Car Racing
Where would car racing be with NASCAR?
NASCAR or The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is family-owned and operated, and it governs many auto racing sports events. Founded in 1947 by Bill France Sr., the company is now run by his grandson, Brian France. The three largest racing series that NASCAR sanctions are the Sprint Cup, the Nationwide Series and the Camping World Truck Series. All in all, NASCAR sactions over 1,500 races across 100 race tracks in 39 states and Canada.
Its headquarters are located in Daytona Beach, Florida, and the company maintains offices in four North Carolina cities, namely Charlotte, Concord, Conover and Mooresville. The company also holds regional offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Bentonville, Arkansas, and also internationally in Mexico City and Toronto. Most of the NASCAR teams are based in North Carolina, and most of those are based near Charlotte.
This may surprise some to know that NASCAR is actually one of the most viewed sports in regards to television ratings in the U.S, lead by professional football. NASCAR races are broadcast internationally over 150 countries. All in all, there are over 75 million hard-core and loyal fans that turn NASCAR into a billion dollar industry.
One of the sports’ most talked about names is Danica Patrick. Patrick won the 2008 Indy Japan 300, making her the first woman to win an Indy car race. In 2009, she place third in the Indianapolis 500, which was a personal best for her and the highest finish by a woman in the Indianapolis 500′s history.
She made big news recently by making moves to race in a sponsor-rich, comfortably-ranked position from the IndyCar series to NASCAR, where’s she basically has to start from the ground up.
In her first NASCAR race, which took place on Feb. 6, 2010, she earned a sixth place finish. Her next Nationwide race comes up in June 2010.