Stock car racing

This article is about the sport of stock car racing. A stock car is also a type of railroad freight car.

Stock car series

The most prominent championship in stock car racing is the NASCAR championship, currently called the Nextel Cup after its sponsor (formerly known as Winston Cup after a previous sponsor). It is the most popular racing series in the United States, drawing over 6 million spectators in 1997, an average live audience of over 190,000 people for each race. The most famous event in the series is undoubtedly the Daytona 500, an annual 500-mile race at Daytona Beach, Florida. The circuit's second-biggest event is probably the Allstate 400 at The Brickyard, an annual 400-mile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the legendary home of the Indianapolis 500. NASCAR also runs the Busch Series, a stock car junior league, and the Craftsman Truck Series, a junior league where pickup trucks are raced. Together the two car-based series (Nextel Cup and Busch Series) drew 8 million spectators in 1997, compared to 4 million for both American open-wheel series (CART and IRL). In 2002, 17 of the 20 US top sporting events in terms of attendance were NASCAR races. Only football drew more television viewers that year.

Related Topics:
Nextel Cup - Winston Cup - 1997 - Daytona 500 - Daytona Beach, Florida - Allstate 400 at The Brickyard - Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Indianapolis 500 - Busch Series - Craftsman Truck Series - Pickup truck - CART - IRL - 2002 - Football

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Besides NASCAR, there are a number of other national or regional stock-car sanctioning bodies in the United States. The American Race Car Association (ARCA), American Speed Association (ASA), and United States Auto Racing (USAR) all saction their own forms of stock-car racing, on varying types of track, and with various levels of national and media coverage. Young drivers from these series generally aspire to move to the Busch Series or Craftman Truck Series in NASCAR. The International Race of Champions (IROC) series uses stock cars, but is usually percieved as being outside of the usual stock car racing scene because of its 'All-Star' design.

Related Topics:
American Race Car Association (ARCA) - American Speed Association (ASA) - United States Auto Racing (USAR) - International Race of Champions (IROC)

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Internationally, stock car racing has not enjoyed the same success as within the United States. In Canada CASCAR organizes three racing series (two regional and one national) that enjoy generally strong car-counts; the base of the sport in Canada is the short-oval region of Southern Ontario. In Europe there has been a persistant effort to introduce stock car racing. The Stock Car Speed Association (formerly known as ASCAR or Days of Thunder is based in Rockingham, United Kingdom, though the series has raced at the Lausitzring in Germany as well. Brazil also has a successful stock car racing series, and unsuccessful efforts have been made in Australia, South Africa, and Japan as well.

Related Topics:
Canada - CASCAR - Europe - Stock Car Speed Association - ASCAR - Days of Thunder - Rockingham - United Kingdom - Lausitzring - Germany - Brazil - Australia - South Africa - Japan

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Stock car racing is also a popular local event. Many tracks exist in the United States (and a few in Canada) catering to a wide variety of car types and fans. There are a few organizations that cater to these local short tracks, such as ARCA, ASA and IMCA. NASCAR also supports local short track racing with their Elite Division and Dodge Weekly Series racing.

Related Topics:
Short tracks - ARCA - ASA - IMCA - Short track - Elite Division - Dodge Weekly Series racing

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