Re-writing NASCAR History: An Introduction
An introduction to my revised NASCAR history using the NASCAR Grandstand board game.
When it came to figuring out when to start a simulation of NASCAR’s history, the decision was an easy one. Anyone who follows the sport will think of 1972 as the start of NASCAR’s modern era. That is the year where this alternate NASCAR universe will begin.
The changes taking place in NASCAR were pretty significant. To start, the cigarette brand, Winston, became the primary sponsor of the main Cup Series in 1971. The NASCAR Winston Cup Series was born, with Richard Petty running away with the title that season in what was the final “long-form” schedule.
In 1972, major changes were made. The schedule was shortened drastically from 48 races to 32. The tracks losing races were dirt tracks and races lasting less than 250 miles. Additionally, NASCAR began to tweak the point system each year, putting a greater emphasis on the cup championship. A sweet spot would be found on the point system in 1975 and NASCAR would maintain that point system for nearly 30 years. The final major change was the retirement of Bill France Sr. His son, Bill France Jr. would take over as NASCAR CEO.
Unlike the other simulations I’ve done on this publication, I will not be using a computer simulation game for the NASCAR history replay. The reasoning is simple: there is no NASCAR simulation game that can accurately replay past historical seasons (to my knowledge). It’d be possible to mod Motorsports Manager or something similar, but there is too much work involved and I simply don’t have the time to do that.
So instead of a computer simulation, I’ll be using a board game called NASCAR Grandstand. The game, available for free at Tabletop Sports, is one I fell in love with as a kid more than a decade ago. I’ve replayed numerous seasons through the game and feel it’s as accurate of a simulation as any game out there.
For most of this blog, I’ve been acting as a GM for teams as well as a Commissioner. For this simulation, however, I will simply be playing out the races and acting as a bystander. That’s not to say we’ll simply be posting results and replaying races, however. I’m planning to drum up a full universe, with drivers switching teams, different formats for determining which drivers attempt to qualify for races, etc. The goal is to create a unique NASCAR history while maintaining the historical accuracy of the schedule and points systems. More details of how the simulation works will be outlined in the December 1972 NASCAR season preview.
