Stock cars and Nascar

Stock car racing in the US has its origins in bootlegging during the Prohibition era from 1920 to 1933, when drivers ran bootleg whiskey made primarily in the Appalachian region of the US. Bootleggers typically drove small fast vehicles to evade the police when they were distributing the illegal alcohol. Many of the cars were modified for speed and superior handling, and most featured increased capacity for storing cargo. Many of the drivers became very skilled at driving at high speeds down steep winding mountain roads. Jerry Elijah Rushing was an American best known for his years as a moonshine runner. Rushing’s family made a living from making illegal moonshine whiskey. He drove a modified 1958 Chrysler 300D easily able to reach speeds of 140 miles per hour (225kph) and outrun police cars. He became very skilled at high-speed driving at night, often without headlights. He nicknamed the car ‘Traveller’, after Robert E Lee’s favourite horse.

The car ran out of fuel during a police chase, was abandoned, and impounded by police. It was sold to a private collector and has since been restored.

Rushing eventually used his skills to pursue a career in early stock car racing and was reportedly the inspiration for some of the characters in the B-movie Moonrunners and The Dukes of Hazzard TV series. The ‘General Lee’ (sometimes referred to as simply ‘the General’) is the name given to the 1969 Dodge Charger driven in the series by the Duke boys, Bo and Luke. Although the estimated number of General Lees used during filming varies according to different sources, former cast member Ben Jones and builders on set estimate that 325 General Lees were used up — on average, more than one per show. Approximately 17 still exist in various states of repair.

When filming a jump for the series, anything from 500 to 1000 pounds (230–450kg) of sand bags or concrete ballast was placed in the trunk to prevent the car from nosing over.