Tiny Lund in the pit at the 1965 Daytona 500 / THF117040

“Rubbin’ Is Racin’” — Robert Duvall as Harry Hogge in Days of Thunder

Stock car legend Dale Earnhardt once said, “The winner ain’t the one with the fastest car—it’s the one who refuses to lose.” This form of racing blends innovation, teamwork, and a bit of “trading paint” with rivals along the way.

Stock car racing is famously close-fought—often a contact sport. Few cars come out of a race, particularly on the shorter tracks, without at least a scrape, scratch, or dent from “trading paint” with another car. NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) is an extremely popular stock car series that evolved from Southern moonshine-running during Prohibition. The spectacle is characterized by the color and noises of high-speed, ultra-close racing, highly efficient teamwork during pit stops, and the added conflict of long-standing rivalries among auto manufacturers.

The term "stock car" originally meant a car from a dealer's stock—one that was unmodified. When NASCAR ran its first series in 1949, it was called “Strictly Stock,” and for many years racing stock cars were indeed based on real production automobiles. By 1987, however, racing stock cars only looked stock, and since then, further rules changes have given NASCAR stock cars only a passing resemblance to their production counterparts, with just a few design cues to make the connection. Underneath the bodywork is a purpose-built steel tube frame chassis, racing suspension and brakes, and a pure-bred racing engine.

The Stock Car Racing section of our new exhibit, Driven to Win: Racing in America presented by General Motors, will delight people who enjoy real, hands-on pit crew teamwork with an activity for four or five people to see how fast they can change the tires and work the gas can. You’ll also see an actual stock car and other related artifacts.

2011 Ford Fusion, driven by Trevor Bayne

(On loan from the Wood Brothers Racing)


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This car, driven by Trevor Bayne, won the Daytona 500 in 2011. His was a milestone victory in several ways. It was Ford’s 600^th win in NASCAR’s premier Cup Series, scored by a legendary team that has been involved from NASCAR’s beginnings. It was the fifth Daytona 500 win for Wood Brothers Racing and the twelfth by a Ford car (Wood Brothers also scored Ford’s first, in 1963). For Trevor Bayne, who had celebrated his 20th birthday the day before, it was his first victory in NASCAR’s top series, making him the Daytona 500’s youngest winner. (Coincidentally, in Wood Brothers’ first Daytona 500 win in 1963, it was also driver Tiny Lund’s first NASCAR cup win.)

The Wood Brothers are celebrated for revolutionizing NASCAR’s pit stops. They pioneered the fast, meticulously choreographed and coordinated actions of the team’s “over-the-wall” crew, who jack up the car, change the tires, and fill the gas tank with blinding speed. Their pit stop fame prompted Ford and Team Lotus to hire Wood Brothers to service Jim Clark’s car in the 1965 Indy 500.

This car also benefits from safety advances instituted following Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s fatal crash at the end of the 2001 Daytona 500. That tragic event launched a revolution in NASCAR’s safety regulations and procedures. Arguably the most important of these is the mandatory use of the HANS (Head and Neck Support) device that restricts the movement of a driver’s head in a hard crash. In addition, SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) barriers, mandatory crash data recorders in the cars to advance knowledge of crash dynamics, and more energy-absorbing deformation zones were introduced into the next generation of NASCAR stock cars.

Additional Artifacts

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Beyond the 2011 Ford Fusion, you can see these artifacts related to stock car racing in Driven to Win.

 

• Wood Brothers Racing Pit Crew Shirt, circa 1969
• Pennant, "Kyle Petty, #44," 1999
• Cheerios Breakfast Cereal Featuring Richard Petty, 2001
• Racing Suit Worn by Kurt Busch While Competing in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, 2001
• Pennant, "Kurt Busch, #97" 2001-2003
• Race Fans for a Cure Collectible Model Car, 2002
• Tide Racing Baseball Cap, 2006
• NASCAR Jacket, 2010
• Racing Gloves Worn by Danica Patrick While Competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, circa 2012
• Leather Jacket, "Drive4COPD," Worn by Danica Patrick, circa 2012
• Pinwheel, Symbol of "Drive4COPD," circa 2012
• Racing Shoes Worn by Clint Bowyer While Competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, 2012-2016
• Racing Shoes Worn by Kevin Harvick While Competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, 2014
• Racing Suit Worn by Kevin Harvick While Competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, 2014

 

Dig Deeper

Cale Yarborough Seated in Ford Motor Company's Special Edition Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II, during the Daytona 500 Race, Florida, February 25, 1968 / THF81653

Learn more about stock car racing and racers with these additional resources from The Henry Ford.

• Take a quick look at the career of stock car racer Vicki Wood.
• Revisit the excitement of the original unveiling of Trevor Bayne’s Ford Fusion in Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation.
• Watch NASCAR legends, from Trevor Bayne to Richard Petty, visit Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation.
• Discover the story of Wendell Scott, the first Black driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series event.
• Visit the NASCAR Hall of Fame with The Henry Ford’s curator of transportation, Matt Anderson.
• Check out Driven to Win with up-and-coming NASCAR driver Armani Williams.
• Learn more about Armani Williams’s racing career so far and his work for autism awareness.
• See NASCAR's Stewart-Haas Racing team visit Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation.
• Hear racing legend Mario Andretti describe his win at the 1967 Daytona 500.

Additional Readings:

• 1933 Willys Drag Racer
  
• 2001 Chevrolet Corvette C5-R. On Loan from General Motors Heritage Center.
  
• Trained for the Track: Positioning Racing’s Athletes for Success
  
• Eight Questions with Vaughn Gittin, Jr.

cars, Henry Ford Museum, Driven to Win, race cars, race car drivers, racing