In a Past National Crisis, Racing Had to Fight for Survival

Yesterday, the Governor of my state ordered that all non-essential businesses should close, and people should “shelter-in-place”. As everyone is aware, NASCAR, NHRA, INDYCAR, and all other forms of motor sports have voluntarily shut-down to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

Everyone expects that the racing community, along with the rest of the world, will return to normal at some point in the (hopefully) not too distant future.

But there was a worldwide crisis that had politicians looking to cancel all racing, no questions asked.

In October 1973, after years of the Western world becoming more and more dependent on the Middle Eastern countries for oil, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, (better known as OAPEC), declared and oil embargo on the countries that were supporting Israel in the Yom Kipper War. The effect in the US was swift. The price of gas quadrupled, and gas rationing was put into effect.

Over the 73-74 winter, Congress was enacting all kinds of drastic measures to help ease the long lines at gas stations and the rising cost of fuel and home heating, (like lowering the National Speed Limit to 55). Some in Washington thought that all those race cars burning fuel at tracks across the nation were blatantly wasting the countries meager resources. But fortunately, the leaders of the major racing sanctioning bodies saw what was coming and decided to nip it in the bud.

Top people from NASCAR, NHRA, USAC, SCCA and IMSA all met to form a working committee, which had a study conducted to show exactly how much auto racing did impact the country’s oil woes. The study was to measure not just fuel used by race cars, but more importantly, the gas used by fans attending races. And that study ended up saving racing. The results, as presented to Congress, showed that the leisure time activities of Americans that used the most fuel were; vacation travel, followed by general aviation, motion pictures, theaters, football, basketball, and horse racing. Turns out all the auto racing across the whole US combined was way down on the list. As a matter of fact, the study found that one jet flying the NY Giants to LA for a game used more fuel than 3 NASCAR races.

But even though Bill France had helped save racing, he knew that the public in general were still suffering. And by the time the 1974 race season came about, the country had become increasingly frustrated with high gas prices and long gas lines. When it was deemed that the race season was going to go on as normal, France received several phone call and letters from Americans upset about gas being wasted on race car events.

NASCAR decided to share the pain and announced that NASCAR was going to use less fuel, including at the most famous race on the schedule, the Daytona 500.

Richard Petty is credited with winning 7 of “America’s Race”, but he actuallywon 6 Daytona 500s and one Daytona 450. The 1974 race was short by 50 miles, which may not sound like a big reduction, but NASCAR also limited practice and qualifying, which added up to a total 28% fuel savings over the 1973 Daytona race. And 90,000 fans showed their appreciation by using their precious gas to attend.

That fuel crisis, which disrupted the lives of all Americans, is a distant memory now. The United States, as usual, came back with a fury. OAPEC’s embargo didn’t force the western world to stop supporting Israel. And the then-unknown reserves which have been found in Pennsylvania and the Dakota’s of oil and gas will help keep the US as energy independent as it chooses to be. God, once again, had decided to show His mercy to this country in it’s time of need.

But why. Why has God continually blessed the US so much. A high flyover of man’s history shows that even the discovery of North America came at a crucial time. Within 25 years of Columbus’s discovery, the Reformation would take place, followed 10 years later by King Henry’s break with the Catholic Church. It wasn’t long before there were several breakaway religious groups looking for a place to practice their faith in peace. And America was that place.

God first saved the land as a refuge for people who sought to follow Him. Then He allowed a small rag-tag group of men to defeat the most powerful army in the world to free the land from under a King’s rule. Next God assembled a group of men that demonstrated extraordinary wisdom and foresight in forming a government that guaranteed individuals the right to worship God in their own way.

As the United States was established by people who placed the God of the Bible as their guiding light, it has always had a large part of the population that prayed to God, seeking His blessing on the nation. That does have a lot to do with how God deals with the US. But I also believe that God designated the United States as His guard dog over the true land of milk and honey, Israel.

When the idea of an independent Jewish state was first proposed to President Roosevelt at the end of World War 2, he indicated he had no interest in having the US back the idea. And within a few weeks after that decision, Roosevelt was dead. Roosevelts predecessor, Harry Truman, who was a devout Bible believing man, recognized the significance of an Israel reestablished after almost 2,000 years.

Since 1948, the US has stood behind Israel to make sure that the land God promised his people would remain in the hands of the Jewish people. In God’s plan, these two lands are tied together. And as long as we abide by God’s will, the US will weather these storms until Jesus returns to establish His Kingdom. Where there won’t be any shortages or sickness.