DECADE BY DECADE

Ok, folks, time to get back into the groove to discussions here. I was thinking about things for future Legendtorials on the Tuesday night radio show (Racing Through History)and thought about enlistingyour thoughts. I want to take the sport, decade by decade, and find out what YOU think.

This is sort of a two-part question which we will start today and run through the next several days. So,here goes:

1. What do you think is the single most important development in the sport for the decade of the 1950s?

2. Who do you think is the single most influential individual in the sport for the decade of the 1950s?

I intentionally did not mention the 1940s as we all know NASCAR was formed in that decade. We are dealing with STOCK CAR RACING only here so keep that in mind.

Thanks, and I look forward to hearing (actually seeing) your thoughts.

Tim

1. Daytona International Speedway

2. BigBill France

In the Sportsman Division: Switching from Flatheads to Overheads in Fords.

1. Daytona International Speedway

2. BigBill France

1. The most important development "that affected the sport" from the 50's...the small block v8 engine...or the construction of Darlington Raceway.

2. The most "influential" (your words) individual would have to be Lee, Junior, Smokey, Herb, Carl, Curtis...wow. How do you pick one? Gotta give this more thought.

This might be the answers now that I think about it.

1. Darlington Raceway

2. Harold Brasington

Think about it folks...even Big Bill flew folks over it while it was under construction and told them "This is the future".

1. Theinnovationof the roll bar.

2. Curtis Turner

1. The 265 chevrolet engine in 1955

2. Lee Petty

#1 Darlington Speedway

#2 Lee Petty

Well in my humble opinion the V-8 engine since Darlington was devloped in the 40's and Daytona wasn't until 59 so it not fair to Smokey Yunick and Hubert Westmoreland not to nomanate the engine because it was brought to production then and still is being used today.

The most influential individual was no hands down Bill France Sr. With the help of many many others. Some which have been named above.