To say that the first decade of NASCAR's existence was a colorful one wouldn't be too much of a stretch. Thanks to some of the sport's first "super team" owners, there were Red Devils, Gray Ghosts, Purple Hogs and Black Widows.

The Rick Hendricks and Jack Roushes of today follow in the footsteps of early visionaries like Frank Christian, Julian Buesink, Ted Chester and Carl Kiekhaefer. And the current trend of manufacturers throwing big money at race teams has its roots in the 1950s, when Detroit first discovered NASCAR.

Suffice it to say that NASCAR's pioneers laid down the foundation for what is now considered the norm: well-funded, professional operations with the technical background and equipment necessary to compete at stock-car racing's highest level.

NASCAR's first Strictly Stock race -- what would ultimately become Sprint Cup -- was held on June 19, 1949 at the old Charlotte Speedway dirt three-quarter mile. And the idea of a multi-car team didn't take long to come to fruition after that. In fact, Frank Christian could be credited with the invention of multiple car ownership when he fielded cars for himself, Joe Littlejohn and Buckshot Morris that July at the Daytona Beach and Road Course.

Described by fellow racer Frank Mundy as "a bootlegger from Atlanta," Christian apparently had a stable of fast cars. He put wife Sara in a 1947 Ford for the Charlotte debut and she finished 14th. For Daytona, Sara decided she'd rather drive for Bob Flock's wife, Ruby, who owned a restaurant and a racecar.

Fonty Flock took the "Red Devil" to Victory Lane 14 times from 1950 to 1954.

Christian had a pair of 1949 Oldsmobiles for that race. He drove one, and put South Carolina driver Littlejohn in the other, and they both scored top-10 finishes. He also entered the '47 Ford for fellow Atlantan Morris, and he wound up 21st after crashing.

It also marked the first -- and only -- time that a husband and wife have raced against each other. And it was Christian's only time behind the wheel in a NASCAR Strictly Stock race.

Christian's cars were obviously top-notch, as Bob Flock put the No. 7 Olds in the winner's circle the very next race, at Occoneechee Speedway in Hillsborough, N.C. Flock would go on to drive three more races for Christian, scoring a win at North Wilkesboro in the season-finale.

That got the attention of middle Flock brother, Fonty, who paired with Christian in the next four seasons to record 14 wins in a car that was nicknamed the "Red Devil." Fonty Flock finished second to Herb Thomas in the 1951 final standings, fourth behind younger brother Tim in 1952, and fifth in 1953, as Thomas won his second championship.

Curtis Turner led all 100 laps from the pole to dominate the 1953 event at Hillsborough, and Oregon's Hershel McGriff won four races at the end of the 1954 season in Christian's No. 14 Olds.

Fonty Flock returned to the Christian team for a final victory in 1955 at Columbia, S.C., but left in mid-season -- and Christian's operation closed up shop at the end of the season.

In 209 starts, Christian-owned cars won 34 poles and 22 races.

A car dealer from Jamestown, N.Y., Julian Buesink was one of the first owners to grasp the idea of combining racing and marketing. When the Strictly Stock series came to the northeast for three races, Buesink put local drivers Bill Rexford and Lloyd Moore behind the wheels of two of his Fords.

Moore found out about the effort when Rexford, all of 22 years old at the time, asked to borrow his helmet.

"I asked him what he was going to do, and he said he was going to drive for Julian Buesink in NASCAR," Moore said.

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Cale Yarborough started his career with owner Julian Buesink.

Moore worked nearby, and during a break, walked down to Buesink's dealership and landed a ride as well. In those days, preparation wasn't nearly as extensive as it is in 2008.

"We took cars off the showroom floor and drove them to the next race," Moore was quoted in a New York Times article this spring, shortly before he died at age 95. "Then we reinforced the wheels and maybe got away with doing something with the shocks and steering. We all did it. We never got caught. After the race, we'd drive the car back to Julie's used-car lot.

"One day, we took Julie's wife's car, a Mercury, and it rolled over in practice. I hurt my neck. He got her a new car fast."

Rexford and Moore each won one time for Buesink in 1950 -- Rexford's win coming at Canfield, Ohio and Moore's at Winchester, Ind. -- but it was enough for Rexford to be crowned champion and Moore to finish fourth in the standings.

After their magical 1950 seasons, neither Rexford nor Moore would ever lead another lap. Rexford was out of the sport by age 26. Moore would finish 11th in the points in 1951, but decided to hang up his helmet after finishing 24th in the 1955 Southern 500.

Buesink continued to run a limited schedule throughout the rest of the decade, with Jim Paschal and Bob Buell behind the wheel. In a three-year period starting with the 1961 Southern 500, Buesink would field cars for a young Cale Yarborough.

In 156 starts, Buesink-owned cars won two poles and two races.

Like Buesink, Atlanta car dealer Ted Chester saw NASCAR as a way to sell more cars.

He sponsored Gober Sosebee's Cherokee Garage Oldsmobile in the inaugural Southern 500 and when the Georgia native finished 17th in that 1950 race, Chester was hooked.

In 1951, Chester enlisted the driving services of two other Atlantans and put them in identical Oldsmobiles, one painted gray, the other black. With Bob Flock in the Gray Ghost and Tim Flock in the Black Phantom, Chester's cars won a total of 10 races, and Tim Flock finished third in the final standings.

Chester switched to Hudsons the following season and concentrated on running a full schedule with Tim Flock behind the wheel. It was a smart move, as Flock won eight times and recorded 25 top-10 finishes in 33 starts, earning him the season championship.

Never one to pass up a gimmick, Chester found one in the unlikeliest of places: a pet shop.

Early in the 1953 season, Chester was in an Atlanta pet shop and spotted a Rhesus monkey, and suddenly had a brainstorm. What about putting the monkey in the car with Flock?

With Jocko Flocko in a driving suit and a specially-made seat on the dashboard, the two went on to win at Hickory that May. But Jocko's career came to a crashing halt two weeks later at Raleigh when things went horribly wrong.

"Back then, the cars had a trap door that we could pull open with a chain to check our tire wear," Flock was quoted as saying before his death in 1998. "Well, during the Raleigh 300, Jocko got loose from his seat and stuck his head through the trap door, and he went berserk.

"Listen, it was hard enough to drive those heavy old cars back then under normal circumstances, but with a crazed monkey clawing you at the same time, it becomes nearly impossible. I had to come into the pits to put him out and ended up third. The pit stop cost me second place and a $600 difference in my paycheck."

The win at Hickory was Flock's only victory of the season, and he faded to sixth in the points. Chester shut down his operation at the close of the season, fielding a car for Jack Smith eight times during the 1956 and 1957 seasons with limited success.

In 125 starts, Chester-owned cars won 13 poles and 20 races.

Carl Kiekhaefer

timflock.com

Tim Flock won 18 races for Carl Kiekhaefer in 1955.

While some owners ran multi-car operations before 1955, no one had refined and perfected the idea until millionaire Carl Kiekhaefer came along and changed the concept of racing teams forever.

An engineer who made a fortune designing outboard motors for the boating industry -- and chain saws during World War II -- Kiekhaefer saw an opportunity to cross-promote his Mercury Outboards by owning a racing team.

Unlike the "shade tree mechanics" of the day, working on cars in local garages during the week and driving them to tracks on the weekends, Kiekhaufer introduced full-time mechanics, dressed them in uniforms and purchased haulers to take the cars to the track.

His Chrysler 300-Bs were the envy of the garage. With a four-barrel carburetor and 331 cubic inches of displacement, the hemi engine was reportedly the first production car to make 300 horsepower. Even though the cars were limited production vehicles, not only had Kiekhaefer gotten three of the first four made, but approval from NASCAR to run them.

One story claims Kiekhaefer showed up at Daytona in the winter of 1955 with three white Chrysler 300-Bs -- and offered $18,000 plus 90 percent of the purse money to any driver willing to get behind the wheel. Consider that total season earnings for Herb Thomas in 1954 were less than $30,000.

One of those interested was Tim Flock, who had retired from racing after a dispute over being disqualified at Daytona the previous season. Flock promptly set a new record in the "flying mile," exceeding 140 mph on the hard-packed beach sand, then dominated the race, leading all 39 laps.

Flock would go on to win 17 more times in 1955 -- and with a total of 22 victories among six drivers, the Kiekhaefer juggernaut was in full swing, without any corporate backing from Chrysler. And that caught the attention of NASCAR president Bill France.

Even though France reportedly gave orders to inspect the cars thoroughly and disqualify them for the slightest variance from the rulebook, Kiekhaefer's Mercury Outboards Chryslers kept winning. During one stretch of the 1956 season, Buck Baker, Tim Flock, Speedy Thompson and Herb Thomas combined for 16 consecutive victories.

Baker, Thomas and Thompson swept the top three spots in the final season standings.

As the wins piled up, the reaction in the grandstands turned negative, with fans booing and throwing objects at the winners each weekend. At the end of the season, a deeply hurt Kiekhaefer shut down the team and returned to his outboard motor company, never to return to NASCAR.

But in just 190 starts in two seasons, Kiekhaefer-owned cars would win 51 poles and 52 races.

With the success shown by Carl Kiekhaefer's operation, the folks in Detroit suddenly stood up and took notice. In the case of Ford Motor Company, it turned to the winner of the 1925 Indianapolis 500.

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Marvin Panch drove for Pete DePaolo and the "Purple Hogs."

Pete DePaolo was an engineer first and a driver second. When his racing career ended after a crash in Spain in 1934 left him in a coma, DePaolo went into design and engineering. And when Ford general manager Robert McNamara -- who would later play a role in John F. Kennedy's cabinet -- began plans for a manufacturer-backed race team, DePaolo topped his list.

DePaolo hired former driver Buddy Shuman -- who had also worked as a NASCAR tech inspector -- to oversee everything at the Charlotte facility. In August of 1955, Ford shipped two production cars with a new overhead-valve V8 engine to Charlotte's Schwam Motors in preparation for the Labor Day race at Darlington, with Joe Weatherly and Curtis Turner scheduled to drive.

The cars were painted a bright purple and white, and quickly earned the nickname "Purple Hogs." Both cars ran near the front until mechanical issues put them on the sideline, but it didn't take long for the Purple Hogs to find Victory Lane. Speedy Thompson scored the team's first win at LeHi, Ark., in October and Buck Baker followed that up at the next-to-the-last race of the year, North Wilkesboro.

With Fireball Roberts and Ralph Moody on board for 1956, the Purple Hogs were a major force, winning eight races. That streak continued into the 1957 season -- which actually started in the fall of 1956. At the Titusville, Fla., airport course, the Purple Hogs swept the top-four spots, the only cars on the lead lap. DePaolo then entered an amazing seven cars for the Daytona Beach Course, only to lose out to Cotton Owens' Pontiac.

Still, Marvin Panch, Roberts, Moody and Paul Goldsmith combined for 10 more wins in 1957, and Panch wound up second in the final point standings to eventual champion Buck Baker, who had switched to Chevrolet.

When the American Manufacturers' Assocation ban on factory participation in motorsports was issued in May of 1957, DePaolo sold his operation to Moody and mechanic John Holman for $12,000. Holman Moody would then leave a lasting impression on the sport for years to come.

In 178 starts in a three-year period, DePaolo-owned cars would win 18 poles and 21 races.

Hugh Babb

The Black Widows dominated the first part of the 1957 season.

While Ford was funneling money and equipment to DePaolo through a Charlotte dealership, Chevrolet had its own clandestine racing operation, called the Southern Engineering Development Company.

General Motors vice president Ed Cole inticed former Hudson chief engineer Vince Piggins to move to Atlanta and set up a racing shop under the auspices of Nalley Chevrolet, an Atlanta dealer. With team manager Hugh Babb listed as owner, SEDCO went to work on a two-door coupe with fuel injection for the 1957 season. Painted black and white, they quickly become known as the "Black Widows."

With Buck Baker, Jack Smith and Speedy Thompson behind the wheel, the Black Widows won five times in the first half of the 1957 season, with eventual champ Baker taking the checkered flag at Hillsborough, Weaverville, Martinsville and New Oxford.

Despite rule changes, which included the elimination of dual four-barrel carburetors, the Black Widows kept running at the front.

Even though they looked like production vehicles, they were built purely for racing. In fact, it's impossible to know for sure how many Black Widows existed, because when the AMA ban was handed down, Cole instructed Piggins in June to shut down SEDCO, and it's unknown to this day exactly what happened to the remaining parts and pieces of the Black Widows.

There's a good chance each of the three drivers wound up with some of the leftovers, because Baker, Smith and Thompson continued to campaign the Black Widows throughout the rest of the season.

Baker ended up winning six more races and recording an amazing 38 top-10 finishes in 40 starts. With two wins, Thompson was third in the points, and Smith's four victories earned him a fifth-place finish in the final point standings.

In 56 starts -- less than a full season of racing -- Babb-owned cars would win three poles and five races.

Manufacturers backed several other single-car teams before the AMA ban went into effect in the middle of the 1957 season. In addition to the Black Widows of SEDCO, Smokey Yunick's "Best Damn Garage in Town" fielded Chevrolets for Paul Goldsmith.

Bill Stroppe was in charge of the Mercury operation, with Billy Myers behind the wheel. Cotton Owens drove for Pontiac's Ray Nichels and Lee Petty was the flag-bearer for Oldsmobile and Petty Enterprises.