Throughout the 53-year history of NASCAR, its race cars have been transformed from road-going, lumbering true "stock" cars into the sleek, technologically advanced machines that we see today on ultra-modern speedways In tracing the evolution of the cars that we know today as the Winston Cup Series, its necessary to go back to the beginnings of NASCAR and its "Strictly Stock Division" It all started with races on the famed Daytona beach/road course in the late 1940s When NASCAR was formed in 1948, there was a definite shortage of new cars in the post-war era The feeling was that race fans wouldnt stand for new cars being beat up on a race track while they were driving a rattletrap pre-war automobile, so "Modified" cars were the early staple of NASCAR racing However, in 1949, NASCAR president Bill France Sr re-visited the idea of racing the cars that people actually drove on the street -- late model family sedans Since no other racing organization had seized the idea, France figured it might take root and create added interest The success of the modern Winston Cup Series proves he was correct From the racers perspective, putting a race car together was not a high-dollar deal If a brand-new Buick sold for about $4,000, due to the lack of modification that could be done to it, the car could be raced for very little more of an investment In some instances, rental cars were actually used as race cars by point-chasing drivers who had no locked-in "ride" for an event Cars were typically either driven to the track or "flat-towed" behind pick-ups and family sedans Other than tweaking and tuning of the engine, nothing could be done to these early Strictly Stock cars The window glass front, back and sides was intact Ropes and aircraft harnesses were used as seat belts Roll bars -- which were mandated in 1952 -- were neither