The Year President Jimmy Carter Brought NASCAR to the White House

• Jimmy Carter won the presidency in 1976.

• To fulfill a campaign promise, in the summer of 1978, invitations went out to drivers and other NASCAR figures to visit the White House.

• As it turned out, Carter missed the big evening at the White House because he was at nearby Camp David working on a Mideast peace agreement.

When Jimmy Carter was governor of Georgia in the early 1970s, he attended NASCAR races at Atlanta Motor Speedway and became friends with several drivers.

At one point, Carter promised the NASCAR community that he would host drivers and other team members and officials for a White House dinner if he became president.

Carter was not considered a favorite in presidential speculation, and many in NASCAR assumed he wouldn’t remember the promise even if he happened to move into the White House.

Wrong. And wrong.