The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock-car racing. Its three largest or National series are the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, the Xfinity Series, and the Gander Outdoors Truck Series. Regional series include the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West, the Whelen Modified Tour, NASCAR Pinty's Series, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, and NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series. NASCAR sanctions over 1,500 races at over 100 tracks in 48 US states as well as in Canada, Mexico, and Europe. NASCAR has presented races at the Suzuka and Motegi circuits in Japan, and the Calder Park Thunderdome in Australia. NASCAR also ventures into eSports via the PEAK Antifreeze NASCAR iRacing Series and a sanctioned ladder system on that title.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's "minor league" circuit, and is considered a proving ground for drivers who wish to step up to the organization's top level circuit, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a Cup Series event scheduled for that weekend.
Matthew Roy Kenseth is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 6 Ford Fusion for Roush Fenway Racing. He had stepped away from full-time racing after the 2017 season after a career racing for Roush Fenway Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing.
Kentucky Speedway is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) tri-oval speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, which has hosted ARCA, NASCAR and Indy Racing League racing annually since it opened in 2000. The track is currently owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports, Inc.. Before 2008 Jerry Carroll, along with four other investors, were the majority owners of Kentucky Speedway. The speedway has a grandstand capacity of 87,000.
Kenneth Wallace is an American race car driver and former reporter for Fox NASCAR. He retired from NASCAR after a 2015 Xfinity Series race at Iowa, where he competed in the No. 20 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing in a one race deal. In a career spanning twenty-five years in NASCAR, Wallace had nine wins, all occurring in the Xfinity Series. Now retired from NASCAR competition, he continues to race on local dirt tracks across the country as a hobby.
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson is an American professional stock car racing driver and a seven-time champion in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. He currently competes full-time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports.
Kevin Michael Harvick, nicknamed "The Closer”, “The Bridesmaid”, and “Happy Harvick,” is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick is the former owner of Kevin Harvick Incorporated, a race team that fielded cars in the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series between 2004 and 2011. He is the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and a two-time Xfinity Series champion. Harvick holds the all-time record for Cup Series wins at Phoenix International Raceway with nine wins. Harvick is also the third winningest driver in Xfinity Series history with 47 wins.
Kyle Thomas Busch, nicknamed Rowdy, is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 18 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing, part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 18 Toyota Supra for JGR, and part-time in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, driving the No. 51 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports. KBM runs multiple trucks in the Truck Series and a Super Late Model team. Busch is the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion and the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion.
Michael Skinner is an American former stock car racing driver. He has competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Busch Series and Camping World Truck Series. He has most recently driven the No. 98 Ford Fusion for Phil Parsons Racing in the Cup Series. He is the father of former NASCAR drivers Jamie Skinner and Dustin Skinner. He was born in Susanville, California.
Bradley Aaron Keselowski is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 2 Ford Mustang for Team Penske, and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 12 Mustang for Team Penske. He was the owner of Brad Keselowski Racing, which fielded two full-time teams in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Emil David Reutimann is an American professional stock car racing crew chief and former driver. A native of Zephyrhills, Florida, he has competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and Camping World Truck Series. In 2004, he won NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors in the Craftsman Truck Series. He is the son of Buzzie Reutimann.
The NASCAR playoffs is a championship playoff system used in the NASCAR's three national series. The system was founded as 'The Chase for the Championship' on January 21, 2004, and was used exclusively in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2004 to 2015. In 2016, NASCAR implemented a version of the Chase system in the Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series.
CARS Tour is a stock car auto racing series in the United States. It is sanctioned by the Championship Auto Racing Series. The series races throughout the United States primarily on short tracks.
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, the Xfinity Series and the Gander Outdoors Truck Series. NASCAR also oversees a number of regional racing series, including the Whelen Modified Tour, and the Whelen All-American Series. In its role, NASCAR sanctions over 1,500 races at over 100 tracks in 39 states, Canada, Mexico, and Europe.
Jeffery Michael Gordon is an American former professional stock car racing driver, currently an announcer for Fox NASCAR, and a top executive for Hendrick Motorsports. He formerly drove the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in 23 full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series seasons between 1993 and 2015, and served as a substitute driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in select races during the 2016 season.
Austin Dillon is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is the son of former driver and RCR general manager Mike Dillon, older brother of Ty Dillon and grandson of Richard Childress. He currently competes full-time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing.
William Clyde "Chase" Elliott II is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports. He is the son of 1988 Winston Cup Series champion Bill Elliott.
Ryan Michael Blaney is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 12 Ford Mustang for Team Penske and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 12 Mustang for Team Penske. He is the son of NASCAR driver Dave Blaney and the grandson of modified dirt track legend Lou Blaney.
The 2012 Irwin Tools Night Race was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on August 25, 2012 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. Contested over 500 laps, it was the twenty-fourth race of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). Since 2017, it has been named for its sponsor, Monster Energy, but has been known by other names in the past. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, when the series began leasing its naming rights to the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, it was referred to as the Winston Cup Series. A similar deal was made with Nextel in 2003, and it became the Nextel Cup Series (2004–2007). Sprint acquired Nextel in 2005, and in 2008 the series was renamed the Sprint Cup Series, which lasted until 2016. In December 2016, it was announced that Monster Energy would become the new title sponsor starting in 2017.
