NASCAR Cup Series

Bluegrass and red-hot racing: Random facts about Kentucky

Published Jun. 26, 2014 6:00 p.m. ET

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We Are Sparta!

Sparta, Kentucky, that is.

Sparta is home to Kentucky Speedway, which this week hosts a NASCAR touring series triple-header with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series racing Thursday night, the Nationwide Series Friday night and the Sprint Cup Series Saturday night.

Mint juleps are as much of a staple at the Kentucky Derby as horses and big hats. 

Want to win a bar bet or two? Then study up on some trivia about Sparta and the Bluegrass State:

SIZE MATTERS. Sparta is the smallest municipality to host a NASCAR Sprint Cup race. According to the U.S. Census, the population of Sparta in 2012 was 262. That's right, 262.

FIRST TIME. Lee Petty won the first NASCAR race in Kentucky at Corbin Speedway on Aug. 29, 1954. The race was 200 laps on a half-mile dirt track. Petty won $1,000 out of a total purse of $3,800.

BOTTOMS UP. Each year at the Kentucky Derby, race fans consume about 120,000 Mint Juleps, which are made from 10,000 bottles of Early Time Mint Julep Ready-to-Serve Cocktail, 1,000 pounds of fresh mint and 30 tons of ice.

BOTTOMS UP, PART DEUX.  In Kentucky, Christian County is wet, while Bourbon County is dry.

NASCAR on FOX analysts Darrell and Michael Waltrip are natives of Owensboro, Ky. 

HOMEGROWN. Darrell and Michael Waltrip are from Owensboro, Kentucky and so Is Jeremy Mayfield. And some guy named Johnny Depp, too.

FAMILY FEUD. The most famous American family feud ever pitted the Hatfields against the McCoys. The Hatfields were from West Virginia, the McCoys from Kentucky.

FIBERGLASS FANTASIES: The only place Chevrolet Corvettes are manufactured is at a GM plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Adjacent to the facility is the National Corvette Museum.

NOM, NOM. Cheeseburgers were first served in 1934 in Louisville at Kaolin's Restaurant.

American author and journalist Hunter S. Thompson and actor Johnny Depp also called Kentucky home. 

FAMOUS NAMES. Native Kentuckians include Tom Cruise, George Clooney, Hunter S. Thompson, Ned Beatty, Diane Sawyer, Loretta Lynn  and the original  D.W. from Kentucky, "Birth of a Nation" filmmaker D.W. Griffith.

CHICKEN MAN. "Colonel Sanders" was actually a gas station manager named Harland Sanders, who opened the "Sanders Court & Cafe" outside of the gas station. From there came the idea for Kentucky Fried Chicken.

ALL GUMMED UP. The first chewing gum was invented by Louisville druggist John Colgan in 1873. He called it "Taffy Tolu."

HEY, NEIGHBOR. Kentucky is bordered by seven states: West Virginia and Virginia to the east; Missouri to the west; Tennessee to the south; and Ohio, Indiana and Illinois to the north.

BUILT IN KENTUCKY: Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Super Duty, Lexus ES 350, Toyota Camry.

BEST KENTUCKY SONG: "My Old Kentucky Home."

MOST HEARTBREAKING KENTUCKY SONG: "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive."

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