I have not posted here before, so I hope this is okay. I’m doing research on prohibition for a story and was wondering if there were fast cars being used during the early 1920s. I’ve seen a lot written about how the 1930s bootlegging led to NASCAR and I assumed that was connected to the 20s, but now I’m having trouble figuring out if that’s true. I’ve seen something about Al Capone using a garage in Savannah for modifying cars, but I’m not sure of the exact dates and if it was for speed or just compartments. I know there were issues with alcohol weighing down the cars to the point people could tell. Does anyone know anything about this or have any tips for where I should be researching?
The story you’re referencing is semi-spurious. It’s broadly true, but there are no concrete and direct connections between bootleggers and NASCAR.
Most bootleggers did not have fast cars. Trucks carried the majority of illegal alcohol. Sneaking past the police was a lot more useful than outrunning them, particularly in cities, which is where most deliveries occurred.
The souped-up cars driven by daredevil “runners” were mostly in the South, where the mob wasn’t (or wasn’t as powerful). There are a couple reasons for this. Capone, George Remus, and Roy Olmstead had enough cops on the take that they had very little need to outrun anyone. In the South, the moonshine operations were smaller, less organized, and less able to effectively bribe law enforcement. There are also matters relating to local law enforcement. Prohibition was a federal law that was wildly underfunded, expecting the states and cities to pick up the slack. State/city enforcement was very case-by-case.
So, the “runners” were largely rural-dwelling southerners taking loads from stills to drop off points in more populated areas. It was a small group that operated largely in the late-20’s and early-30’s.
The story of their modifications (increased suspension, stripping out floor boards, putting big engines in small cars, etc.) has a strong mythos with NASCAR’s base (which is heavily southern), but it ignores that auto racing was well-established before Prohibition took effect.
Monte Carlo had its first race in 1911. The first Pikes Peak hill climb was in 1916. The Indy 500 also started in 1911. So, rum runners might have influenced NASCAR, but it’s more advertising than history.