[Steamboat 16]

i was watching the history channle (they had a documentation on rum runners) and i found out among other things that nascar was started back in the day by the actual rum runners that were caught, once they were cleaned up and put back into society they still had a need for speed that they had aquired running from the police. anyways since the cars they used for rum running were big sedans that were modified to have more speed and carring capasity for the acohale.

so they took these same types of cars and started racing them around the track and soon stock car racing and nascar was born, which today is the highest grossing sport industry

weird how one of americas favorite passtimes was started illegaly

[BWAL09]

wow.. nice history lesson.. that was interesting..

my dad used to know a guy who was a rum runner

[232stang]

i read an article about a guy that was a whiskey runner i believe. and he had a gto it was a great story.

[BWAL09]

link?

[stevo1807]

which explains why 90% of nascar fans are beer drinkin rednecks. hmm. i <3 it.

[Countryboy_99]

Hey sob: I'm a redneck and ma daddy drinks beer so you bes wachit. HAHAHAHA! Sorry had to do it I am a slight redneck/farmboy/countrybumpkin/hick type of person even tho I dont hunt, I rarely fish, I hate (partialy dislike actualy) jacked up trucks with big tires, going mudding, going to the dunes with a truck or four wheeler or a buggy, and beer drinking.

[stevo1807]

umm.. i'm not quite sure what to say.... you're a redneck that doesn't do anything redneck... nice...

but nah man i was jk anyway.. haha

[WAVEBYE]

Non
Athletic
Sports
Centered
Around
Rednecks


heheh

[BWAL09]

Originally Posted by WAVEBYE Non Athletic Sports Centered Around Rednecks heheh

LMAO! nice

[stevo1807]

Originally Posted by WAVEBYE Non Athletic Sports Centered Around Rednecks heheh

+1

[MicronXD]

i learned the cop chasing part from talladega nights:the ballad of ricky bobby

[Cricket]

my great grandpa used to be a rum runner during prohibition up in Michigan. All I gotta say is "Damn there is a lot good rum at the bottom of that lake." Well actually my great grandpa said that. They used to row across lake Michigan to get into the US from Canada.

[BWAL09]

wait, what does this have to do with mountain dew?

[MicronXD]

lmfao... yea.. uhh... i just realized that mountain dew is completely irrelevant... lol

[mikebert]

"Mountain Dew" is slang for the illegal alcohol. So is "White Lightning" but we mostly know it as moonshine.

It isn't actually rum. It's pure grain alcohol, the highest concentration you can get by distallation alone.

I really think it's a fascinating story that I could go on at length about, but yes, it started NASCAR. Junior Johnson was probably the most famous shine runner turn NASCAR driver. The cars were modified to the most power possible so that 1) they could carry more booze and 2) outrun the cops, because this all took place before the days of police radio. They modified the cars to hold extra bottles of shine (in the floor, ceiling, spare tire, the original gas tank, etc) and reinforced the suspension so that when loaded down with 800 pounds of shine, the car looked like it was riding at normal height so the cops wouldn't get suspicious. They even installed switches so that they could turn off the rear lights and leave the headlights on, so the cops chasing them would have a more difficult time in the dark. They also welded rebar into their fender wells to prevent the cops from crushing in the panels and puncturing their tires during a chase.

[MicronXD]

sweet! keep goin! tell me more! btw... what's rebar?

[Steamboat 16]

have you ever seen a foundation for a house or something being poured, if so you would see lots of round bar inside the concrete to reinforce it, it's the round metal bar with little ridges that you can bend with your hands depending on the thickness

[mikebert]

Just google up an image. It's used in construction for extra strength - just think of a steel bar a little under an inch across with a diamond plate like finish (smaller pattern).

These guys would haul in sugar to the distillery and take out moonshine under cover of darkness. I know one NASCAR driver was actually killed when a fight broke out over his cut of the earnings. Alot of NASCAR cars in the beginning (before it was NASCAR) were used to run shine the night before, then raced on Sunday.

I just always loved that myth of the moonshine runners. I hate the enthusiast car scene these days. I hate the auto industry these days. Everything is supposed to be as flashy as you can get it - big chrome wheels, loud sound systems, super nice interiors with shit like DVD and navigation systems and cupholders all over the place.

Fuck that. I want it like the old days in the 60's. Put the biggest engine you can in a car. Some cars had rubber mats instead of interior carpet. Shit, air conditioning cost more than a Hemi package. Damn the radio, I have 400 cubic channels to listen to.

And here we have these moonshine runners would spend countless hours working with cars when there was NO aftermarket. Make shit on your own. Build strong leaf springs to carry more booze. Slap whatever you can find on your engine to make it go faster - or build it yourself. And everything you build has to be a secret. Nobody can suspect that your car is anything but stock. Look as slow as you can.

And when the shit hits the fan, run like hell. On mountain roads that would make a WRC rally driver crap his pants, you have to outrun the Revenuers. If those bastards catch you, you lose your car. Period.

</tangent>

What was I supposed to be saying? Oh, yeah, the runners. . .

NASCAR champion Junior Johnson was quoted as saying that he may have lost some races on the track, but never where it counted (he was never run down when he was hauling shine).

[Steamboat 16]

i also know that there are still rum runners today, it's not because they have prohibition or something, but becuase for alot of those guys the liqour tax is so high that for them to do it illigaly they wouldn't make any money, so they instead do it illigaly, but when you buy the stuff that they make you never know what your getting (on the show the showed how dead possems and rats and other things were found in alot of the illigal distillerys that the police discoverd)

[Steamboat 16]

Originally Posted by mikebert And here we have these moonshine runners would spend countless hours working with cars when there was NO aftermarket. Make shit on your own. Build strong leaf springs to carry more booze. Slap whatever you can find on your engine to make it go faster - or build it yourself. And everything you build has to be a secret. Nobody can suspect that your car is anything but stock. Look as slow as you can.

they created the sleeper, part of the reason why i like sleepers so much