The History of Auto Racing

Beginning of Auto Racing

• Georges Bouton won the first organized auto race on April 28, 1887, in a 2-km race from Neuilly Bridge to the Bois de Boulogne. Monsier Fossier, chief editor for "Le Velocipede," a publication in Paris, administered the race. Despite the credited victory, Bouton was the only competitor to show up for the event, so many fail to recognize this as the birth of auto racing. The "Paris La Petit Journal" organized the first multicompetitor race on July 22, 1894; however, it was a reliability test, and not all competitors began simultaneously. They raced from Porte Maillot to Bois De Boulogne.

  A year later, the first race in which all competitors began the event at the same time started in Paris and ended in Bordeaux. Emile Levassor crossed the finish line first, but officials disqualified him because his vehicle did not have the mandatory four seats.

  Throughout the 20th century, auto racing branched out worldwide, and a variety of auto racing divisions developed.

Open Wheel Racing

• Open wheel racing includes Formula One, Indy Racing League and Sprint Car Racing. The root of open wheel racing dates back to the late 1890s when the era of auto racing commenced. Ferencz Szisz won the first French Grand Prix race held in 1901 at Le Mans. The modern era of Formula One began in 1950.

  Sprint Car racing originated in the early 1920s. Sprint Car racing became sanctioned by the United States Automobile Club, or USAC, in 1956, which now includes Midget Cars and Silver Crowns. The American Automobile Association (AAA) and USAC also sanctioned a major open wheel series, similar to Formula One, until 1978. The inaugural Indianapolis 500 was in 1911.

  The Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) was formed in 1979 by a group of teams disenchanted with USAC. In 1996, Tony George, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, formed the Indy Racing League, or IRL. The IRL became the series that raced the Indianapolis 500. CART became the Champ Car World Series in 2004.

  Champ Car and the IRL merged in 2008.

Stock Car Racing

• Stock car racing is more prevalent in the United States. Stock cars often resemble a particular manufacturer. It developed in the 1920s when illegal moonshiners had to upgrade their power in order to outrun the police. They began to meet together and compete against each other. The races became organized events in the 1930s.

  In 1947, Bill France Sr. orchestrated the National Championship Stock Car Series. In 1948, France founded NASCAR, originally known as Strictly Stock. Red Byron became the first champion of the series. Initially, the sport was a regional sport that raced on short tracks. The Daytona 500 became the Great American Race, as the Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959. Throughout the 1960s additional superspeedways broke ground, such as Charlotte Motor Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway and the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

  Over the subsequent four decades, NASCAR emerged as the most popular form of auto racing in the United States. Stock car racing is not simply limited to NASCAR. Throughout the years, regional stock car series developed. NASCAR sanctions additional stock car series such as the Nationwide Series and Camping World East Series.

Drag Racing

• Drag racing originated in the early 1900s. In the 1930s, many illegal street racers competed on the roads. Following World War II, drag racing became prevalent on military runways. In 1951, Wally Parks established the National Hot Rod Association, and it began racing in 1953. The NHRA now consists of four sanctioned divisions.

Off-road Racing

• Like most other forms of auto racing, off-road racing began in the early 1900s. Off-road racing includes off-road cars, trucks and motorbikes. In 1967, the National Off Road Racing Association (NORRA) held the first Baja 100 in the Mexican desert. SCORE International, founded by Mickey Thompson in 1973, sanctions many of the top Off Road Racing events.