In this history of the stock car racing circuit known as NASCAR, Daniel S. Pierce offers a revealing new look at the sport from its postwar beginnings on Daytona Beach and Piedmont dirt tracks through the early 1970s, when the sport spread beyond its southern roots and gained national recognition. Real NASCAR not only confirms the popular notion of NASCAR’s origins in bootlegging, but also establishes beyond a doubt the close ties between organized racing and the illegal liquor industry, a story that readers will find both fascinating and controversial. “If you're a Southerner, by birth or by inclination, and love Southern foodways, folkways, highways, and low-ways, you'll lap up Daniel S. Pierce’s Real NASCAR . . . like grits and red-eye gravy, even if you've never been to a stock car race or watched one on television.”— Our State “Of the many books on NASCAR history, few have been either as thorough or as authoritative as this one. . . . Pierce’s aim to build his work on documented evidence rather than widely accepted and oft-repeated lore makes his book a standout. Enthusiastically recommended.”— Library Journal , starred review “The first comprehensive history of early southern stock-car racing that reflects its rustic character but not at the expense of academic rigor.”— Journal of Southern History “ Real NASCAR contains an energy and respect for its subject that reveals the historian’s personal enthusiasm. Even if you have never been a NASCAR fan, you will find much to keep you reading in this intriguing history of the sport.”— Smoky Mountain Living “A fascinating history of the era.”— Bookforum “An enthusiastic study that brings to life NASCAR’s mythology and reality. . . . This volume will delight fans; researches will appreciate the bounty of resources cited. . . . Recommended.”— CHOICE “Details the sport’s genesis as it has never been shown before. . . . A story that readers will find both fascinating and controversial.”— McCormick Messenger “ Real NASCAR can be read by racing fans who will share stories about Bill France and Curtis Turner at lunch tables and bars all over America at the same time it becomes a key text in the reading lists of university courses on Southern culture.”— Virginia Libraries “Capture[s] the spirit of the early years of rough-and-tumble stock racing.”— Roanoke Times “Rollicking and innovative. . . . A history that is captivating, insightful, and surprising. . . . Enthusiastically recommend[ed].”— Florida Historical Quarterly An important book that transcends other works dealing with the complex and mythic background of stock car racing in the post-World War II South. Pierce has cut through the tangle of anecdotal and (self-)promotional writings to boil the first years of NASCAR down to a rich historical broth that needs no embellishment.--Pete Daniel, author of Lost Revolutions: The South in the 1950s An unauthorized account of the history of southern stock car racing In this history of the stock car racing circuit known as NASCAR, Pierce offers a revealing new look at the sport from its postwar beginnings on Daytona Beach and Piedmont dirt tracks through the early 1970s when the sport spread beyond its southern roots and gained national recognition. The book not only confirms the popular notion of NASCAR's origins in bootlegging, but also establishes beyond a doubt the close ties between organized racing and the illegal liquor industry, a story that readers will find both fascinating and controversial. In this history of the stock car racing circuit known as NASCAR, Pierce offers a revealing new look at the sport from its postwar beginnings on Daytona Beach and Piedmont dirt tracks through the early 1970s when the sport spread beyond its southern roots and gained national recognition. The book not only confirms the popular notion of NASCAR's origins in bootlegging, but also establishes beyond a doubt the close ties between organized racing and the illegal liquor industry, a story that readers will find both fascinating and controversial. Daniel S. Pierce is professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He is author of The Great Smokies: From Natural Habitat to National Park . Used Book in Good Condition