Charlotte knew stock-car racing long before LMS

Daytona Beach bills itself as the world center of racing and is home to NASCAR's corporate headquarters, but Charlotte has remained the epicenter of stock-car racing for almost six decades.

Not only are the majority of teams based near North Carolina's Queen City, but the first Strictly Stock race, the precursor to today's Sprint Cup, was held at the old Charlotte Speedway dirt oval in 1949.

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Over the years, no fewer than nine Charlotte-area tracks have hosted NASCAR's premier series, although only one -- Lowe's Motor Speedway -- remains on the schedule. But the history of racing in the Piedmont is worth a look back as the circuit heads home for this weekend's All-Star events.

Imagine that first race in 1949. NASCAR's new division meant many drivers bought their cars directly off the showroom floor and drove them to the .75-mile Charlotte Speedway oval. A field of 33 cars took the green flag in front of an overflow crowd of 13,000.

Tim Flock later said the dust was so thick during the race, it was almost impossible to see. Lee Petty, who "borrowed" a friend's Buick to race, wound up rolling it on its roof, and took home $25 for finishing 17th. But that was better than the last 13 finishers, who received no money from the purse.

Jim Roper, who drove his Lincoln all the way from Kansas to participate, finished three laps behind winner Glenn Dunnaway, but Dunnaway's car was found to have illegal rear springs and was disqualified. Instead, the $2,000 payday went to Roper and NASCAR survived its first, but certainly not last, bout with controversy.

Charlotte Speedway hosted NASCAR events until it closed for good at the end of the 1956 season. A junkyard covers a large portion of the original track site.

The Southern States Fairgrounds half-mile oval also hosted races from 1954 until 1961. Petty won the inaugural race and would go on to score two more victories there. The facility, located at the intersection of North Tryon and East Sugar Creek, featured a covered wooden grandstand and large infield lake.

Buck Baker passed Petty on the final lap to win at Gastonia Speedway in 1958, but a month later, Petty turned the tables with a last-lap pass of Baker at Salisbury Speedway. That was the only time NASCAR visited either Charlotte-area facility.

Harris Speedway and Starlite Speedway in Monroe figure into NASCAR's history books. Richard Petty and Ned Jarrett won 334-lap features on the third-mile oval. Starlite's lone NASCAR race in 1966 was won by Darel Dieringer, although the track stayed open through the mid-'70s before a business park was built on the site.

NASCAR came to the Cleveland County Fairgrounds in Shelby six times, and North Carolina native Ned Jarrett would go on to sweep both of the 1965 events on the half-mile dirt oval. Just 14 cars made up the field for the August race, and only nine were running at the finish, as Jarrett beat Richard Petty by four laps.

Last but not least, Concord Speedway hosted 12 NASCAR races between 1956 and 1964. Speedy Thompson led a 1-2-3 Carl Kiekhaefer-owned Chrysler sweep in the inaugural 200-lap event on the dirt half-mile. A year later, a local driver named Ralph Earnhardt would finish 12th. His final Cup start would come at Concord in 1964, when he was credited with a 13th-place finish as a result of a blown engine.

Legendary drivers like Fireball Roberts, Lee and Richard Petty, Curtis Turner and Joe Weatherly visited Victory Lane there. And Earnhardt's son, Dale, began his racing career at Concord Speedway before finding success on a bigger stage.

The track closed in the 1970s and the land was sold for a housing development.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.