Daytona 500 and Bootlegging

Jamie McMurray won the Dayton 500 earlier today.

Dayton 500 is a 500 mile long NASCAR race. National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is unique as it is a family operations sports venture and is the largest sanctioning body of stock car racing in the United States.

Stock car racing has very interesting history in the US much before it became a sport. It has its origins in bootlegging during Prohibition, when drivers ran bootleg whiskey made primarily in the Appalachian region of the United States. Bootleggers needed to distribute their illicit products, and they typically used small, fast vehicles to better evade the police. Many of the drivers would modify their cars for speed and handling, as well as increased cargo capacity, and some of them came to love the fast-paced driving down twisty mountain roads. The repeal of Prohibition in 1933 dried up some of their business, but by then Southerners had developed a taste for moonshine, and a number of the drivers continued "runnin' shine," this time evading the "revenuers" who were attempting to tax their operations. The cars continued to improve, and by the late 1940s, races featuring these cars were being run for pride and profit.


Photo credit: Nick Traveller

Could Charlie have done it?

Charlie Wilson, the flamboyant congressman died yesterday. He is well known for influencing the US support of the Afghan Mujahindeen during the Soviet Afghan war in the 80s. When Pakistan's President Zia was asked by 60 min as how the powerful Soviets had been defeated, his simple answer was "All I can say is, Charlie did it".

The story could have been different.

His ability to get weapons in hands of Afghans would have been jeopardized had he had been convicted in the ethical investigation into his supposed drug use at a Las Vegas hot tub. He was accused of using cocaine at the Caeasars Palace hotel while he was in a hot tub with two strippers in 1980. The investigation was dropped due to lack of evidence and Charlie never confirmed the story either way.

Even more interesting is the justice department attorney who was leading the investigation against Charlie. A young man named Rudy Giuliani.