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2004 Aaron's 499
The 2004 Aaron's 499 was the ninth stock car race of the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season and the 35th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 25, 2004, before a crowd of 155,000 in Lincoln, Alabama at Talladega Superspeedway, a 2.66 miles (4.28 km) permanent triangle-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 188 laps to complete. In a controversial end to the race, Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports would win the race under caution over fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. of Dale Earnhardt, Inc., after Brian Vickers caused a caution with 5 to go. The win was Gordon’s 65th career NASCAR Nextel Cup Series win and his first of the season. To fill out the podium, Kevin Harvick of Richard Childress Racing would finish third, after a review of the results of the last scoring loop. The race is primarily remembered for its controversial finish. With 5 to go, Brian Vickers would spin in Turn 3, making NASCAR throw a caution. At the moment of ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dale Earnhardt Jr
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, team owner, author, and an analyst for ''NASCAR on NBC''. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro for his team JR Motorsports and part-time in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro for his team JR Motorsports. He is the son of Dale Earnhardt Sr., who was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He is also the grandson of NASCAR driver Ralph Earnhardt, the brother of Kelley Earnhardt-Miller, the half-brother of former driver Kerry Earnhardt and the uncle of driver Jeffrey Earnhardt. Earnhardt's success at Daytona International Speedway throughout his career earned him the nickname "Pied Piper" of Daytona. He is a two-time Daytona 500 winner ( 2004 and 2014), and has won the Most Popular Driver Award fifteen consecutive times from 2003 to 2017. After driving the No. 8 Chevrole ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brian Vickers
Brian Lee Vickers (born October 24, 1983) is an American professional stock car and sports car racing driver. He last drove the No. 14 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing as an interim driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for the injured Tony Stewart. He won the 2003 NASCAR Busch Series championship driving for Hendrick Motorsports. Vickers was also among the first series of full-time drivers for Toyota after the manufacturer first entered the Sprint Cup Series. Vickers' career has been marred by a series of health issues since 2010 that have included blood clots and heart problems. Racing career Early years Vickers began running go karts in 1994. Over the next three years, he won eighty races in the World Karting Association, and won three championships, including the 1995 championship against three-time winner Mike Schwartz. In 1998, he moved to the Allison Legacy Series, and won five races during the course of the season. After competing in the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Racin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASCAR Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, when the series began leasing its naming rights to the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, it was referred to as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series (1971–2003). A similar deal was made with Nextel in 2003, and it became the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series (2004–2007). Sprint acquired Nextel in 2005, and in 2008 the series was renamed the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (2008–2016). In December 2016, it was announced that Monster Energy would become the new title sponsor, and the series was renamed the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (2017–2019). In 2019, NASCAR rejected Monster's offer to extend the current naming rights deal beyond the end of the season. NASCAR subsequently announced its move to a new tiered sponsorship model beginning with the 202 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
France Family
The France family is known as the "first family" of NASCAR racing. NASCAR was founded by Bill France, Sr. in 1948 and to this day France family members own and operate NASCAR. Jim France, one of the sons of the founder, is the current chairman and CEO after Brian France's arrest on August 6, 2018 and subsequent leave from the position. The France family also controls International Speedway Corporation and International Motor Sports Association. Notable family members *William Henry France (1874-1949) - Father of co-founder of NASCAR *James Edmund France (1906-1920) - Brother of co-founder of NASCAR * Bill France Sr. (1909-1992) – Co-founder, CEO and Chairman of NASCAR * Bill France Jr. (1933-2007) – CEO of NASCAR; Chairman of ISC *Jim France (1944-) – CEO and Chairman of NASCAR, Executive vice president of NASCAR; CEO and Chairman of ISC *Lesa Kennedy (1961-) – Executive Vice President of NASCAR; President and CEO of ISC *Brian France (1962-) – Former CEO and Chairman of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Speedway Corporation
International Speedway Corporation (ISC) was a corporation whose primary business is the ownership and management of motorsports race tracks. ISC was founded by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. in 1953 for the construction of Daytona International Speedway and in 1999 they merged with Penske Motorsports to become one of the largest motorsports companies in North America. The company has played an important, though controversial, role in the modernization of the sport. It has worked with NASCAR to create new tracks and update older ones in an effort to improve the racing and the experience for spectators (though because both companies have several members of the France family in top positions, ISC's competitors have filed multiple lawsuits on antitrust grounds) and has constructed popular new tracks in regions previously thought uninterested in NASCAR. On May 20, 2019, NASCAR agreed to purchase ISC for approximately $2 billion US, with it going private October 18, 2019. History ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tri-oval
A tri-oval is a shape which derives its name from the two other shapes it most resembles, a triangle and an oval. Rather than meeting at sharp, definable angles as the sides of a triangle do, in a tri-oval these angles are instead rounded into smooth curves. While an oval has four turns, a tri-oval has six. More formally, according to the four-vertex theorem, every smooth simple closed curve has at least four vertices, points where its curvature reaches a local minimum or maximum. In a tri-oval, there are six such points, alternating between three minima and three maxima. Use in racetracks This term is most often used to describe the shape of many automobile racetracks. The use of the tri-oval shape for automobile racing was conceived by Bill France Sr. during the planning for Daytona. The triangular layout allowed fans in the grandstands an angular perspective of the cars coming towards and moving away from their vantage point. Traditional ovals (such as Indianapolis) offere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anniston Air Force Base
Anniston Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force airfield located approximately 10 miles north-northeast of Talladega, Alabama. It was active from 1942 to 1945 and 1949 to 1952. It is currently the site of the Talladega Superspeedway and Talladega Municipal Airport. History Anniston was opened on 19 October 1942 as a flying school as part of Army Air Forces Training Command (AAFTC). The field was built with three hard-surfaced concrete runways. The main runway was 5,300 feet long. The base also featured a parking ramp and one hangar, constructed of wood and metal. The ground station consisted of many uniform buildings constructed of wood, tar paper, and non-masonry siding. The use of concrete and steel was limited because of the critical need elsewhere. Most buildings were hot and dusty in the summer and very cold in the winter. Besides offices, barracks and training classrooms, there was a library, a social club for officers, and enlisted men, and a store to buy livi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talladega, Alabama
Talladega (, also ) is the county seat of Talladega County, Alabama, United States. It was incorporated in 1835. At the 2020 census, the population was 15,861. Talladega is approximately east of one of the state’s biggest cities, Birmingham. The city is home to the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind and the Talladega Municipal Airport, a public general aviation airport. The Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega College and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame are located nearby. The First National Bank of Talladega (now First Bank of Alabama) is the oldest bank in the State of Alabama, being founded in 1848. Etymology The name Talladega is derived from a Muscogee language, a Native American language of the Muscogee. It comes from the word ''Tvlvtēke'', from Muscogee ''tvlwv'', meaning "town", and ''vtēke'', meaning "border", indicating its location on the border between Muscogee and Natchez. Geography Talladega is located in east central Alabama at 33° 26 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motorsport
Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two-wheeled motorised vehicles under the banner of motorcycle racing, and includes off-road racing such as motocross. Four- (or more) wheeled motorsport competition is globally governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA); and the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) governs two-wheeled competition. Likewise, the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) governs powerboat racing while the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) governs air sports, including aeroplane racing. All vehicles that participate in motorsports must adhere to the regulations that are set out by the respective global governing body. History In 1894, a French newspaper organised a race from Paris to Rouen and back, starting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega Superspeedway, nicknamed “'Dega”, and formerly named Alabama International Motor Speedway (AIMS) from 1969 to 1989, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln, Alabama, Lincoln. A tri-oval, the track was constructed in 1969 by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France Family. , the track hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and ARCA Menards Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval, with a length of , compared to the Daytona International Speedway, which is long. The total peak capacity of Talladega is around 175,000 spectators, with the main grandstand capacity being about 80,000. History During the 1960s, William France, Sr., William "Bill" France, Sr. wanted to build a track faster and longer than his Daytona International Speedway. After failed attempts to reason with local ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Green–white–checker Finish
In North American auto racing, a green–white–checker finish (GWC) is a racing restart procedure one in which the race is restarted from a caution period with 2 laps remaining. When the race distance is extended to accommodate such a finish, it is also sometimes known as an overtime finish. The name alludes to three racing flags: * green flag: shown to start or restart the race. * white flag: shown at the start of the last lap * checkered flag: shown at the finish of the race The prescribed number of final laps is usually two. If a caution flag is shown within the specified number of laps of the scheduled finish, then the number of remaining laps will not be decremented until the green flag is shown again. The exact provisions vary between organizations. For some years after 2007, '' NASCAR on Fox'' referred to the extra laps after the scheduled number as ''Overdrive'', an allusion to the term '' overtime'' used in many other sports. NASCAR officially adopted the term "NASCAR ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and his son, Jim France, has been the CEO since August 2018. The company is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida. Each year, NASCAR sanctions over 1,500 races at over 100 tracks in 48 US states as well as in Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Europe. History Early stock car racing In the 1920s and 1930s, Daytona Beach supplanted France and Belgium as the preferred location for world land speed records. After a historic race between Ransom Olds and Alexander Winton in 1903, 15 records were set on what became the Daytona Beach Road Course between 1905 and 1935. Daytona Beach had become synonymous with fast cars in 1936. Drivers raced on a course, consisting of a stretch of beach as one straightaway, and a narrow blacktop beachfront highway, Florid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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