Nascar

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States. The three largest racing series sanctioned by NASCAR are the Sprint Cup, the Nationwide Series and the Craftsman Truck Series. It also oversees NASCAR Local Racing, the Whelen Modified Tour, and the Whelen All-American Series. NASCAR sanctions over 1,500 races at over 100 tracks in 39 states, Canada, and Mexico. From 1996 to 1998, NASCAR held exhibition races in Japan and an exhibition race in Australia in 1988.

With roots as regional entertainment in the Southeastern U.S., NASCAR has grown to become the second-most popular professional sport in terms of television ratings inside the U.S., ranking behind only the National Football League. Internationally, NASCAR races are broadcast in over 150 countries. It holds 17 of the top 20 attended sporting events in the U.S.,1 and has 75 million fans who purchase over $3 billion in annual licensed product sales. These fans are considered the most brand-loyal in all of sports and as a result, Fortune 500 companies sponsor NASCAR more than any other governing body.

NASCAR's headquarters are located in Daytona Beach, Florida, although it also maintains offices in four North Carolina cities: Charlotte, Mooresville, Concord, and Conover. Regional offices are also located in New York City, Los Angeles, Arkansas, and international offices in Mexico City and Toronto, Ontario. Additionally, owing to its southern roots, all but a handful of NASCAR teams are still based in North Carolina, especially near Charlotte. Cities in North Carolina that are home to NASCAR teams include: Charlotte, Mooresville, Concord, Statesville, Huntersville, Cornelius, Welcome, Wilkesboro, Kernersville, Randleman, Greensboro, High Point, Harrisburg, and Kannapolis.

Sprint Cup Series

The "NASCAR Sprint Cup Series" is the sport's highest level of professional competition. It is consequently the most popular and most profitable NASCAR series. The 2006 Sprint Cup season consisted of 36 races over 10 months, with over $4 million in total prize money at stake at each race. Writers and fans often use "Cup" to refer to the Sprint Cup series and the ambiguous use of "NASCAR" as a synonym for the Sprint Cup series is common. The winner of the most recent season was Jimmie Johnson in 2007; Johnson was also the 2006 champion.

In 2004, NEXTEL took over sponsorship of the premier series from R. J. Reynolds, formally renaming it from the Winston Cup to the NEXTEL Cup Series. A new championship points system, "The Chase for the Nextel Cup " was also developed, which reset the point standings with ten races to go, making only drivers in the top ten or within 400 points of the leader eligible to win the championship. In 2007, NASCAR announced it was expanding "The Chase" from ten to twelve drivers, eliminating the 400-point cutoff, and giving a ten-point bonus to the top twelve drivers for each of the races they have won out of the first 26. Wins throughout the season will also be worth five more points than in previous seasons. In 2008, the premier series title name became the Sprint Cup Series and The Chase for The NEXTEL Cup became the "Sprint For The Cup", as part of the merger between NEXTEL and Sprint.

Nationwide Series

The NASCAR Nationwide Series is the second-highest level of professional competition in NASCAR. The most recent series champion was Carl Edwards in 2007.

The modern incarnation of this series began in 1982, with sponsorship by Anheuser-Busch Brewing's Budweiser brand. In 1984 it was renamed to the Busch Grand National Series. The Anheuser-Busch sponsorship expired at the end of 2007, and the series is now sponsored by Nationwide Insurance. Nationwide will also become NASCAR's official insurance agency replacing Allstate.

The Nationwide Series is currently the only series of the top three to race outside the United States. The season is a few races shorter than that of the Sprint Cup, and the prize money is significantly lower. However, over the last several years, a number of Sprint Cup drivers have run both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup series events each weekend, using the Nationwide race as a warm-up to the Cup event at the same facility. Detractors of this practice believe this gives the Sprint Cup teams an unfair advantage, and that the presence of the Sprint Cup drivers squeezes out Nationwide Series competitors who would otherwise be able to qualify. These dual-series drivers have been labeled "Buschwhackers", a play on words which combines the original series sponsor's name with the notion of being bushwhacked. In May 2007, NNS director Joe Balash confirmed that NASCAR is exploring options to deal with the Buschwhacker controversy. One of the most often-cited proposals would be for Sprint Cup drivers participating in the Nationwide Series to receive no points for their participation in a Nationwide race. According to NASCAR Chairman Brian France, all options, except an outright ban of Cup competitors, are still being considered.

Beginning in 2009, the Nationwide cars will adapt somewhat to the current "Car of Tomorrow" (or COT) design used by Cup cars, although initially only minor changes will be made. Some critics hope that the discrepancy between the Nationwide and Sprint Cup cars will help solve the Buschwhacker problem by reducing the advantages of running both series.

Craftsman Truck Series

The '"NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series" features modified pickup trucks. It is one of the three national divisions of NASCAR, together with the Nationwide Series and the Sprint Cup. The most recent series champion was Ron Hornaday in 2007; Hornaday also won championships in 1996 and 1998.

In 1994, NASCAR announced the formation of the NASCAR SuperTruck Series presented by Craftsman. The first series race followed in 1995. In 1996, the series was renamed the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to emphasize Craftsman's involvement. The series was first considered something of an oddity or a "senior tour" for NASCAR drivers, but eventually grew in popularity and has produced Sprint Cup series drivers who had never raced in the Nationwide Series.

It was reported that Craftsman would pull out as sponsor of the series after the 2008 season.

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series

NASCAR announced the purchase of Canadian racing series CASCAR in September of 2006. The CASCAR Western Series will become NASCAR's fourth-tier series starting in the Fall of 2007.

NASCAR Corona Series

In December of 2006, NASCAR also announced the creation of a new series in Mexico, the NASCAR Corona Series, replacing the existing Desafío Corona Series, to begin in 2007.

Regional racing series

In addition to the five main series, NASCAR operates several other racing circuits.

Many local race tracks across the United States and Canada run under the Whelen All-American Series banner, where local drivers are compared against each other in a formula where the best local track champion of the nation wins the Whelen All-American Weekly Series National Championship. The Whelen All-American series is split into four divisions. Each division champion receives a point-fund money payout and even more goes to the National champion (driver with most points out of the four division winners). The Whelen All-American Series is the base for stock car racing, developing NASCAR names such as Clint Bowyer, Jimmy Spencer, Tony Stewart, the Bodine brothers and many others along the way.

NASCAR also sanctions two regional racing divisions. The Whelen Modified Tour races open-wheel "modified" cars in Northern and Southern divisions. The Camping World Series, which consists of East and West divisions, race cars that are similar to Nationwide Series cars, although they are less powerful. In the past, NASCAR also sanctioned the AutoZone Elite Division, which raced late-model cars that were lighter and less powerful than Sprint Cup cars, and was originally split into four divisions: Northwest, Southwest, Southeast, and Midwest. At the end of 2005, NASCAR announced that the AutoZone Elite Division would be discontinued after the 2006 season due to having trouble securing NASCAR-sanctioned tracks to successfully host AutoZone Elite Division events, plus escalating costs of competing and downsizing of the Division in recent years.

In 2003, NASCAR standardized rules for its AutoZone Elite and Grand National divisions regional touring series as to permit cars in one series to race against cars in another series in the same division. The top 15 (Grand National) or 10 (AutoZone Elite) in each series will race in a one-race playoff, called the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown, to determine the annual AutoZone Elite and Grand National champions. This event has been hosted at Irwindale Speedway in California since its inception.

Many drivers move up through the series before reaching the Sprint Cup series. In 2002, over 9,000 drivers had licenses from NASCAR to race at all levels.

The winners of the Dodge Weekly Series National Championship, the four AutoZone Elite Divisions, the two Whelen Modified and Grand National Divisions, and the three national series are invited to New York City in December to participate in Champions Week ceremonies which conclude with the annual awards banquet at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

NASCAR 2008 SCHEDULE
Mar 2 UAW-Dodge 400
Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Mar 9 Kobalt Tools 500
Atlanta Motor Speedway

Mar 16 Food City 500
Bristol Motor Speedway

Mar 30 Goody's Cool Orange 500
Martinsville Speedway

Apr 6 Samsung 500
Texas Motor Speedway

Apr 12 Subway Fresh Fit 500
Phoenix International Raceway

Apr 27 Aaron's 499
Talladega Superspeedway

May 3 Crown Royal Presents "Your Name Here 400"
Richmond International Raceway

May 10 Dodge Challenger 500
Darlington Raceway

May 25 Coca-Cola 600
Lowe's Motor Speedway

Jun 1 Dover 400
Dover International Speedway

Jun 8 Pocono 500
Pocono Raceway

Jun 15 Michigan 400
Michigan International Speedway

Jun 22 Toyota/Save Mart 350
Infineon Raceway

Jun 29 LENOX Industrial Tools 301
New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Jul 5 Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola
Daytona International Speedway

Jul 12 Chicagoland 400
Chicagoland Speedway

Jul 27 Allstate 400 at The Brickyard
Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Aug 3 Pennsylvania 500
Pocono Raceway

Aug 10 Centurion Boats at The Glen
Watkins Glen International

Aug 17 3M Performance 400
Michigan International Speedway

Aug 23 Sharpie 500
Bristol Motor Speedway

Aug 31 Pepsi 500
Auto Club Speedway

Sep 6 Chevy Rock & Roll 400
Richmond International Raceway

Sep 14 Sylvania 300
New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Sep 21 Dover 400
Dover International Speedway

Sep 28 Kansas 400
Kansas Speedway

Oct 5 Amp Energy 500
Talladega Superspeedway

Oct 11 Bank of America 500
Lowe's Motor Speedway

Oct 19 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 500
Martinsville Speedway

Oct 26 Pep Boys Auto 500
Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nov 2 Dickies 500
Texas Motor Speedway

Nov 9 Checker Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil
Phoenix International Raceway

Nov 16 Ford 400
Homestead-Miami Speedway

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nascar

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