NASCAR is the organization that governs the most popular form of stock car automobile racing in the United States. The full name of the organization is the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. Stock cars are large, late-model sedans that resemble ordinary passenger cars but have been built especially for racing.
Stock car racing originally was a regional sport concentrated in the Southeastern States. Stock car racing began to gain national attention in the 1970’s and today is one of the most popular spectator and television sports in the United States. Many of the most important NASCAR races are still held in such Southeastern States as North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. However, races now take place throughout the country, from New England to California.
NASCAR supervises the annual NASCAR Cup Series, which is considered the premier championship series of stock car racing. The series was called the Winston Cup from 1971 to 2003, the Nextel Cup from 2004 to 2007, the Sprint Cup from 2008 to 2016, and the Monster Energy Cup from 2017 to 2019. NASCAR also governs two other series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series for stock cars (formerly the NASCAR Nationwide Series) and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (formerly the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series). In all three series, drivers compete in a schedule of races, earning points for their performance in each race. In the NASCAR Cup Series, a 26-race regular season championship series leads to a 10-race playoff. At the end of the playoff, the four leading drivers race for the total season championship.
NASCAR was founded in 1947 under the leadership of William H. G. (Bill) France, a gas station owner and amateur stock car racer. The first true NASCAR race was held in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1949. Until 1950, races were run on dirt tracks. In that year, the Darlington Raceway, the first modern “superspeedway,” opened at Darlington, South Carolina. The raceway was the site of the Southern 500, one of the major NASCAR events, from 1950 to 2004. Daytona International Speedway in Florida opened in 1959 and has been the home of the Daytona 500, another celebrated annual NASCAR race.
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The first NASCAR superstar driver was Glenn (Fireball) Roberts, who won 32 races from 1958 until he died after an accident in a NASCAR race in 1964. Stock car racing received an enormous boost from the career of Richard Petty, one of the greatest and most colorful drivers in the history of the sport. Petty set many career NASCAR records while racing from 1958 to 1992. He became known as “the King.”
Television coverage helped spread stock car racing, starting in the 1970’s. In 1970, the ABC television network began televising portions of NASCAR races. In 1979, the Daytona 500 became the first NASCAR race to be televised from start to finish. The rising popularity of the sport attracted many corporations in the 1980’s to sponsor races or racing teams. By the early 2000’s, various TV networks were televising every race in what are now the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
The NASCAR Hall of Fame opened in 2010 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hall of Fame honors drivers, owners, and other contributors to NASCAR. Up to five individuals are selected each year and inducted into the Hall of Fame the following year. A panel of voters selects the winners from a group of no more than 25 nominees.
