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What: “The 50--NASCAR’s 50-Year

Victory.”

TV: ESPN, Friday, 4:30 p.m.

If you’re a stock car fan and don’t know this is NASCAR’s 50th anniversary year, you will. The powers at NASCAR headquarters in Daytona Beach, Fla., are making sure of that, thanks to a promotional blitz worthy of a Super Bowl.

One of the more enjoyable features is a five-part series of one-hour documentaries being shown on ESPN. The final segment, “Inherit the Win,” will be aired Friday. The entire series will be rerun next week, three hours on Feb. 20 at 4:30 p.m. and two hours on Feb. 21 at 4:30 p.m.

“Inherit the Win” discusses the role of such families as Petty, Earnhardt, Jarrett and France, all of whom have second- or third-generation ties to the sport, and also how the sport will continue to prosper with new names.

Earlier shows chronicle the growth of NASCAR from the days when bootleggers raced revenuers on the back roads of the Carolinas during the week and then raced one another for bragging rights on dirt tracks on Sunday, including running on the sand at Daytona Beach and into the superspeedway era.

Actor and part-time race driver Craig T. Nelson is the narrator.

In addition, a two-hour NASCAR Gala from Los Angeles will be shown May 2, the night before the California 500.