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Now only a few places have motor races, Monaco Isle of Man, New Zealand and a few places in the US (Indianapolis, Daytona)
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Well, it depends on how you define motor races. If you're talking about the big officially organized ones with corporate sponsors, than you're right.
Indianapolis, Daytona, Monaco, Nuerburg, and Man are pretty much just showcases for the big automobile manufacturers, oil companies and other companies to display their "engineering skill" and more importantly advertise their products. They're essentially almost scripted events, with cars required to stay in their lanes to avoid catastrophe, and more and more ending in very near ties.
New Zealand is probably the only place they still have anything similar to what it used to be, with national organizations and independent racing teams (as in, not specifically organized by large corporations, not that they don't have any corporate sponsorships).
But, unofficial stock car racing is alive and well throughout rural areas in the United States. Apart from the special case laws in Indiana, Florida, and Utah (Bonneville Speedway), it is still legal, with appropriate licensing, in Mississippi, Tennessee and Iowa. Although, it's often hard to find good racing teams willing to work in these "official" races, and you actually end up with a lot of what could be called amateurs. That's because the good racing teams try to avoid publicity that will get them in trouble.
You will find the
real races elsewhere, on back roads and farms with acreage hidden from the authorities. You just have to know where to go. It's almost a sort of pageant, the cars are souped up and painted hot rod style, with all sorts of interesting modifications for speed and looks. The drivers and the crew all wear masks, to the point where many of them resemble Mexican wrestlers, and go by names like "Flash", "Awesome Don", "Catfish", "The Intimidator" and "Number Nine".
Heck, a lot of those races are actually condoned by local authorities, even while remaining illegal under state laws. They just sort of turn their eyes away and forget to report it to the state -- as long as everyone's being careful.
It's pretty much only when there's a major accident do the state police and the media get involved, which is why racing in the U.S. continues to be considered unsafe to this day.
Mind you, these races are nowhere near the budget they used to have in the fifties. Attendance is pretty much limited to locals, there's no real national fanbase to be had. Not to mention, the various mafias are very possibly deeply involved in it, but they actually do a pretty good job of keeping it safe, as if they don't they tend to get a lot of unwanted attention.
