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nextel cup

The Sprint Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. It was formerly known as the Strictly Stock Series (1949), Grand National Series (1950-1971), the Winston Cup Series (1972-2003), and the NEXTEL Cup Series (2004-2007In 1949, NASCAR introduced the Strictly Stock division, after sanctioning only Modified division races in 1948. Eight races were run, on seven different dirt ovals and the Daytona Beach beach/street course.[2] The division was renamed to "Grand National" (not to be confused with the later Busch Grand National Series, now called the Nationwide Series) for the 1950 season, reflecting NASCAR's intent to make its part of the sport more professional and more prestigious. It would retain this name until 1971.
The 1949 Strictly Stock season is treated in NASCAR's record books as the first season of GN/Cup history.
Rather than a fixed schedule of one race per weekend with most entrants appearing at every event, the Grand National schedule included over sixty events in some years, often with two or three on the same weekend, and occasionally with two races on the same day in different states.
In the early years, most GN races were held on dirt-surfaced short ovals (from under a quarter-mile to over a half-mile lap length) or dirt fairgrounds ovals (usually a half-mile to a mile lap length). 198 of the first 221 Grand National races were on dirt tracks. In 1959, when Daytona International Speedway was opened, the schedule still had more races on dirt racetracks than paved ones. Through the 1960s, as superspeedways were built and old dirt tracks were paved, the number of dirt races was reducedFrom 1971 through 2003, NASCAR's premier series was called the Winston Cup Series. It was sponsored by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco cigarette brand Winston. In its later years, RJR's sponsorship became more controversial in the wake of U.S. legislation that sharply restricted avenues for tobacco advertising.
The changes that resulted from RJR's involvement, established 1972 as the beginning of NASCAR's "modern era". The season was made shorter, and the point system was modified several times in the next four years. Races on dirt tracks were removed from the schedule, as were oval races shorter than 250 miles. NASCAR's founder, Bill France, Sr., turned over control of NASCAR to his oldest son, Bill France Jr.. In August 1974, France Jr. asked series publicist Bob Latford to design a point system with equal points awarded for all races regardless of length or prize money.[4] This system insured that the top drivers had to run all the races to become series champion. It was used without change from 1975 until the Chase for the Championship was instituted for 2004.
Starting in 1981, an awards banquet has been held the first Friday evening in December, at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, initially in the Starlight Roof. In 1985, the ceremony was moved to the much larger Grand Ballroom, where it would be held until 2001. In 2001, the banquet portion was dropped in favor of a simpler awards ceremony. In 2002, the awards ceremony was moved to the Hammerstein Ballroom at the Manhattan Center. In 2003, the banquet format returned, as the ceremony moved back to the Waldorf's Grand BallroomIn 2003, RJR dropped its sponsorship of the top series, and NASCAR obtained a sponsorship from NEXTEL, a telecommunications company. In 2004, the series became known as the NEXTEL Cup Series.
The 2005 merger between Sprint and NEXTEL resulted in the cup series being renamed the Sprint Cup, beginning with the 2008 season. [5]
The Sprint Cup trophy is designed by Tiffany & Co., and is silver with a pair of checkered flags in flight.When NEXTEL took over NASCAR's premier sponsorship for the 2004 season, they used the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series as a model to develop major changes in scoring. First, five additional points were added for a race win. Second, a new formula for declaring a series champion based on the ProCup system was devised. A cut was made after 26 races, with the high twelve drivers and teams plus ties placed in the Chase for the Championship (or simply "The Chase"). (Originally, the top ten teams plus any team within 400 points of the leader qualified; NASCAR changed this beginning with the 2007 season.) The Chase participants have their points increased to a level mathematically unattainable by anyone outside this field (roughly 1800 points ahead of the first driver outside of the Chase). From 2004 to 2006, the leader's total was set at 5,050 points, with other positions dropping by ten points per position, with a limit of 5,000 points after ties and the 400 point cut. Starting in 2007, each driver who makes the Chase will receive 5,000 points, plus 10 additional points for each race he won during the first 26 races. Race layouts remain the same and points are scored the same way in the final 10 races. Whoever leads in points after the 36th race is declared the Sprint Cup champion.
The Sprint Cup trophy, shown with the NEXTEL Cup logo used between 2004 and 2007.To encourage continued competition among all drivers, a number of awards are given to drivers finishing outside the Chase. The highest finishing non-Chase driver (in 2007, 13th place at the end of the season) is awarded a bonus (approximately $1 million) and a position on stage at the postseason awards banquet. Awards are also given to the top 20 and 25 drivers and car owners. Finally, finishing in the top 35 is important, as those 35 car owners are guaranteed entry into the first 5 races of the next season without needing to qualify on speed.
This playoff system was implemented primarily to make the points race more competitive late in the season, and indirectly, to increase television ratings during the NFL season, which starts around the same time as the Chase begins. Furthermore, the Chase also forces teams to perform at their best during all three stages of the season -- the first half of the regular season, the second half of the regular season, and the Chase.
Previously, the Cup champion may have been decided before the last race (or even several races before the end of the season) because it was mathematically impossible for any other driver to gain enough points to overtake the leader.
From 2004-2006 the Chase was shown on NBC and TNT. In 2007, ESPN on ABC telecast all ten races of the Chase as part of the new NASCAR television contracts that came in effect.
Beginning in 2006, the annual awards banquet in New York was divided into two functions. All of the series' sponsored and contingency awards were moved to a luncheon at Cipriani the day before the banquet. This streamlined the banquet to concentrate solely on the "Chase" drivers and the series champion.
The Sprint Cup Owner's Championship operates in the same manner as the Driver's Championship, but with one addition. In the event of more than 43 cars attempting to qualify for a race, owner's points are awarded to each car in the following manner: the fastest non-qualifier (in essence, 44th position) receives 31 points, three less than the 43rd position car. If there is more than one non-qualifying car, owners' points continue to be assigned in the manner described, decreasing by three for each position.
There is a separate "chase for the championship" for the owners' points.
A 2005 rule change in NASCAR's three national series affects how the owner's points are used. The top 35 (Sprint Cup), or top 30 (other series) full-time teams in owner points are awarded exemptions for the next race, guaranteeing them a position in the next race. These points can decide who is in and out the next race, and have become crucial since the exemption rule was changed to its current format. At the end of each season, the top 35 in owner's points are also locked into the first five races of the next season.
In some circumstances, a team's owners' points will differ from the corresponding driver's points. In 2005, after owner Jack Roush fired Kurt Busch during the next-to-last race weekend of the season, the #97 team finished in eighth place in owner's points, while Busch ended up tenth in driver's points. In 2002, when Sterling Marlin was injured, the #40 team finished eighth in owner's points, while Marlin was 18th in driver's points, because of substitute drivers Jamie McMurray and Mike Bliss, who kept earning owner points for the #40.
NASCAR does have a Manufacturer's Championship in their national series, although the Driver's Championship is considered more prestigious. In the past, manufacturer's championships were very prestigious because of the number of manufacturers involved, and the manufacturer's championship was a major marketing tool. In the Nationwide Series, the championship is known as the Bill France Performance Cup.
Points are scored in a 1960-1990 Formula One system, with the winner's manufacturer scoring nine points, six for the next manufacturer, four for the manufacturer third among makes, three for the fourth, two for the fifth, and one point for the sixth positioned manufacturer. This means that if Chevrolets place first through tenth in a given race and a Ford is 11th and a Dodge 12th, Chevrolet earns 9 points, Ford 6 and Dodge 4Sprint Cup cars are front engine rear-wheel-drive, high-powered, vehicles with a roll cage serving as a space frame chassis and thin sheet metal covering. They have a closed cockpit, fenders, a rear wing, and an aerodynamic splitter. Fielding a car for one season usually costs $10-20 million[6].
They are powered by carbureted V8 engines, with cast iron blocks, and a pushrod valvetrain actuating two-valves per cylinder, and limited to 358 cubic inches (about 5.8 liters) displacement. However, modern technology has allowed power outputs near 800 horsepower in unrestricted form while retaining the conventional basic engine design. In fact, before NASCAR instututed the gear rule, Cup engines were capable of operating in excess of 9,800 rpm. A Sprint Cup Engine with the maximum bore of 4.185 inches (106.3 millimeters), and stroke of 3.25 inches (82.55 millimeters) at 9,000 rpm a Sprint Cup Engine has a mean piston speed of 24.75 m/s (roughly that of a Formula One engine).
The front suspension is a double wishbone design, while the rear supsension is a two-link live axle design utilizing trailing arms. Brake rotors must be made of magnetic cast iron or steel and may not exceed 12.72 inches (32.3 centimeters) in diameter.[7] The only aerodynamic components on the vehicles are the front splitter, rear wing (with endplates), NACA ducts in the windows only, and side skirts. The use of rear diffusers, vortex generators, canards, wheel well vents, hood vents, and undertrays is strictly prohibited. While the cars may reach speeds of about 200mph (321.8km/h) on certain tracks, Russ Wicks drove a stock car built to NASCAR's specifications 244.9mph (394.1km/h) during a speed record attempt at the Bonneville Salt Flats in October 2007.[8]
The electronic systems on Sprint Cup Cars remains rudimentary. Since the engines are carbureted and the ignition system is mechanically timed there is no need for an electronic control unit. This prevents teams from using traction control, anti-lock brakes and telemetry. During free test sessions, NASCAR's regulations involving electronics are relaxed allowing teams to utilize technologies such as telemetry, oxygen sensors, pitot tubes, throttle position sensors, accelerometers, and many other devices to measure vehicle performanceWhen the series was formed under the name, strictly stock, the cars were just that, production vehicles with no modifications allowed. The term stock car implied that the vehicles racing were unmodified street cars. Drivers would race with factory installed bench seats and AM radios still in the cars. To prevent broken glass from getting on the race track, windows would be rolled down, external lights would be removed, and wing mirrors would be removed. Before the early 1960s, cars were based on full sized cars such as the Chevrolet Impala or Ford Galaxie. As mid-size cars were introduced such as the Fairlane, they were adopted after the mid 1960s.
NASCAR once mandated that a homologation rule that at various times stated as few as 500 cars had to be produced, or as many as one car for every make's dealership in the nation had to be sold to the general public. Sometimes cars were made expressly for NASCAR, such as the Ford Torino Talladega, which had a rounded nose. The most famous aero-warrior was the Dodge Charger Daytona and later Plymouth Superbird which had a rear spoiler raised above roof level and a shark shaped nose-cap which enabled speeds of over 220 mph, quickly outpacing most other cars. NASCAR soon rewrote the rules to effectively outlaw such outlandish aerodynamic trickery. Perhaps the least aerodynamic was the Penske-prepared factory backed 1972 AMC Matador piloted by Mark Donahue, dubbed the "flying brick".
In 1981, cars downsized into Fairmonts and Thunderbirds along with the now smaller Monte Carlos. The Monte Carlo adopted bubble back windows, while the Buick Regal would do well both on the track and as a street muscle car. The aero-Thunderbirds, driven by drivers like Mark Martin, did well.
By the 1990s, GM had switched to V6-engined front-wheel-drive Luminas and Grand Prix, but the NASCAR racers only kept the body shape, with V8 rear-wheel-drive running gear. When the Ford Thunderbird was retired, without Ford having any two-door intermediate bodies, the four-door Ford Taurus was used for a body even though NASCAR racers actually have no opening doors.
While the manufacturers and models of automobiles used in racing were named for production cars (Dodge Charger R/T, Chevrolet Impala SS, Toyota Camry, and the Ford Fusion), the similarities between NEXTEL Cup cars and actual production cars were limited to a small amount of shaping and painting of the nose, headlight and tail light decals, and grill areas. Until 2003, the hood, roof, and decklid were identical to their stock counterparts.
Because of the notorious manner of the Ford Taurus race car and how the manufacturer turned the car into an "offset" car (the car was notoriously asymmetrical in race trim because of its oval shape), NASCAR ended this practice to put more emphasis on parity and based new body rules in 2003, similar to short track racing, where offset cars had become a burden for race officials, resulting in the "Approved Body Configuration" design.

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