Over the course of its history, NASCAR has been the world’s showcase for two different types of stock car racing. One of these types is the original understanding of a “stock car:” a production vehicle that receives little to no upgrades or modifications before hitting the track. Then, as the sport grew and the focus shifted away from testing the limits of production cars and towards pushing their limits, “stock car” became a more honorary term that no longer accurately described the highly modified vehicles used in competition. However, despite their differences, cars in both of these categories have been instrumental in the sport at the time of their introduction. Without each of these landmark racing machines, that evolution that has kept fans watching for decades would never have occurred, and NASCAR as we know it could have petered out long ago. So today we seek to pay tribute to each of these milestone cars and take a look at what factors made each one a dominant force in its time.

In the early days of NASCAR, the clear “dominant force” on the track was none other than the Hudson Hornet. Hudson’s approach to creating this car was unique for the time in that they looked specifically at what would appeal to racers and tweaked their seemingly normal family vehicle to fit that mold. “Thoroughly over-engineered in the Hudson tradition,” as described by the company’s marketing team, the Hornet’s 1951 “Super Six” engine was tweaked specifically to displace more than usual for the time. Add to the equation the Twin H-Power engine introduced in 1952 as the biggest on the market (302 cu. in.), and you had a car that–more expensively optioned or not–could be a real threat on the race track. When the NASCAR Manufacturer’s cup was first introduced in 1952, Hornets claimed it for Hudson easily with 27 total wins that season. ‘53 and ‘54 were also swept by the Hornet with 22 and 17 wins respectively. The consecutive season win record of 66 set by this car would stand untoppled until 1961, and the single season win number wouldn’t be beaten until over a decade later. By creating a production car that leaned more towards track performance, Hudson kicked off a trend in NASCAR and in the production car industry as a whole. 

When the Hudson record was finally broken in 1964, it would be done by none other than the Ford Motor company. Their Fairlane sedan had been gaining popularity for some time in the U.S. as a reliable staple car, but the introduction of the 289 High Performance engine–the first HiPo block ever–really started to turn heads. With an advertised hp of 271, the HiPo Fairlanes were able to clench the Manufacturer’s Cup for 1963 with ease. Realizing the success that their racers could achieve with a car like this alone, Ford began to slowly push the enhancements on the Fairlane further and further. By 1966, NASCAR Fairlanes all used enormous 427 V8 blocks, absolutely decimating the competition at every turn. Drivers such as David Pearson and Cale Yarborough racked up win after win, and Mario Andretti’s one-and-only Daytona 500 victory was in a Ford Big Block-powered, Toploader 4-speed controlled Fairlane. 

Add to this equation that Ford Galaxies–ran from 1960 to 1968–were also used regularly, equipped with the 427 at the same time, and had drivers like Fred Lorenzen and Dan Gurney manning them, and the result was an almost unstoppable fleet of vehicles from Ford. When the 1960s ended and emissions regulations finally caught up to auto manufacturers, Ford would have a lot of accolades to look back on: consecutive Manufacturer’s Cups from 1963-69, a new all-time vehicle season wins of 30 in 1964, a new unofficial record wins of 48 in 1965 when the car ran almost entirely unopposed due to a Chrysler boycott, and a total wins of 168 overall during the time period. If one thing was clear about this victory, it’s that the other cars being raced on NASCAR tracks would have to keep getting better.

Strictly as speed was concerned, the next car to become dominant wasn't as fast as the Fords of the 60s due to changing automotive emissions standards during the 70s. Even still, what the next car–the Chevy Monte Carlo–lacked in speed at first, it made up for in winningness. Its short-nosed body was uniquely aerodynamic in a way that suited NASCAR, and as such it became the standard used by almost every driver in this decade. From 1972 to 1980 (except for a one year upset by Dodge in 1975) the Monte Carlo annually clinched Manufacturer’s Cup victories. The drivers who achieved these wins included some of the sport’s biggest names ever; Cale Yarborough and Dale Earnhardt Sr. had their fair share of checkered flags, and Richard Petty claimed his 7th championship behind the wheel of a Monte Carlo in 1979. Monte Carlos in this form would disappear in 1983 as changes to the body style of the model saw it fall out of dominance. However, in 1995, the Monte Carlo returned as a fifth-generation platform and became almost the only car that was raced for the next twelve years. Jeff Gordon’s iconic #24 Monte was the champion car in 1997, Dale Earnhardt claimed victory in ‘98 with his Monte, and his son was the victor in 2001 with a MC of his own. As the NASCAR generations continued to change as the 2000s, faster cars than the MC would certainly show up. But the Monte Carlo–with its 396 total wins–has still not been deposed to this day.

By this point in NASCAR history, a lot had changed when it came to the cars that were raced. As of 1991, the “Fourth Generation” of cars had hit the scene. These were no longer slightly tweaked production cars, but purpose-built maximum-speed vehicles that used production chassis. The Monte Carlo was the dominant force during this era, as previously mentioned, but there were still lots of other models that were able to claim victory at that time as well. Ford Taurus drivers claimed 100 total wins and three Cup victories during the 4th Gen era, and the 61-win Chevy Lumina was Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s car of choice for much of the period before he adopted the Monte Carlo. 

In 2007, NASCAR again shifted to the 5th generation of racing vehicles, known officially as the “Car of Tomorrow” generation. Individual car choice mattered less during these years, because NASCAR-sanctioned standardization forced modifications on cars that made them more or less equal. Nevertheless, choosing a brand to stand behind was as much of an important decision as ever, and drivers often went with the Chevy Impala. It racked up 95 wins during the period, including a 26-win season that remains unchallenged as a modern-era manufacturer record. Other important cars of tomorrow included the Toyota Camry, the most dominant foreign car with dozens of wins and a championship, and the Ford Fusion, which was a consistent victor and the winner of the 1000th ever NASCAR race in 2013. 

2013 was also the beginning of the Sixth Generation of NASCAR, which was an attempt to reintroduce differences in manufacturer vehicles as a result of general discontent with the Car of Tomorrow. The Camry remained a dominant force here, the Ford Fusion was swapped for the Mustang, and the Chevy Commodore that replaced the Monte Carlo in the Car of Tomorrow seasons was itself swapped for the Camaro. Despite some criticisms regarding the lack of malleability in these cars from their drivers this generation, fans were interested in these cars because they more closely resembled production cars than they had for a long while. For better or worse, this generation also came to a close in 2021.

What generation are we on now? “Next Gen,” according to NASCAR nomenclature, and these cars are more technologically advanced and safer than ever before. Although it’s too soon to call which car will be the most dominant of the present generation, it’s clear that Chevrolet is doing something right with its new Camaro ZL1, which has been the Manufacturer’s Champion for the entire Next Gen with 71 wins overall. 

And with that, we’re now caught up to the present! It’s exciting to see where the future of NASCAR will go, but it’s even more exciting once you’ve taken a look at how far the sport has come and what the passion project of those early dirt track racers has transformed into. Although the cars that those men once raced have long since become defunct, every era of NASCAR still has its fans. We know that that fact will never change, so we look forward to the future and wait for new success stories to unfold. Who knows; maybe Hudson could make a comeback!

References: 

The 20 Winningest Cars in NASCAR Cup History (autoweek.com)

The rise and fall of NASCAR’s car models through decades of time - Sportsnaut

List of NASCAR Manufacturers' champions - Wikipedia

Next Gen (NASCAR) - Wikipedia