[Bob Tanner]

OK, sports fans....

Years ago NASCAR tried to compete with AAA, the sanctioning body for the Indy 500. They utilized used indy cars and stock block engines. NASCAR did this to compete directly with the Indy Champ Car Series. The series only lasted seven races before NASCAR pulled the plug.

Answer the following questions concerning this ill-fated NASCAR venture:

(a) What was the Series called?

(b) Who was the series' only champion?

(c) What year did this occur?

(d) What were the two main reasons NASCAR got out of the Indy-type car business?

Have fun... I'll see you in a few days.

[Quality88]

(a) What was the Series called? Track Roadster Division

(b) Who was the series' only champion? Jim Roper

(c) What year did this occur? 1947

(d) What were the two main reasons NASCAR got out of the Indy-type car business? No Sponsor Support or fan support

I'm just guessing as this question has hurt my brain for the weekend. Thanks Bob, I need a drink now.

[LSC9901]

Jim Roper, the first NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car race winner, died Friday at a local retirement facility. -- Courtesy PhotoFirst NASCAR race winner dies at age 83 in Newton
Friends say he had suffered from illnesses

By Jennifer Newton Reents
Newton Kansan
Christian "Jim" Roper's name became a part of history when he won the first ever NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car race June 19, 1949 in Charlotte, N.C.
Roper, 83, formerly of Halstead, died Friday at Friendly Acres Retirement Community in Newton. He had been ill with cancer in recent years and suffered from heart and liver failure, friends said.
Behind him he leaves a story about the day the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit was born.
After reading about the upcoming first NASCAR Strictly Stock car race for modern sedans in a syndicated comic strip in 1949, he and friend Millard Clothier headed for the Charlotte Speedway in two Lincolns from Clothier's car dealership in Great Bend to race in the 150-mile, 200-lap event. It was the second NASCAR-sanctioned race, but the first ever for stock car racing. The first NASCAR-sanctioned race was in February 1948.
The Charlotte Speedway, now closed, which had been hosting events for modified race cars, had a dirt racing surface that was reportedly bumpy in spots and difficult to negotiate, even in the best of conditions. After about 50 laps, eventual NASCAR Hall of Famer Tim Flock told NASCAR Winston Cup Series magazine all the cars were "running hot. It was really mass confusion."
"NASCAR was brand new," Roper told the Kansas City Star in 1998. "It started out well, one of the biggest crowds they ever had."
Though it seemed all the drivers were having trouble, Roper said told NASCAR Winston Cup Series magazine in 1998, there was no need to grumble.
"Back then you didn't (complain) about the race track like they do today," he said. "Back then almost everything was dirt. You're going to have a hole or two. You can't race very hard and not have one or two."

Jim Roper races his midget car during a race in Oklahoma City in 1946. -- Courtesy PhotoOn the day of the race, there was an estimated 23,000 in the crowd. While Roper, then 31, eventually was declared the winner, the story behind his win is telling.
Driver Glenn Dunnaway, from Gastonia, N.C., took the checkered flag and was three laps in front of Roper, whose Lincoln Cosmopolitan was overheating. Dunnaway appeared to be the one to grab the $2,000 purse.
But upon an inspection of his car, it was revealed Dunnaway's springs were illegal because they were not a factory installed component and the car was disqualified, NASCAR Winston Cup Series magazine reported. Rules back then required cars to be showroom versions that were available to the general public.
Roper was declared the winner, Fonty Flock in second, future Hall of Famer and Strictly Stock overall champion for 1949 Red Byron in third, Sam Rice in fourth and Tim Flock in fifth. Other legendary racers who competed that day were Lee Petty, Curtis Turner and Buck Baker.
NASCAR officials dismantled Roper's engine in a post-race inspection. Since the car also was his mode of transportation back home to Kansas, a North Carolina car dealership put a replacement engine in the winning car and he returned to the land of wheat fields.
Roper raced in one other stock race, winning $50 for finishing 15th in Occoneechee Speedway in Hillsboro, N.C., two months after his win in Charlotte. He didn't participate in NASCAR's top level again.
"He liked girls and fast cars," said Henry Ward of Halstead, a friend of Roper's for about 50 years. "He liked to joke a lot. He liked to play jokes on people."
Before heading to NASCAR, Roper raced a variety of cars. In 1944, Roper, a Halstead High School graduate, purchased a midget race car at the age of 27. The cars were homemade, had an open cockpit and were lightweight yet powerful for their size. After World War II, Roper drove numerous types of race cars in the Midwest, including midgets, stock cars and track roadsters also known as hot rods.
He started driving in the track roadster division in 1947 for a longtime friend, Earl Mills of Newton. He won the Beacon Championship at the CeJay Speedway in Wichita in 1947 driving a 1933 Auburn roadster powered by a Ford V-8 flathead engine.
"Roper was the most carefree person I've ever encountered," said Bryson Mills, 63, who met Roper when he was 10.
Roper also raced on the International Motor Contest Association circuit in Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Iowa.
Ward said Roper earned the nickname "Alfalfa Jim" in his early days of racing midget cars in Salina. During one race at Agricultural Hall in Salina, Roper was spinning out on the track. As Bryson Mills recalls, Roper went trough a wooden fence into an alfalfa field, turned around and headed back on the track to finish the race. At the end, his car was full of alfalfa, thus the creation of the nickname.
After winning the first NASCAR race, Roper continued to compete in other types of races for six years. In 1950, he set a track record on the internationally known track in Belleville known as the Belleville High Banks. And because the record books are closed when car specifications change, Roper is the one-lap track record holder in the stock car division at Belleville. He received a charter membership into the Belleville High Banks Hall of Fame and is scheduled to be inducted July 29.
In 1955, Roper suffered a broken vertebrae in a sprint car accident. He recovered but decided to end his driving career. He later became a professional flagman at race events, built race cars in which to train other drivers and eventually became a thoroughbred horse breeder and settled near Kaufman, Texas. He moved back to Kansas a few weeks ago after taking ill and requested Bryson Mills take him back home to spend his final days.
In 1993 during a visit to North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway he was presented a duplicate trophy commemorating his 1949 NASCAR victory because the owner of his winning race car, his friend, Clothier, with whom he headed to the famous NASCAR race with, kept the original trophy. He drove one of his original midget cars about four years ago at the age of 80 at the Belleville track where he holds a record during an exhibition race.
"I was pretty proud of the way I drove," Roper told the Kansas City Star in 1998 about driving the car again.
He was honored at a NASCAR Winston Cup race at the Texas Motor Speedway in 1998. In 1999, the Atlanta Motor Speedway honored Roper for being the first person to win in the Grand National Division, which is now the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The 1999 NAPA 500 trophy was named in his honor.
Along with his love for racing, he had an affection for others, animals and fishing, Bryson Mills said.
"He was a kind, considerate guy," he added. "He didn't believe in getting in a hurry on anything except getting on a racetrack."
Bryson Mills said shortly before Roper died, the racer talked about his life.
"He said 'Boy I've had fun'," Bryson Mills said.
Graveside services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Halstead Cemetery.
-- NASCAR Winston Cup Scene magazine and other published reports contributed to this story.

[Quality88]

Yeah read that article also LSC. Took forever to find that.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Quality88

(a) What was the Series called? Track Roadster Division

(b) Who was the series' only champion? Jim Roper

(c) What year did this occur? 1947

(d) What were the two main reasons NASCAR got out of the Indy-type car business? No Sponsor Support or fan support

I'm just guessing as this question has hurt my brain for the weekend. Thanks Bob, I need a drink now.

Nope.

Unless there is someone out there who actually remembers this, this one will take some research. I tried to make it google and ask.com-proof.

I found it interesting that, even as far back as this goes, Bill France Sr thought that NASCAR could compete with the larget, most popular racing series in the world. (the AAA-sanctioned Champion Car Series, which ran the Indy 500. When this happened Indy was the most famous and popular race in the world, drawing over 200,000 attendees each year.)

In fact, telling you that Indy was sanctioned by AAA gives you an idea as to the time frame.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

Christian "Jim" Roper's name became a part of history when he won the first ever NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car race June 19, 1949 in Charlotte, N.C.[/size]
=3][/size]

GREAT article. This was the first time I ever heard that Roper drove midgets and "big cars."

However, I don't believe that he ever drove in the series in my question.

You know, I believe that this question would do well over in the NASCAR forum, LSC. I see only eighteen people have even read it. One of the reasons I liked to throw out these trivia questions was to educate the newbies to the history of NASCAR and give them a feel from whence we came. I seriously doubt if any of the new or casual NASCAR fans, or the "drive-by posters" ever venture over to this forum.

For example, I bet several people would read the article you posted on Jim Roper and make comments, or at least just think about it; learning by osmosis so to speak.

I would have no qualms at all if, after some discussion with Ross and agreement on the management's part, you would cut and paste my entire trivia question over to the regular forum. I'll probably be gone all week but feel free to do so, or to do what you can to generate interest in NASCAR history.

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

Nope.

Unless there is someone out there who actually remembers this, this one will take some research. I tried to make it google and ask.com-proof.

I found it interesting that, even as far back as this goes, Bill France Sr thought that NASCAR could compete with the larget, most popular racing series in the world. (the AAA-sanctioned Champion Car Series, which ran the Indy 500. When this happened Indy was the most famous and popular race in the world, drawing over 200,000 attendees each year.)

In fact, telling you that Indy was sanctioned by AAA gives you an idea as to the time frame.

If it wasn't 47 then technically it wouldn't be nascar then would it since Nascar wasn't formed until 47... right?

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

GREAT article. This was the first time I ever heard that Roper drove midgets and "big cars."

However, I don't believe that he ever drove in the series in my question.

You know, I believe that this question would do well over in the NASCAR forum, LSC. I see only eighteen people have even read it. One of the reasons I liked to throw out these trivia questions was to educate the newbies to the history of NASCAR and give them a feel from whence we came. I seriously doubt if any of the new or casual NASCAR fans, or the "drive-by posters" ever venture over to this forum.

For example, I bet several people would read the article you posted on Jim Roper and make comments, or at least just think about it; learning by osmosis so to speak.

I would have no qualms at all if, after some discussion with Ross and agreement on the management's part, you would cut and paste my entire trivia question over to the regular forum. I'll probably be gone all week but feel free to do so, or to do what you can to generate interest in NASCAR history.

I did, a while back, express my point of view to Ross in respect to the Trivia thread being separated from the regular threads. He told me that it allows for more exposure VIA the search engines and since he is in this to grow I can't argue with him. I think the trivia would do far better within the NASCAR forum since that's where it got started and generated the most interest. I think I will add a link to this thread through my signature. Maybe you could do the same Bob and get some more action on this thread. A well deserving thread !!!

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Quality88

If it wasn't 47 then technically it wouldn't be nascar then would it since Nascar wasn't formed until 47... right?

They met the first time to organize the effort on 12/14/47.

NASCAR didn't actually become NASCAR until 2/21/48, when they incorporated. Before then it was NCSCC (National Championship Stock Car Circuit).

THis fact has the potential to win you a lot of drinks in bar bets. Nine out of ten people will bet that NASCAR has always been NASCAR from its inception.

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

They met the first time to organize the effort on 12/14/47.

NASCAR didn't actually become NASCAR until 2/21/48, when they incorporated. Before then it was NCSCC (National Championship Stock Car Circuit).

THis fact has the potential to win you a lot of drinks in bar bets. Nine out of ten people will bet that NASCAR has always been NASCAR from its inception.

I knew about the NCSCC. I also read about SCARS. hmmm...

[Bob Tanner]

NASCAR & Indy Cars -ANSWER

In 1948, one division -the Modifieds - operated under NASCAR. A year later the Grand National (Strictly Stock) came aboard. By 1951 the Short Track Circuit had been add, and, for 1952 another new division was in the works.

NASCAR announced that it was going to conduct a series of "Speedway" races. The cars eligible for the new classification were Indianapolis-type cars equipped with stock engines. Bill France thought that the economically minded division would attract Southerners who wanted a taste of the mystique that drew 250,000 spectators in Indianapolis. Midwesterners who had been driven off the AAA championship trail due to rising costs would also be interested.

On May 10th, 1952, the first Speedway Division race was held at Darlington Raceway. Buck Baker driving a cadillac-powered open-wheeler led for 56 laps of the 200 lap affair and beat Bill Miller and Fireball Roberts by over five miles.

Seven more events were scheduled at Atlanta's Lakewood Speedway, Charlotte and Langhorne. With the lone exception of Darlington, which drew 21 entries, the starting fields were short of expectations. By July promoters were concerned about signing up for the Speedway Division since a nation-wide steel strike was making it impossible for car owners to find metal to build the cars. NASCAR made an announcement in July: "Due to an unusually hot summer coupled with the paralyzing nation-wide steele strike, many promoters have postponed dates until conditions take a turn for the better."

The steele strike ended in August but the Speedway Division never returned and Buck Baker was crowned champion based on the seven races run.

AAA got in the final stab when it's Contest Board issued the following statement: "The Contest Board is bitterly opposed to what it calls 'junk cars' and believes the fad for such hippodroming is dying out."

And that, my friends, is a little-known sidelight of NASCAR history.