Today, the most watched sport in America is football. But the next sport on that list is no longer baseball, not is it basketball – auto racing…specifically, NASCAR racing…has skyrocketed in growth and popularity. What was once a small operation in the South has turned into a global phenomenon raking in billions annually – an amazing feat for a sport where disaster can be the main attraction.
NASCAR racing has a long, storied past. Beginning with its roots in the Prohibition Era, the sport began in earnest when Bill France created the sanctioning body known as NASCAR in 1948. The sport that used to be a bootleggers’ paradise had turned into a real sport – and the big rush would come 99ok three decades later, culminating at the Daytona 500 in 1979. That year, the contest came down to the final laps, between drivers Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison. The bad blood shared between the two in this close finish brewed over into a post-race fight that actually endeared a generation of new fans to the sport. Millions of TV viewers had become a captive audience due to a huge snowstorm in the East – now, the race itself made them captive in a whole new manner.
NASCAR racing is made up of a host of series, including the well-known truck series, and the Nationwide Series. However, most mentions of the sport of NASCAR racing are referring to the Sprint Cup Series, the top series on the circuit. The Sprint series was once called the Winston Cup Series; in 2004, the sport decided to get an image-friendly sponsor in NEXTEL. When they merged with Sprint, the new name was born.