NASCAR Comes to Saraland

The $600 million Dale Earnhardt, Jr. race track and entertainment complex will be built on 2,500 acres in the Saraland area. It could take about two years

to build the four-track 500 motorsports park. A 5,000-space RV park, a theme park and 75,000 seats are planned, along with hotels, retail, restaurants and music theaters. The Earnhardts will help design the seven-tenths-mile, lighted oval track in the complex. There also will be a three-eighths-mile dirt track, a 3-mile road course and a quarter-mile drag strip. Saraland is looking forward to the growth and excitement the new race track is going to bring.

The History of NASCAR

Did you know that NASCAR can trace it roots back as far as the late 1700’s when the farmers protested a tax on whiskey. Many of the frontiermen built their own stills and began making whiskey. In the early 1900’s there was a bigger problem. The bootlegging began to be a business. The bootleggers built fast cars so they could run from the police. They knew it meant trouble for them if they were caught. The bootleggers began to run races against each other to see who had the fastest car. Daytona Beach became the place to set speed records.

NASCAR was formed by Bill France Sr. in early 1948. Since the 1940’s car racing has been a fast growing sport. Many spectators support the NASCAR races every year. In 1969 the speedway Talladega, Alabama was opened starting the NASCAR racing era in Alabama. Some of the current NASCAR drivers that are from Mobile, Alabama are Rick Crawford and Cale Gale.

Over the years the sport has changed tremendously, it has become more competitive and a lot safer for the drivers. One of the worst wrecks in history was in 1955 when Pierre Levegh crashed in the race at Le Mans that killed him, along with around 80 others who were watching the race. Dale Earnhardt died in a crash on the fourth turn of the last lap in

the 2001 Daytona 500 race. This was the race that really resulted in NASCAR making significant safety changes.

The Car of Tomorrow was built with safety in mind for the drivers. They also level up the playing field. It is more about what the driver is capable of doing under pressure and how he is able to perform on the track. These cars begin racing in 2007. The cars of tomorrow are now the cars of today.

This year NASCAR is running the car of the future! The NASCAR officials are trying to make the racecars safer for the drivers and also trying to level up the playing field by making it more about what the driver can do and how he can perform on the track under pressure.