In stock car racing, the tobacco era was the period from 1976 until 1994. This era was characterized by an increasingly international schedule and a dominance of tobacco companies as teams' primary financial backers, displacing automotive manufacturers and suppliers as well as well-funded local sponsors. The financial struggles of many series in the reform era continued, with many series collapsing or being bought out entirely. The tobacco era also contained the emergence of truly unified teams. The era is largely agreed to have ended with the Olivanti scandal, after which the sport entered its golden age.
Racing in the Tobacco Era[edit | edit source]
The tobacco era saw a larger influx of money into the sport than in previous years, and with said money came an increase in engineering and research done by the teams in the search for additional speed. Teams' R&D budgets ballooned, and smaller, independent teams struggled to compete with larger organizations on a regular basis. These struggles would persist until the mid-1990's, when the Independent's Trophy was created.
The schedule gradually became more global, with additional races in Europe, Japan, South Africa, and South America joining the schedule throughout the era. While the schedule was often lengthened to keep traditional venues, several events would gradually fall off the calendar as attendance and sponsorship shifted to different markets. Road courses became more prominent on the schedule, primarily displacing larger ovals such as Texas World Speedway.
Teams gradually coalesced into unified racing organizations during the tobacco era. In previous eras, it was the norm for a "team" to compete with itself as much as with the competition; the success of Olivanti Motorsports' unified approach forced other teams to adapt and compete as one organization. Inter-team rivalries still existed, but were not as prevalent or encouraged as in previous eras.
Media coverage of stock car racing soared, and lucrative television and media deals were signed throughout the 1980's which brought stock car racing into the forefront of pop culture by the middle of the 1990's.
End of the Tobacco Era[edit | edit source]
The tobacco era is generally agreed to have ended with the Olivanti Motorsports scandal in 1994; with the dissolution of the most successful team of the era, and the writing on the wall for tobacco sponsorship (which was already experiencing restrictions in several countries), the era came to an end. Stock car racing was experiencing a boom in popularity, and entered what is now considered its golden age, in 1995.