The
National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
(NASCAR) is the official sanctioning body of the sport of
stock car racing
Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...
in North America.
It was formed in February 1948 by race car driver
Bill France Sr.
William Henry Getty France (September 26, 1909 – June 7, 1992) was an American businessman and racing driver. He was also known as Bill France Sr. or Big Bill. He is best known for founding and managing NASCAR, a sanctioning body of US-based s ...
as the replacement for the National Championship Stock Car Circuit sanctioning body.
NASCAR sanctions the top level national
NASCAR Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States.
The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...
, the second-tier proving ground
NASCAR Xfinity Series
The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level NASCAR Cup Series, Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a Undercard, support ...
, the third-tier
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock car racing, s ...
for
modified pickup trucks, as well as a series of American regional championships.
The NASCAR championship season consists of a series of races, held usually on
oval tracks, and in a few cases,
road courses
Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a race track, closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily c ...
.
Each season throughout NASCAR history has consisted of between 8 and 62 races.
[
The results of each race are combined to determine two championships in each of the top series, one for drivers and one for ]manufacturers
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the
secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...
. The Drivers' Championship is awarded to each division's most successful NASCAR driver over a season, as determined by a points system, and has been awarded since the first NASCAR season in 1949. The Manufacturers' Championship is awarded to the each division's most successful NASCAR manufacturer over a season, also determined by a points system based on race results.1952
Events January–February
* January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
* February 6
** Princess Elizabeth, ...
.
Seasons
Note: In any given season, the overall Manufacturer's champion may not been the supplier to the overall Driver's champion.
Cup Series
Xfinity Series
Craftsman Truck Series
References
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{{NASCAR
{{NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship
{{NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship
{{NASCAR Truck Series Championship
*List
Seasons
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...