Editing Stock car racing (section)

===Early years===
In the 1920s, [[moonshine]] runners during the [[Prohibition era]] would often have to outrun the authorities. To do so, they had to upgrade their vehicles—while leaving them looking ordinary, so as not to attract attention.  Eventually, runners started getting together with fellow runners and making runs together. They would challenge one another and eventually progressed to organized events in the early 1930s. The main problem racing faced was the lack of a unified set of rules among the different tracks. When [[Bill France Sr.]] saw this problem, he set up a meeting at the [[Streamline Hotel]] in order to form an organization that would unify the rules.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/sports/stock-car-racing|title=Stock-car racing|website=Britannica |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230707162558/https://www.britannica.com/sports/stock-car-racing |archive-date= Jul 7, 2023 }}</ref>

When [[NASCAR]] was first formed by France in 1948 to regulate stock car racing in the U.S., there was a requirement that any car entered be made entirely of parts available to the general public through automobile dealers.  Furthermore, the car models were required to have sold over 500 units to the public. This is referred to as "[[homologation (motorsport)|homologation]]", which other racing series has since adapted for their own rulesets. In NASCAR's early years, the cars were so "stock" that it was commonplace for the drivers to drive themselves to the competitions in the car that they were going to run in the race. While automobile engine technology had remained fairly stagnant in World War II, advanced aircraft piston engine development had provided a great deal of available data, and NASCAR was formed just as some of the improved technology was about to become available in production cars.<ref name=Wilber>{{cite web |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/327690-the-evolution-of-the-stock-car#:~:text=While%20automobile%20engine%20technology%20had,become%20available%20in%20production%20cars. |title=NASCAR: The Evolution Of The Sport (1948-1950s) |last=Wilber |first=Bert |website=[[Bleacher Report]] |date=January 17, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003195949/https://bleacherreport.com/articles/327690-the-evolution-of-the-stock-car#:~:text=While%20automobile%20engine%20technology%20had,become%20available%20in%20production%20cars. |archive-date= Oct 3, 2023 }}</ref> Until the advent of the [[Trans-Am Series]] in 1967, NASCAR homologation cars were the closest thing that the public could buy that was actually very similar to the cars that were winning national races.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/automobiles/collectibles/17speed.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |title=When Stock Meant Stock|date=17 February 2008 |last1=Garrett |first1=Jerry |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231003195952/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/automobiles/collectibles/17speed.html |archive-date= Oct 3, 2023 }}</ref>

The 1949 [[Oldsmobile Rocket V-8]] with a displacement of {{convert|303|cuin|L|1|abbr=on}} is widely recognized as the first postwar modern [[overhead valve]] (OHV) engine to become available to the public.<ref>{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.automotivehistoryonline.com/oldsmobile.htm |website=Automotive History Online |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090901164709/http://www.automotivehistoryonline.com/Oldsmobile.htm |archive-date=2009-09-01 |title=Oldsmobile advances |access-date=May 13, 2009}}</ref> The Oldsmobile was an immediate success in 1949 and 1950, and all the automobile manufacturers could not help noticing the higher sales of the [[Oldsmobile 88]] to the buying public. The motto of the day became "win on Sunday, sell on Monday." However, in spite of the fact that several competing engines were more advanced, the aerodynamic and low-slung [[Hudson Hornet]] managed to win in 1951, 1952, and 1953 with a {{convert|308|cuin|L|1|abbr=on}} inline six-cylinder that used an old-style [[flathead engine]], proving there was more to winning than just a more powerful engine.<ref name=Wilber />

At the time, it typically took three years for a new design of car body or engine to end up in production and be available for NASCAR racing.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.torquenews.com/1080/how-car-design-works-start-finish | title=How car design works, start to finish | date=16 April 2012 }}</ref> Most cars sold to the public did not have a wide variety of engine choices, and the majority of the buying public at the time was not interested in the large displacement special edition engine options that would soon become popular. However, the end of the [[Korean War]] in 1953 started an economic boom, and then car buyers immediately began demanding more powerful engines.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/330247-the-evolution-of-the-stock-car-1950-1959 |title=NASCAR: The Evolution Of The Sport (1950-1959) |last=Wilber |first=Bert |website=[[Bleacher Report]] |date=January 21, 2010}}</ref>

Also in 1953, NASCAR recommended that the drivers add roll bars, but did not require them.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pierce|first=Daniel S.|title=Real NASCAR: White Lightning, Red Clay, and Big Bill France|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|year=2010|isbn=9780807895726|pages=148, 149}}</ref>

In 1957, several notable events happened. The [[Automobile Manufacturers Association]] banned manufacturers from using race wins in their advertising and giving direct support to race teams.<ref>[http://www.mindspring.com/~mike.wicks/nascarhistory2.html A brief history of NASCAR] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606002206/http://www.mindspring.com/~mike.wicks/nascarhistory2.html |date=2011-06-06 }} "1957" Retrieved May 13, 2009</ref>