• Under the tutelage of Marshall Teague, Hudson Motor Company enters NASCAR racing.

• Hudson provides cars and parts to race teams and introduces a "severe usage" kit featuring high performance parts listed in their parts catalog, therefore making it eligible for Grand National competition.

• Pure Oil Company, the forerunner of Tosco 76, joins NASCAR as the official fuel supplier for NASCAR and begins national advertising campaigns noting major NASCAR events.

• NASCAR makes its first venture in California with its Grand National Series. Marshall Teague wins the event in Gardena, Calif., on March 8. Frank Mundy, unable to land a ride in a race car for the event, rents an automobile from a rental car firm and finishes 11th.

• In association with the 250th anniversary of the "Motor City," Detroit plays host to the Grand National tour.

• With an event at the doorstep of the manufacturers, no less than 16 different makes of cars comprise the 59-car field on a mile dirt oval at the Michigan State Fairgrounds. Tommy Thompson of Louisville, Ky., prevails over Curtis Turner.

• Eighty-two cars, the largest starting field in Grand National history, take the green flag for the second annual Southern 500 at Darlington International Raceway. Marshall Teague charges from the 47th starting position to take the lead on the 13th lap, but Herb Thomas outlasts the competition and wins the 500-miler.

• The first issue of the NASCAR Newsletter, dated Nov. 7, rolls off the press and is mailed to all NASCAR members.

• With record requests coming from race tracks to host the Grand National Series, Bill France Sr. inaugurates the NASCAR Short Track Division for tracks smaller than a half-mile to host Grand National cars. Separate point standings and an additional point fund are earmarked for the new division.

• NASCAR unveils the new Sportsman Division, a series for weekend racers.

• Mike Klapak is the first champion of the Sportsman Division, which will become the Busch Series.

• The first Grand National race staged under the lights is run June 16 in Columbia, S.C. Frank Mundy wins the 100-miler in a Studebaker.

• Forty-one Grand National events are conducted in 1951 with seven-time winner Herb Thomas winning the championship.