Rare Nascar Photos From the 1960s

Stock car racing got its start in the rural South, but by the time NASCAR arrived at Riverside International Raceway in the early 1960s, the sport had achieved national success.

- By Johnny Hunkins, Photography by Motor Trend Archives

Southern California was a long way from the sands of Daytona Beach, Florida, and the dirt tracks of the Deep South, but the bright lights of Hollywood and the deep pockets of big sponsors and bigger purses lured fans and racers westward—specifically to what would become the town of Moreno Valley, California, in Riverside County.