The 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup season was the 56th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 33rd modern-era Cup series season. The season began on Saturday, February 7, and ended on Sunday, November 21. Kurt Busch with Roush Racing driving a Ford was the Nextel Cup champion.
The 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 55th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 32nd modern-era Cup Series season. The season began on February 8 at the Daytona International Speedway with the Budweiser Shootout and ended on November 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the Ford 400. Matt Kenseth, driving the No.17 Ford for Roush Racing, was crowned the Winston Cup champion, despite winning only one race in the season. Chevrolet took home the NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship after capturing 19 wins and 264 points over second-place finisher Dodge, who had nine wins and 203 points. Ford finished the year third with seven wins and 200 points, and Pontiac finished fourth with one win and 125 points.
The 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series is the 54th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 31st modern era Cup Series season. It began on February 10, 2002 at Daytona International Speedway, and ended on November 17, 2002 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Tony Stewart, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, was declared as the Winston Cup champion. Bill Elliott won the 2002 NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award. He would win it for the 16th and final time in his career. He withdrew from the ballot after receiving the award. The NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship was captured by Ford after winning 14 events and gaining 245 points over second-place finisher Chevrolet, who had 10 wins and 211 points.
The 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season was the 50th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 27th modern-era cup series. The season included 33 races and three exhibition races, beginning with the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway and ending with the NAPA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Jeff Gordon won the Driver's Championship, the third of his career and his third in the last four seasons.
The 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 51st season of professional Stock car racing in the United States, the 28th modern-era Cup series, and the last Cup season of the 1990s, the 20th century's final decade. The season began on Sunday, February 7, and ended on Sunday, November 21. Dale Jarrett, representing Robert Yates Racing, was crowned the champion, while the NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship was won by the Ford drivers with 13 wins and 231 points over second place Chevrolet who had 12 wins and 210 points.
The 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Season was the 52nd season of professional stock car racing in the United States, the 29th modern-era Cup series, and the last Cup series of the 20th century. The season began on February 13 and ended on November 20. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Bobby Labonte was crowned champion at season's end. The NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship was won by Ford when they captured 14 wins and 234 points to better Pontiac's 11 wins and 213 points. Chevrolet finished third with nine wins and 199 points.
The 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season was the 49th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 26th modern era NASCAR Cup series. It began on February 9 and ended on November 16. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won his second Cup championship at the end of the season.
The 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 46th season of NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 23rd modern-era Cup series. The season began on Sunday, February 20, and ended on Sunday, November 13. Dale Earnhardt of Richard Childress Racing was crowned champion at season's end, winning consecutive Winston Cups for the third time in his career and tying Richard Petty for the record of most top-level NASCAR championships with seven.
The 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 48th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 25th modern era NASCAR Cup series. The season had been started on February 18 at Daytona International Speedway, and ended on November 10 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The season would be remembered as Terry Labonte pulling off a massive upset and winning his second championship.
The 1998 Pep Boys Indy Racing League was one of relative stability compared to the previous two seasons. For the first time the season consisted of a single and complete spring, summer, and fall like all other forms of motorsport. 15 drivers completed the entire 11 race schedule, twice as many as the previous season. It was also the first complete season for the new Riley & Scott chassis, though it proved unpopular due to its late introduction. A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers captured 4 wins, the Indy 500 pole, and the championship, arguably the most successful year in the team's history.
The 1999 Pep Boys Indy Racing League was highly competitive and parity was the order of the year. Team Menard had a very good season with their driver Greg Ray capturing 3 race wins in a row and the series championship. This was the last year before CART teams began to break ranks and jump to the IRL.
The 2000 Indy Racing Northern Light Series was another season that saw a high level of parity, as only one driver, champion Buddy Lazier, won more than a single race. It also saw the beginning of the jump from CART as Al Unser Jr. moved to the series full-time and Chip Ganassi Racing came over to run the Indy 500, which it won with driver Juan Pablo Montoya. It was also the final season for the Riley & Scott chassis, which also saw its first series win in 2000.
The 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup season was the 53rd season of professional stock car racing in the United States, the 30th modern-era Cup series, and the first Cup season of the 21st century and the third millennium. It began on February 11, 2001, at Daytona International Speedway and ended on November 23, 2001, at New Hampshire International Speedway. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports was declared as the series champion for the fourth time in seven years.
The 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Season was the 47th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 24th modern-era Cup series season. The season began on February 12 in Daytona Beach and concluded on November 12 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won his first career championship.
The 26th season of the True Value International Race of Champions began on Friday, February 15, 2002 at Daytona International Speedway. The roster included 12 drivers from five separate racing leagues. The first race saw Tony Stewart earn his second IROC win. Rookie Kevin Harvick won in only his second start in race 2 at California. In the first ever IROC race at Chicagoland, Buddy Lazier, Al Unser, Jr., and Hélio Castroneves gave the IRL a sweep of the top three positions in the race. In race 4 at Indianapolis, Dale Jarrett took the lead in turn one of the first lap and led the entire race for his second career IROC victory. Kevin Harvick became just the sixth driver to win the IROC title in his first season of competition, and also became the first driver to win the title while representing the NASCAR Busch Series.
The twentieth season of IROC competition started on February 16, 1996. IROC XX was the first year that the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am was used in competition, and contested races at Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Michigan International Speedway. Mark Martin won the first night race in the history of the series in race three at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and won again in the season finale at Michigan International Speedway propelling him to a come-from-behind IROC championship, his second in three seasons.
The twenty-second season of the International Race of Champions started on February 13, 1998. The series used identically prepared Pontiac Firebird Trans Am race cars, and contested races at Daytona International Speedway1, California Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Mark Martin won the IROC championship, his third straight and fourth in five seasons.
The twenty-fourth season of the International Race of Champions started on February 18, 2000. The series used identically prepared Pontiac Firebird Trans Am race cars, and contested races at Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Michigan International Speedway, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Dale Earnhardt won his second consecutive championship, and his fourth and final overall.
The 2002 Aaron's 499 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that was held on April 21, 2002, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. won the race, his first of the season and the second of his four straight wins at Talladega. His teammate Michael Waltrip finished second and Kurt Busch finished third.
The 1997 VisionAire 500 was the eighth round of the 1996–1997 Indy Racing League. The race was held on July 26, 1997, at the 1.500 mi (2.414 km) Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.
