NASCAR, a truly American sport, traces its roots back to the days of prohibition. Bootleggers built fast cars to outrun the authorities and eventually decided to race those cars. NASCAR was born. Now, it’s a multi-billion dollar business with millions of fans from the North to the South and the East to the West. Here are some interesting facts about NASCAR.

Fact 1: NASCAR stands for National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.

Fact 2: There are 75 million NASCAR fans in the United States.

Fact 3: The Daytona 500 is a 500-mile race.

Fact 4: The first NASCAR race was held at the Charlotte, North Carolina fairgrounds. Jim Roper, who was driving a Lincoln Cosmopolitan, won the race and the $2,000 purse.

Fact 5: The first driver to crash during a Winston Cup race was Lee Petty.

Fact 6: Richard Petty, also known as The King, won 200 races during his NASCAR career.

Fact 7: The first woman to race in the Winston Cup was Janet Guthrie in 1976. She made 15th place.

Fact 8: Amber and Angela Cope are twin NASCAR drivers and the nieces’ of Derrike Cope.

Fact 9: It gets so hot in the race cars, in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit, that racers can lose between five and ten pounds of sweat during a race.

Fact 10: While traveling 200 miles per hour on a straight away, racers can cover 293 ft of asphalt in one second. That’s almost the length of a football field.

Fact 11: In a race, a NASCAR driver maintains the same heart rate as a marathon runner.

Fact 12: A total of 38 NASCAR drivers have died while racing. Daytona Speedway has had the most deaths at twelve.