAR

Hear this Here…
EXIT 90 I-95n in North Carolina: To Newton Grove (Near Devil’s Racetrack Road)


If you had the Road Spoke app this is what you would hear.




“Upcoming a little beyond Exit 90 is Devil’s Racetrack Road… ​

“…This road has a lot of history.  During the Civil War,  General Sherman’s Union troops used the route to march on Raleigh Durham coming up from Georgia.   Later it was a venue for many houses of ill repute and seamy gambling parlors. No doubt, folks may have gathered outside to watch fast cars race down the relatively straight road.  There may even have been some wagering and liquor involved.​

It is hard to believe given all the hoopla and sponsorships and million dollar motorcars and bazillion dollar endorsement deals in today’s Daytona 500 but…From rude roads in the woods of the south, NASCAR evolved.   

NASCAR stands for National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.  What that means is that the cars used in stock car are rather generic.  They are cars like you and I drive, manufactured mostly by companies like Ford and GM. No fancy little Formula One race cars here — no single seater go-carts with external wheels driving around Monte Carlo. ​

The origins of NASCAR are a working man’s sport.   


Back in the 1930’s, folks would gather here to watch souped up cars race.  North Carolina claims this as part of their heritage. The Museum of NASCAR is located in Charlotte, North Carolina and well worth the visit. ​

However, the roots of NASCAR are spread throughout the south — wherever there is a thirst for speed… and liquor.  Moonshine to be precise


Liquor? Why is that?


The Origins of NASCAR come out of Prohibition when local moonshiners needed fast cars to outrun the police. That’s right folks.  Today’s All-American sport was conceived in crime.  But can you blame the folks in the depths of Depression from wanting a sip of local craft brew? 

Anyways, these Shiners had super powered their cars to run hooch to customers all over the South. 


During Prohibition in the 1920’s,  police could not chase bootleggers across county lines. So these stock cars need to be able to blast down roads and make the border fast.

Cops had no authority except in their own small jurisdictions.  Can you imagine that? An Interstate free of State Troopers?  Well let’s be honest:  until the late 1950’s there were no Interstates either. But I digress.  Cross County jurisdictions tells you why today only State Troopers patrol Interstates and not local cops. ​

Anyways, the bootleggers and the moonshiners created super fast cars to outrun the cops — to get to the county line.  After Prohibition ended, the cops stopped chasing moonshiners but the love for fast cars did not stop.  Former fast driving bootleggers would meet on dirt tracks to race one another.  And so NASCAR was born!

Incidentally cops, liquor, and fast cars are still tied up in neat bundles. Many of the biggest sponsors of NASCAR are liquor companies like Jack Daniels Whiskey and Budweiser Beer....but more on that at another roadspoke.

Just watch out for Smokey as you transverse these parts. No Kidding. Troopers are often lurking hereabouts.   ​

Possibly the greatest race car driver ever, North Carolina’s own  Richard Petty was a Seven-time Daytona 500 champion. He tops NASCAR in wins with 200 poles and 127 wins in a season —27 in 1967 alone. ​

Known in NASCAR as the King, or King Richard, Richard Petty is a Tar Heel from the town of Randelman, just west of the Raleigh Durham Chapel Hill Triangle.  Like a proper king, Richard is part of a dynasty. ​

He is a second generation champion.  His father, Lee Petty, won the very first Daytona 500 in 1959.  Lee was himself a three-time NASCAR champion. Meanwhile, Richard’s son Kyle is also a respected NASCAR driver. SADLY, Richard’s grandson, Adam was killed in a practice RUN crash.  Adam represented a fourth generation of Pettys at the top of the sport. ​

That said, the Pettys were historically cautious about allowing their kids to go into the family business. In fact, although young Richard started to work in his father Lee’s pit crew at age 12, Lee did not allow Richard to race until he was 21.


Funny thing…  Daddy Lee may have not allowed young Richard to race till he was 21; but odds are, Richard was sipping moonshine by then!”


#RichardPetty #1000 #NASCAR #Racecars #TarHeels #June15 #LeePetty #AdamPetty #KylePetty #RoadTrips

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