Today I'd like to do a little bit of explaining. It took me awhile to become a "know it all". Since you're reading this, I'll assume you are not a know it all. I, in fact do not know it ALL. But since NASCAR is my Passion, I like to know it all. And if I don't , I can look it up or ask someone. Although I've made it a point to have others ask me what they don't know. So I'll explain some things. First of all, there are different Series in NASCAR. NASCAR is the National Association of Stock Car Automobile Racing.

At the highest level is Sprint Cup Series. It came into being in 2008. Before that it was Nextel Cup, starting in 2004 and before that it was Winston Cup. RJ Reynolds Sponsored NASCAR's premier series for 33 years before they decided to bow out at the end of the 2003 season. RJR single-handedly built NASCAR and delivered racing to the fans. It had been called the Grand National Series. Thanks to RJR's brand of cigarettes, Cup racing was born. Winston Cup was very fan-friendly. Winston gave the tracks white and red paint and all the tracks were uniform in that respect. Red letters on white background. They sponsored so many good things about racing that have filtered down through the ranks.

 They started Million Dollar winnings if a Driver was outstanding. First came a program whereby, if a driver won at 3 out of 4 certain races he got $1 million. The 4 races were the Daytona 500, obviously at Daytona, FL, the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, IN, the Southern 500 at Darlington SC and the final race at Atlanta.GA. A Driver had to win 3 out of the 4 races to get the million. Bill Elliott accomplished that feat and became known as "Million Dollar Bill" as a result. (He had been previously "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville" GA before that.) He might have been the only Driver to accomplish that. Winston then started with the "No Bull" campaign. It started with the Daytona 500. The winner there got the million dollars. And the top 5 finishers were then eligible to win the Million along with a fan chosen for each of the 5 Drivers. All 5 Drivers had a red number on the roof and a red back spoiler so everyone would know who the five were. If one of the 5 won the next race, he and his chosen fan would both win the Million Dollars. If someone other than the five won, the million wouldn't be given away, but the top 5 would be eligible for the next race. Lots of Drivers and fans won a Million Dollars with that program. And more and more fans started to watch NASCAR. Winston gave away free cigarettes to all the smokers at the track. Just by turning in your last cigarette in the pack and giving proof of age and a ticket, you got a free pack or two of your favorite Winston brand. Smokers, at any rate, flocked to the tracks.Winston got NASCAR on the map. They were fan-friendly and went out of their way to make the fans happy. The Sanctioning Body still made all the rules and enforced them. But NASCAR was no longer a "Redneck" sport only. And more and more Local Series got recognition because Winston Sponsored the West Series as well. When you tuned in on Sunday it was to watch "Cup Racing". The IRL and cart never got the recognition that Winston got for NASCAR.

By 2003 there was so much negative attitude for cigarettes that Winston decided to pull out at the end of the season. NASCAR had to find a new Sponsor. It would become the NASCAR Nextel Cup. Only when Nextel came along, suddenly everyone was a "Nextel Cup" winner or Champion. No one had won a Nextel Cup Championship yet, but Jeff Gordon became a 4 time Nextel Cup Champion. At the different Tracks, the winners were three and four time Nextel Cup winners when no one had even won a single Nextel Cup race! When Winston took over as Sponsor, they always told you someone had two Championships or however many wins, but that they were in the formerly known as Grand National Series. Nextel took over and claimed everyone as Nextel winners or Champions. Soon it was just Cup as the Premier Series. So the announcers wouldn't say something stupid like how many Nextel Cup Champions someone had won, when NO one had won yet. They signed a ten-year contract starting in 2004. By the end of 2007, Sprint had purchased Nextel and starting in 2008 it is known as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

The next level down is the Busch Series, Sponsored by Busch beer. It's a jumping-board into Cup. But not all Busch Drivers aspire to Cup level. Some of them just like competing at the Busch Series level. It's a great Series. Up and coming Drivers showcase their talents and move on up to the Cup level. They have been around for 25 years. At the beginning of the 2007 Season Busch decided they no longer wanted to Sponsor the Series and NASCAR had to go out and find a new Sponsor. Starting in 2008 the Series is known as the NASCAR Nationwide Series. In 2006, Cup Owners decided they wanted their Cup drivers to race the whole year in the Busch Series. So, 2005 was the last time a Series driver won the Series Championship.

Next is the Craftsman Truck Series, with Craftsman Tools as the Sponsor. In 2009 Camping World took over as the sponsor. So they are now the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. They have only been around for ten years. But it is another good Series where anyone can win on any given weekend. It's less stressful with less races in a season. Some Drivers go directly up to Cup and make it big. Others go on to the Busch Series (now Nationwide) for more experience before going to Cup. Some like it where they are. Still others dabble in Nationwide and/or Cup for awhile and don't win, so go back to the Camping World Trucks. It's great racing. They can "beat & bang" without taking each other out like you do in cars.

I now have a NASCAR blog that explains on a weekly basis what is going on in NASCAR each week. Where they are racing what I think and who might be new on that weekend. I try to mention the top three NASCAR Series'. And any news that might be happening.










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