The glamour of the International Formula One circuit is set to be overtaken by a brash and relative newcomer -- US stock car racing.

And Bermudians drawn by the roar of the powerful V8 engines of the NASCAR speedway are flocking to classics like the Daytona 500 and the Indy 400.

The series -- with its origins in the moon-shining days of 1930s prohibition -- has recently rocketed into gear through cable TV coverage.

Long-time NASCAR fan Neville Spalding said it was the "pure excitement'' of the sport which has kept him captivated for more than a decade.

"It's the speed and sound,'' he chuckled. "There is a romance about fast cars that make a lot of noise.'' And the Pembroke resident is not alone, hundreds of locals are flocking to their TV sets or hopping on airplanes to check out NASCAR racing.

"There's a lot of NASCAR fans here,'' Mr. Spalding said. "Personally, I've been a fan for years and I use to follow British stock car racing when I was young.

"The last few years, there has been an noticeable increase in the number of local NASCAR fans,'' he said. "About two or three hundred Bermudians attend the races each year.

"When I've gone to Daytona in the past, people will call out your name,'' Mr.

Spalding recalled. "There were a lot of Bermudians there.'' Florida's famous speedway is not the only NASCAR event to attract local fans -- The Indy 400, Coca Cola 600 and The Winston also enjoy Bermudian patronage.

Michael Perry, a fan of NASCAR racing since the late '70s, said the races held in Atlanta, Charlotte and Daytona attracted the most Bermudians.

"...you will really find large numbers at the ones close to Bermuda and they can get there with a direct flight''.

For some Bermudians, their passion for the sport is not limited to the race track -- a surprising number of local cars are sporting NASCAR paraphernalia.

"People have numbers and flags on their cars,'' said Mr. Spalding. "But a lot of people are quiet about it. You won't know that they are fans until you talk to them.'' "There are some guys that have dump trucks that look like race cars because they have so much stuff on them.'' According to both enthusiasts, technology is the catalyst for the local surge in popularity enjoyed by the high-speed sport.

"TV coverage and cable TV has exposed so many people to NASCAR,'' Mr.

Spalding explained.

Since NASCAR's inception in the 1940s, the sport has grown in popularity by leaps and bounds and today enjoys legions of fans, major network TV coverage and million-dollar sponsorship by the big automakers.

NASCAR (which stands for National Association of Stock Car Auto Racers) has its roots in the mid-south, particularly in North Carolina.

"NASCAR is the national sport of North Carolina,'' Mr. Spalding explained.

"The sport started in the 1940s when people got a hold of cars and began drag racing.

"During the 50s, when they had the big V8 engines, people down south would race on fields that had a quarter-mile dirt track in the shape of an oval.

"Today, the core of the die-hard NASCAR racers still get their V8, two-door cars together and race Saturday nights.'' And Mr. Spalding said the most famous of NASCAR races, the Dayton 500, grew out of humble beginnings.

"Guys used to race on the beach and that was the start of the Daytona Race,'' he said. "Bill France started to organise the beach races and after a number of years a track was built.

"He along with some other people established NASCAR. He was the first president.'' Although TV has brought NASCAR racing into the homes of thousands of locals, exposing them to the adrenaline rush of the sport, Mr. Perry said nothing quite compares to experiencing a race first hand.

"It's just quite a spectacle. A lot of these races are the top sporting draw for a number of states. Some of those tracks can hold over 150,000 people.'' Shirley Cook said her inaugural trip to the Daytona 500 converted her into a follower: "It was absolutely awesome, mind blowing! I am absolutely a NASCAR fan now.'' Ms Cook said it was at a friend's insistence that she decided to make the trip to Florida, over Valentine's Day weekend, to watch her first NASCAR race.

"I saw it on TV and thought, `well it's okay, but not as exciting as Formula One racing','' she recalled. "I heard a lot of people talking about it and I had a friend who had been going for the last 14 years. He kept saying `you should go', so I decided to give it a try.'' And she said she was pleasantly surprised by her high-speed experience.

"I've seen a lot of racing in Europe but NASCAR racing took me by surprise,'' she said. "I was prepared to tell my friend `oh well, that was nice but it was not as good as Europe'.

"But boy was I surprised, the tables were turned on me!'' Ms Cook said nothing had prepared her for the exhilarating feelings she experienced when she hear the roar of the engines.

"It's different,'' she said. "The rumble of the engines -- it just goes right through you.

"You get goose pimples!'' She added: "The last ten laps, the drivers really throw caution to the wind.

It really is something. And the atmosphere, it's just electric.'' Ms Cook said she noticed quite a few Bermudians at the race, but was really astonished by the number of female racing fans.

"I was surprised by the number of women,'' she admitted. "And you could tell that a lot of them had been going for years. They had their NASCAR seat cushion and brought picnic baskets and coolers -- they set up camp for the day.'' It is estimated that 40 to 50 percent of the NASCAR fans are women.

Ms Cook said she was also taken aback by the diversity of the audience at the Daytona 500.

"There were people there of all ages there,'' she recalled. "You'd think that it would only attract young men because of the speed, but there were older couples there.'' And she said anyone entertaining the thought of attending a NASCAR race should do so since they will not be disappointed.

Adrenalin rush: A host of cars spin out of control and collide on turn three and four at the Valentine's Day running of the 41st Daytona 500, part of NASCAR's Winston Cup race series.