Auto Racing in the USAreview and reasons of popularity

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Auto Racing in the USA

• Auto racing is a motorsport involving racing cars. It is one of the world’s most popular sports. And it is very, very popular in the USA.

But why is auto racing so popular in the USA? In this presentation I want to overview what American racing consist of and explain why is it popular.

Series

Tracks

Fans

Let’s overview three sides of the American racing

What race drivers drive

Where race drivers drive

Whom race drivers drive for

Open-wheel racing Stock car racing

Nowadays there are more than 50 racing series in the USA andI tell you about two main racing types.

Series

Open-wheel carHistory Series

Open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car’s main body. Open-wheel racing in the USA has a very great history.The first open-wheel race was 100 years ago.

Stock carHistory Series

Stock car is a production-based automobile used in racing.Stock car racing in the USA has a great history.The first stock car race was 50 years ago.

History

1902 - American Automobile Association was founded

1909 – first racing competitions

1916 – first championship

1955 – United States Automobile Club was founded

1979 – Championship Auto Racing Teams was founded

Open-wheel racing

1996 – Indy Racing League was founded

2008 – ChampCar and IRL were merged

2003 - CART was renamed to ChampCar

1979-1996 – CART Indycar World Series

1955-1979 – USAC National Championship

1996-2003 – CART FedEx Championship

2003-2008 – ChampCar World Series

1996-2008 – IRL Series

Since 2008 – Indycar Series

History

1948 – National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing was founded

1949 – first NASCAR race

1949 – first NASCAR championship

Stock car racing

1949 – Strictly Stock Series

1950-1970 – Grand National Series

1971-2003 – Winston Cup Series

2004-2007 – NEXTEL Cup Series

Since 2008 – Sprint Cup Series

Main series

Open-wheel racing

IndyCar Series

Indy Lights

Main series

Stock car racing

Sprint Cup Series

Nationwide Series

Camping World Truck Series

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Opened – August 12, 1909Capacity – 257,325Length – 2.500 mi (4.023 km) Turns – 4Lap Record – 37.895 (385.052 km/h)

Major Events:IndyCar Series – Indianapolis 500-Mile Race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Allstate 400 at The BrickyardFIM MotoGP – Red Bull Indianapolis GP

There are 220 international-class racing track in the USA. Most of them are ovals and has capacity more than 100,000 people (except special “short-tracks”)Because of great capacity tickets are cheaper than to European racing events.

I will present you the most famous one – Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It is the largest stadium in the world.

Tracks

Click on the picture to enlarge

Some facts

Auto racing is the 3rd popular sport in the USA after football and baseball

TV audience is more than 300 million people every year

George W. Bush went to races during his pre-election campaign

There are 2 world-class racing series and more than 50 other racing series.

There are 220 international-class racing tracks and they have great capacity.

Tickets to the races are cheaper than in Europe

There are autographs sessions every race day

There are several sport channels broadcasting racing events

My opinion: Auto racing is very popular in the USA, because it is very well developed and available for fans. Everything in racing events is made for people and they like it.

Fans

So, why do fans love auto racing? Why is it so popular?

References

IndyCar.com – The Official Site of IndyCar

NASCAR.COM – The Official Site of NASCAR

Official Sprint Cup website

Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Official website

Auto racing governing bodies in the USA

Thank you for attention, please visit following web-sites, if you want to learn more about auto racing in the USA