The NASCAR Speedway Division was a short-lived series brought forth in 1952

1952 in sports

1952 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:* NFL Championship – Detroit Lions win 17–7 over the Cleveland BrownsGeorgia Tech wins national college football championship-England:...

 by NASCAR

NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...

 president and founder Bill France Sr. The series consisted of open-wheel

Open wheel car

Open-wheel car, formula car, or often single-seater car in British English, describes cars with the wheels outside the car's main body and, in most cases, one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or fenders...

 race cars competing with stock engines. The idea of the series was to draw from the popularity of other open-wheel racing events such as the Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis 500

The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...

.

1952 season

The first Speedway Division race was held at Darlington Raceway

Darlington Raceway

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed the "Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition"...

 and was won by Buck Baker

Buck Baker

Elzie Wylie Baker Sr. , better known as Buck Baker, was an American race car driver.-Racing career:...

 with a Cadillac

Cadillac

Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...

 engine. The series' second race was held at Martinsville Speedway

Martinsville Speedway

Martinsville Speedway is an International Speedway Corporation-owned NASCAR stock car racing track located in Henry County, near Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved...

 on May 25, with only 17 entries. The pole at Martinsville was won by Bill Miller in an "Olds 88 Special

Oldsmobile 88

The Oldsmobile 88 was a full-size car sold by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors and produced from 1949 until 1999. From 1950 to 1974 the 88 was the division's top-selling line, particularly the entry-level models such as the 88 and Dynamic 88...

". Tex Keene, driving a car with a stock Mercury

Mercury (automobile)

Mercury was an automobile marque of the Ford Motor Company launched in 1938 by Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, to market entry-level luxury cars slotted between Ford-branded regular models and Lincoln-branded luxury vehicles, similar to General Motors' Buick brand, and Chrysler's namesake brand...

 engine came from 16th place to win the race. A total of seven races were run in 1952 with Buck Baker becoming the series champion.

1953 season

In 1953, Speedway Division events were paired with those in the Sportsman Division. Three races were held with few entries before the series was quietly discontinued. The final series champion was Pete Allen.