NASCAR Frequently Asked Questions

Archive-name: autos/sport/nascar Posting-Frequency: monthly Last-modified: 24th June 1994 Version: 1.0

This will be posted monthly to rec.autos.sport.info and to news.answers. It answers some of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) in rec.autos.sport as well as some others which perhaps _should_ be asked.

The latest version of the rec.autos.sport FAQ should be available for anonymous ftp at mgu.bath.ac.uk (138-38.24.19) as file /pub/rec.autos.sport/nascar or at rtfm.mit.edu (18.70.0.209) as pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/rec/answers/autos/sport/nascar. If you only have electronic mail, the FAQ can be retrieved from mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu.

For information on how to use FTP, send e-mail to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with with no subject line. In the body of the mail, put: send usenet/news.answers/finding-sources

Whilst some care has been taken in the preparation of this FAQ, a few errors may have slipped through the net (no pun intended). Please send any corrections or additions to rasfaq@bath.ac.uk.

13 NASCAR Information

13-1 Technical Regulations ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Under construction. Please email rasfaq@bath.ac.uk if you want to help out] The "official" NASCAR rules and regulations are not made available to the general public or to the media. NASCAR reserves the right to disseminate those regulations only to those teams it deems of merit as seriously contending participants.

The Winston Cup series used to be known as Grand National. The name was changed in 19xx. Busch Grand National (BGN) now refers to the NASCAR six-cylinder series which is the main "feeder" series for Winston Cup. Some Busch drivers run in Winston Cup events, and vice versa.

Winston Cup is considered the premier series in NASCAR. The Busch Series is usually considered a "minor league" series for up-and-coming drivers to hone their skills to move up to WC (although in the last few years, this series has established quite a following and has sort of become a premier series in its own right).

The Busch Series runs mainly on short tracks (tracks less than a mile in length) while the WC series concentrates on tracks greater than a mile in length. (The Busch Series has picked up a few superspeedways in the last few years.) Also, the Busch races are shorter in length.

There are several differences in the cars. The WC cars have V-8 engines, while the BGN cars currently run V-6's (will run V-8's beginning in '95). The BGN cars also have a shorter wheelbase. WC cars weigh 3500 lbs while BGN cars weigh (I think) 3000 lbs.

13-2 1994 NASCAR Drivers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 02 Curtis Markham (VA) Children's Miracle Network Ford-Thunderbird 1 Rick Mast (VA) Skoal Classic Ford-Thunderbird 2 Rusty Wallace (NC) Miller Genuine Draft Ford-Thunderbird 3 Dale Earnhardt (NC) GM Goodwrench Chevrolet-Lumina 4 Sterling Marlin (TN) Kodak Chevrolet-Lumina 5 Terry Labonte (NC) Kellogg's Corn Flakes Chevrolet-Lumina 6 Mark Martin (NC) Valvoline Ford-Thunderbird 7 Geoff Bodine (NC) Exide Batteries Ford-Thunderbird 8 Jeff Burton (VA) Raybestos Brakes Ford-Thunderbird 9 Rich Bickle (WI) Melling Engine Parts Ford-Thunderbird 10 Ricky Rudd (NC) Tide Ford-Thunderbird 11 Bill Elliott (GA) Budweiser Ford-Thunderbird 12 Chuck Bown (OR) WBF/Masterbuilt Ford-Thunderbird 14 John Andretti (IN) Financial World Chevrolet-Lumina 15 Lake Speed (MS) Quality Care Ford-Thunderbird 16 Ted Musgrave (NC) The Family Channel Ford-Thunderbird 17 Darrell Waltrip (TN) Western Auto Chevrolet-Lumina 18 Dale Jarrett (NC) Interstate Batteries Chevrolet-Lumina 19 Loy Allen Jr. (NC) Hooter's Ford-Thunderbird 21 Morgan Shepherd (NC) Citgo Oil Ford-Thunderbird 22 Bobby Labonte (NC) Maxwell House Coffee Pontiac-Grand Prix 23 Hut Stricklin (AL) Smokin Joe's Ford-Thunderbird 24 Jeff Gordon (NC) DuPont Auto Finishes Chevrolet-Lumina 25 Ken Schrader (NC) Kodiak Chevrolet-Lumina 26 Brett Bodine (NC) Budweiser/QuakerState Ford-Thunderbird 27 Jimmy Spencer (NC) McDonald's Ford-Thunderbird 28 Ernie Irvan (NC) Texaco-Havoline Ford-Thunderbird 29 Steve Grissom (AL) Diamond Ridge Chevrolet-Lumina 30 Michael Waltrip (NC) Pennzoil Pontiac-Grand Prix 31 Ward Burton (NC) Hardees Chevrolet-Lumina 32 Dick Trickle (NC) ATS Wood Recycling Chevrolet-Lumina 33 Harry Gant (NC) Skoal Bandit Chevrolet-Lumina 40 Bobby Hamilton (TN) Kendall Oil Pontiac-Grand Prix 41 Joe Nemechek (FL) Meineke Mufflers Chevrolet-Lumina 42 Kyle Petty (NC) Mello Yello Pontiac-Grand Prix 43 Wally Dallenbach (NC) STP Pontiac-Grand Prix 51 Jeff Purvis (TN) Country Time Lemonade Chevrolet-Lumina 52 Brad Teague (TN) NAPA Auto Parts Ford-Thunderbird 54 Robert Pressley (NC) Mannheim Auctions Chevrolet-Lumina 55 Jimmy Hensley (VA) Petron Plus Ford-Thunderbird 71 Dave Marcis (NC) STG Chevrolet-Lumina 75 Todd Bodine (NC) Factory Stores Ford-Thunderbird 77 Greg Sacks (FL) Jasper Engines/US Air Ford-Thunderbird 80 Jimmy Horton (NJ) Hover Ford-Thunderbird 90 Mike Wallace (NC) Heilig-Meyers Ford-Thunderbird 95 Jeremy Mayfield (TN) Shoney's Inn Ford-Thunderbird 97 Chad Little (NC) Bayer Select Ford-Thunderbird 98 Derrike Cope (NC) Fingerhut Ford-Thunderbird

13-3 How does the NASCAR Winston Cup points system work? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Each driver who competes in a NASCAR Winston Cup race is awarded championship points according to the following descending scale based on finish position.

Five additional bonus points are awarded to each driver who leads a lap and an additional five bonus points go to the driver who leads the most laps.

Finish Points       Finish Points       Finish Points       Finish Points
   1     175          11     130          21     100          31      70
   2     170          12     127          22      97          32      67
   3     165          13     124          23      94          33      64
   4     160          14     121          24      91          34      61
   5     155          15     118          25      88          35      58
   6     150          16     115          26      85          36      55
   7     146          17     112          27      82          37      52
   8     142          18     109          28      79          38      49
   9     138          19     106          29      76          39      46
  10     134          20     103          30      73          40      43

and so on.... Normally 43 cars is the maximum number allowed in any race. The points for those remaining positions are calculated by subtracting 3 from the previous position. No points are awarded for pole.

13-4 How are NASCAR provisional start positions decided ? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Provisional starts are available for the top 35 in the points standings for car owners. In the first four races of the year, car owner standings from the previous season are used. After that the standings from the current season are taken instead. Each team is allowed to use three provisional starts in the first 10 races, one in the second 10, and one in the third 10. Another provisional start is reserved for former Winston Cup champions who have failed to qualify for a race. There is only one former champion's provisional - it goes to the most recent champion if two champions fail to qualify.

13-5 Who _is_ that guy that's always in the NASCAR victory lane ? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's Bill Broderick. He's a representative of Unocal and it has been his job since lord knows when to handle Victory Lane at all non-NASCAR owned tracks (they have their own guy who has also been doing the same things for years).

13-6 How can I find MRN radio ? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MRN is syndicated to 400 local radio stations in 37 States across America. It is also available by satellite - telephone USA (1) 904-254-6760 for information. There is a list of MRN affiliates with their frequencies at mgu.bath.ac.uk (138-38.24.19): /pub/auto/nascar/mrn-affiliates. This file also has the details of the satelite feeds.

13-7 How can I get information about watching a NASCAR race ? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The new "Official Directory" for NASCAR tracks is a must for those who might travel to a race and plan to stay the weekend--lots of "local flavor" info on places to stay, etc...

Orders ($19-95, plus $5 and $8 S&H) can also be addressed to: Bell South Advertising & Publishing, PO Box 5887, Ft Lauderdale, FL 33310-7942, USA.

The directory comes complete with track layouts, seat charts, and a toll free number for track info (USA) 1-800-AUTORACE, which you can use for 1-General Track Info 2-Ticket Info 3-Schedule 4-Qual Times 5-Weather The tracks require the following 4 digit ID codes: Atlanta--1100 Bristol--1200 Charlotte--1300 Darlington--1400 Daytona--1500 etc, etc alphabetically through Watkins Glenn at 2800. Unfortunately, _only_ WCup tracks are covered, excluding places like Hickory, South Boston and a track in Texas.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The rec.autos.sport FAQ rasfaq@bath.ac.uk