The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of stock cars 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. 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. 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 "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.
The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and host events all over the United States and Canada. The association was founded by Wally Parks in 1951 in the State of California to provide a governing body to organize and promote the sport of drag racing. The first nationwide NHRA sponsored event was held in 1955, in Great Bend, Kansas. (Typical for the era, this race was held on a World War II-constructed training air field.) The "Nationals", which now comprise 24 events each year, are the premier events in drag racing that bring together the best cars and drivers from across North America. The U.S. Nationals are now held at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis in Clermont, Indiana and are officially called the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. Winners of national events are awarded a trophy statue in honor of founder Wally Parks. The trophy is commonly referred to by its nickname, a “Wally”. The NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series is the NHRA governed series that sanctions all major national events. It is the NHRA's premier series. Winston was the title sponsor of the series from 1970 until 2003, before a new governing rule stated the Master Settlement Agreement restricted R. J. Reynolds to one sponsorship of a sporting event; they chose NASCAR. In 2004, The Coca-Cola Company took over sponsorship of the series, which is now known as the NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series and has the slogan "Very Real Power." The series has four main classes: Top Fuel Dragster, Top Fuel Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle. Top Fuel was the first category, with Funny Cars added in 1966, Pro Stock four years later and Pro Stock Motorcycles in 1987. Both Top Fuel and Funny Cars regularly see top speeds in excess of 330 mph today, and quarter mile times anywhere from 4.42 to 5 seconds. Both these cars are 90% nitromethane and 10% methanol. The Pro Stock record is 211 mph with times often in the 6.5-6.7 second range and the Pro Stock Motorcycles usually run at 190+ mph with times in the low 7- to high 6-second range. Some of the popular racers to come through the series include "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, Don "The Snake" Prudhomme and Shirley Muldowney. Those three gained much attention from the 1960s through '70s with their speed and personalities, a combination rarely achieved today through the political correctness of sponsorship in today's drivers. Nonetheless there are still colorful characters today, such as 14-time Funny Car world champion John Force.
Updated: May 3, 2008, 6:51 PM ET - RICHMOND, Va. - Bobby Labonte has reached an agreement to remain in the No. 43 car at Petty Enterprises after this season, sources told ESPN.com on Saturday. Bobby Labonte has been widely speculated as a candidate to drive the fourth car at Richard Childress Racing, but Petty officials have remained adamant that he will spend the rest of his career with the organization and that he is determined to be the driver that puts the 43 back into Victory lane. Labonte told ESPN.com earlier this week that they had no reason to believe otherwise. "I don't want it to take two or three or four years," he said. "I want it to happen today. I would love to be the guy. If it can happen sooner than later it's better. I'm not a skip around guy anyway." Robbie Loomis, the vice president for racing operations at Petty, has been the most outspoken on Labonte's commitment to Petty Enterprises. He remained that way on Saturday. "As far as I know Bobby Labonte will be with us for a long time," he said before the Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway. "I feel confident where we're at with Petty Enterprises and with Bobby. "In due time Petty Enterprises will have a lot of announcements coming forward." One is that a Petty has finalized a deal with New York-based Medallion Financial as a business partner. Loomis said that could come within the next month to six weeks. The other concerns Labonte's new sponsor. General Mills, Labonte's current sponsor, will be on the fourth car at RCR next season. Loomis said negotiations for a new sponsor are going well, noting Labonte's "brand is clean like the Petty's." Loomis would not comment on the future of Kyle Petty in the No. 45 car, saying that "is a Kyle question." Petty already has stepped away from the car for one race after falling out of the top 35 in points guaranteed a spot in the field each week and has plans to miss six other races this summer. "I'm sure Kyle is like the Brett Favre analogy: do I want to keep playing or do I not?" Loomis said. The No. 45 is 42nd in owner's points, compared to 23rd for the 43. While Loomis would like to expand to a three- or four-car operation, he said that can't happen until the 45 is running as well at the 43. RCR owner Richard Childress said Friday that he is interviewing three to four Cup drivers for his fourth car and he hopes to name a driver within the next couple of months. David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at dnewtonespn@aol.com.
Clint Bowyer wins at with the BB&T #07 Richmond: #07 Clint Bowyer won the Crown Royal Presents The Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond International Raceway for his first win of 2008 and 2nd of his career after #18 Kyle Busch and #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. tangled with a couple laps to go, sending the leader, Dale Earnhardt Jr. into the wall. Kyle Busch held on to 2nd, with the rest of the top-10 being #8 Mark Martin, #20 Tony Stewart, #1 MartinTruex Jr., #12 Ryan Newman, #99 Carl Edwards, #29 Kevin Harvick, #24 Jeff Gordon and #9 Kasey Kahne. #11 Denny Hamlin dominated most of the race, leading 381 of 382 laps before having a right front tire going down, giving way to Dale Earnhardt Jr until he tangle with Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin finished 24th. #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 15th on the lead lap. Points leader coming in to the race, #31 Jeff Burton finished 11th, but lost the points lead to #18 Kyle Busch 1495 to 1477 points. There were 11 cautions for 62 laps and 4 lead changes amongh 4 drivers.
Nascar Diecast cars are manufactured by forceing molten metal into a die. Nascar Diecast has been widely produced since the Early 1990's. Many manufactures have produced Diecast collectable cars, some of these include Racing Champions, Action Performance, Motorsports Authentics, Checkered Flag Racing among others. Nascar Diecast collectable have been improved over the years and now are remarkably accurate. Nascar Diecast is an exacting replica of the cars raced on the Nascar tracks. These cars are mainly decorated using a method called Tampo Printing. The manufactures have even been able to produced cars that resemble the cars after a victory, showing all debris and markings from the race. Nascar diecast can be extremely collectable most are made in one time only limited edition runs. Nascar Diecast is usually produced in 1/24th Scale and 1/64th scale repicas.
Testing at Lowe's Motor Speedway is over: Sprint Cup testing at Lowe's Motor Speedway ended Tuesday evening, with 51 cars running laps, the fastest was Jamie McMurray #26 at 185.720mph in a Ford followed by the Dodge of Ryan Newman #12, the Toyota of AJ Allmendinger #84, Scott Riggs #66 in a Chevy and the Dodge of Patrick Carpentier #10. There were six minor incidents during the 10 hours of testing. A.J. Allmendinger, Robby Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch each brushed the yellow outside SAFER barriers. All five cars received only minor damage and each driver was able to drive back to the garage area. Regan Smith was a double-dipper, making contact with the outside wall twice. He was able to drive into the garage following each fender-bender. By Jayski.com
Updated: May 8, 2008, 1:20 PM ET - DARLINGTON, S.C. Dale Jr.: Busch has “Intimidator’s style By PETE IACOBELLI, AP Sports Writer
Kyle Busch just might have a little “Itimidator” in him. And that’s from someone who’d know best, Dale Earnhardt Jr. It was only a few days ago Busch and Earnhardt Jr. collided chasing victory at Richmond International Raceway. Dale Jr. admitted with a smile that Busch’s racing style reminded him of his old man’s earlier, hard-charging stock-car days. “On the racetrack, there may be some comparisons there,” Earnhardt Jr. said Thursday. “He’s fast … he’s slick, he’s aggressive.” “That’s the way dad raced and Kyle has that same style,” Earnhardt Jr. continued. “Very aggressive.” Earnhardt Jr. was at Darlington Raceway on Thursday, preparing for Saturday night’s Dodge Challenger 500. Dale Jr. fans everywhere thought their hero’s two-year winless drought— Earnhardt’s last victory came at Richmond in May 2006—was about to end as he fought Busch for the win less than two miles from the checkered flag. The cars hit and Earnhardt spun into the wall. Busch, with little damage, recovered to take second behind Clint Bowyer. Earnhardt wound up 15th—a finish that unleashed the full wrath of “Little E” fans on Busch. The 23-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing driver had a security escort during a test session at Lowe’s Motor Speedway just in case. Earnhardt could’ve stoked the flames more with a few incendiary words. Instead, he chose to put the crash and lost opportunity behind him this week at Darlington. “I’ve got more important things to worry about,” Earnhardt said. “If I let that get under my skin, everything I do this week is going to be a pain in my butt, make for a long week.” Earnhardt wants to concentrate on conquering Darlington, where his father is second all time with nine victories at the track “Too Tough To Tame.” Earnhardt Jr. has four top 10s his last five times here. His new team, Hendrick Motorsports, has won 10 times here since the 1995 Southern 500. “The team’s been great. The car’s been good,” Earnhardt said. “I’m very confident.” All the drivers will have to handle Darlington’s repaved surface. The track used $10 million in capital improvement funds give the track a new coat of blacktop for the first time since 1995. Earnhardt’s Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman took part in a Goodyear tire test here in March that saw speeds on the fastest part of the track hit 200 mph—unheard of at Darlington since NASCAR took steps to slow their machines for safety’s sake. The 10 fastest racers in Thursday’s first Sprint Cup practice session surpassed the 12-year-old track qualifying record set by Ward Burton in 1996. Burton’s record lap came in the first race after the track’s last repaving. Newman doesn’t think the new surface will change the way drivers race on the quirky, 1.366-mile layout. “We never saw much side-by-side racing here,” he said. “I don’t expect that will be different this weekend.” Maybe that’ll mean no round two for Earnhardt-Busch. Earnhardt put things behind him when he returned to work this week. He was impressed by Busch’s response. And Earnhardt didn’t deny the high drama of a budding rivalry thrills race fans: Busch the rising star cast aside in the Hendrick garage to make room for Earnhardt, NASCAR’s most popular driver. “It was a big deal,” Earnhardt said. “It was a bad deal for me and I was pretty frustrated by it. But it’s exciting for the sport and whether I want to deny it or not, there a lot of people out there who enjoyed it.” Sounds like Junior’s got his father in him, as well.
