This Week in NASCAR History: July 4th - 10th

NASCAR's deep history is not very well known, even for avid fans; This article is meant to get fans in the know of NASCAR's most notable history that happened throughout this week.

• July 10th, 1949 - A crowd of 5,000 spectators watch as three female drivers compete on the Daytona Road Course. Red Byron takes the checkered flag to win the 166-mile race.
• July 4th, 1952 - Rex Stansell is fatally injured in a crash at Darlington Raceway. Curtis Turner comes out victorious in the 200-mile NASCAR Modified Sportsman race.
• July 4th, 1953 - A napping Tim Flock gets accidentally run over by a car in the infield, keeping him from racing for several weeks. 
• July 4th, 1956 - Fireball Roberts wins his first superspeedway victory at Raleigh Speedway, but Carl Kiehaefer files a complaint against Roberts' flywheel. NASCAR officials take the flywheel to a fish market nearby to have it weighed, and Roberts' win is upheld.
• July 4th, 1966 - Sam McQuagg notches his first career win by winning at Daytona. This race was the first that NASCAR permitted cars to be fitted with spoilers.
• July 4th, 1984 - President Ronald Reagan watches as Richard Petty scores his 200th NASCAR victory during the “Firecracker” 400 at Daytona International Speedway. This record, set on the nation's birthday, will most likely never be beat.
• July 4th, 1985 - Greg Sacks drives his unsponsored car to victory over over second place finisher Bill Elliot at Daytona. The finish was Sacks' first career win, as well as his first top five finish.
• July 4th, 1992 - President George Bush joins Richard Petty for prerace ceremonies; this race was the King's final Daytona race. Ernie Irvan wins the Pepsi 400.
• July 5th, 1997 - John Andretti notches his first NASCAR Winston Cup Series win in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona.
• July 4th, 1998 - Daytona International Speedway officials are forced to postpone the Pepsi 400 due to raging wildfires, marking the first time that the July 4th race was postponed. 
• July 9th, 2000 - Tony Stewart wins at New Hampshire when bad weather shortens the 300 laps to 273 laps. Kenny Irwin, Jr. is killed in a practice lap crash.
• July 7th, 2018 - Eric Jones takes his first NASCAR Cup Series career win by winning the 'Coke Zero Sugar 400' at Daytona International Speedway.