NASCAR

Who doesn’t love racing? Who can deny the adrenalin rush that surges through your system when you see cars zoom past in a flurry of colors? Grand pix and NASCAR racing are loved by one and all. In fact, auto racing of any kind excites us, which explains why movies like Tokyo drift, Gone in 60 seconds and even Herbie make big money at the box office. Even computer games based on racing like Need for Speed are big favorites of gamers worldwide.

Now, NASCAR is very popular in the states. NASCAR as you very well know stands for the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing. It is the largest sanctioning body of stock cars in the States.

The story behind NASCAR:

It was founded by William France and Ed Otto in 1948. The original plans for NASCAR consisted of three divisions’ i.e. Modified, Roadster and Strictly Stock. These two men realized and noticed the passion people have for racing and they felt that there was a need to standardize the then unorganized racing scenario. Their idea was to attract more racers to the track and this would automatically mean more fans. The races would get a larger audience than ever before.

In the initial years, racing at NASCAR was carried out with stock cars. Stock cars are those cars that are exactly as the manufacturers release them without any modifications or changes. But when accidents started taking place, the cars were allowed modifications to avoid accidents and make the cars safer. But, as time wore on, further modifications were made to increase the speed of the car, handling, etc.

Many people who were interested in this type of racing started manufacturing specific cars that were exclusively meant for NASCAR racing. These cars were equipped with all the modifications that NASCAR allowed.

NASCAR saw major changes in the early 1970s. The top series found sponsorship from R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Tobacco companies found a popular medium to advertise their products, as they were not allowed to advertise on television.

NASCAR has numerous car racing circuits and some of the large events are televised. There is a huge number of fans that follow the sport. The drivers of these stock cars make a living through racing and endorsing products.

Let us have a look at NASCAR sanctioned series:

• Sprint cup – the NASCAR sprint cup series is the highest level of professional competition. It is the most profitable NASCAR series and is the most popular of all. The 2006 Sprint Cup season consisted of 36 races with prize money of $4 million at each race.
• Nationwide Series – the most recent series champion was Carl Edwards in the year 2007.the season is a few races shorter than that of the Sprint cup and even the prize money is sufficiently lower.
• Craftsman Truck Series – this series features modified pick-up trucks. The champion of 2007 series was Ron Hornaday; he was also the winner in the year 1996 and 1998.
When William France retired, his two sons, Jim and Bill Jr. took control of NASCAR. And thankfully, NASCAR continues to go from strength to strength even to this day.

So, whether you are a petrol head or not, go ahead and book your tickets to catch a piece of NASCAR action along with your friends and family today and be part of one of the greatest motor sport events of all time.

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The author was always intrested in sports since childhood. The author lives in N.Y.C. Some of the authors favorite sports teams are, The New York Yankees, The Boston Celtics, The La Lakers, The San Fransisco 49er's, etc. The authors website is the following: http://nothingbutsports.info/