Although a luxury division, Lincoln has not been absent from motorsports. Like all American brands of the 1950s, Lincoln participated in NASCAR's Grand National Stock Car series, winning the first race in that series. They would continue in NASCAR through 1953. The Lincoln Mark VIII was tested at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1996 as a potential replacement for the discontinued Ford Thunderbird, but the car was rejected by NASCAR due to a lack of wind tunnel testing and not getting the serial numbers of the parts to ensure they were stock components, as well as Ford not wanting to give Lincoln a racing image; Ford ultimately replaced the Thunderbird with the Ford Taurus.