Henry Ford and Bootlegging

Henry Ford was an outspoken prohibitionist who understood that cars could blend in well with the public, making them ideal for bootlegging operations. At the time, three out of four cars on the road were Model T's, which made them a staple for runners to use for transporting moonshine. The Ford V8 Coupe, with its stock black paint and flathead V8 engine, was particularly well-suited for this purpose. Runners would often swap out their engines for more powerful ones from Cadillacs, adding extra stability when hauling large quantities of shine.

The torsion bar on these coupes was highly praised by bootleggers as it provided the necessary stability when navigating rough terrain. These little Fords could hold up to 100 gallons of moonshine, making them a reliable choice for runners. The thrill of racing and outrunning the law was an essential part of the bootlegging lifestyle, with many runners competing against each other on public roads, highways, and even cornfields and pastures.

As prohibition eventually came to an end, the need for bootleggers slowly diminished, but it didn't disappear completely. Moonshiners continued to produce alcohol on a smaller scale, often using modified versions of their old cars to make deliveries. The rise of stock car racing in the post-prohibition era was largely influenced by the skilled drivers and mechanics who had honed their craft during the bootlegging days.

Stock Car Racing and NASCAR

The connection between bootlegging and stock car racing is deeply ingrained in American culture. Many of the skills and techniques developed by bootleggers, such as navigating rough terrain and outrunning the law, were directly applicable to racing. Bill France Sr., a skilled mechanic and promoter, recognized this talent pool and saw an opportunity to unite these drivers under one umbrella.

In 1947, France organized a meeting at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona, Florida, which ultimately led to the formation of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). Two months later, in February 1948, NASCAR held its first official race at Daytona Beach. The winner was Red Byron in his Ford Coupe, which marked the beginning of a legacy that would span over seven decades.

The roots of NASCAR run deep, and it encapsulates an attitude that describes what America loves most – rebelliousness, speed, and illicit fun. It's a culture that celebrates risk-taking and competition, where drivers push themselves to the limit on the track. As the 2018 season comes to a close with the final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, fans are eagerly anticipating the excitement and unpredictability of the next chapter in NASCAR history.

Squarespace and Online Presence

In today's digital age, having a strong online presence is crucial for any business or brand looking to establish itself. Squarespace is an all-in-one platform that makes it easy to create a vibrant and beautiful website for your brand or business. With Squarespace, you can easily manage your online store, track orders, and even analyze your site's analytics with user-friendly tools.

If you already own a domain name, don't worry – Squarespace makes it super easy to transfer your domain over to a website you've created on their platform. And if you're ready to build a beautiful website, head to squarespace.com to get started. Remember to use the link provided for 10% off your first domain name or website.

Using Squarespace is like having a wheelhouse that makes it easy to build and maintain an online presence. It's the perfect tool for anyone looking to establish themselves in the digital world. With its user-friendly interface and robust features, Squarespace is the ideal platform for creating a stunning website that showcases your brand or business.

Wheelhouse and Office

In the midst of all this excitement, we can't forget about our office and Wheelhouse series. We're always on the lookout for new stories to tell and exciting content to share with our audience. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please don't hesitate to reach out – we want to hear from you!

As we continue to grow and produce more content, we're grateful for the support of our subscribers. Don't forget to hit that yellow subscribe button to stay up-to-date on all our latest episodes. And if you like what we do, be sure to check out our subreddit on Reddit – it's a great community of folks who share similar interests.

Thanks for watching Wheelhouse and being part of our journey! See you next time.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enNascar has been ingrained in American culture for so long seems like our founding fathers included it in the Constitution when creating our great country but as wholesome as NASCAR seems it has a very checkered past nowadays we see drivers like Jimmy Johnson Ryan blay and Kyle Bush as legendary triumphant Role Models but their predecessors going back only a few Generations were Outlaws souping up their cars and stripping down anything that got in the way of more moonshine you heard me right NASCAR was started by Moonshine Bootleggers ye the distillation and sale of unauthorized alcohol or moonshining has been going on in America for as long as America's been going on in America shortly after the American Revolution in the late 1700s the new Republic was short on cash and needed to tax liquor amongst other things to make up for the cost of the war here you are an American colonist having just fought a war over taxes and your new government is raising taxes all you wanted to do was celebrate with some Libations needless to say it didn't take long before people started making bootleg alcohol so they didn't have to pay egregious taxes they did it at night under the moonlight so the authorities could see them hence the name moonshine Farmers that immigrated to the US from countries like Scotland and and Ireland started moving West to modern-day States like Pennsylvania Tennessee and Kentucky to scoop up cheap land with them they brought their knowledge of alcohol distillation Farmers would make whiskey out of surplus crops of Rye barley corn and wheat in 1791 treasury secretary and Hip Hop Legend Alexander Hamilton slapped a tax on all liquor being produced in the US in an attempt to get the us out of the financial hole caused by the Revolutionary War whiskey distillers were seeing red and it wasn't just because they were drunk on Whiskey this was their livelihood they protested violently against the taxes in what was known as the Whiskey Rebellion Farmers dodged taxes protested and even organized armed resistance the Rebellion didn't work but the tax was eventually overturned in 1802 by President Thomas Jefferson either way it was whiskey time turn down for for the next 100 years the steers enjoyed tremendous relatively uninhibited growth this is the era in which many family distilleries we see nowadays flourish like Jim Bean Jack Daniels and tww Samuels of Makers Market in the early 1900s a social moralist movement centered around the nation's drinking problem was gaining steam dry Crusaders as they were called at the time rallied to end the trade of alcoholic beverages in the US they saw alcohol as a societal cancer in the root cause of the country's biggest problem including domestic abuse political corruption and of course alcoholism slowly but surely breweries closed individual states started outlawing alcohol and in 1920 the 18th amendment was passed solidifying a nationwide prohibition of alcohol everyone was bummed just kidding Moonshiners were stoked for moonshine families who had been making spirits on their own for Generations prohibition was the best possible news they could get alcohol was no no longer legally available anywhere in the US so you guys that means business was booming everyone wanted white lightning and were willing to pay big money for it Moonshiners would make the hooch then give it to Runners to deliver to customers Runners had to be quick and have intimate knowledge of back roads to evade anyone trying to bust snitch or steal from them driving down the mountain roads at night is treacherous especially when you're being chased by the IRS sometimes drivers would even kill their headlights and disable brake lights in order to evade the fuzz and still drove at night that takes balls big ones their cars had to look normal or stock to throw off any unwanted attention passenger seats and floorboards were removed to make room for more bottles suspension was beefed up to handle the extra weight and protection plates were welded in front of the radiator to protect it from dirt a good mechanic could tune and improve a stock engine they were making these things freaking rally cars one thing Runners didn't skimp on was tires the quality of tires you had on your car meant you were either getting paid or getting busted therefore the rum Smuggler at all times used the best tires that could be bought many a runner served time in jail simply because his rubber failed him at some critical moment Ford cars were popular with Runners at the time it's ironic because Henry Ford was an outspoken prohibitionist the Model T was affordable and could blend in well with the public as three out of four cars on the road at the time were Model T's the Ford V8 Coupe is probably the most iconic bootlegging car of all time the stock black paint was perfect for driving undetected at night and the flathead V8 engine wasn't anything to scoff at it wasn't uncommon to swap out another more powerful engine like the V8 from a Cadillac the biggest V8 available at the time the torsion bar was highly praised by Bootleggers as it provided extra stability when hauling all that shine and hul it did when stripped down this little Ford Coupe could hold up to 100 32 gallons of moonshine that's a hangover right there actually he'd probably die when the runners weren't running moonshine down a mountain in the dead of night they were racing other Runners on the weekends races started on public roads and highways and progressed to corn fields and pastures reputations grew and soon there were races all over moonshine country and thus stock car racing was kind of born prohibition was eventually overturned because it was a dumb idea from the get-go the end of prohibition didn't mean the end of bootlegging though Moon Moonshiners continued to produce alcohol albeit on a smaller scale now that Runners didn't have to make many more runs they had more time to race after World War II many racetracks wouldn't allow Runners to race fearing that the outlaw Bootleggers would tarnish the image of the racing organizations Atlanta's Lakewood Speedway became the first Raceway to allow known Bootleggers promoters caved to potential protests to allow boot leers that would have caused way more problems than just allowing a couple of hugin to race in the first place several stock car racing associations existed but they lacked uniformity and consistency Bill France senior a skilled mechanic saw an opportunity to unite these associations he recognized the skill of bootleg drivers and didn't see them as a threat to racing Bill organized a meeting at the Streamline Hotel in Downtown Daytona Florida on December 14th 1947 and there the National Association for stock car auto racing was formed 2 months later in February 1948 the first NASCAR race was held at Daytona Beach the winner red Byron in his Ford Coupe America's love for NASCAR runs much deeper than just racing NASCAR encapsulates an attitude that describes what America loves the most rebellious fast and illicit fun it's NASCAR week on donut the last race of 2018 is this this Sunday at Homestead Miami you don't want to miss it it all comes down to this hey guys thanks for watching the episode welcome to the office now oh there's Tony Angelo's car right there I want to talk to you guys about this week's sponsor Squarespace oh there's James's car right there anyway you've probably heard of Squarespace it's the all-in-one platform that makes it easy to create a vibrant and beautiful website for your brand or business flip-flop guys 2019 will be here faster than you know it and if you're thinking about starting a business there's no better platform than starting something for your brand than with Squarespace cool little Subaru right here sweet with Squarespace you can easily manage your online store track and manage orders and even track your sit's analytics with easy to use tools and if you already own a domain name that's not a problem because Squarespace makes it super easy to transfer your domain over to a website you made with Squarespace if you're ready to build a beautiful website go to squarespace.com and when you're ready to launch go to squarespace.com wheelhouse for 10% off your first domain name or website please remember to use that link because it really helps us out and we can keep making more sweet videos Gucci truck again thank you thanks for watching wheelhouse make sure you hit that yellow subscribe button right there so you don't miss other future episodes if you like NASCAR check out this episode of up to speed right here about my favorite NASCAR and check out last week's episode of wheelhouse right here check out our subreddit on redddit that's r/d media I'm there hanging out be nice see you next time