The National Stock Car Racing Association (NSRA/NSCRA) was a sanctioning body for

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...

that operated in the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...

during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Competing against several other sanctioning bodies, including

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

, NSCRA was considered to be the most significant challenge to NASCAR's dominance of the sport; however it proved incapable of competing with the larger sanction, and closed down midway through the 1951 racing season.

History

Founded in 1946 in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Sam Nunis Floyd Sam Nunis (December 16, 1903 – February 1, 1980) was a pioneering figure in American stock car racing, being involved in both the American Automobile Association and the National Stock Car Racing Association. Career Nunis worked with ...

and

Weyman Milam Weyman is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Andrew D. Weyman, American television director and producer *Daniel Weyman Daniel Max Weyman (born 1977) is an English actor notable for his main roles in '' Ju ...

,Pierce 2010, p. 93 the NSCRA was one of many small sanctioning bodies that appeared following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to promote the fledgling sport of stock car racing. Participating, along with the U.S. Stock Car Drivers Association and Bill France's National Championship Stock Car Circuit, in a decision to declare a consensus national champion for stock cars in 1946, it remained a largely informal group, operating as a sanction for

modified stock car racing Modified stock car racing, also known as modified racing and modified, is a type of auto racing that involves purpose-built cars simultaneously racing against each other on oval tracks. First established in the United States after World War II, t ...

, until O. Bruton Smith of

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

assumed responsibility for the group in 1948.Thompson 2006, p. 283 Smith announced that the sanction would operate a "Strictly Stock" championship starting in 1949; he offered lucrative

purse money Prize money refers in particular to naval prize money, usually arising in naval warfare, but also in other circumstances. It was a monetary reward paid in accordance with the prize law of a belligerent state to the crew of a ship belonging to t ...

in an attempt to cherry-pick the stars of France's NASCAR, which had been founded in 1947 to replace the NCSCC and was running its first modified season in 1948. In direct competition, France announced his own Strictly Stock race, running it at

Charlotte Speedway Charlotte Speedway was the site of NASCAR's first Strictly Stock Series (now NASCAR Cup Series) race on June 19, 1949. The Daytona Beach Road Course held the first race sanctioned by NASCAR in 1948. The track was a few miles west of the NASCAR ...

in June 1949 - a direct poke in the eye to Smith and NSCRA, as Charlotte was Smith's hometown. The NSCRA Strictly Stock Championship ran for two years, with Ed Samples, a former moonshiner, winning the series title in 1949;

Buddy Shuman Buddy Shuman (September 8, 1915 – November 13, 1955) was a stock car driver who competed in the NASCAR Grand National Series. He raced between 1951 until 1955, achieving one victory, four top 5s, and 16 top 10s. Shuman is best known for win ...

, who had won the NSCRA modified title in 1948, took the series' stock car championship trophy in 1950. In late 1950, seeing as how the sport was still on a shaky basis and could not support two major sanctioning bodies, Smith and France agreed in principle to merge their respective organizations into a single, unified promotional body for the sport. However, Smith was drafted in January 1951 to fight in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

as a

paratrooper A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infa ...

; in his absence, NSCRA's management, dominated by drivers, proved incapable of keeping the organization afloat amongst internal disputes, and Milam was forced to close down the sanctioning body during the summer of 1951.Pierce 2010, p. 136 Samples was leading the NSCRA's point standings at the time of the closure. The circuit's premier drivers, such as

Cotton Owens Everett "Cotton" Owens (May 21, 1924 – June 7, 2012) was an American NASCAR driver. For five straight years (1957–61), Owens captured at least one Grand National Series win. Owens was known as "the King of the Modifieds" for his successes i ...

, and tracks, such as

Lakewood Speedway Lakewood Speedway was a race track located south of Atlanta, Georgia, in Lakewood, just north of the eastern arm of Langford Parkway (formerly Lakewood Freeway). The track held many kinds of races between 1919 and 1979, including events sanction ...

, joined

following NSCRA's closure.

References

;Notes ;Citations ;Bibliography * * * * * * {{Portal bar, Sports, Georgia (U.S. state) Auto racing organizations in the United States Stock car racing Sports leagues in the United States Companies based in Atlanta 1948 establishments in the United States 1951 disestablishments in the United States Sports in the Southern United States Motorsport in Georgia (U.S. state) Sports governing bodies in the United States