All About Nascar
National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of stock cars U.S. The three largest racing series sanctioned by NASCAR are the Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series and the Craftsman Truck Series. It was founded by Bill France, Sr. in 1948.
NASCAR sanctions over 1500 races at over 100 tracks in 39 states, Canada and Mexico .
NASCAR has also had exhibition races in Japan (1996-1998) and Australia (1988)
Nascar Table of Contents
The Sprint Cup and other sanctioned races
Sprint Cup known formerly as the Strictly Stock Series (1949), Grand National Series (1950-1971), the Winston Cup Series (1972-2003) and the NEXTEL Cup Series (2004-2007)The 1949 Strictly Stock season is treated in NASCAR's record books as the first season of GN/Cup history.
Rather than a fixed schedule of one race per weekend with most entrants appearing at every event, the Grand National schedule included over sixty events in some years, often with two or three on the same weekend, and occasionally with two races on the same day in different states.
198 of the first 221 Grand National races were on dirt tracks. In 1959, when Daytona International Speedway was opened, the schedule still had more races on dirt racetracks than paved ones. Through the 1960s, as superspeedways were built and old dirt tracks were paved, the number of dirt races was reduced
The changes that resulted from RJR's (R.J. Reynolds Tobacco) involvement (the series was then named Winston Cup), established 1972 as the beginning of NASCAR's "modern era". The season was made shorter, and the point system was modified several times in the next four years. They eliminated all dirt tracks and would not run on oval tracks shorter than 250 miles.
Sprint Cup cars are front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, high-powered, vehicles with a roll cage serving as a space frame chassis and thin sheet metal covering. They have a closed cockpit, fenders, a rear wing, and an aerodynamic splitter. Fielding a car for one season usually costs $10-20 million.
The term stock car implied that vehicles racing were unmodified street cars.
Today the design of the car has focused on cost control, parity, and driver safety. The car's width has been increased by 4 inches (10 centimeters), the bumpers have been re-designed to virtually eliminate a passing technique called bump and run, and the height of the car has increased by 2 inches (5 centimeters) to accommodate taller drivers and increase aerodynamic drag.
Currently, the make of cars running Sprint Cup are Chevrolet, Ford, Chrysler (Dodge) and Toyota .
Currently, races are run at the following tracks: Martinsville Speedway (oval track); Talledega Superspeedway (oval track); Bristol Motor Speedway (oval); Dover International Speedway (oval); Kansas Speedway (tri-oval); Daytona International Speedway (tri oval); Lowe's Motor Speedway (quad-oval); Atlanta Motor Speedway (quad-oval); Texas Motor Speedway (quad-oval); California Speedway (D-oval) Michigan International Speedway (D-oval); Richmond International Raceway (D-oval); Darlington Raceway (oval with unequal ends); Pocono Raceway (triangular); Indianapolis Motor Speedway (almost-rectangular); New Hampshire Motor Speedway ("flat" track); Phoenix International Raceway ("flat" track); Infineon Raceway (road course); Watkins Glen International (road course).
Nationwide Series
NASCAR's old Sportsman division, formed in 1950 was NASCAR's short track race division. The cars were not current model cars and could be modified more. It became the Late Model Sportsman series in 1968, and soon featured races on larger tracks. Drivers used obsolete Grand National (now Sprint Cup) cars on larger tracks, but by the inception of the touring format in 1982, the series used older compact cars.In 1982 Anheuser Busch became the new sponsor using its Budweiser Brand. In 1984 the series switched names to Busch. It then became the Busch Grand National Series. In 2008 Nationwide Insurance will be the new Title Sponsor and will become the "NASCAR Nationwide Series.
This series also runs races outside of the United States . In 2005 a race was held in Mexico City , Mexico and in 2007 a race was held in Montreal , Quebec
Currently, the make of cars running the Nationwide Series are Chevrolet, Ford, Chrysler (Dodge) and Toyota .
The Nationwide Series races are run at the following tracks: Daytona International Speedway (Florida), Auto Club Speedway (Fontana, California), Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Nevada), Atlanta Motor Speedway (Georgia), Bristol Motor Speedway, (Tennessee), Nashville Superspeedway (Tennessee), Texas Motor Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway (Arizona), Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (Mexico), Talladega Superspeedway (Alabama), Richmond International Raceway (Virginia), Darlington Raceway (South Carolina), Lowe's Motor Speedway (North Carolina), Dover International Speedway, Kentucky Speedway (Delaware), The Milwaukee Mile (Wisconsin), New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway (Illinois), Gateway International Raceway (Illinois), O'Reilly Raceway Park (Indiana), Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Quebec, Canada), Watkins Glen International (New York), Michigan International Speedway, Dover International Speedway (Delaware), Kansas Speedway, Lowe's Motor Speedway (North Carolina), Memphis Motorsports Park, Homestead-Miami Speedway (Florida).
Craftsman Truck Series
Founded in 1995 this is the only series in all of NASCAR to race modified production pickup trucks. In 2007, it was announced that at the conclusion of the 2008 season, Craftsman would no longer sponsor the series.Most of the first races were no longer than 125 miles in length, with many being 150 lap races on short tracks. To save teams money by not requiring teams to hire pit specialists and buy extra tires but mostly because of the tracks that they then raced on did have a pit road safe enough for pit stops.
Most races nowadays will last around 250 miles at larger tracks, 150 to 200 miles at most others, and 200-250 laps around the shortest tracks.
Currently, the make of trucks running in this series are Chevrolet, Ford, Chrysler (Dodge) and Toyota .
Currently, races are run at the following tracks: Atlanta Motor Speedway (Georgia), Bristol Motor Speedway (Tennessee), Dover International Speedway (Delaware), Gateway International Raceway (Illinois), Homestead-Miami Speedway (Florida), Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Nevada), Lowe's Motor Speedway (North Carolina), Mansfield Motorsports Park (Ohio), Martinsville Speedway (Virginia), Memphis Motorsports Park (Tennessee), Michigan International Speedway, Nashville Speedway (Tennessee), New Hampshire Motor Speedway, O'Reilly Raceway Park (Indiana), Phoenix International Raceway (Arizona), Talladega Superspeedway (Alabama), Texas Motor Speedway, The Milwaukee Mile (Wisconsin).
NASCAR also oversees:
NASCAR Local Racing (local regional stock car racing), Whelen Modified Tour (previously the NASCAR Winston Modified Tour and NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series)Whelen All-American Series (formerly the Dodge Weekly Series) is a semi-professional and amateur auto racing series
Here's my favorite link:
"William Henry Getty France was the co-founder of NASCAR"
Nascar Flickr Photos
Ociffer
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Emphatic fan gets a...
Keeping the 83 going
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AMP500 - 2nd Red Fla...
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Clear day for racing
96 flies by
Nascar videos
Largest Crash in NASCAR History
Thanks to Rustyfan for this great capture. In 1960 Daytona Superspeedway hosted this sportsman race. 68 cars entered into the race, back then there were a maximum of 68 cars in a superspeedway race. Coming out of turn four 37 cars get into a massive wreck where at least six cars get on their roofs. Amazingly, evryone walked away from this. By the way, I am really getting tired of people having arguments that lead to name calling and slander. If I see a comment that put another member down or uses any derogatory language, I will delete it and any replies to it immediately. Also, if you do not like racing or think it is a sport, that's fine, but at least give some logical thought into a comment that you post. I will once again delete any comment along the line of "nascar sucks" or "nascar is for dumb rednecks LOL!!1!1". All I ask is for some civilized conversation, and not trash talking.
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Non Nascar Cars!
Nascar Stuff on Amazon
The Physics of NASCAR: How to Make Steel + Gas + Rubber = Speed
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One Helluva Ride: How NASCAR Swept the Nation
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Hot Pursuit (Harlequin Nascar)
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Nascar Stuff on eBay
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Have your say!
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QuantumTraveler
Thanks for this NASCAR lens. I especially enjoyed your section on the Craftsman Truck Series. Good job buddy. Posted October 01, 2008 |
