WHERE ---ON THIS--- DO YOU FALL INTO LINE AT

Have you ever given any thought to the evolution of stock cars from the beginning?
The first to be used on a Nascar type track was the lovely but agile 39/40 Ford Coupe. For a song you could go racing because junk yards had your new racer waiting patiently on you . All it took was a few bucks paid for it and a lot of southern thoughtful creating.
After world war two guys were coming home with all sorts of great ideas just waiting to jump out of their heads and what better place to use them than on race cars.
Along in the late 40s General Motors came out with a new invention called an overhead V8 engine in their Olds and in a coupe it was fast. Flatheads had their hands full with them. Then a Guy took a Hudson and modified the engine slightly and it proved to be competitive. So good was it that he went to Detroit and persuaded the Hudson factory to build the first underslung car with his famous twin Carburetor flat head six which got the Hudson package dubbed The Hornet. This was the new wave of power and prevailed until 1955 when Ford and Chevrolet came out with those awesome overhead V8 motors, and the race was on.
Stock cars as a whole ran through 1965 then the swing to the smaller unibody cars started,and did they ever shake up the racing scene with all the different things tried.
Hudson was the first to have factory sponsorship but by the 60s Detroit was head over heels in racing.
The first overall modification of the car came for the 1967 season. The car had a stock body with a modified frame and modified chassis. Holman-Moody, Banjo Matthews and Hutchenson-Pagan built chassis for the teams. In the late 60s wings spoilers and dams were of the norm with a pointed or two noses thrown in for good measure.
By the middle of the 70s the American muscle hit the track in full force as aerodynamics became more advanced. The magic of big cubic inches for power was slowly giving way to mouse motors and the new game was on in weight vs cubic inches.
In 1981 came a more race-centered series of vehicles. The wheel base was reduced to 110 inches; and NASCAR downsized cars to better resemble cars on the showroom floor, though body panels were still purchased through the manufacturers.
Special names were being enshrined in Nascar like Petty - Pearson - and The Intimidator Dale Earnhardt became a legend in this third-generation Chevrolet.
General motors tried a few tricks in the 80s with a little Aero window on the chevy but Ford roared back with a little known North Ga. driver know as Bill Elliott and
on April 30, 1987, Bill Elliott set the NASCAR qualifying speed record at Talladega in this car at 212.809 mph with his little red Thunderbird .
Well along came the Generation 4 design of car and NASCAR altered the look of the race car significantly in this generation. It had a highly modified body, leading teams to spend hours in the wind tunnel to gain an aero edge. The bumpers, nose and tail were composed of molded fiberglass based off production counterparts In 1995 Chevrolet swapped body styles to the Monte Carlo and Jeff Gordon drove it to four championships
iN 1998 Ford introduced the Ford Tarus.This was the first four-door stock car model approved for NASCAR competition in the modern era.
Chrysler took a break from Nascar for a few years but came back with Ray Everham in 2001 with a Dodge Intrepid. Also in the middle of all this a new player came into the picture,Toyota.
The cars were trying to revert back to the likes of the competitors and fans. Competitors and fans missed the look of the spoiler, so it returned at Martinsville on 3/27/2010.Chevrolets championship car featured a front splitter, rear wing and a whole lot of dominance.
So now enters the Generation 5 car in 2007. The so-called Car of Tomorrow introduced a new era in car safety. It featured a common body and chassis for all manufacturers designed to reduce the need for track-specific race cars. It included a front splitter and rear wing to offer teams aero adjustment options. But the end of Generation 5 cars also ended the famous 2012 Chevy Impala.
Enter 2012 and Generation 6 cars, Indeed they were different and actually had a similarity to a showroom car. The Generation 6 car marks the return of the showroom look. Manufactured-unique body panels are placed on the existing chassis. Enhanced body designs are built to more closely resemble the cars found in showrooms across the US and the design aims to put the stock back into stock-car racing.
So now you are up to the 2013 Daytona race. The car has changed several times and the rule book has more additions to it than the law allows,almost.
Also if you look you will see familiar names in strange cars so remember to get a sharp pencil with an eraser so you can keep score of the movement of the boys and girls on the track.

So whether you drive a Chevy ,Ford or even a Hudson you were in style at one period of time in racing.

February will start the new year off right ---ARE YOU READY? ? ?

That was a good written piece Johnny. Thanks for the break-down of the generations...something I never could figure out.

I would be hard pressed to pick any car as my favorite other than the first I ever owned, the '57 Chevy which sped to NASCAR fame in its Black Widow version, wheeled by the likes of Buck Baker and Speedy Thompson, among numerous others.

That '57 Chevy became the first model to win consecutive Southern 500s at Darlington - in 1957 and 1958.

I also loved my '63 Chevy and we all remember a certain white Ray Fox fielded version numbered with a red 3 and outfitted with a "Mystery Motor" that Ford Motor Company spent millions trying to catch - but, they were no match for an old moonshine runner from Wilkes County.

The last car I owned that I truly loved was my 1973 Chevy Monte Carlo 350. That model, too, enjoyed tremendous success on the NASCAR tracks.

In 1977 I moved into the world of station wagons as the family came along and later SUVs.

For ten years at the Richmond track, from 1990-1999, I got a new Pontiac Bonneville every 7500 miles. The best thing about them was that they were free. Free car, free insurance, free wash jobs and free gas. I think all that freeness made them drive pretty darned good! But the Pontiac teams were driving the Grand Prix, not the Bonnneville.

I am all in favor of anything NASCAR can do to make the cars on the track look like street versions, although I can hardly tell one maunfacturer's model from another these days. I guarantee even a blind man could tell the difference between a '57 Chevy, '57 Ford and '57 Plymouth.

As you say, Johnny..... memories.

Help... it's half-time and more screeching and prancing.

i loved that video patty my first car was a 54 chevy the 53 chevy in the video reminded me of my first car

dave we have a loy in common when it comes to pretty cars i once owned a white 63 chevy impala with red interior 2 door hardtop

Charles - My brother-in-law in Wilson had a red '57 Chevy convertible with white interior. I only saw photos. I was VERY envious of him.

I bought my '63 Chevy used in Richmond from a Cadillac/Olds dealer secretary. Found it hidden on the back of the lot before they wholesaled it. I had repainted 1963 GM Daytona Metalflake Blue.

After I was married in 1973, I found that my wife had a "63 Chevy SS painted GM Daytona Metalflake blue. Small world.

I bet your '63 was pretty!

Havent ever read your breakdown, just was setting thinking and started typing. EXCUSE me if I look like im stealing your thunder -----but I aint.

And who ever said you didnt know anything as you so write

And since when can two great minds not think alike??

Spatting??? Me ?? NEVER but I may hang in there a few rounds debating ==as Jeff would say Wrestling with a pig

And who ever said you was failing at the home page or the discussion page??? HUH ?? I think you are doing a heck of a great job,you just not getting the roses sent to you like they should. And as for reading A L L these posts and articles I would have to stay glued to this screen. You keep up the great work and Ruby will keep the grass cut ----S M I LE

Nope no fingers were pointed you just put yourself there if you thought it was pointed be careful now the muds kinda Cold up there on that Rock .... Ha Ha Ha now put your broom up cause you aint sweeping me off the porch

Aint nothing like a brisk walk around the block to clear the air