Auto Racing Auto racing, one of the most popular sports in the world, holds races with extensive television coverage - in front of millions of fans. It tests the skills of drivers, the speed capabilities of vehicles and the endurance of both. The first racing cars were motorized versions of horse-drawn carriages and wagons. The first race was a reliability demonstration from Chicago to Waukegan, Illinois, in November 1895, while the first American oval track race, held at the Rhode Island State Fairgrounds in Cranston in 1896, was won at an average speed of 43.1 km/h. . Racing in the United States became popular two years later, with the opening of the 2.5-mile brick Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. Later, the speed of cars increased and the condition of the roads also improved, so car designers began to design cars specifically for racing. Racing cars now fall into two main categories. First there are vehicles with open wheels, in which the wheels are not under the wings. Other categories of racing cars are closed-wheel cars with an enclosed cockpit. Until the 1930s, automobile racing was present only in the United States and continental Europe. Then the popularity of this sport began to spread. As European countries wanted to show off their empires, races were held in Italian and French colonial outposts in Africa, such as Tripoli, Libya, and Casablanca, Morocco. Smaller nations, like Monaco, San Marino and Macau, also wanted prestige...