SolveYourProblem Article Series: NASCAR
Everything You Need To Know About NASCAR

NASCAR - What's The Big Deal?

What makes NASCAR so special? Why do thousands of fans wait eagerly for the Daytona 500, which signals the beginning of the racing season? NASCAR is an acronym, which stands for Nation Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. It watches over racetracks and races all across the country. The three top series of NASCAR are the NEXTEL Cup Series, the Busch Series, and the Craftsman Truck Series. When race fans talk about NASCAR they are talking about the NEXTEL Cup Series.

The racecars only have a small resemblance to the cars that began in NASCAR. They are built to be strictly racing cars instead of cars that were turned into racers from cars that run on the street. The cars used are American made four-door cars made by Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge, and Toyota. The Toyota Camry will be used in the 2007 season. The Camry is an American made car. The cars are completely different from the Formula One cars. The NASCAR cars have fenders that allow the cars to run side by side without locking wheels and causing wrecks. A NEXTEL car weighs about 3400 pounds with a 358 cubic inch V8 engine. It can generate over 750 horsepower. The Chevrolet Corvette with a V8 engine will generate about 400 horsepower.

The tracks used in the NASCAR NEXTEL cup feature all left turns on D shaped and oval tracks as well as two road course tracks. 36 races are run in the season on 22 different racetracks. The largest racetrack is the Talladega Superspeedway that is 2.66 miles long, and the Martinsville Speedway that has a small .526-mile track. Each race is worth the same number of points toward the NEXTEL Cup championship.

NASCAR was founded in 1948 by Bill France Sr. It originally had three divisions Modifieds, Roadsters, and Strictly Stock. The strictly stock division began in 1949 and has grown into what we know as the NEXTEL Cup Series. The first race winner was Jim Roper. Many early drivers got their start by running moonshine whiskey and closely followed in the south. Today NASCAR popularity spreads across the country and around the world.

Great names in NASCAR history are Dale Earnhardt Sr., Richard Petty, Donnie and Davey Allison, and Darrel Waltrip. Names in NASCAR news today are Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Michael Waltrip, Dale Jarrett, and newcomers Denny Hamblin, and Clint Boyer.

The secret to enjoying NASCAR is to pick a driver. Find a driver that fits your taste. You may choose the wildly popular and flamboyant Jeff Gordon, the quiet Matt Kenseth, or the fireball Tony Stewart. Look at their personalities, and who their rivals are. Look at all the drivers that start each week; you will be sure to find one that you will feel an affinity with. Drivers and point standings are easy to track and understand. Knowing whom they consider their closest rivals, and the performance of their cars and pit crews all add to the excitement of race day. Some drivers have a flair for the dramatics when they win the race. In addition to the donuts performed after the race, some drivers personalize their winning by doing a back flip out of their car door and climbing the fence to reach the flag.

Then, attend a race in person. There is nothing like the experience of sitting around the track, smelling the burning rubber, the taste of your cold beverage of choice, and the sounds of the engines as they scream around the track. You will enjoy the company of people just like you feeling the rumble of the cars in your seat and watching the colors of the cars as they spin around the track. Once you have been to a race, you will be hooked!

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SolveYourProblem.com : 2008

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