Most Popular Driver - NASCAR Cup Series | Official Site Of NASCAR Skip to content Top Nav Tickets Shop Quick Links: Fantasy Live Schedule NASCAR on TV Dover Entry List Dover Schedule. With NASCAR in its two-week break, the NBC Sports NASCAR Power Rankings puts together its top 10 list of drivers in the sports history. Many observers consider Dawsonville one of the birthplaces of NASCAR. (CO, I just feel like its not necessary. So, I think it was the No. Thanks to everybody that stuck with us, all our fans, Bass Pro Shops, Auto Owners, Resers, Toyota, TRD, all my personal sponsors. Im really proud of our group. The Cup race was rescheduled from Sunday to Monday after weather forced a postponement. "I'd rather drive a race car than get dropped on my head," Strowman said. 1. This statistic is not included in your account. In the early 2000s, NASCAR was soaring. -- Chase Elliott missed so many races because of a broken leg that NASCAR's most popular driver likely needs to win one just to make the playoffs. He was the original "Most Popular Driver" in NASCAR. SPONSOR: MAKE: TEAM: Ross Chastain: 1: AdventHealth: Chevrolet: TRACKHOUSE RACING TEAM Up until the middle of the 21 st century the. If it did, I would really appreciate your support. Having followed the sport in the time frame when it began, I can offer what I believe are the real reasons for the decline of NASCAR. He sure didnt win at Dover, finishing 34th because of an early wreck. Martin Truex Jr. (19) races into turn 3 during the NASCAR 400 auto race at Dover Motor Speedway Monday, May 1, 2023, in Dover, Del. What Caused The Decline of NASCAR? A Former Reporter's Thoughts Thought today, man, late caution, whats going to happen here? Vendor Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. Along with that came an all-important metric: the Nielsen ratings. For all the latest tips, predictions and special offers directly into your inbox once a week. The AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing. He finished first or second in the points 10 times in his career. However, theres a long list of celebrities who are ardent NASCAR fans and attend races whenever possible. Truex also won a regularly scheduled Sunday race here in 2016. Were not far off here. Just uncalled for. Gordon wasnt the only driver who turned in a spectacular season-long performance only to have it nullified. Photo credit: PresidenBertho on Visualhunt.com / CC BY-SA Jimmie Johnson was a hallmark of ruthless efficiency in his prime, winning seven titles and five in a row. NASCAR polled fans about the idea on their website following the 2003 season, and fans overwhelmingly rejected it. Yes, NASCAR actually believed an artificial points reset after two thirds of the season was the move that was going to catapult them past the NFL. 1? Elliott would like to join him on that list. After two DNFs in the first two Chase events resulting from simple bad luck, just like that his title hopes were gone. NASCAR's Sagging Popularity Absorbs Another Big Hit - Forbes Fans can vote for a single driver once daily at NASCAR.com/MostPopularDriver or on the NASCAR Mobile App. Martin Truex Jr. dominated the final stage to win Mondays NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway and end a 54-race winless streak. Photo credit: brandonzeman on Visual Hunt / CC BY-SA Its just been a disappointing year overall. TN), 1-855-2CALLGA (IL), 1-800-270-7117 (MI). All our emails include an Chastain led 98 laps. It just never all came together.. Photo credit: sidehike on Visual hunt / CC BY-SA We support responsible gambling. NASCAR Releases Top-10 Most Popular Driver List | Heavy.com He won the championship three of those years. 2023 NASCAR Driver Points Standings. NASCAR race at Dover postponed by rain - fultonsun.com But that in itself wasn't necessarily the crime. We fired off so well and had a ton of speed. Strowman can't stick around -- he has to appear tonight on "Raw.". Im proud of this FedEx team for bringing me a car capable of winning today, but sometimes you cant get those last few spots. I covered NASCAR for six seasons for two excellent racing websites, Thats Racin (the Charlotte Observers racing site) and the Frontstretch. Chastain leads the season standings after 11 races with 370 points. 2007: NASCAR debuts the 'Car of Tomorrow' which is a rather ugly piece of machinery. What drivers said Monday during and after the NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway: Martin Truex Jr. Winner: Man, it feels incredible. Danica turned out to be a huge bustas many people who followed the sport closely, including yours truly, predicted she would be. Ill start with a few things that I dont believe caused the decline of NASCAR, then Ill share what I think really did. We just had to work our way up from there. There was a new breed of driver, epitomized. NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Elliott looks on prior to a race on Oct. 9 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. You need a Statista Account for unlimited access. We then plotted the data on a map to help to visualize the most popular regions across the country. Chart. Lee Petty First three-time Cup champion in series history. Ryan Truex, Martins younger brother, won Saturdays Xfinity Series race at Dover. Its surreal to continue to do this and get to race against my heroes. In 2014, the average number of viewers for Cup Series raceswas 5.3 million. A Dozen NASCAR Tracks Still Have 2 Cup Dates. Should They? - Frontstretch Jimmie Johnson As time passes, his accomplishments will be further revered. Drivers: NAME: NO. Determined to rebound from a winless season, Truex opened his 18th full season with an exhibition victory in the Busch Light Clash in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. After Race 9 of 33. What NASCAR's Declining Popularity Can Teach Us About - Entrepreneur Elliott has raced only four times this season and missed six races with a broken left tibia that he suffered in a March 3 snowboarding accident. Martin Truex Jr. has won twice at Dover on Mondays. Jacked us up there, but at the end of the day it was solid. Twelve of his 83 wins (14.5%) came in the sports marquee events. He was at his best in the big races. This is all just ultimately my opinion, but its a carefully considered one. NASCAR has been around for a longer time; it attracts a bigger audience, has more races, a longer season, and is more popular internationally than IndyCar. We came with something a little bit different to try and help that. You can only download this statistic as a Premium user. NASCAR possessed one of the greatest dynasties in the history of sports during Jimmies reign. Just didnt have quite enough speed for those top-two guys at the end there. 1 Jockey Chevy team and everybody at Trackhouse Racing, Advent Health, Moose Fraternity, Worldwide Express. MORE: Brennan Poole says Ross Chastain probably needs his butt whooped. You couldnt entirely blame NASCAR for no longer holding events in places like North Wilkesboro or Rockingham or even Darlington, which lost a race on the schedule for several years. Were just grinding. Everyone did a good job on pit road, kept track position, worked hard on-track, and its a solid one. Business Solutions including all features. His career also included seven Daytona 500 victories among the mountain of accomplishments. I tried to send it into (turn) 3 to clear the No. And I said all that without even bringing up that profoundly irritating cartoon gopher. Martin Truex Jr., center, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR 400 auto race at Dover Motor Speedway, Monday, May 1, 2023, in Dover, Del. In response to its rapidly growing popularity nationwide, NASCAR moved away from the Southeast fans who brought the sport to the dance, and began holding races in places like Vegas, Chicago and Los Angeles. The fan backlash was loud and intense. Darrell Waltrip Claimed three titles, winning them in a five-year period in the 1980s. North Carolina is close behind. Jeff Gordon A four-time champion whose 93 career wins ranks third on the all-time list. Jimmie won a lot. (AP Photo/Jason Minto), FILE - Chase Elliott (9) looks on prior to a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022, in Concord, N.C. It feels nice to get one to come around our way, Truex said. Whether youre shopping Way Day 2023 or Walmart, theres an al fresco set for you. The broadcasts really were over-saturated with ads enough to drive fans away. In case you werent there or dont remember, in 2004 NASCAR welcomed their new series sponsor, Nextel (now Sprint), with a new playoff system called the Chase. Print Headline: NASCAR at Dover moved to today. Please read our Terms of Use or contact us. Truex was once of the most dominant drivers in the series, winning a career-best eight times in 2017 and 23 times overall from 2016 to 2019. He won the Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600 three times each. What states are most interested in NASCAR? : r/NASCAR - Reddit The problem was the tracks that replaced themnearly all of them were characterless, cookie-cutter speedways where aero package ruled the day. As the son of one of the greatest racecar drivers in history, Junior also had an impossible standard to live up to. If you feel like you're losing control over your gambling experience, call Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) under affiliate vendor ID The IndyCar racing season is held over 5 months and consists of 17 total races. People have different views on why the motorsport has failed to join the upper echelons of American sports. Bowlesy thinks there needs to be an element of risk for racing to be exciting; I dont tune in to races to see a car potentially fly into a catch fence and injure spectators. Photo credit: Fast Eddie Maloney on Best Running / CC BY-SA (May 15, 2018). The race will start at noon on the concrete-mile track. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley, File), FILE -Chase Elliott during driver introductions before the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023, in Daytona Beach, Fla. Chase Elliott will return to the No. Photo credit: tequilamike on Visual hunt / CC BY In our history, this hasnt been our best track. Registration issued by the Sports Wagering Committee of the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation. You also dont often see post-race fisticuffs after races at Kansas or Vegas like you might at Martinsville or Bristol. The best of the best: the portal for top lists & rankings: Strategy and business building for the data-driven economy: Industry-specific and extensively researched technical data (partially from exclusive partnerships). The Cup Series returns Aug. 8 at Watkins Glen International (3 p.m. But we have speed, and we were able to work steadily today and be solid. We all know what Im talking about. We got the result we deserve and worked for., Josh Berry Finished 10th: Happy to get another top 10. For the first time in over a decade and a half, they seem to be headed in the right direction. Johnson has competed in 666 races since winning his debut race at the UAW-GM Quality 500 in Charlotte, with 83 wins and 370 top-ten finishes. Joey Logano brought out a caution with 14 laps to go when he lost control of his car and hit the outside wall. 9 Chevrolet with the lingering effects of the accident. It got us on the front row. The finish was Chastains best of the year. The award has been administered by the NMPA and presented annually by the . Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. It seems to be something he does a lot recently. I cant imagine any fan of Dale Earnhardt Sr.and there were a lot of themnot wanting to see the sport take every measure it could to keep drivers safe after Daytona 2001. Elliott, who finished 12th last week at Talladega, said he's just "pushing forward" as he drives the No. Please do not hesitate to contact me. The NASCAR Hall of Fame, opened in 2010, is in downtown Charlotte, and the only three drivers in the hall's first class of inductees are all North Carolinians: Level Cross's Richard Petty, the "King" of NASCAR, the only driver to win 200 races and the first to win seven top-level championships; Kannapolis's Dale Earnhardt, the "Intimidator," the The Steelers have signed cornerback Chandon Sullivan to a contract. Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Denny Hamlin completed the top five. This isnt to say that the initial Car of Tomorrow wasnt a disasterit wasbut at the time, fans were plenty vocal about safety after the loss of the sports biggest icon. He won the Southern 500 six times and the Brickyard 400 five times. Sports | NCpedia We missed one run and kind of got mired back and lost a lap, so we couldnt really come back from it that late in the race. Just because no one has been killed at the Cup level since Earnhardts death doesnt make it less so. NASCAR, or the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, is a privately-owned American auto racing company based in Daytona Beach, Florida. 2007: NASCAR expands the field of drivers in the Chase from 10 to 12. Bowman will miss at least the next three Cup races. We know we could do this. INCOME DISTRIBUTION NASCAR fans are middle class and just as affluent as the U.S. population: 54% earn $50,000+ per year (104 index vs. U.S. population) PRESENCE OF CHILDREN (AP Photo/Jason Minto) Surprisingly, there are no active NASCAR tracks in the Mountain State, but that doesnt seem to dampen the locals enthusiasm for the sport. NASCAR ratings: Cup Series viewership numbers in 2023 - Sportsnaut I tried to get to the top and search for clean air. Photo credit: PDA.PHOTO on Best Running / CC BY-ND The wreck happened in the first stage of the race, a fact both Larson and Poole pointed out after the crash. NASCAR Race Results, Statistics & More | NascarReference.com No, not to victory lane, but to his head when he shaved the sides and left only a mop-topped shock of hair on top. Larson returned to the track many laps down after repairs. Go figure. It could be argued that Junior was the sports last link to its tobacco-chewing, Southern past; once Jeff Gordon tore up the sport, drivers started to appear from every corner of the country. possesses a Vendor Minor sports betting license from the Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission (account We will work hard and try to get better., Brad Keselowski Finished 8th:We had a good recovery. Photo credit: Zach Catanzareti Photo on VisualHunt.com / CC BY-SA You could say it was NASCARs New Coke, except Coca-Cola was smart enough to change the formula back in response to furious customer backlash. NASCAR: Breaking News, Rumors & Highlights | Yardbarker NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover rained out, moved to Monday This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of The Sentinel-Record. Richard Petty, known as The King in racing circles for his accomplishments, was the first driver to win the NASCAR Cup Championship seven times. | NASCAR is aggressively working to become a more diverse and inclusive sport, as evidenced by the recent outpouring of support for Bubba Wallace and the BLM movement. Im thankful for all of the guys efforts on our No. Photo credit: Zach Catanzareti Photo on Visualhunt / CC BY-SA Its unfortunate to be out of the race this early at a race track that we normally run very well at.. It was just a big day for us. NASCAR's popularity is down and the ratings reflect it. Getting a top five is great. NASCAR Cup Series Drivers, NASCAR Drivers, Auto Racing Drivers - ESPN Martin knows how to get to victory lane at Dover. I dont think it had anything to do with the track. Photo credit: Zach Catanzareti Photo on Visualhunt / CC BY-SA The problem is that even though NASCAR is known for its fast cars, there are also lots of other sports that use similar technology and offer viewers more choice - like Formula 1. All that said, the unveiling of the Car of Tomorrow in 2007 certainly didnt help. 3 (Austin Dillon), just got to the outside and its not like I can go anywhere or give him any more room than what I had. Finished second in the points three times. In 1994, there were six events held at intermediate tracks of 1.5-2 miles in length. DOVER, Del. Obviously, we were pretty off there from when we unloaded, but we got quite a bit better, quite a bit closer, but we just needed to get the balance. "It's been a year since we've been here and obviously a lot can happen in that amount of time," Elliott said. Had top five in the first stage, had a pit road issue, and we recovered from that. ET. NASCAR Power Rankings: The top 10 Cup drivers of all time It was tight and it got loose. However, NASCAR . 9. Photo credit: Zach Catanzareti Photo on Best Running / CC BY-SA, Posted in NASCAR, Sports The winner of the most awards is Bill Elliott with 16 in the NASCAR Cup Series. Those lucky fans may even get to brush shoulders with movie stars and music giants on occasion. Get the latest NASCAR news, schedules, race results, standings, and highlights. Many of his most memorable appearances were in classic American cars, notably the 1983 action comedy Stroker Ace, in which he played an arrogant NASCAR champion racing a Ford Thunderbird. Long run was pretty good. It makes a world of difference watching on TV. MLB Cy Young Odds: Early Two Horse Races Emerging In Both AL and NL, MLB Futures The track was good, the car was really good. Brennan Poole says Chastain probably needs his butt whooped. I kept saying that weve got to just keep doing what were doing and not overthink it. unsubscribe link. I expect that will be a boon to NASCARs future. In addition, the current playoff format, while far from perfect, isnt nearly as unpalatable as the Chase was. Kyle Larson ran well during the first stage, but his car was badly damaged on Lap 81 when Ross Chastain hit Brennan Poole, sending Poole into Larsons path. I dont need to tell anyone who was a fan in the 2000s this, but NASCARs broadcasts at the time may have been the worst in the history of sports. To use individual functions (e.g., mark statistics as favourites, set Is IndyCar the same as NASCAR? And other auto racing FAQs - Yahoo News According to the source, 26.9 percent of the population in Charlotte, North Carolina had watched, attended, or. He raced me hard but clean. Richard Petty holds the record with at least a win in 18 consecutive seasons. Gragson hasnt finished better than 30th in any of his last five races. [+] annual State of the Sport address at Phoenix Raceway on November 04, 2022 in Avondale, Arizona. Seat Belt Maker Simpson Sues NASCAR - timesunion.com But that in itself wasnt necessarily the crime. Get full access to all features within our Business Solutions. By subscribing, you are agreeing to It seems likely that his five consecutive championships will join the mark of Richard Pettys 200 Cup wins as records that will never be broken. Richard Petty, known as The King in racing circles for his accomplishments, was the first driver to win the NASCAR Cup Championship seven times.