Air Jordan Conquers NASCAR and the Elusive Daytona 500

Founded in 1948 in Daytona Beach by Bill France Sr., NASCAR held its first race on February 15th on a hybrid track of hard-packed sand and portions of Highway A1A—between the waterline and the dunes. But while Florida was the birthplace, North Carolina became the bloodstream: the first Strictly Stock race—the precursor to today’s Cup Series—ran in 1949 at Charlotte Speedway. Within a decade, race…