Basic NASCAR Facts

There are many NASCAR facts that even some diehard fans don't know. Test your NASCAR IQ against these bits of historical NASCAR trivia.

• Of the top 20 attended single-day sporting events in the world, NASCAR holds 17 of these spots.
• NASCAR has 75 million fans. These fans spend more than $3 billion dollars on licensed products each year.
• NASCAR fans are the most brand-loyal in all of professional sports. Because of this, NASCAR is sponsored by more Fortune 500 companies than any other motor sport.
• There were eight consecutive world speed records set between 1927 and 1935 at Daytona Beach.
• A1A in Daytona was one of the spots people raced their cars.
• Stock car driving has roots in bootlegging. During Prohibition, bootleggers needed fast cars, so they would modify their cars. The bootleggers started racing their cars, because they wanted to see who had the fastest car.
• By the 1940s, races were run for "pride and profit." The races became popular entertainment.
• The first commissioner of NASCAR was Erwin "Cannonball" Baker. He raced stock cars, motorcycles and open-wheeled cars. The "Cannonball Run" was named after him.
• The very first NASCAR "strictly stock" race was held at Charlotte Speedway. This division did not allow modifications to the suspension or engine. In 1950, the Strictly Stock Division was renamed the Grand National.
• NASCAR race tickets were sold for the first time for a competition outside of the United States in Canada on July 1, 1952. The race was held at a half-mile dirt track in Stamford Park, Ontario.
• The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is the most popular and most profitable NASCAR series. There are 36 races over 10 months.
• R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was the first title sponsor in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The Grand National Series was known as the Winston Cup Series for several years, and is now called the Sprint Cup Series.
• NASCAR's clean-cut image of good sportsmanship has taken a few hits from drivers through the years. In 2005, Robby Gordon was fined $50,000 after he used an expletive to describe Michael Waltrip following a crash.