Modern Racing in America

Once they were invented, it didn't take long for people to stat racing cars. Once that began it was just a matter of time before organized racing developed. In America there are two dominant racing institutions. The first is Formula 1, or F1 (Indy cars) that race under the care of the FIA, or Federation International de Automobile. It is a billion dollar industry that has its main popularity outside of the United States. The second group is NASCAR.

While scientists remain clueless as to the cause, NASCAR is huge in America. It is a 3 billion dollar a year industry that boasts over 75 million fans. NASCAR racing is one of the highest rated television events, behind only football for watching popularity. People have favorite drivers, favorite cars and even favorite sponsors. There are endless debates over who is the best.

NASCAR is a cleverly disguised acronym for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. The biggest difference between it and other sports is that is a family owned and operated business. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948 and currently his grandson, Brian, is the CEO of the company.

Another huge difference in NASCAR is the way they run the championship. They use a complex scoring system. Each race every driver wins a number of points based on his finishing position in the race. At the end of the series the points are added up and the person with the most points wins.

While NASCAR runs several races that act as sort of a "minor league," they also run three large, sanctioned series. The most popular and most lucrative series is the Nextel Sprint Cup Series. Consisting of 36 races over a 10 months season it easily has the most popular drivers. From 1972-2003 the series was known as the Winston Cup, but that all changed when Sprint took over in 2004. The Winston/Sprint Cup has had such famous drivers as Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart and of course Dale Earnhardt.

The second tier series is known as the Nationwide Cup. Founded in 1982 it was originally sponsored by Budweiser and known as the Busch Grand National Series. However, in 2007 Nationwide Insurance took over as the official sponsor. The money and prestige is significantly lower the Sprint Series but it still remains fairly popular.

Finally there is the Camping World Truck Series. Created in 1994 and sponsored by Craftsmen tools, it was originally seen as "final tour" for senior NASCAR drivers. The last few years have seen it grow in popularity and since then is has produced several Sprint drivers who skipped the Nationwide circuit all together.

Yes, it is true that NASCAR has been privy to many jokes but despite that it has continually expanded its market and every year grows more and more in popularity. Something many other sports, like Tennis or even the NHL, wish they could do.

Aiden Jefferson lives in sunny Southern California but his heart is in Middle Earth. He geeks out over cars, writes about education and occasionally tries his hand at comedy. If you are looking for a used car or find a sed car dealers here as well.