NASCAR facts for kids
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| Sport | Auto racing |
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| Category | Stock car racing Sports car racing (IMSA) |
| Abbreviation | NASCAR |
| Founded | February 21, 1948 |
| Affiliation | ACCUS-FIA |
| Headquarters | Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S. (main) Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. Concord, North Carolina, U.S. |
| President | Steve Phelps Peter Jung (Vice President, CMO) |
| Chairman | Jim France |
| Chairperson | Mike Helton (Vice Chairman) |
| CEO | Jim France |
| Other key staff |
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| Official website | |
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is a company in America that organizes and runs auto racing events. It is most famous for stock car racing. NASCAR is one of the biggest motorsports groups in the world. It is also one of the most popular sports for fans to watch in America.
Bill France Sr. started this private company in 1948. His son, Jim France, became the CEO in August 2018. NASCAR's main office is in Daytona Beach, Florida. Every year, NASCAR organizes over 1,500 races. These races happen at more than 100 tracks in 48 US states. They also take place in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Europe.
Most NASCAR drivers are from America. However, drivers from Canada, Mexico, Europe, and other places have also raced. All Cup Series races are held across America. A season has 36 races where drivers earn points. There are also special races like the pre-season Clash and the mid-season All-Star race. NASCAR mainly races on oval tracks. These include huge superspeedways, smaller short tracks, and even dirt tracks. They also race on road courses and street circuits.
Richard Petty holds the record for the most wins in the Cup Series with 200 victories. He shares the record for most championships with Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson, each having won seven titles. As of the 2024 season, Ryan Blaney is the current Cup Series champion.
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History of NASCAR Racing
In the 1920s and 1930s, Daytona Beach, Florida became a famous place for setting world land speed records. Many records were set on the Daytona Beach Road Course between 1905 and 1935. By 1936, Daytona Beach was known for fast cars. Drivers raced on a 4.1-mile (6.6 km) course. Part of the course was a long stretch of beach. The other part was a narrow highway, State Road A1A. Two tight, sandy turns connected these two straight sections.
Stock car racing in the United States began with people secretly transporting illegal alcohol. This happened during a time called Prohibition, when alcohol was against the law. Drivers would deliver homemade whiskey, mostly from the Appalachian region. These drivers used small, fast cars to avoid the police. Many of them changed their cars to make them faster and handle better. They also made them hold more cargo.
These cars kept getting better. By the late 1940s, races with these cars became popular. People raced for fun and money. These races were a big form of entertainment in the rural Southern United States. They were especially popular in the Wilkes County area of North Carolina. Most races back then used modified cars. These were street cars that were made lighter and stronger.
NASCAR Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) is the highest level of professional racing in NASCAR. It is the most popular and profitable NASCAR series. Since 2001, the Cup Series season has 36 races over 10 months. Fans often call this series "Cup" or simply "NASCAR." The 2023 NCS Champion is Ryan Blaney. Three drivers share the record for most championships with 7 titles each: Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and Jimmie Johnson. Johnson holds the record for winning five championships in a row from 2006 to 2010. Before him, Cale Yarborough was the only other driver to win three championships in a row in the late 1970s.
The Cup Series got its first main sponsor in 1972. The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company sponsored the series. This was because they could no longer advertise on television. They found that NASCAR fans were a good group to reach. So, the Grand National Series became the Winston Cup Series in 1971. This brought a new points system and good cash prizes for winning championships. In 1972, the season was shortened from 48 races to 31. Many people see 1972 as the start of NASCAR's "modern era."
In 2004, Nextel Communications became the main sponsor. The series was renamed the Nextel Cup Series. A new championship system was also created. It was called the "Chase for the Nextel Cup." This system reset the points for the top drivers with ten races left. This made the end of the season very exciting. In 2007, NASCAR changed "The Chase" to include twelve drivers instead of ten. They also gave bonus points for race wins. In 2008, the series name changed again to the Sprint Cup Series. This happened because Nextel and Sprint Corporation merged.
In 2011, NASCAR made big changes to its points system. The winner of a race now gets 43 points. Drivers get one less point for each position after that. The winner also gets 3 bonus points. Drivers who lead a lap get one bonus point. The driver who leads the most laps gets an extra bonus point. Another big change was how drivers qualified for the Chase. The top 10 drivers qualified based on points. The last two spots went to drivers with the most wins who were ranked 11th through 20th in points. This rule has stayed in place since then.
In 2014, NASCAR changed the Chase format again. They expanded it to 16 drivers. Four drivers were removed after every three races. This left four drivers to compete for the championship in the final race at Homestead. Winning races became even more important. The 16 drivers with the most wins got a spot in the Chase. If there were fewer than 16 winners, the remaining spots were filled based on points.
Monster Energy became the main sponsor in 2017. The series name changed to Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. With this sponsorship, NASCAR stopped using "The Chase" name. They now call the last 10 races "the playoffs," like in other sports.
After the 2019 season, Monster Energy did not continue as the main sponsor. On December 5, NASCAR announced a new sponsorship plan. Instead of one main sponsor, four "premier partners" would be closely linked to the top series. These partners are Coca-Cola, Xfinity, Busch Beer, and GEICO. The series was simply renamed the NASCAR Cup Series.
NASCAR Xfinity Series
The NASCAR Xfinity Series is the second-highest level of professional racing in NASCAR. The most recent champion in this series is Cole Custer in 2023. This series started in 1982. It was first sponsored by Anheuser-Busch Brewing's Budweiser brand. In 1984, it was renamed the Busch Grand National Series, and later just the Busch Series. Anheuser-Busch stopped sponsoring the series at the end of 2007. Nationwide Insurance took over from 2008 to 2014. Now, Comcast sponsors the series through its Xfinity brand.
The Xfinity season usually has fewer races than the Cup Series. The prize money is also much lower. However, in recent years, many Cup Series drivers have raced in both Xfinity and Cup events on the same weekend. They used the Xfinity race as a warm-up for the Cup event. Some drivers even raced full-time in both series. Kevin Harvick was the first Cup series driver to win an Xfinity title while racing full-time in both. He did this twice.
This practice of Cup drivers racing in Xfinity was criticized. Some thought it gave Cup teams an unfair advantage. They also felt it took away chances for Xfinity drivers to qualify. These dual-series drivers were sometimes called "Buschwhackers." In 2007, NASCAR looked into ways to deal with this issue. One idea was that Cup Series drivers would not get points for racing in Xfinity events. On January 11, 2011, NASCAR announced a big change. Starting in the 2011 season, drivers could only compete for the championship in one of NASCAR's three national series each season. However, they could still race in multiple series. This rule has been part of NASCAR ever since.
Starting in 2010, Xfinity cars began to look more like the "Car of Tomorrow" design used by Cup cars. But they had different bodies.
In 2016, the playoff format was also added to the Xfinity and Truck Series. The Xfinity Series playoffs have three rounds and seven races. Twelve drivers compete in the Xfinity Series playoffs. Four drivers are eliminated after each of the first two rounds. This means four drivers are left to race for the championship in the final event, just like in the Cup Series. Starting in 2017, the term "The Chase" was dropped for Xfinity. The final seven races are now called the Xfinity Playoffs.
Even with rules limiting points earnings to one series, Cup drivers still won most Xfinity races through 2015. Starting in 2015, NASCAR added more rules about Cup drivers racing in Xfinity. From the 2020 season, Cup drivers with more than three years of experience could only race in five Xfinity events per season. Also, these drivers could not race in the regular season finale, Xfinity playoff races, or Dash 4 Cash races.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
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The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series features races with modified pickup trucks. It is one of NASCAR's three national racing divisions. The other two are the Xfinity and Cup Series. The most recent champion in this series is Ben Rhodes in 2023.
In 1994, NASCAR announced the new NASCAR SuperTruck Series. It was presented by Craftsman. The first race for this series happened in 1995. In 1996, the series was renamed the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. This was to highlight Craftsman's involvement. At first, some thought the series was unusual. But it grew in popularity. Some drivers have even moved straight from the Truck Series to the Cup Series. They did not need to race a full season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. These drivers include Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards. Also, experienced drivers who had less success in the other two series have done very well in the Truck Series. These include Ron Hornaday Jr., Todd Bodine, Mike Skinner, and Johnny Benson.
Starting in 2009, the series became the Camping World Truck Series. In 2019, Camping World asked for a branding change. The series was renamed the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series.
As mentioned before, the playoff format was added to the Truck Series in 2016. The format is similar to the Xfinity Series. However, only eight drivers qualify for the Truck Series playoffs (instead of 12 in Xfinity). Also, only two drivers are eliminated after each preliminary round (instead of four). This means four drivers are eligible for the series title in the final race. Like the Cup and Xfinity Series, "The Chase" name was dropped in 2017. It is now simply called the Truck Series Playoffs.
On May 8, 2018, NASCAR and Camping World announced a change. The Truck Series title sponsor would become Camping World's company, Gander Outdoors, starting in 2019. The series was renamed again in 2020 to the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series. It then returned to the Camping World Truck Series name in 2021.
On August 26, 2022, it was announced that the original series sponsor, Craftsman, would return. Craftsman became the title sponsor again starting in the 2023 season.
NASCAR in Popular Culture
NASCAR racing has been featured in many movies. Some examples include Days of Thunder (1990), Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), Ta Ra Rum Pum (2007), and Logan Lucky (2017).
The Cars movie series from Pixar was greatly inspired by NASCAR. The third film especially drew ideas from NASCAR's history.
NASCAR drivers have also appeared in many TV shows and movies. These include The Cleveland Show, Sullivan & Son, and Last Man Standing.
NASCAR also teamed up with the popular Roblox game Jailbreak. This partnership started on November 5. NASCAR also worked with the creators of Jailbreak to launch NASCAR Speed Hub. This was to celebrate NASCAR's 75th Anniversary.
Images for kids
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The Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach, Florida, where NASCAR was founded.
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NASCAR Pinty's Series cars at Autodrome Chaudiere in 2015.
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A 2008 Dodge Charger "Car of Tomorrow" driven by Kurt Busch.
See also
In Spanish: NASCAR para niños
