This Week In NASCAR History: November 28th - December 4th

    

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

December, 1949 - NASCAR releases the results for the winner of the first official Most Popular Driver pole, with Curtis Turner gathering the most fan votes; Red Byron has the second most votes. Other awards, also determined by fan vote, went to Joe Wolf (Outstanding Mechanic Award), Red Byron (Best Strictly Stock Car Driver Award), and Sara Christian (Best Woman driver Award).

November 30th, 1952 - Herb Thomas wins the season finale race at West Palm Beach as Tim Flock clinches the NASCAR Grand National Championship. Flock gets held back mid-race when he flips his Hudson, but dashes back up the ranks for a 12th place finish, grabbing the championship by 106 points over Herb Thomas.

December, 1970 - R.J. Reynolds announces that one of their cigarette brands, Winston, will become NASCAR's title sponsor for the premier stock car racing series, chancing the title to the NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National Series.

November 28th, 2000 - Bill France, Jr. steps down as the president of NASCAR; Mike Helton succeeds him. France, Jr. says that "Mike is well-suited to carry on the tradition of strong leadership at NASCAR. Not only within our offices, but for the entire industry."

December, 2003 - NASCAR is rumored to be adopting a new points system beginning in the 2004 season. The points awarded to race winners will be adjusted, and will establish a 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup championship; the top ten drivers in points after the 26th race will automatically qualify for the Chase.