NASCAR Sucks!
So what exact factory parts on those cars do think were used on the NASCAR stock cars back in those days? A couple body panels. That's all. Been that way since sometime in the '60s.
FWIW..... IIRC, NASCAR went to tube frame construction with attached panels in 1973. Before that, they were true stock-body based cars.
NASCAR's early competition for fans was with USAC and open wheel race cars.
They were competing for race fans, not for general sports fans. Car racing never seems to compete very well with general stadium sports for fans; it draws a different, and very specific fan base. NASCAR wanted to jump into the general sports fan arena, and has failed; the urge to get a broader advertising base is understandable, but car racing just does not sell as broadly.
That led to NASCAR falling for the 'sports social crowd' phenomenon..... catering to the partying and social types when they were there. But that is the problem with that crowd.. they will go to certain sporting events for a while.... then when they decide it is not longer fashionable, or it gets old..... presto, they are gone... off to a different sports hangout. Suddenly, a ton of fans lost interest and left.
It was compounded becasue NASCAR had abandoned their old true racing fans; they abandoned the tracks and the people who brought them to prominance. And those folks felt jilted and drifted away. Plus, the spread nationwide chasing the general sports fan market went too far from their roots in the SE USA.
So several strategic mistakes all piling up IMHO....just like USAC.
