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The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing
(NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United
States. The three largest racing series sanctioned by NASCAR are the
NEXTEL Cup, the Busch Series and the Craftsman Truck Series. It also
oversees NASCAR Regional Racing and the Dodge Weekly Series. NASCAR
sanctions over 1,500 races at over 100 tracks in 38 states, Canada, and
Mexico. In 1996, 1997 and 1998, NASCAR held exhibition races in Japan.
NASCAR also held an exhibition race in Australia in 1988.
Beginning as regional entertainment in the Southeastern U.S., NASCAR has
grown to become the second most popular professional sport in terms of
television ratings inside the U.S., ranking behind only the National
Football League. Internationally, NASCAR races are broadcast in over 150
countries. It holds 17 of the top 20 attended sporting events in the
U.S.1, and has 75 million fans who purchase over $2 billion in annual
licensed product sales. These fans are considered the most brand-loyal
in all of sports, and as a result, Fortune 500 companies sponsor NASCAR
more than any other sport.
NASCAR's headquarters are located in Daytona Beach, Florida, although it
also maintains offices in four North Carolina cities: Charlotte,
Mooresville, Concord and Conover as well as New York City, Los Angeles,
Arkansas, and international offices in Mexico City, and Toronto,
Ontario. NASCAR and UTI cooperated and opened a technical school in
North Carolina called NASCAR Technical Institute, where aspiring
students train to be NASCAR mechanics. |