Social Studies: Pre-NASCAR Heritage Speedway Pre-NASCAR Focus object or destination in the Hall: Pre-NASCAR area with Exhibit Cases, Louise Smith s car, and Junior Johnson s still Grade Level: Grades 4-8 Lesson Objective: The learner will understand Pre-NASCAR story as it evolved from the back roads of the North Carolina mountains to the sandy beaches of Florida. National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: Emphasis on Theme #1 Through the study of culture and cultural diversity, learners understand how human beings create, learn, share, and adapt to culture, and appreciate the role of culture in shaping their lives and society, as well as the lives and societies of others. In schools, this theme typically appears in units and courses dealing with geography, history, sociology, and anthropology, as well as multicultural topics across the curriculum. North Carolina Essential Standards 3-5 Social Studies: 5.G.1 5.G.1.3 Understand how human activity has and continues to shape the United States. Exemplify how technological advances (communications, transportation and agriculture) have allowed people to overcome geographic limitations.
NCSCOS Objectives: Social Studies, Grade 4, Competency Goal 1: The learner will apply the five themes of geography to North Carolina and its people. 1.02 Describe and compare physical and cultural characteristics of the regions. 1.03 Suggest some influences that location has on life in North Carolina such as major cities, recreation areas, industry, and farms. Social Studies, Grade 5, Competency Goal 1: The learner will apply key geographic concepts to the United States and other countries in North America. 1.03 Compare and contrast the physical and cultural characteristics of regions within the United States. Social Studies, Grade 8, Competency Goal 5: The learner will evaluate the impact of political, economic, social, and technological changes on life in North Carolina from 1870 to 1930. 5.01 Identify the role played by the agriculture, textile, tobacco, and furniture industries in North Carolina, and analyze their importance in the economic development of the state. Social Studies, Grade 8, Competency Goal 6: The learner will analyze the immediate and long-term effects of the Great Depression and World War II on North Carolina. 6.04 Assess the impact of World War II on the economic, political, social, and military roles of different groups in North Carolina including women and minorities. Social Studies, Grade 8, Competency Goal 7: The learner will analyze changes in North Carolina during the postwar period to the 1970's. 7.03 Assess the influence of technological advances on economic development and daily life. Vocabulary: NASCAR, bootleg turn, still, moonshine, mash, shine, hupmobile, sanctioning body, revenuers, Prohibition, Scotch-Irish, pin oaks, sweet-gum maples, tin roofs, clapboard houses, Ormond Hotel Materials/Supplies: school milk cartons for cars, pipe cleaners, leaves, blue paper, construction paper, etc.
Pre-Visit Activities Tell students that this series of lessons will focus on the early beginnings of NASCAR and how it started on the back roads of the North Carolina mountains and the sandy beaches of Florida. First, the students need to know that NASCAR is an acronym for National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. Now, share these details about how NASCAR got started. Pre-Visit Activity I: Daytona Beach, FL. The Florida beaches were a great attraction for wealthy people living in the northern part of the United States in the early 1900s. They would travel to the Daytona Beach area for their winter season and have their cars shipped by train. Ormond Beach, which is located a few miles north of Daytona Beach, had the luxurious Ormond Hotel and this was the ultimate destination for the wealthy. With a chance to relax and to drive their cars, auto racing soon became a great form of entertainment beginning in 1903. The contests quickly gained worldwide recognition and auto manufacturers began building specialty vehicles to race on the beaches. The beaches of Daytona and Ormond also became famous as sites for drivers setting land speed records. In 1910, Barney Oldfield set a record of over 130 mph and he proclaimed that it was as fast as man will ever travel. A 6 5 charismatic Bill France, Sr. arrived in Daytona Beach, Florida in 1934. France stated that he was tired of working on cars in the cold weather of Washington, DC and therefore migrated to the warm beaches of Florida. France selected Daytona as a destination also because of family ties and its 30-year racing history. France, his wife Annie, and infant son Bill Jr. arrived in their Hupmobile with $25 in cash and another $75 in a DC bank. Legend had it that he was on his way to Miami and his car broke down in Daytona. But France later fumed that I was a mechanic. If the car broke down, I could have fixed it and gone on to Miami. He immediately became involved in the local racing scene as a race car driver and finished 5 th in the first stock car race on Daytona Beach in 1936. An opportunity arose for him to promote the 1938 Daytona Beach race and through his efforts it was the first time the event showed a profit. From 1939 1946, France began to curtail his driving and increase his promotions. Finally, in 1946, France stopped driving and devoted all his attention to promoting stock car races. France, also known as Big Bill, recognized that auto racing needed a sanctioning body and an awards system. In December 1947 at Daytona Beach, Big Bill gathered the big players in the sport and eventually formed what is now known as NASCAR. Pre-Visit Activity II: Mountains of North Carolina The mountains of North Carolina also hosted the beginnings of auto racing but the details are very different than those of Daytona Beach. First, the actual terrain of the mountainous regions dictated a very different lifestyle for its residents. The people of the mountains
tracked their heritage to the Scotch-Irish, a very clannish type of people. They were characterized as a people who put great stock in the importance of family and honor. Their strict independence was a direct result of their heritage and the demands of the terrain. The isolation of the North Carolina mountain region guaranteed many months of cold weather and created a total reliance on family and neighbors. Strangers were viewed with skepticism. The ability to earn money was limited to whatever the land would provide. The red clay of North Carolina provided fertile ground for growing corn that, when combined with sugar, made moonshine. The demand for whiskey, or shine, became even greater during the era of Prohibition. According to NASCAR great Junior Johnson, the whiskey business was just a matter of economics. The people who made moonshine also did all that was possible to avoid paying taxes on moonshine. It was a matter of pride and their open defiance of the outside world. Junior Johnson, also known as Junior, became very famous as the toughest man to catch when it came to runnin shine. He created what is now known as the bootleg turn. The bootleg turn is a 180 degree turn in a car that helps you avoid anyone coming directly at you. Creating a Timeline for the Beginnings of NASCAR: Work with the students to create a simple of timeline of Pre-NASCAR events that happened in Daytona Beach and the North Carolina mountains. Research will be required to determine specific dates for Prohibition, the birth of Junior Johnson, the Ormond Hotel, and more. Next, ask the students to create a multi-dimensional timeline, using their simple timeline as a framework. Use found objects to visually depict this story. There should be strong contrast between the various aspects. For example, the people should reflect the wealth of those who vacationed in Florida and the working men of the North Carolina mountains.
Visit to the NASCAR Hall of Fame The artifacts for this activity are found in the Pre-NASCAR area, which is located on the fourth floor of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The students will participate in a scavenger hunt. Questions are listed below. 1. Early communication What is the date of the tulip-style telephone? (Answer: 1918) 2. Headlights from 1918 What was used to make the headlights burn in 1918? (Answer: fuel) 3. Land speed record for Seagrave s car: What was the land speed record for the Seagrave s Golden Arrow car? (Answer: 234.45 mph) 4. Bud Moore s medals - Which war are Bud Moore s medals from? (Answer: World War II) 5. Nylons giveaway What did Bill France Sr. give away at a race that he promoted in 1946? (Answer: nylons) 6. Louise Smith s car What is the make and model of Louise Smith s car? (Answer: 1939 Ford) 7. Junior Johnson s still What is another name for fermented corn? (Answer: mash) 8. Junior Johnson s still What years was it illegal to make, move, or sell alcohol? (Answer: 1920 1933) 9. Video questions - a. Name the city and state where NASCAR was born. (Answer: Daytona Beach, Florida) b. Name the hotel where NASCAR was born. (Answer: Streamline Hotel) c. What happened in Wilkes County, NC that birthed NASCAR? (Answer: Local people were runnin moonshine.) d. The officials who chased the moonshiners were not called police. What were they called? (Answer: revenuers) e. Which day of the week did the moonshiners NOT haul moonshine? (Answer: Sunday) Continue the visit in the Birth of NASCAR area. Ask students to find the 1956 Chrysler and to list 6 things are different from the street side and the competition side of the car. For insider information, see the paragraph below. This 1956 Chrysler 300 represents one of the most successful NASCAR race cars of the mid-1950s. But it also displays the subtle differences between what was used on a street car and on a competition car. There is an invisible line down the middle the car that makes the delineation clear. Can you see the differences? For example, there is no head light or parking light on the competition side. Wide racing wheels with black walls
are found on the racing side with white walls and hub caps on the street car side. A roll bar was added on the competition side and all chrome was removed from the competition side of the car. There were very little differences under the hood because NASCAR rules stated that cars had to race with stock car engines, although some minor tweaking was allowed. The motto of most manufacturers was win on Sunday, sell on Monday. This meant that NASCAR was a great showcase for their products. Next, ask the students to notice the statues of men. They were the founders of NASCAR.
Post-Visit Activity After returning from the NASCAR Hall of Fame, ask your students to discuss what they learned from the visit. You should review the answers to the scavenger hunt in the Pre- NASCAR area and the answers about the differences in the Chrysler. Ask the students how the information that they gathered during the visit creates a greater understanding of the Pre- NASCAR days and the days immediately after the founding of NASCAR. Ask the students to look at the multi-dimensional timeline that they created in the Pre-Visit activity. Would they change anything? Add anything? Why or why not? Extension: Ask the students to research the Great Depression and the post-world War II era to create a better understanding of those time periods. For further discussion, ask the students to state a reason why Bill Sr. created NASCAR. They must provide at least the three supporting details for their reason.