In the United States, the AAA National Championship Car season resumed full activity in 1948 with a schedule of 12 races beginning in Arlington, Texas on April 25 and ending in DuQuoin, Illinois on October 10. Ted Horn secured the AAA National Championship title, though tragically he was killed in an accident in the season’s final race at DuQuoin; Mauri Rose won the Indianapolis 500 that year, one of the marquee races of the calendar. The season featured a mix of paved ovals, dirt tracks, and even a hill climb at Pikes Peak, reflecting the varied nature of American open-wheel racing at the time.
Meanwhile, stock car racing in the U.S. took a pivotal step forward with the formal establishment of NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) under the leadership of Bill France Sr. in 1948. Although the Strictly Stock (now premier Cup) Series would not begin until 1949, NASCAR’s inaugural season in 1948 focused on its Modified Division, running a grueling schedule of about 52 races across the Southeast and beyond. The first NASCAR-sanctioned event was held February 15 on the Daytona Beach Road Course, where Red Byron captured the victory and would go on to become the first NASCAR Modified champion.
On the international stage in Europe and beyond, organized Grand Prix racing was in a vibrant post-war revival. While the Formula One World Championship itself would not be officially inaugurated until 1950, the 1948 Grand Prix season comprised roughly 19 significant international races (Grandes Épreuves) under the FIA’s Formula rules of the era. Notable events included the Monaco Grand Prix, won by Giuseppe Farina; the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, won by Luigi Villoresi; and other prestigious Grands Prix such as the French, Swiss, and Italian races. Alfa Romeo and Maserati machines dominated many of these events, with Italian drivers and teams reasserting their pre-war prowess.
