The 'No More Monkey Business in NASCAR' isn't a reprimand concerning some new questionable goings on in the world of stock car racing, but rather a reminder of the sport's questionable but highly entertaining antics of the past. Who can imagine in this day and age, a professional race car driver streaking around the track with his pet monkey going along for the ride, yet it really did happen and was all just part of the show back in the early part of the 1950s. The likes of Tim Flock and his hairy pal, "Jocko Flocko" who lasted at least part of that race with his heavy footed owner may never be seen again, but will always be a part of NASCAR's colorful and complex story. Though NASCAR's birth certificate may show Daytona Beach, FL in February of 1948 as the place and time of its beginning, the roots of NASCAR go back much further - back to to the southern Piedmont where young men raced a very different kind of track that deservedly came to be called 'Thunder Road'. Fast, exciting and dangerous in the extreme, Thunder Road was a "speedway" for hauling illegal alcohol - homeschooling for many drivers in stock car's early days. It was also seen by some as the only road out of poverty as these future racing stars carried that wildness and daring with them from the wrong side of the tracks to the racetracks. If anything, NASCAR is a success story filled with as much comedy and drama as any playwright could hope for. The characters are also the stuff of legend beginning with its founder, William "Big Bill" France, a driver himself along with a cast ranging from preachers to politicians. And as for NASCAR's legion of loyal fans, over the years they have ranged from the famous to the infamous. With corporate sponsorships and far better safety regulations, NASCAR's image today is far different than the one it had when Tim Flock took that monkey for the ride of his life back in 1953, but one can't help but feel a twinge
of envy for those at the track that day when there was lot less money in the pocket and a little more monkey business in NASCAR.
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Florida Race Tracks
Florida Car Museums
NASCAR.com
If you'd like to learn more about the history of NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Racing), the book -
REAL NASCAR White Lightning, Red Clay and Big Bill France
, by Daniel S. Pierce is a great read for anyone. It will also give longtime NASCAR fans an even greater appreciation for the sport.
You might also enjoy the 1958 Robert Mitchum Classic -
Thunder Road
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