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.
May 1949 - NASCAR president Bill France decides to scale back on his advertising for Roadster events and instead schedules a 150-mile Strictly Stock race for mid-June, to be held at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
May 5th, 1950 - Curtis Turner and NASCAR President Bill France join together to enter a Nash Ambassador in a 2172-mile endurance race across Mexican terrain; the race being dubbed the Carrera Panamericana. France and Turner crash out of the race.
May 7th, 1955 - Young Junior Johnson drives his Oldsmobile racecar to victory at Hickory Speedway in North Carolina, notching his first NASCAR Grand National career victory.
May 2nd, 1959 - Junior Johnson flips his Ford racecar during practice, but miraculously drove the same car to victory in the NASCAR Grand National race at Hickory Speedway.
May 4th, 1962 - Jimmy Pardue wins the 66.7-mile race at Southside Speedway in Richmond, notching his first NASCAR Grand National career victory. He receives $550 for his achievement.
May 1st, 1964 - LeeRoy Yarbrough grabs his first NASCAR Grand National career victory by winning the 100-mile race at Savannah Speedway: A mere 12 cars make up the starting grid for the race.
May 2nd, 1982 - Benny Parsons starts on the pole after whipping up a record 200.176 mph qualifying lap, the first time in NASCAR history to surpass 200 mph in official qualifications. Darrell Waltrip wins the race.
May 6th, 1991 - Harry Gant wins the Winston 500 at Talladega, despite his car putting out fumes. Kyle Petty breaks his leg in a crash during the race, putting him out of contention for three months.
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