NASCAR · The Racing Manual

NASCAR Cup Series

America's
Stock Car Spectacle

Born on the beaches of Daytona, NASCAR is America's most-watched form of motorsport. Forty heavy, powerful stock cars race inches apart on banked ovals, superspeedways and road courses, where drafting, strategy and nerve decide the winner.

1948

Founded

Record Titles (3 Drivers)

200

Richard Petty Wins

Races Per Season

1948–1949

NASCAR Is Born

Bill France Sr. founds the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing in Daytona Beach. In 1949 the first "Strictly Stock" race runs at Charlotte, the start of what is now the NASCAR Cup Series.

1959

Daytona & The First Daytona 500

Daytona International Speedway opens with its high-banked 2.5-mile tri-oval. The first Daytona 500 ends in a photo finish, and Lee Petty, Richard Petty's father, is declared the winner days later.

1970

The Winged Warriors

Dodge's Charger Daytona and Plymouth's Superbird bring nose cones and towering rear wings to stock car racing. Buddy Baker becomes the first driver to lap a closed course at over 200 mph. NASCAR restricts the winged cars from 1971.

1979

The Fight That Made NASCAR

The Daytona 500 is shown live from start to finish on national TV for the first time. A last-lap crash between leaders Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison turns into a fistfight on the infield, Richard Petty wins, and millions of new fans tune in.

1987–1988

Too Fast: The Restrictor Plate Era

Bill Elliott qualifies at Talladega at 212.809 mph, still the fastest in NASCAR history. Days later, in the race itself, Bobby Allison's car rips into the catch fence. From 1988 NASCAR forces restrictor plates on cars at Daytona and Talladega to keep speeds down.

2001

Losing Dale Earnhardt

Seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt dies in a last-lap crash at the Daytona 500. NASCAR makes the HANS head-and-neck restraint mandatory that year and starts installing SAFER energy-absorbing barriers, changes that have saved countless drivers since.

2004

The Playoffs Arrive

NASCAR introduces "The Chase", a playoff format that decides the champion over the final races of the season. Jimmie Johnson masters it, winning five titles in a row from 2006 to 2010.

2022

The Next Gen Car

The seventh-generation Cup car debuts at the Daytona 500. It brings a sequential gearbox, independent rear suspension and 18-inch single-lug wheels, the biggest technical change in NASCAR's history.

2026

The Chase Returns

NASCAR drops the knockout playoff format it had used since 2014 and brings back the Chase. The top 16 drivers in the points battle it out over the final 10 races with no eliminations, and a race win is now worth 55 points.

The Kings of Stock Car

Richard Petty

United States

The King

Nobody will ever catch "The King". Richard Petty won 200 Cup races, almost twice as many as anyone else, and a record seven Daytona 500s. In 1967 alone he won 27 races, including ten in a row. With his No. 43, cowboy hat and sunglasses, he became the face of NASCAR for generations.

7× Cup Series Champion (1964, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1979)

200 Cup wins, the all-time record

Record 7× Daytona 500 winner

27 wins in 1967, including 10 in a row

Dale Earnhardt

United States

The Intimidator

The most feared driver NASCAR has ever seen. In his black No. 3 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, Dale Earnhardt won seven titles with an aggressive style that earned him the nickname "The Intimidator". He finally won the Daytona 500 in 1998 on his 20th attempt. His death on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 changed the sport's approach to safety forever.

7× Cup Series Champion (1980, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994)

76 Cup wins

1998 Daytona 500 winner, on his 20th try

His death led to the mandatory HANS device

Jimmie Johnson

United States

Five-Time

The most dominant driver of the modern era. With Hendrick Motorsports and crew chief Chad Knaus, Jimmie Johnson won five championships in a row from 2006 to 2010, something no one else has done, and added two more to tie Petty and Earnhardt's record. He later raced in IndyCar and at Le Mans.

7× Cup Series Champion (2006–2010, 2013, 2016)

Record 5 consecutive championships

83 Cup wins

2× Daytona 500 winner (2006, 2013)

Legendary Stock Cars

Plymouth

Superbird

The car that brought Richard Petty back to Plymouth. With its pointed nose cone and huge rear wing, the Superbird was built for one thing: speed on NASCAR's superspeedways. Petty won 18 races in 1970, many of them in the Superbird. It was so effective that NASCAR restricted the winged cars from 1971.

426 Hemi

1970

Season

Petty Wins in 1970

1971

Restricted

Ford

Thunderbird (1987)

The fastest car NASCAR has ever seen. "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville" qualified his Thunderbird at Talladega at 212.809 mph in 1987, with an engine built by his brother Ernie. Restrictor plates arrived the next year, so the record will probably never be broken.

212.809

mph Qualifying Record

1987

Talladega

358 ci

Never

Beaten

Chevrolet · Ford · Toyota

Next Gen

NASCAR's modern race car. The Next Gen brought a five-speed sequential gearbox, independent rear suspension and 18-inch wheels with a single centre lug nut, much closer to sports car technology. Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Mustang and Toyota Camry bodies share many standard parts to keep racing close.

670 hp

Power

5.86L

5-Speed

Sequential

2022

Debut

Seven drivers' titles is the record in NASCAR's top series, and three drivers share it: Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson.

Record Book

Championships

Guides & Tools